Wolverine Sports Club Elite Team

Randy Rodd (Male Model) Superweek 2009

2009-08-07T16:45:00.004-04:00

Superweek 2009

Race your strengths. This phrase started to resonate in my head after a Tuesday ride that was anything but easy for me. My legs where toast after the Troy Classic and the upcoming Michigan races (Fenton and the State TT) appeared that I would instead be racing my weaknesses. As I sat talking to Ray about Superweek the idea of heading out there seemed more and more plausible. The races would be to my advantage and it would consist of quality racing with larger money. After finding arrangements for a place to sleep thanks to the generosity of John Coyle my mind was made up that I would be heading out of state. The only question was how many day to race, to which Ray said if I am driving that far I have to do at least three races. Chicago Crit, Racine, and Kenosha also appeared to be my type of races. I was out the door at 5:30 am on Thursday to be at Racine with plenty of time for my 2:00 start but a flat tire on the car caused a change of plans. I got everything straitened away and got into town still with plenty of time.

Racine Cat 3 7/23/09
The course was an eight corner Crit with a final climb into a left turn and then a 300 meter false flat sprint. I discussed the finish with Coyle and we agreed that I needed to be top 3 out of the corner. With my plan in my head I just wanted to see the finish come together in a field sprint. After the first few laps I found myself in a five man break with about ten seconds on the field. This was not part of my plan. I did not know anyone in the break or their strengths but I knew my weaknesses and decided pulling through would be a poor idea for me. We got reeled in mainly but Team Leadout after about three laps away. The rest of the race had many attacks with none sticking until about five laps to go when one guy got away buy himself. When the field sprint came I was in perfect position and made my move out of the final corner in to large of a gear and pick my back wheel up. I kept it upright but it was a costly mistake taking me back a few spots into fifth place in the end. Not bad for my first Superweek race but I came away from it a bit disappointed.

Kenosha Cat 3 7/24/09
A flat four corner course, I could not ask for a better setup. The finish was 350 meters out of the final corner with a fierce headwind. The race had attack after attack but like Racine nothing stuck. Coming into the final lap Leadout had four guys lined up for the train. I saw it coming and quickly latched onto Geoff Kuyper’s wheel. They lead the whole final lap and in the final turn they launched Kuyper with me on his wheel. I made an early move to come around which cost me the win but I was content with second place.

Chicago Crit Cat 3 7/26/09
I took Saturday off after reading the course description and not wanting burn out my legs on a course that did not suite me. I left Milwaukee at 5:30 with little sleep in me but I was feeling good. This was another course made for me, four corners with a short, steep climb, into a downhill left turn with 200 Meters to the finish. My plan was to hit it from the bottom, get a small gap and take it to the finish. The field was large and filled with many strong riders. My previous good feelings went away right as the race was starting. I was very tired for the first twenty minutes but once I got it rolling the final forty minuets went quick. With two laps to go I was in the middle of the eighty man field and had some moving up to do. Coming into the final turn I was sixth and made my move. I went wide of the field but as I attacked someone off the front sat up and quickly veered right into my line. I dug a pedal into the sidewalk, hit a metal barricade but was able kept the rubber side down. My move was quickly nullified with all my matches burnt. I was able to get back in the field and take sixth not bad for almost losing it.

All in all it was a great weekend of racing and meeting new people. Winning some money was nice but the company and atmosphere was defiantly the highlight of the trip. John was more than accommodating for the weekend and defiantly made it a worthy experience.

Randy Rodd

Tree Farm Relay - Novi, Michigan July 25, 2009

2009-08-07T16:45:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (July 25, 2009)

Tree Farm Relay - Novi, Michigan

Brent Steinberg - Place: 3rd Advanced Men - Time: 6:19:23 "Did the Tree Farm Relay on a last minute put together team. Some muddy conditions warranted I ride my 69er single speed. Roosted 2 laps in some mud and rain and put in the fastest lap of the day. Was a fun low-key event and good times were had by all."

Big M XC – Manistee, Michigan July 19, 2009

2009-08-07T16:39:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (July 19, 2009)

Big M XC – Manistee, Michigan

Steve Dempsey - Place: 5th Elite Men – Time: 1:53:32 "A dreamy weekend of remote wilderness which frowns upon to remote parking! Great horned owls called in the morning so fresh and clean. The perfect weather unveiled a fast trail with steady climbs and quick descents. Had oodles of fun ripping with everyone and can't wait for the next one."

Bill Clikeman - Place: 7th Elite Men – Time: 1:54:08 "This is a really fun course to race on; good teamwork made the difference in being able to maintain a strong, consistent pace, and gain positions."

Robert Herriman - Place: 8th Elite Men – Time: 1:54:09 "Another great weekend of camping, campfire stories, star gazing, and playing in the dirt. In the race, Bill, Brent, and I worked together taking turns pushing our pace. That was way fun and we were able to gain some spots."

Brent Steinberg - Place: 10th Elite Men – Time: 1:57:14 "Super fun weekend with an awesome elite turnout. Body was a bit sluggish from the week prior, but it was great being able to work together with Bill and Robert. Had a great time racing and seeing all my racing buddies I haven't seen in a long time. Can't wait for Stony TT next weekend."

Amanda Ryan - Place: 2nd Elite Women – Time: 1:54:30 "Never rode the Big-M before, the name sounded intimidating and hills are never my favorite but pre-riding with fellow teammates helped me learn the course (thanks guys!). However, the shorter race loop made for a seemingly fast race and the downhills were tons of fun, as was the entire weekend."

Patrick Russell - Place: 3rd Elite SingleSpeed – Time: 1:34:18 "I played the caboose as riders dropped off until an attack came at the end of the second lap. I clawed my way back to the lead two. I came unhitched at the same point again but couldn't catch back on. Next time I won't forget to pack my climbing legs."

Robert Herriman

Boyne Marathon - Boyne Falls, Michigan July 11, 2009

2009-08-07T16:32:00.000-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (July 11, 2009)

Boyne Marathon - Boyne Falls, Michigan

Brent Steinberg - Place: 3rd Elite Men - Time: 3:42:49 "Fun race. Legs and body felt good and fitness is starting to come back. Rode lap 1 with Jamie Parker then went solo the last 3 laps. The 29er was perfect, and only one leaky tire on the day. Course was changed up this year and it was awesome. It was a small field, but some good horsepower, I was surprised I was 3rd!"
_______________________

Mountain Chase XC - Marquette, Michigan - June 28, 2009

2009-07-03T12:43:00.003-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (June 28, 2009)
Mountain Chase XC - Marquette, Michigan

Jay Moncel - Place: 5th Men 30-39 - Time - 1:47:50 "a mass start for all the distances with a ski hill start to spread the field. after ascending we dropped into some amazing single track. i found my rhythm and started gapping people. then we popped out onto a windy road section. i threw it into the big small and put my head down. 2 laps later I was 17th overall at the finish. pretty happy with the result since I hadn’t raced in about 2 years. fun times!"

Kelly Paterson – Place: 1st Women 40-49 - Time: 2:11:13 "The trail at Marquette Mountain had a little bit of everything. Technical single track, bridges over creeks, ups and downs, rocks and roots, dirt and paved roads. I got a good start and rode in 2nd for most of the race. Flatted with 5 miles to go (out of 24) and painfully clawed my way past two gals to regain my 2nd place overall. It was a blast!"

Tim Finkel - A little long for this site, please see his race report at: http://timfinkel.blogspot.com/

Lumberjack 100 - Manistee, Michigan - June 20th, 2009

2009-07-03T12:37:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (June 20, 2009)
Lumberjack 100 - Manistee, Michigan

Robert Herriman - Place: 9th Open Men - Time: 7:48:01 "What an incredible day. My 5th Lumberjack started out with a busted seat-post at mile 2 of 100, uhg! I had a spare post in my car and after a quick pit stop, I started out again. It was challenging to work my way back through the field from 272nd place, but I just kept plugging along and was simply flabbergasted to finish top 10 in the end. Wow!!"

Brent Steinberg - Place: 63rd Open Men - Time: 10:15:20 "After only 4 rides in six weeks with naggin knee problems, I went to the Lumbo for fun ride in the woods. 6hrs and 75 miles later in 16th, I called it good. Sat around for a while, then finished up lap 4 with my dad. Happy my knee held up! Fun weekend catching up with everyone after being gone for a while. Can't wait for the next one."

Kelly Paterson - Place: 6th Open Women - Time: 9:30:21 "I wasn’t really sure I could actually do 100 miles on a mountain bike. I was shooting for a time between 10:00 and 10:30. I just kept it steady and was really happy with my finish. It was a blast! A too-long pit stop cost me a place, but I wasn’t really racing anyone but myself. Super fun course with rolling hills, grinders and some insanely fun down hills."

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

2009-06-17T16:34:00.000-04:00

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.

Ruby Campground XC – Avoca, Michigan (June 14, 2009)

2009-06-16T15:29:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report

Ruby Campground XC – Avoca, Michigan

Bill Clikeman - Place: 7th Elite Men – Time: 2:08:19 "Generally not concerned in a mountain bike race about having kayakers on the course, but I guess it could happen...shuffling through the river 2 times per lap, steep hills and challenging single track are all part of the fun at Ruby."

Robert Herriman - Place: 8th Elite Men – Time: 2:09:02 "My first ride ever at Ruby. I'd heard Ruby was obnoxiously twisty with crazy steep climbs, scary descents, and bike destroying river crossings. All true. But after a few laps of learning, it all became super fun!!"

