Tour de Mt. Pleasant – June 13th & 14th

Mt. Pleasant, MI - June 13th & 14th

Saturday 75 minutes + 2 laps Crit results: 62 starters (27.6 mph avg.)
5th Luke Cavender
35th Alan Smith
45th Ray Dybowski
47th Tom Kachelmeyer
50th Scott Kroske
Also in the race were:
Chris Bogedin
John Sammut
Cory Dubrish

The weather was perfect and the racing was fast, no, I mean really fast! 27.6 mph for 1-1/4 hours on a 0.80 miles course with 6 corners. The race started from the gun and never slowed, the pack was one long line for most of the race. With the pace so high, not many breaks got off the front, and the few that did, didn’t last very long. One rider tried a solo break with 10 laps to go, but was swallowed up before the bell lap. So with the race coming down to a field sprint, the Kenda Pro team lined it up for there sprinter and former Wolverine, Ben Renkema to take the win.

Sunday’s 105 mile Road Race results: 80 starters (4 hours 3 minutes)
11th Luke Cavender
23rd Adam McClounie
24th Alan Smith
25th Cory Dubrish
27th Scott Kroske
29th Chris Bogedin
36th John Sammut
39th Tim Finkel
44th Tom Kachelmeyer
51st Brian Kozeliski
59th Ray Dybowski

Once again the weather was perfect for a long road race. Normally the pack would start off a little slower in a 105 mile road race, but with the first points sprint only 3 miles into the race, things started off rather quick, and picked up speed as we approached the sprint. After the sprint, the pace slowed considerably for the next 10 miles or so. No one seemed interested in attacking so far out from the finish. About 15 miles into the race the attacks started, and didn’t end until a group of 7 got off the front and held a 30 second lead for a while. The pack held them to that lead for a half hour before letting them start to slip away. Many didn’t believe this move would stick considering the distance left to the finish. This group built the lead to a maximum of 6 minutes before the group started to give chase, but by then it was too little too late. The lead group finished 2 minutes clear of the pack. Luke ended up taking 4th in the field sprint for 11th overall.