Steve Dempsey - Place: 9th Elite Men – Time: 2:11:12 "Haven’t ridden Ruby since I was a wee lad. More fun than I last remember (previously ridden in tsunami-like conditions). Ultra-techy keeps all riders honest. Great to race with the new crew, esp. during the inspirational 4th to 5th lap "gathering" we shared. Pump it up to rip it down."

Amanda Ryan - Place: 3rd Elite Women – Time: 2:11:13 "Ruby is a wickedly sweet technical trail, but a crash while pre-riding the course left me with blood dripping from one elbow and a swollen shoulder at the start, so it was purely survival mode riding. Despite the circumstances, I managed to finish the race and still got on the podium!"

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Weekend of racing - May 30th & 31st

2009-06-04T07:19:00.002-04:00

5/30/09: West Branch Classic Road Race was everything it promised, a 22 mile loop, 1100 ft of climbing per lap, 1.3 mile climb to the finish! The race had great roads, challenging course, wind and a lot of sore legs at the end.

Pro 1/2 race had an early break that stuck until the end frustrating the riders that "rolled the dice" that the break would die in the hills and/or coming back at the end..... At the end 2 riders bested the group, Tim Franham (Bissell Pro) and Alan Antoniuk (Essex Brass). An impressive Wolverine Racing Team train led what was left of the shattered peloton up the hill up the hill picking off some of the stragglers to finish extremely well!

6th Cruise Bogedin
10th Simon Bailey
11th Tom Kachelmeyer
14th Brian Kozeliski
15th Alan Smith
16th Jeff Wienert
All WSC finishers in the top 16, WOW!

Other Categories:
Cat 3: 10th Brett Beddow
12th Scott Fabajanski
17th Pat Robb

Cat 4/5:
2nd Blain Benson
20th Kurt Martin
25th Randy Rodd
43rd Ricardo Cotto

Masters 35+:
2nd Ray Dybowski
8th John Sammut

Woman 1,2,3,4:
12th Maia Orabi
14th Wendy St. Clair

Track 2000 M Talent Pool: (First ever Michigan Points Track Race)
Pro 1/2:
3rd Luke Cavender
4th Cruise Bogedin
10th Scott Kroske
11th Ray Dybowski

Cat 3:
2nd Cullen Watkins
5th Pat Robb
6th Doug Hedges

Cat 4:
1st Doug McKibbons
2nd Blain Benson
3rd Nick Console

Cat 5:
1st Ed Gostin

Womans 1,2,3:
1st Maia Orabi

Masters 45+:
3rd Bob Wydra

Masters 55+:
2nd Tom O'Rourke

Juniors: 1st Nick Console
4th Luke Mullis

Reported by: Ray Dybowski

Brighton - May 30-31, 2008

2009-06-04T07:05:00.002-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (May 30-31, 2008)
Rider results and comments from the races...
　
Bill Clikeman

Time Trial – Place: 7th Elite Men – Time: 0:29:28 "Blind corners and overgrowth leave me wishing I had more practice on this trail; at race speed it keeps things exciting for sure."

Short Track – Place: 4th Elite Men – Time: 0:21:41 "I was hoping to get a better start, but I was able to work my way up to 4th by mid-race and hang on to my position for the finish."

Cross Country – Place: 6th Elite Men – Time: 2:50:22 "This is a long race compared to other XC races, so I was relieved to have cooler temps. I was by myself after lap 2 but really enjoyed riding the trail and trying to maintain my pace through to the finish."

Combined Overall: Place: 6th Elite Men - Time: 3:41:32 "Overall a unique and fun weekend of racing, and was happy with the results."
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Robert Herriman

Time Trial – Place: 9th Elite Men – Time: 0:30:50 "Some indecision on which bike to race, Superfly vs Fuel EX. Ended up happy I picked the Fuel as it was so easy to control on the out of control twistyness of the torn shirt trail."

Short Track – Place: 8th Elite Men – Time: 0:22:17 "Ouch! 20 minutes in the pain cave can seem like an hour. Near the end of the race I thought I saw Beelzebub taking pictures on that sandy climb. Maybe he has a smugmug account."

Cross Country – Place: 8th Elite Men – Time: 2:54:33 "A freeway closure had me running late but with a 40 mile race I'd just warm up during. Not the best plan as guys rode away at the start. Still, despite my slow start, I had a blast and I was able to improve my position by the finish."

Combined Overall: Place: 8th Elite Men - Time: 3:47:40 "This was my third year in a row doing the Brighton stage race. It always makes for a great weekend of racing and hanging out with friends!!!"
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Amanda Ryan

Cross Country – Place: 1st Elite Women – Time: 2:42:09 "The trail conditions were perfect, but I was a little tired from riding some the day before and could feel it catching up to me by the second lap when my legs started to cramp up, but catching a glimpse of the 2nd place rider trailing behind me forced me to keep pushing myself to go as fast as I could to the finish line."
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Michael Bliss

Time Trial – Place: 10th Expert Men – Time: 0:33:34 "The Torn Shirt trail was optimal. Traffic was a little heavy out there; which made passing a challenge. I like this trail, short but sweet. Made for a good ride."

Short Track – Place: 5th Expert Men – Time: 0:24:13 "A Very intense 24 minutes. A good start makes or breaks your race. So that's what I went for. Somehow managed to stay in front of most of my group. My best finish on the weekend"

Cross Country – Place: 15th Expert Men – Time: 2:59:58 "Strong first two laps. Then came the pain. Murray Lake has such nice flow, that even in your own little world of hurt, your happy. A high 'fun' quotient for this event. Don't miss it next year."

Combined Overall: Place: 10th Expert Men - Time: 3:27:46 "Three races in 2 days, what could be more gratifying? And what a great place to have this event. Good weather made for a great weekend of some fine racing. Can't understate how Brighton can bring on the pain. A don't miss event for sure."
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Patrick Russell

Time Trial – Place: 2nd Elite Singlespeed – Time: 0:30:37 "I made sure I pre rode the course before the race just to keep all the features fresh in my mind. This allowed me to ride conservatively but still keep the speed high. The rain earlier in the week helped eliminate the loose up-hills making a much easier course to ride. My fastest Torn Shirt lap ever."

Short Track – Place: 3rd Elite Singlespeed – Time: 0:23:16 "A tentative start had me working to limit my losses from the start. Once the course opened up I was able to keep the time loss reasonable and finish strong."

Cross Country – Place: 2nd Elite Singlespeed – Time: 1:42:26 "The body didn't feel good before this race but once the race started the legs responded. An easy first lap of posturing led to a big attack into the single track on the second. I was sitting third wheel and ready. I followed the attack and almost made contact with the first place rider. I continued to pour it on trying to gain as much time for the stage result. Pin balling off of trees I managed to finish second and gain enough time to move up to second in the stage results."

Combined Overall – Place: 2nd Elite Singlespeed – Time: 2:36:19 "The top four position were very close going into the XC race. The high speeds and technical course resulted in everyone being bloodied and bruised. The double points make it all worth while. What a blast."

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Bloomer XC – Rochester, MI - May 24th, 2009

2009-05-28T12:34:00.002-04:00

Bloomer XC – Rochester, Michigan

Robert Herriman - Place: 12th Elite Men - Time: 2:36:34 "It was a perfect day, with awesome weather and fast trail conditions. I was rolling in a solid 10th place for the first half of the race but a mechanical slowed me for the 2nd half. I heart mountain biking!!!

Mike Bliss - Place: 8th Expert Men 40-49 - Time: 2:12:20 "Good weather, good race. Typical fast start. Gained some places on the first sled hill climb but gave them back by the end. Classic Bloomer; good fun."

Amanda Ryan - Place: 1st Sport Women 24-Under - Time: 1:42:22 "My first mountain bike race, wow! Why didn't I do this before?!? My shoe came unclipped at the start, but I clipped back in and just kept going as fast as I could for as long as I could. My bike needed new cables and housing and I could definitely tell the difference in it's performance but my final result was still great, 1st place!"

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Waterford Thursday Night Worlds #1 May 7th 2009

2009-05-13T13:31:00.001-04:00

“A” Race (40 Starters)
1st – Chris Bogedin
6th – Jeff Weinert
10th – Ray Dybowski
11th – Brett Beddow
12th – Patrick Robb

Field – John Sammut
John Coats
Matt Baroli
Scott Fabijanski
Cullen Watkins
Tom Kachelmeyer

The skies cleared from the afternoon rain showers just in time to have dry pavement under foot for the start of the Waterford Thursday Night Worlds “A” Race. Our own John Coats started things off fast with an attack from the gun, John quickly opened a gap on the field that he was able to hold for most of the first lap before being brought back by the pack. Many others attempted to get off the front, but nothing stuck until about half way through the race when Jeff got into a 4 man brake that stayed away for 3 laps before Chris and Ray bridged across in 2 separate chase groups, once the group was whittled down to 8, the race was on. This group kept a comfortable lead until the closing laps, then for some reason started coming back to the pack. By the time the pack was winding up it’s sprint we were right on their heels, close enough that we passed 2 of the riders in the lead group before the line. Speaking of close, the race finish was so close that despite having it on video, the officials could not tell who won the sprint for 1st between Chris and Bruce Rivera, so they called it a tie. The first time I have ever seen a tie for 1st.

“B” Race
3rd – Randall Rodd
6th – Ricardo Cotto
9th – Doug McKibbon
11th – Kurt Martin

Field - John Talbot

Cone Azalia: 2nd Michigan Points Race - May 3rd 2009

2009-05-04T13:10:00.004-04:00

Cone Azalia: 2nd Michigan Points Race

7 laps of a 10 mile road course with 4 miles of gravel road. Hard pack bumpy to 2" rocky/gravel and wind always makes Cone-Azalia one of the hardest road races in Michigan. You need skills, tactics, and a little luck to do well.

Cat 1/2 Race:

The race started with the usual first selection on the dirt roads, flats galore. Our 12 man squad lost 4 riders in the first 7 miles including one of our hopeful contenders Tim Finkel. Alan Smith sacrificed his chances and stopped to switch wheels with Tim, then Tim gave chase. With a little luck the pack slowed, Cruise, Adam and Ray sat on the back waiting for Tim to get close and then dropped back to help him close the last part.

The next few laps included many attempts to crack the field and none succeeded until Cruise Bogedin escaped in a 3 person break. About 1/2 lap later Tim Finkel found himself in 4 person break that caught the "Cruise break". At 7 strong they were gone!

The next selection was an 8 person break including Luke Cavender, Cory Dubrish and Simon Bailey. Then the "Cone-Selection" knocked Cory and Simon out of the break.

In the winning break attacks were going like crazy, Cruise and Tim stayed controlled and at the line it was Cruise earning the WIN and Tim getting secon! d. WOW... great result for a tough race!

Wolverine / American Cycle & Fitness Cat 1/2 placings:
1) Cruise Bogedin
2) Tim Finkel
12) Luke Cavender
14) Scott Kroske
18) Simon Bailey
22) Cory Dubrish
24) Ray Dybowski
25) Alan Smith
29) Adam McClounie
30) Jeff Weinert
31) Matt Baroli
35) John Sammut

Results not posted but others I know:

Cat 3 Placings:
3) Pat Robb
8) Scott Fabijanski

Cat 4 placings:
19) Brett Beddow

Cat 5 placings:
3) Nick Console
5) Ricardo Cotto

Reported by: Ray Dybowski

Pontiac Lake MTB TT – Waterford, Michiga - April 26, 2009

2009-05-04T13:04:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (April 26, 2009)
Pontiac Lake MTB TT – Waterford, Michigan

Bill Clikeman - Place: 4th Elite Men - Time: 1:20:47 "It was nice to be able to start the race season at a familiar trail; the slippery sections kept it challenging, and I was happy to end up with 4th place."

Robert Herriman - Place: 8th Elite Men - Time: 1:23:56 "Overnight storms left some greasy spots and one small lake. I put my feet on the top tube, and coasted through that giant puddle, made quite a splash! What a fun day!!"

Jeff Weinert - Place: 13th Elite Men - Time: 1:29:56 "Decided to race singlespeed in Elite, my first MTB race since Iceman 07'. Had a great start and felt great until a flat rear tire, just after 2 mile hill. Had a slow change with all the extras that go into a singlespeed and lost motivation to fight. After that I just rolled around the rest of the race having fun along the way. :-)"

Simon Bailey - Place: 12th Expert Men 30-39 - Time: 1:35:23 "With a new bike and a great road race a week before I was sure I'd to have a good ride. But it wasn't to be! Started off fine, but the slippery surface proved I’m still lacking mtb skills. Dug deep to stay with my partner for lap one. Lap two, blew up and lost time. Back to the drawing board."

Mike Bliss - Place: 8th Expert Men 40-49 - Time: 1:32:28 "Yes, it was a mudfest, but at least the sun was out. I had a fast race, only passed by one racer. I cleaned most of the critical sections for a nice ride. I was pleased that I remembered to kick-it on every downhill to max out my speed for the subsequent section."

Pat Russell - Place: 2nd Elite/Expert Single Speed - Time: 0:40:37 "I kept the effort manageable until 2 mile hill. After that I let it fly. Passed by my start partner on the last hill but managed to re-pass and hold him off. Even though I beat him at the finish, I finished 0.353 seconds slower sensor to sensor. Next time I won't take the hole-shot."

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Ann Arbor Training Race # 3 “A’s” race 4-19-09

2009-04-21T13:20:00.004-04:00

Results:
1st – Luke Cavender
2nd – Simon Bailey
4th – Tim Finkel
6th – Scott Kroske
8th – John Sammut
9th – Brett Beddow
10th – Pat Robb

Other Wolverines in the race:
Ray Dybowski
Brent DelRosario
Scott Fabijanski
Adam McClounie
Matt Baroli
Paul Neff
Rob Akers

50 Starters in the “A” race.

The race started under overcast skies with the threat of rain and a temperature of 54º. Fortunately for all of the racers the rain held off, unfortunately for the rest of the pack, Simon did not, he was on the attack from the gun, and although the pack brought him back, it didn’t discourage him, he was in almost every serious break of the day. If there was an award for the most aggressive rider for the day, Simon would have walked away with it. Simon was also in the winning group of 7 riders that got away late in the race that also included Luke and Tim. Simon broke away from the lead group with 2 laps to go and forced the other teams to chase setting up Luke for the win while Simon was able to hold off the hard changing field for hard earned 2nd place. With Luke taking the win, his second in as many weeks, this will assure him the overall win in the Spring Training Series. Oh yes, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Tim continues to ride strong and got yet another 4th place.

John

First weekend of racing - 2009

2009-03-30T13:13:00.001-04:00

Report from Waterford Hills Race track training race. 4-28-09

The short:
“C” Race
4th – Amanda Ryan (Her 1st race ever)
15th – Myles Davis (His 1st race ever)
16th – Tracii Haynes (Her 1st race ever)

“B” Race
4th – Randy Rodd
5th – Ricardo Cotto (His 1st race ever)
7th – Doug McKibbon (His 1st race ever)

“A” Race
1st – Ray Dybowski
3rd – Luke Cavender
4th – Chris Bogedin
9th – Pat Robb
11th – Tim Finkle
15th – Scott Kroske

The “C” race started off very fast with one rider going solo from the gun, the pack never caught him. The rest of the group stayed together for a bunch sprint for 2nd place with Amanda taking 3rd in the field sprint for 4th overall. Tracii and Myles were split off the back of the pack during the race, but toughed it out to finish there first ever race.

As coach Ray had predicted, the “B” race had a few break away attempts, but nothing stuck, and the race ended in a large group sprint for the line. Ricardo probably would have finished better in his first race if he had stayed on the pavement for the sprint.

The “A” race started out with a parade lap to honor Tim Finkel’s brother. The race started on lap 2 at a moderate pace with a few attacks, but nothing stuck until better than half way through the race when a few riders went off the front, then a few more, then a couple more until the front group swelled to 7, then the race was on. It stayed that way to the end. With less than ½ lap to go, Ray rolled off of the side of the group while everyone else sat back and watched. One rider (Ben) tried to close the gap at the end, but his effort came up short.

Ann Arbor Training race. 4-29-09

“A” Race
Tim – 5th
Ray – 8th
Brett – 9th (He won the field sprint, and is only 16 years old)

Iceman - Kalkaska, Michigan - Nov. 8, 2008

2008-11-20T17:33:00.002-05:00

Wolverine Sports ClubMountain Bike Team Race Report (Nov. 8, 2008)

Iceman - Kalkaska, Michigan

Tim Finkel - Place: 31st Pro Men - Time: 1:36:21 "The course was fast rolling and tenacious from the gun to the finish line. My positioning in the hole shot was about as bad as it can get but I tried to pick up as many spots as I could throughout the race. Overall I am satisfied with my time and the entire weekend was another great experience to add to the books…until next year."

Cruise Bogedin - Place: 32nd Pro Men - Time: 1:36:22 "A poor start position left me few opportunities to pass during the chaos of the first few miles. Once the field thinned out I went into TT mode to pass as many people as I could. I eventually caught a group around mile 10 that had Tim in it. I felt great the whole race and I'm satisfied with my time. Next year I'll make sure to have a better start."

Kelly Paterson - Place: 19th Pro Women - Time: 2:09:27 "My goal was to start out last and finish last so I could have the whole trail to myself. I had a great time without working too hard. The dirt and decaying leaves smelled great, the hail was refreshing, and the wicked downhills were a blast."

Patrick Russell - Place: 4th Singlespeed Men 39 & Under - Time: 1:46:57 "The top three singlespeeders gapped the field within the first three miles leaving me in no-mans-land. I rode the remainder checking the rear wheel of every racer I passed hoping to see only one cog. I was able to keep a high pace and meet all my goals for the race."

Thomas Markley - Place: 10th Expert Men 45-49 - Time: 1:48:27 "Classic Iceman …took the advice of a friend and raced my age group… While I think my time would have been faster run’n with the Pro’s; it was awesome to Road Rally back to the start, then to the mid-point (Williamsburg) and then hang out at the finish line, to watch some top ranked Pro’s battle it out… Great day!"

Simon Bailey - Place: 26th Expert Men 35-39- Time: 1:50:58 "This is an awesome race - I'll definitely be back next year for another try and with a little experience on what to expect I think I can prepare better and ride faster because I definitely went out too fast and suffered over the final hour of the race. What should I have expected after only racing 45min cross races for the past two months!"

Tim Devost - Place: 19th Expert Men 45-49 - Time: 1:52:49 "Almost perfect conditions. The start put me mid-pack. Settled in and started picking riders off. 5 miles in I latched onto a group of 6 - the push was on! Mile 18 the group started to break up and I passed em as we crested a hill. Mile 23 my right shifter came loose and was dangling by it's cable. Iceman is such a great venue! And the beer wasn't too bad either!"

Doug McKibbon - Place: 42nd Expert Men 40-44 - Time: 1:55:41 “After falling in the first sand pit, I regained my composure, and began settling into my pace, passing people throughout the race. I felt strong on the hills, and was glad to finish my first Expert race, and first Iceman. A great weekend, for sure. My kids will be doing the Snow Cone race next year.”

Cody Brown - Place: 15th Expert Men 19-29 - Time: 1:56:00

Scott Kroske - Place: 26th Expert Men 45-49 - Time: 1:56:21 "Fast start, adrenaline kept me in the lead group for a few miles, got dropped on a climb, took back positions on flats, lost ground lugging my fat ass up those hills. Great having so many Wolverines in one race."

Scott Dill - Place: 47th Expert Men 35-39 - Time: 1:56:56 “I started in the back of the expert group, which was a mistake, but finished the second half better than the first. Of course I had hoped to go a bit faster, that will just give me incentive to train a bit harder. Overall it was a fast race that had great energy and camaraderie with the Wolverine Team.”

Alan Smith - Place: 29th Expert Men 30-34 - Time: 1:59:42 "I was sitting about 10th wheel overall for experts 19-34. On the first significant downhill with 17 miles to go, I heard the sound of catastrophic carbon failure as my handlebar snapped. Hard crash, scraped myself off the ground, pedaled my broken bike in, sans R brake and R shifter, and still almost beat my time from last year. Bad race, good story, great weekend!"

John Sammut - Place: 71st Expert Men 40-44 - Time: 2:03:55 "My first ever Iceman! Conditions were good. Despite a few mechanical, I had a great time. I was hoping for a little better finish time, but that just gives me a goal for next year. I will be back!"

Luke Cavender/ Rippin - Place: 1st S/E Tandems - Time: 1:49:13 “The course was really fast and smooth and no traffic until we hit the singletrack and yes single bikes were holding the tandem up. After that it was smooth sailing to the finish. We hope to race with the pros next year. Watch out Tim the tandem is coming to town.”

Ray Dybowski - Place: 6th Sport/Expert Clydesdales - Time: 1:50:54 "Won the hole shot, crashed in the same early sand pit as last year and like last year had to chase like crazy. The fast course made all us Clyedales roll well. Next years the 20th Iceman and will be my 19th attempt for a victory, I think I'll get it!"

Patricia Covert - Place: 3rd Sport/Expert Women 45+ - Time: 2:06:51 "The weather was better than expected with temps 40 degrees & a few sprinkles. The start caught me off guard as I was fiddling with my watch. I got back into the thick of things & started working my way up. I fell twice, my chain came off once, and I had a great time!"

Scott Fabijanski - Place: 3rd Sport Men 40-43 - Time: 1:54:11 "I managed to get the hole shot, roll off the front, and get out of sight while 100 spirited sport racers gave chase. Once out of sight I put the Wolverine hammer down riding solo until mile 25 where I was caught by a couple of riders to finish 3rd. My Trek Fuel EX never let me down."

Tim Grose - Place: 2nd Sport Men 50-54 - Time: 2:02:51 "Karma was definitely with me. Finished second out of ninety plus riders in my category. Got off to a terrific start and managed to stay with a lead group of five riders. All those Wolverine road rides definitely paid off! Still had something left at the end and managed to clear "Anita's Hill" and "Icebreaker". This was my fifteenth consecutive Iceman. It was a total blast!”

Benjamin Wilks - Place: 10th Sport Men 30-33 - Time: 2:04:19 "First surprise was the decent weather. Chilly and drizzle, but overall a good day for racing. If I had to do it over, I'd move a level up...there were a number of times I got stuck behind groups, but I really don't have any complaints. One of the best weekends in quite awhile! Wish I'd known about the party bus...may have to streak it next year."

Jason Mulawa - Place: 11th Sport Men 25-29 - Time: 2:06:24"What a great race! Started out well, sitting in second heading into the single track. Mechanical ending up slowing me down and dropped me well off the lead. Ended up passing a lot of people, hoping they were from my group but no luck. Pretty satisfied as I crossed the line in 11th for my first Iceman/first race ever.”

John Talbot - Place: 11th Sport Men 47-49 - Time: 2:10:02 “Got to the start with 5 minutes to go, no warm-up. My goal, top 20. Rolled the start and after 5-10 minutes started moving through my field. Stopped to kiss my wife at the uphill feed station (didn't lose any places) Rode steady to the finish and got 4 guys from the last turn to the finish line. Felt great! Excellent way to end the season.”

Doug Hedges - Sport Men 40-43 – DNF “Our wave was one of the largest, so passing was difficult, but my Gary Fisher Tassajara was up to the task. I pushed hard and passed riders both where I could and probably shouldn't. Then at the same hill that snapped Alan's handlebar, I took out my yet-to-heal collarbone and my race came to an abrupt end. Still, an awesome event! Looking forward to next year.”

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Munson Park CX - Monroe, Michigan - Nov. 16th 2008

2008-11-20T17:29:00.000-05:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (Nov. 16, 2008)

Munson Park CX - Monroe, Michigan

Simon Bailey - Place: 5th Masters 35+ - Time: 0:45:30 "All I can say is that I'm glad I was not riding the B Race! It snowed before my event (for the B's) and after my event (for the A's). I got a pleasant 45mins of clear skies trying to loose as little time as possible to Don Cameron and Rich Stark. In the end, I battled for 4th place with Matt Baroli and lost another sprint."

Patrick Russell - Place: 7th B-Men - Time: 0:47:30 "I was able to stay close to the top five for the first lap but I could feel the power in the legs slipping away quickly. The next couple laps I fell to around 10th place. Once the blizzard hit I was able to make up a few spots and catch the 7th place rider. I was able to pass him and hold him off until the finish."

Scott Fabijanski - Place: 9th B-Men - Time: 0:47:48 "A tale of two races, half dry and half white-out blizzard. Unfortunately, my brain didn't process the condition change as I went careening onto my side while being passed by my teammate in the next to last lap. Almost certain I caught him smiling. Gave chase but was unable to gain the position."

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Dragon Gap "Fall Harvest" XC - Lake Orion, MI - Oct. 26, 2008

2008-10-29T16:27:00.000-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (Oct. 26, 2008)

Dragon Gap "Fall Harvest" XC - Lake Orion, MI

Tim Finkel - Place: 1st Advanced Men 20 to 29 "The course was an interesting mix of cyclo-cross style, double track, and single track. Joey B. set the pace high from the gun. After sitting on Joe’s wheel for the first lap, we’d left the field long behind. Later in the race I came out of my pedal, and Joe got away. Kept the gap to Joe close but was unable to catch him. I was quite satisfied with my result, and glad I rode my Trek Top Fuel 9.9 as the course was fairly rough."

Peak to Peak XC - Thompsonville, MI - Oct. 18, 2008

2008-10-29T16:24:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (Oct. 18, 2008)

Peak to Peak XC - Thompsonville, MI

Fabrice Portes - Place: 3rd Sport 40-49 - Time: 1:31:13 "Right from the start I felt good and stayed with the lead group. Lots of passing, it was good to just follow fast wheels. I moved up on the loooong ski run climb but we regrouped in the second lap. I knew my chance would be the hills, but unable to pass and we were all tied again on the ski hill. Kamikaze downhill but missed 2nd by one second. Great location and great race for the entire Portes family !"

Lower Huron Cyclo-Cross – Belleville, Michigan - Oct. 19, 2008

2008-10-21T11:51:00.002-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (Oct. 19, 2008)
Lower Huron Cyclo-Cross – Belleville, Michigan

Christian Tanguy - Place: 3rd Elite Men - Time: 55:04 "Although I went much faster from the start, many racers went around me. I was around 10th but within 2-3 laps I moved up to 5th. It took me the remainder of the race to catch the next 2 racers. I opened the gap for 3rd place only with 1/4 lap remaining. Ouch, the legs still hurt from the run-up. Thanks for everybody cheering me up; it was great."

Simon Bailey - Place: 2nd Masters 35+ - Time: 44:35 "I really enjoyed the course today - I felt pretty comfortable in 2nd and 3rd position throughout the race and was planning an attack on the steep hill run on the final lap to make my move for 1st but unfortunately, so was the rider behind me. He jumped first and I could not chase him back. I then narrowly hung on to 2nd in a sprint finish."

Scott Fabijanski - Place: 11th B-Men - Time: 48:16 "A fall in a practice lap on some wet leaves found me riding a little to cautious during this race. I was behind a crash in the first lap that left a gap. My confidence started to come back as I began passing riders but the effort was a little late in the race. Still a good race, good weather and great people."

Patrick Russell - Place: 18th B-Men - Time: 49:57 "An early first lap flat had me in last place and chasing the field. I was able to catch and pass 6 riders before the finish. At least I was able to put in a solid effort and finish the race."

Brett Beddow - Place: 5th C Men 39-U - Time: 34:00 "Another great day and great race! I made the mistake of getting excited and leading the first lap at a brisk pace. I got passed on the first run up but was able to maintain my position in 4th place. On the last lap, I had a minor spill on the wet leaves and lost one position and finished in 5th place."

Stony Creek Cyclo-Cross - Oct. 5, 2008

2008-10-10T08:05:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (Oct. 5, 2008)

Stony Creek Cyclo-Cross – Shelby Twp., Michigan

Christian Tanguy - Place: 8th Elite Men - Time: 0:55:05 "I had a decent start but didn't wanted to go full out from the beginning. From around 11th place, I worked my way up to 6th. A small fall in last quarter of the race cost me a few seconds allowing 2 persons to go by. I was closing the gap very slowly and almost caught the rider in front of me. I was only 1 sec behind. Good workout and great time!"

Bill Clikeman - Place: 13th Elite Men - Time: 0:57:24 "After a few laps of mixing it up in a group of 6, Robert and I we were able to pull away and work together to ride consistent, strong laps. On the last lap at the long sand-pit, we were rapidly catching a rider; I was able to pass him in the final section and hold the position in a sprint finish. Didn't realize Robert had crashed, fortunately he was able to finish."

Robert Herriman - Place: 15th Elite Men - Time: 0:57:44 "The absolutely gorgeous fall day left me no excuse to pass on the suffering. The race was really fun. Bill and I worked together the entire race. Well, until the last lap when I crashed, head and shoulder, into a sign. Yeah, that left a mark."

Simon Bailey - Place: 5th Masters 35+ - Time: 0:42:06 "I had a great start and stayed in 2nd place throughout the first lap, but the sand was my downfall! I couldn't ride through it and had to waste energy pushing my bike when others were riding. By the end I'd managed to hang onto 5th and tried to go for 4th by attacking after the sand section. I seemed to get the gap but he came back strong and outsprinted me."

Patrick Russell - Place: 5th B Men - Time: 0:43:39 "A good start had me bouncing around in the top six the entire race. I tried to make a move with three laps to go but I didn't have enough gas to create a gap. I couldn't respond to the attack on the next lap but managed to hold on to fifth place."

Scott Fabijanski - Place: 10th B Men - Time: 0:45:02 "I started out into the first corner 7th place. I was able to maintain some consistent lap times but found myself loosing position shortly after each long sand run. By the time I got to the pavement on the last lap, I had closed the gap within sprinting distance. The sprint began , He had a mechanical and I rolled 10th place. A good day of racing."

Brett Beddow - Place: 6th C-MEN 39-Under - Time: 0:28:02"I was told it was going to hurt but I didn't know that it would hurt that bad! My main goal was to just finish in the top 20 but I was able to maintain my position off the start for most of the race and I ended up in 6th place. The gear I had put on was a bit tough but overall, I had a lot of fun!"

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Ithaca GP of Cyclocross – September 28th, 2008

2008-10-02T16:16:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness
Elite Mountain Bike Team
Race Report (Sep. 28, 2008)

Ithaca GP of Cyclocross – Ithaca, Michigan

Patrick Russell - Place: 2nd "B" Men
"After loosing the uphill prime by half a wheel I settled in. Tried to keep the pace high and not hit the ground. Three laps to go I put in a couple bursts. I was able to open gaps but they were always closed. Then through the amphitheater of pain the rider in third attacked and opened a gap I could never close."

Scott Fabijanski - Place: 5th "B" Men
"I was 5th at the top of the uphill sprint start and held my position to the end. The course was dry, fast and fun. A great grassroots CX race, awesome course, music and prizes. A really well run event. I will definitely return next year."

Stony Creek MTB XC 9-7-08

2008-09-12T10:51:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (Sep. 7, 2008)

Stony Creek MTB XC – Shelby Twp., Michigan

Patrick Russell - Place: 5th Expert/Elite Singlespeed - Time: 1:39:05 “Once again the course conditions improved greatly the morning of the race. By the start, the course was super fast. After the first lap I just focused on my technique on the single track and tried to put in consistent lap times.”

Brian Kozeliski - Place: 5th Sport Men 35-39 - Time: 1:38:22 "The trail conditions where much better than anticipated by the time we started. I was rather conservative on the single track, but had a great time."

John Talbot - Place: 9th Sport Men 45-49 - Time: 1:53:10 “Enjoyed the ride with a few stops to eat. Great single track. I found out the hard way not to brake on muddy bridges. Thanks to American Cycle and Fitness for loaning me a Gary Fisher Pro Caliber while my bike was out of commission.”

Reported by: Robert Herriman

What the team has been doing for the last 6 weeks

2008-09-10T12:45:00.004-04:00

Ok, This is what the team have been doing over the last 6 weeks (writing race reports was not one of them) These are just the numbers, no stories go with them.

State Crit State Championship – Ada, MI 8-2-08
Pro 1-2
7th Ray Dybowski
13th Luke Cavender
14th Cory Dubrish
16th Cruise Bogedin
27th John Sammut
DNF Danny Klien
DNF
Cat 3
3rd Alan Smith
12th John Coates
22nd Scott Kroske
Master 30+
11th John Sammut
Master 45+
32nd Ray Dybowski

Waterford training race 8-7-08
“A” Race
1st Danny Klein
4th Ray Dybowski
11th Scott Kroske
“B” Race
1st Brett Beddow

BTR Crit. in Kalamazoo 8-9-08
Pro 1-2 Race
3rd Danny Klein
9th Ray Dybowski
12th John Sammut
14th Cruise Bogedin
DNF Brian Kozeliski
Master 35+
4th Ray Dybowski
11th John Sammut
Cat 3
3rd Cody Brown
8th Alan Smith
10th Scott Kroske
24th Doug Hedges
Cat 5
5th Brett Beddow
Jr. Men
5th Brett Beddow

Trophee de Grimpeurs 8-30-08
Pro 1-2
DNF Danny Klein
Cat 3-4
1st John Coates
3rd Alan Smith
10th Scott Kroske
Masters 40+
4th Ray Dybowski
8th John Sammut
10th Tim Faas
Jr. 15-18 Men
1st Brett Beddow

Tour di Via Italia 8-31-08
Master 1, Senior 3
11th Scott Kroske
40th John Talbet
Senoir Women
5th Renee Schroeder
Pro 1-2
19th Cory Dubrish
27th Adam McClounie
40th Ray Dybowski

Depaits-Devos 43rd annual crit. 9-1-08
Pro 1-2-3
22nd Luke Cavender
25th Cory Dubrish
42nd Adam McClounie
DNF Ray Dybowski
DNF Danny Klein
Masters 35+
1st Danny Klein
13th John Sammut
Master 45+
22nd Ray Dybowski
Cat 3
10th Scott Kroske
19th John Coates
29th Alan Smith
Jr. 15-18 Men
5th Brett Beddow
Cat 4
12th Brett Beddow

Waterford training race 9-4-08
“A” Race
1st Danny Klein
5th Tim Finkel
6th John Sammut
7th Brett Beddow
Pack Alan Smith
Pack Ray Dybowski
DNF Luke Cavender

Priority Health Cycling Classic Grand Rapids 9-6-08
Masters 40+
2nd John Coyle
19th Danny Klein
28th Ray Dybowski
Cat. 2-3
1st John Coyle
30th Brent DelRosario’
43rd Tim Finkel
46th Cory Dubrish

Priority Health Cycling Classic Ann Arbor 9-7-08
Cat. 2-3
8th Cory Dubrish
21st Tim Finkel
DNF John Sammut
DNF Luke Cavender
DNF Ray Dybowski
DNF Scott Kroske

Shenandoah Mountain 100 - August 31, 2008

2008-09-09T07:49:00.001-04:00

Shenandoah Mountain 100 - Stokesville, VA - (August 31, 2008)

Robert Herriman - Place: 34th Open Men - Time: 9:12:25 "This was the 10th annual Shenandoah 100, but for me, the first. The 500 person mass start is always fun! 100 miles, 17,000 feet of climbing, with tons of hardcore, singletrack. I definitely need to work on that gnarly stuff. Still, I had a great time, made lots of new friends, and finished in one piece with the rubber side down all day! Yes!!"

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Waterford Training Race – 8-7-08

2008-08-08T12:46:00.002-04:00

Starting weather - 73° with winds out of the NW at 10-15mph

Once again the race start was delayed a few minutes due to heavy rain, but no one complained. The race started off at a fairly relaxed pace, but that only lasted one lap. Half way through the second lap Simon got off the front with one other rider. They were able to stay off of the front of the pack for five laps before the pack surged and brought them back. The next few laps saw a hand full of attacks, but nothing was sticking until Ray and several other riders established a lead, after two laps Danny jumped from the pack with one other rider and bridged the gap to the break in just over one lap. After dropping a few riders from the break the number in the lead was seven, and that’s the way it stayed until the end. Danny was able to out sprint the others in the break for the win and Ray came across in 4th. Meanwhile back in the pack, Alan, John, and Simon were making life difficult for the rest of the pack by constantly attacking for the last half of the race.

Big M XC – Manistee - August 3, 2008

2008-08-05T12:41:00.002-04:00

American Cycle & Fitness/Wolverine Sports ClubElite Mountain Bike TeamRace Report (August 3, 2008)

Big M XC – Manistee, MichiganStart Line Weather: Sunny - 70 Degrees - ESE Winds at 5 mph

Christian Tanguy - Place: 1st Elite Men – Time: 1:49:31"Year after year, I enjoy even more coming to Big-M. I had good time after the race; talking to friends in a relaxed environment. What a contrast with the race. The race was intense and I knew my best option was to go fast from the start and keep the pace high... Ouch! The legs are hurting... Dry trails, good sunny weather, great time!"

Bill Clikeman - Place: 6th Elite Men – Time: 1:58:44"'I took advantage of my start-line call up and got into 2nd position for the opening fast single track, but dropped back to 6th during the climbs at end of the lap. From there, to the end, my Trek Top Fuel made the bumpy descents and fast corners really fun, and I was happy to hold my position at the finish."

Robert Herriman - Place: 15th Elite Men – Time: 3:09:07"An awesome weekend of camping, barbecues, campfires, star gazing, and mt biking... My race was going great and I was rolling along in 10th, when I heard the sound of my race being over. A branch found it's way into the drivetrain and ripped my rear derailleur off. Uhg!! I have this thing about never quitting a race, so I MacGyvered the bike into a single-speed and hoped it would hold together for the final 25 miles. It did!! I finished!!!" :-)

Patrick Russell - Place: 1st Expert/Elite Single Speed – Time: 1:15:26"Allergic reaction to a bee sting at PLRA on Thursday, 16 stitches at Ada on Saturday and my second win of the season at Big M on Sunday. What a week. The race started with Brian Harris, Joe Lee and myself immediately gaping the field. Joe attacked about half way through the first lap and opened up a 20 second gap. I sensed Brian was not having a great day so I attacked and started my pursuit of Joe. Midway through the second lap I was 15 seconds behind. At the same point on the third lap I had closed the gap to 10 seconds. At that point I knew it was now or never. I was able to quickly accelerate and catch him. I knew I needed to be in front going into the last couple of miles so I attacked and opened a small gap. After a second burst of speed I opened a larger gap was able to coast in for the win."

Cory Dubrish - Place: 3rd Expert 19-29 Men – Time: 1:50:28"

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Troy Classic Crit. Troy Ohio 7/19/08

2008-08-05T11:56:00.001-04:00

With a lack of Michigan racing in July (the Dexter Crit, Fenton Road Race & Common Crit were cancelled) the W.S.C. Bicycle Racing Team has been racing out of state the last few weeks, here is a little run down of results:

Troy Classic Crit. Troy Ohio 7/19/08

Cruise Bogedin and Ray Dybowski drove down to Ohio to race this 50 mile race on a 10 turn, 1 mile course that was super fast. 60 riders were at the start of the P1/2 race. The pace was drive by the Texas Road House Pro Team battling with Team Nitro. (The old Abercrombe and Finch(sp) Pro team.) Ray took off in a break with 27 miles to go but was caught with 7 miles to go. Cruise sprinted in for 16th place and in the money. Ray finished 28th.

The Pancake Stage Race: Woodburn, In. 7/26/08 -7/27/08

Cat 1/2/3 - Ray Dybowski Cat 3/4 - Scott Kroske, Doug Hedges, Brent DelRosario

Pancakes for breakfast and 3 pancake flat courses (Road Race, Time Trial & Crit). Although, pancake flat doesn't mean pancake easy, in Woodburn, In. just east of Ft. Wayne, the farmlands bring a nemeses that can be as brutal as a 6% 1 k climb........Wind, a constant wind! This wind makes you ride 30 to 35 mph with the wind, then leg burning crosswinds when you miss the battle for the front of the echelon, only to turn into the constant force of not being able to make the bike roll when your face to face with the beast.

Results:
1/2/3 Ray Dybowski: 75 Mile Road Race - 1st, 13 Mile TT - 8th, 60 Minute Crit - 15th, Overall 6th

3/4 Scott Kroske: 60 Mile Road Race - 2nd, 13 Mile TT -2nd, 45 minute Crit - 3rd, Overall 1st
Brent DelRosario: 60 Mile Road Race - 3nd, 13 Mile TT -11th, 45 minute Crit - 8th, Overall 5th
Doug Hedges: 60 Mile Road Race - 15th, 13 Mile TT -9th, 45 minute Crit - 13th, Overall 11th

The WSC Cat 3 team also won the prize for finished 1st in the Best Team Category!

What a great weekend couple weekends! (Superweek and California State Championship result to come)

Reported by: Ray Dybowski

Stony Creek TT - July 27, 2008

2008-08-01T12:37:00.002-04:00

American Cycle & Fitness/Wolverine Sports ClubElite Mountain Bike TeamRace Report (July 27, 2008)

Stony Creek TT – Shelby Twp., MichiganStart Line Weather: Fair - 73 Degrees - W Winds at 7 mph

Bill Clikeman - Place: 1st Elite Men – Time: 0:45:20"Overall I had a clean lap that went by quick; I thought I may have gone too hard at the start, but was able to settle into my pace and finish strong."

Cruise Bogedin - Place: 5th Elite Men – Time: 0:46:05"I originally didn't plan on doing this race because I wanted to recover from a hard week, but when I heard that everyone was going to be there so I couldn't pass it up. The day before the race I got my Top Fuel 69er back in shape to ride and I pre-rode the course, practicing all the river crossings. Race day I made sure to get a good warm up so I could start out strong. My teammate Bill caught me early on and we rode hard to the finish. He got the win and I cracked my first Elite top 5! I'm very glad I ended up racing. This will likely be my last local Mt bike race before I go off to school."

Robert Herriman - Place: 12th Elite Men – Time: 0:47:04"The Stony time trial is one of my favorite races. It really is a race of truth. Just how fast can you go? Weather was absolutely perfect! Because I'm still having some trouble finding my speed this year, I think I rode a little bit too conservative. Still, I gotta say, I'm really happy with my ride! Congratulations Bill!!!"

Simon Bailey - Place: 6th Expert 30-39 Men – Time: 0:52:38"Well, the Stony TT was much easier than the prior (wet and muddy) week at Ruby and I finished the race quite fresh, but when I saw my final time, I realized I should have gone a little harder! I guess I will have to wait for the XC race next month."

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Wilderness 101 - State College - July 26, 2008

2008-07-29T12:13:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (July 26, 2008)

Wilderness 101 - State College, Pennsylvania - Start Line Weather: Partly Cloudy - 61 Degrees - Calm Winds

Christian Tanguy - Place: 4th Open Men – Time: 6:59:13"Right after the first climb, a group of 8 riders was leading. Just before aid station #2 (40miles), I lost contact to the group on a downhill. In an effort to get back to the group, I increased the tempo on the flat fire roads. After a long time chasing, I caught up with the remainder of the group, 3/4 up the next major climb. At the top it was Chris Eatough, Harlan Price, Chris Beck and myself. It is now downhill; I get gapped on the technical descent making me chase again on the flats and up the hills. By aid station #3 (60 miles), Chris Eatough took the lead and increased the speed; Chris Beck could not follow. Usual story, I get gapped in the downhill. I am currently in 4th place. By the end of the downhill, Chris Beck was back; only few seconds behind. Between aid station #4 (74 miles) and #5 (89 miles), I got a flat tire, allowing Chris Beck and Brandon Draugelis to roll by me. I still wonder how the tire punctured as I was riding a smooth fire road??? Anyway, now in 6th place, I did again what I was doing all day: chasing on the flats and up the hills and try to limit the time lose on the descent. After a while, I was back to Brandon as we rolled to aid station #5 . There is only one medium size climb until the finish. My plan was to pass Chris Beck before the hill, then build a time buffer before the trails goes down. It worked well, and there are now only few miles of flat trails/roads to the finish line. My lead on Chris Beck was probably minimum, so keeping the effort high was mandatory... both my legs cramped at the same time.... try to stretch but it was not helping. I finally spin very easy for a few seconds and the cramps went away. Resume pedaling hard.... finish line! Yeah 4th place! Awesome!"

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Ruby Campground XC - July 20, 2008

2008-07-24T12:06:00.002-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & FitnessElite Mountain Bike TeamRace Report (July 20, 2008)

Ruby Campground XC – Avoca, Michigan Start Line Weather: Light Rain - 70 Degrees - NW Winds at 5 mph

Christian Tanguy - Place: 1st Elite Men – Time: 2:13:37 "Once more, the trails were really muddy. The slippery conditions made it a challenge to stay upright. I took the lead half way thru lap 1. Then I tried to keep a constant lap time, but a fall and a pit stop (clean glasses) cost me some time on lap 3. Definitely not the conditions I prefer but it was fun."

Simon Bailey - Place: 10th Expert 30-39 Men – Time: 2:15:19 "Ruby made me realize I need to hone my MTB'ing skills. I stayed with the leaders for the first 1/2 lap until I hit the muddy sections.....then I hit the ground...again and again. Finally, I settled into a 'slow' rhythm and completed the race. Awesome training though!"

Cory Dubrish - Place: 2nd Expert 19-29 Men – Time: 2:28:23

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Boyne Marathon – Boyne - 07/12/08

2008-07-18T11:47:00.000-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & FitnessElite Mountain Bike Team Race

Report (07/12/08) Rider results and comments from last weekend's race... Boyne Marathon – Boyne Falls, Michigan Start Line Weather: Fair - 72 Degrees - WSW Winds at 11 mph

Robert Herriman - Place: 4th Elite Men – Time: 3:39:00"Boyne is arguably the best mt bike race venue Michigan has to offer. With it's steep climbs, no guarantee you will clean them, and the pay off of all those fast fun downhills. Wow! I was able to ride with the lead group for the first several miles, then I settled into my groove. I'm really glad the weatherman's "doom and gloom" forecast was all wrong.. It was a spectacular day!!!"

Tom Markley - Place: 4th Expert Men 40-49 – Time: 04:38:09"In the words of my buddy who convinced me to go… "I lost my Boyne Virginity"… After experiencing Boyne, I realized that this was my first official mountain bike race. Not to take anything away from the Iceman, but 42 miles with 95%, challenging single track… It took one full lap just to loosen my grip on the brake levers. Once I settled into the race (or in my case ride, because I rode to finish, big difference for those of you who rolled to the line to RACE) I felt good but kept it conservative. This type of race explains why the Mountain Bikers always bring so much power to the road. Great venue, great weather, with a lot of good people to interact with afterwards… Count me in for next year!"

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Waterford Training Race – 7-10-08

2008-07-11T16:12:00.002-04:00

Gary’s (The race promoter) decision to delayed the start of the race 15 minutes due to a short rain shower was met with great approval by most of the 64 riders (45 “A”, 13 “B”, & 6 Women) Once the “A” race was underway, the pace was not all that fast as in weeks past, I think everyone wanted to ease into the race. This didn’t even last a whole lap before the attacks started. Also unlike weeks past, the first few breaks did not work, in fact, nothing got away for the first half hour. Then a group of 7 got off the front and built a 30 second lead over the field. The Wolverines were well represented in that group with Cory and Cruise. This group’s gap hovered at around 45 seconds for the next hour before a larger group of about 10 riders broke away from the pack in hot pursuit. This group containing Danny K. and Tim would eventually catch the lead group and drop a few to make a lead group of 14 riders. Danny sprinted for 3rd, Tim took 5th, with Cruise right on his heels in 6th and Cory held on for 10th. (Great ride by both of these riders to be in the break most of the day and still have a good finish). Meanwhile, back in the pack, John broke away with 5 laps to go and was joined by only Ray one lap later. These two were able to stay away to claim 15th for Ray and 16th for John. Simon and the new guy Ed finished in with the pack.

While we were playing around in the “A” race; Maia was busy dropping some of her competitors and out sprinting the rest to take the win in the women’s field on the first every ladies night at Waterford. Look out women of Michigan, Maia is back!

Michigan State Time Trial Championships – 6/29/08

2008-07-03T10:47:00.005-04:00

Despite heavy rains the few days prior to the race, the course was reopened to its original route Sunday morning when it was determined to be safe and free of hazards. Now this is one of the Wolverines races, so some of the team decided to volunteer to help out at the race instead of racing, but of the few who did race, we had some great results. We now have a new State Champion in our stable. Ray posted a time of 57:55 to take home the gold in the Master’s 45+. This time would have been good enough to place him in 6th pace in the Cat. 1-2 field. Way to go “God Father”.

The "God Father" and his new bling

This is all of the Wolverine results I could find; I hope I have not missed anyone.

Cat 1-2
6th Brian Kozeliski
12th Cory Dubrish

Master 45+
1st Ray Dybowski
4th Tim Faas

Men Cat 3
7th Scott Kroske

Men Cat 4
4th Scott Fabijanski

Men Cat 5
7th Michael Gardynik
8th Douglas McKibbon

Cory and George (Our lead course marshal)

left to right: Alex, Tim, Robert, Ricardo, and Bill (The 4 in spandex rode there bikes down to the TT to help out)

A special thanks to all who helped out at the event to make it a success.

Rockford Criterium – 6/28/08

2008-07-03T07:55:00.001-04:00

This is one of, if not the toughest crits in Michigan, featuring a nasty little hill and 2 very tight down hill turns that will challenge the best rides on a 7 turn 0.8 mile course. One rider went off the front in the first lap and then was joined by 7 other riders a few laps later to make up the winning break of 8. This group stayed away until the end with Graham Howard taking the victory. Meanwhile, Tim and Luke managed to make it into a 6 man chase group that managed to escape the Bissell controlled pack. Luke took second in the sprint for 10th overall and Tim held on for 13th.

Stony Creek Marathon - June 28th, 2008

2008-07-02T20:37:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & FitnessElite Mountain Bike TeamRace Report (June 28, 2008)Rider results and comments from last weekend's race...Stony Creek Marathon – Shelby Twp., MichiganStart Line Weather: Cloudy - 73 Degrees - SSW Winds at 12 mph

Robert Herriman - Place: 5th Elite Men – Time: 4:13:14"The trail was so muddy that a section of the course was closed off. I don't like slipping and sliding in the mud much, but I don't suppose anyone does. Still I get pretty nervous in the greasy conditions and ride safe to finish the race in one piece. At the end it was a bit of a shock that I wound up in the money."

Cruise Bogedin - Place: 9th Elite Men – Time: 4:41:22"With rain storms all week, stony was in pretty muddy shape. Two flats in my first lap set me back pretty far but I was determined to finish and I was very happy with the rest of my lap times."

Christian Tanguy - Elite Men – DNF"Due to the muddy conditions, the first lap was completed at a conservative pace. On the 2nd lap of 6, I accelerated and could distance the pursuers. I was able to increase the lead until the very end of lap 3, when I got a flat tire. No tools, no tubes,... I was not able to repair and continue. Nevertheless, I had a good time. Better luck at the next race. Congrats to Robert for a really good 5th place!"

Pat Russell - Place: 4th Expert/Elite SingleSpeed – Time: 3:02:50"I always look forward to riding in extreme conditions and I think this race qualified as extreme. I started at what I thought was a conservative pace but after two laps I knew otherwise. I quickly shifted into survival mode and talked myself into continuing. Two painful laps later I was surprised to see I met my goal of a top five finish."

Brian Kozeliski - Place: 1st Sport Men 35-39 – Time: 3:00:49"Wow. I was mentally exhausted after that race. My beginning technical skills and the muddy/sloppy conditions had me extremely focused on my bike handling. I opened up a big gap on the first lap and was able to hold everyone off despite being rather conservative on the remaining laps. I had fun, am happy with my result and the Gary Fisher HiFi is probably bummed I wasn't more aggressive."

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Superior Bike Fest - Marquette, MI 6-20-08

2008-06-30T12:45:00.004-04:00

It was a long drive up to Marquette (7 hours 20 minutes from the Pontiac area) but well worth the trip. This one will definitely be on the calendar for next year.

Danny, Topher (short for ChrisTopher, I just found that out), and Ray

The 3 day Omnium race format started Friday night with a down town Marquette twilight crit. We started off in the light, but it wasn’t long before we were in the dark. Not having raced in the dark in a while, a lot of us were tentative going through the corners at first, but most of us quickly became comfortable with it. The pack stayed together for the first few laps the hill started taking its toll and riders started dropping off the back. Two riders were able to get off of the front of the pack. Danny was able to make it into the chase group, but because of some confusion on the laps remaining he did not sprint for the finish and ended up 8th just being past on the line by Luke taking 7th. Cruise out sprinted John and Ray for 18th, 19th, & 20th respectively. Although the Cat 3’s got to race in the light, they did have to deal with rain that started falling half way through there race. While Cody and Scott were held up by a crash on the final lap, Alan Smith was able to pull out a 7th place, Scott ended up 11th, Cody 12th, and Doug was able to hold onto 14th.

John and Cruise under the lights

Saturday found us toeing up to the line for the start of a 107 mile road race with a 2 mile climb just after a 2-1/2 mile neutral start. The race conditions were perfect with temps in the low 70’s, partly sunny, and a very light breeze. The hill and the course took its toll on our team with only Danny and Cruise able complete the whole 107 miles taking 11th and 14th. Once again Danny was able to get into a small chase group, and Cruise did a great job staying with the big boys in what was left of the pack. The Cat 3 road race was over the same roads, but one lap instead of 2. As with the 1-2 field, the first hill caused a large split in the field, Cody and Alan managed to stay with the lead 11. Cody took home a fine second place in a photo finish against winner Mark Hotchkin from Grand Rapids. Alan finished in 7th, just one second slower in the tight sprint. Scott out sprinted the second group for 14th, and Doug rolled in for 19th.

Sunday was a 2 mile circuit race at the Sawyer International Airport. (Formerly Sawyer Air Force Base) The course had one hill, not big enough to break up the field, but that didn’t matter because the field broke up anyway, only not on the hill. It broke up before we hit the first turn, 200 meters from the start. Danny and Ray made it into the break along with about 6 other riders, so there was no need for Cruise, Luke and I to chase. Apparently the rest of the pack thought the same way because as soon as that group had a couple hundred meters on the field, we all just sat up and watched the disappear out of site. They quickly had a two minute lead over the field and looked destine to lap the pack before the end of the race, but eventually the pack picked up the pace to hold off from being lapped. Meanwhile, upfront, Danny and Ray were both working hard in the break to assure it’s success, Ray was even putting the hurt to them on of all places, the hill. The break stayed together for a sprint finish with Danny taking 5th and Ray grabbing 6th. Back in the pack, Luke finished 14th, Cruise got 20th, and John finished 24th. The 3’s field found themselves chasing one lone rider for most of the race, only to be caught in the last lap allowing them to set up for another bunch sprint to the line. Only 1-1/2 seconds separated the top 11 riders in this one with Cody grabbing another podium spot in 3rd and Scott finishing on his heals in 4th.

John and Cruise leading Frank Pipp and the rest of the pack

A special thanks to all involved in putting on this great event and an even bigger thanks to Tyler Jenema & Topher Chase’s families for Feeding, putting up with, giving us a place to stay, and making us feel welcomed while we were up there. Hope to see all of you again very soon. Also a thanks goes out to Tom for hosting a great party Saturday night. I want to go back already.

The crew infront of a B-111

Home of the Wolverine

Allen Park Crit - 6/14/08

2008-06-27T13:03:00.001-04:00

Allen Park Crit / Michigan Challenge Race # 7
90 min + 3 laps 58 starters / Averge Speed of race: 27 mph

WOW, Fast, fast, fast.... with a 22 riders breakaway the the field was pulled from the race when they were being laped with 15 minutes to go.

Top Wolverine American C & F Finishers:.
Luke Cavender - 8th
Tim Finkel - 12th
Ray Dyabowski - 16th

Reported by: Ray Dybowski

Waterford Thursday Race # 5 - 6/12/2008

2008-06-27T13:00:00.000-04:00

Waterford Thursday Race # 5

6/12/2008 / 2 hrs + 2 laps / 26 Starters
This race saw a break of 4 riders at the finish.

Top Wolverine American C & F Finishers:
Ray Dybowski - 1st
Tim Finkel - 4th
Cruise Bogedin - 6th
John Sammut - 12th

Reported By: Ray Dybowski

Cedar Creek State Road Race Championship 6-8-08

2008-06-27T12:50:00.001-04:00

Cedar Creek State Road Race Championship
Cat 1/2 race: 6 Laps/ 102 miles / 56 starter

First a round of applause for our 2008 State Road Races Champions:
Men's Cat 1/2: James Bruce - Lathrup Industries
Woman's Cat 1/2/3: Sarah Maguire - Bissell
Junior: Taylor Birmann - Priority Health
Men's Category 3: Jimi Minnema - Bissell
Men's Category 4: Tom Lincx - Blink Multi Sport / Woman's Category 4:Lauri Brockmiller - Hagerty Racing
Men's Category 5: Daniel Wolin - Team Active Racing
Masters 35+: Derek Prechtl - Hagerty Racing / 45+: James Ignash - Flying Rhinos Cycling Club / 55+: William Gilboe - Essex Brass

The 1/2 race was cut short because of "the Storm" in Grand Rapids, when it hit there it was just getting warmed up, in our area people lost trees and power.
Top finishing Category 1/2 Wolverine American C & F:
Cory Dubrish - 7th
Chris "Cruise" Bogedin - 10th
Tim Finkel - 13th
John Sammut - 32nd
Brian Kozeliski - 34th
Ray Dybowski - 35th
Adam McClounie - 39th

Reported by: Ray Dybowski

Hanson Hills - Grayling, MI - June 1, 2008

2008-06-16T07:02:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (June 1, 2008)

Rider results and comments from the race... Hanson Hills - Grayling, MI
Start Line Weather: Sunny - 67 Degrees - W Winds at 11 mph

Bill Clikeman - Place: 8th Elite Men - Time: 2:14:06 "Course is hilly, open, fast single track, you could pedal down a lot of the descents so there were few places to recover. From about mile 4 to the finish I didn't see anybody in front or behind me, so the challenge was to stay focused and keep pressing on."

Robert Herriman - Place: 9th Elite Men - Time: 2:15:02 "I didn't have the legs at the start to stay with the lead group and ended up on my own for the first 10 miles. I was caught by some guys with 20 miles to go and those guys set a great pace and it became a lot more fun. At the end I was feeling pretty good and rolled in all smiles."

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Waterford Hills Thursday Race #3 - 5-29-08

2008-06-04T15:55:00.002-04:00

The "A's"

Waterford Hills Thursday Race #3

46 Racers / 2 hours + 2 laps
The largest field, fastest and longest Waterford Hill Thursday Race to date. A steady diet of constant attacks and a quick pace was served for the first hour. A break finally pulled away and Tim Finkel and Danny Klein were able to bridge in just before it was gone for good. With some hard attacks on the final laps Tim used his energy to bring keep the break together allowing Danny Klein to out sprint everyone to the finish!

"A" Race:
Danny Klein (1st)
Tim Finkel (6th)
"Cruise" Bogedin (7th)
Robert Herriman (9th)
Scott Kroske (10th)
John Sammut (11th)
Field Finishers: Alan Smith, Luke Cavender, Cody Brown, John Coates and Ray Dybowski.

"B" Race:
Pat Russell (5th)
Scott Fabijanski (6th)
Don Amboyer (6th)

Posted by: Ray Dybowski

Gaslight Criterium (Grand Rapids) 05/26/08

2008-06-02T12:11:00.003-04:00

Back in the saddle again

Gaslight Criterium (Grand Rapids) 05/26/08

Women's race -

Maia - Gaslight is one of my favorite courses. Since I was still hurting from Frankenmuth, I planned not to compete...but as I watched the
races, I couldn't take it anymore! I had to join the women at the
starting line. It was attack after attack from the start, and I
managed to hammer away with them for three laps. After that, my
legs were cooked and my knees were suffering. I did a few more laps and then opted not to finish. All in all though, I was able to race two really nice courses and watch the awesome (and I mean awesome) Wolverine racing teams do the same. Go Wolverines!!

Michigan Points Race #4 PRO 1/2

90 minutes + 5 laps on a 4 corner, 1 mile course

65 racers

26.3 mph avg speed.
This race takes place in a small downtown area of East Grand Rapids. The race draws large crowds, is great for spectating and fun for racing. This years race drew a number of pro's in town for the UCI Tour of Leelanau the day before. The race started fast and got faster. A breakaway got away and Danny Klein bridged in to it. Ray Dybowski and Ken Vernier (Essex Brass) rode away from the field with 20 minutes to go and caught the break with a 1/2 lap to go.
Wolverine / American A & F finishers: Danny Klein (10th), Ray Dybowski (13th), "Cruise" Bogedin (17th), Luke Cavender (30th), Tim Finkel (33rd) and John Sammut (46th) Category 3/4: (Wow! 75 Starters) Scott Kroske (8th), Brent DelRosario (22nd), Doug Hedges (30th)

Reported by Ray Dybowski

Tour of Frankenmuth - 05/24/08

2008-06-02T11:48:00.004-04:00

Proof that Robert has and rides a road bike

Tour of Frankenmuth: 05/24/08 / 77 miles

This was the second year for the Tour of Frankenmuth Road Race. Unlike last years 40 degrees and rain, this year treated the racers to milder temps, sunny skies, lot's of wind and a lot more Pro riders which meant a lot more speed. An early break caused the pack to set a torrid pace from mile 20 to mile 45, this "popped" a number of racers who ended up watching the race from the side lines. Eventually, "Rocket Man" Danny Klein and fellow breakaway partner Jim Bruce (Lathrup Industries) gave it all to chase down the breakaway that was over 1 minute ahead of the group. The 15 mile effort cooked Danny but he was able to hold on for 8th. Luke Cavender won the Field sprint for 12th! (the final paying place). Other Wolverine / American A & F finishers: Tim Finkel (25th), Robert Herriman (29th), Adam McClounie (30th), Ray Dybowski (31st), and Christopher "Cruise" Bogedin in his first Pro 1/2 race finished 34th. Category 3 Race: Brent DelRosario (13th), Scott Kroske (14th). Category 4 Race: Scott Fabijanski (5th), Pat Russell (13th)

Reported by Ray Dybowski

Maia - all smiles after her first race of the year

Maia's report - I was so excited to race for the first time after being injured.
At Frankenmuth, I kept adjusting my position on the saddle to redistribute the tension in my legs. Luckily, I managed to stay with the pack until the final sprint and finished in fourth. However, my legs were in bad shape. I had to ice, wrap, stretch, and massage them just so that I could walk around.

Reported by Maia Orabi

24 Hours of Boyne

2008-06-02T11:43:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (May 24 & 25, 2008)
Rider results and comments from the race...
24 Hours of Boyne – Boyne Falls, Michigan Start Line Weather: Sunny - 60 Degrees - ENE Winds at 7 mph

Cory Durbish - Place: 2nd 4 Person Open - Time: 24:48:00 (27 laps)
"I did the 24 hours of Boyne with 3 of my friends from the U of M team. There were 3 teams competing in the 24 hour 4 man class, and the other big team was also composed of U of M guys. We had a good battle going throughout the evening into the night swapping the overall lead, until one of our guys had his light die about 4 miles down the trail. We ended up finishing 27 laps, just behind the other team's 28. It was a lot of fun, and we broke the existing 26 lap 24 hour record."

Report by Robert Herriman

Tour of Kensington Valley Road Race – 5-17-08

2008-05-21T07:09:00.002-04:00

Our Heroes of Kensinton Valley

97 mile road race
Rolling terrain
Starting conditions were in the high 50’s, overcast with a 13 mph wind. Shortly after the start the skies started to clear and all of the racers were treated to a dry and comfortable ride.

The Pro 1-2 race was the first race of the day to roll out. The race was not even one mile old when the first break of the day, containing Dan Klein, rolled off the front of the pack. This pack of 8 quickly built an advantage of 30 seconds over the 52 rider strong field. Around the half way mark of the race, things started to really break up into smaller groups. Despite having an early flat, Luke was able to make it into the first chase group. Ray, Cory, & Adam made a hard effort to bridge into the second chase. At the start of lap 9, and a reshuffling of the cards there was one lone lead rider out front, a chase group of 3 (Danny & 2 Bissell riders), a few stragglers, then a larger group with most of what was left of the field in it. Danny, after being in a break of one kind or another for over 96 miles ended up 4th, just being beaten to the line by one of the Bissell riders for 3rd.

Final standings Pro 1-2:
4th Danny Klein
14th Tim Finkel
19th Luke Cavender
22nd Cory Dubrish
29th Ray Dybowski
30th Brian Kozeliski
38th John Sammut
50th Adam McClounie (Flatted)

And 8 pair of very tired legs.

One special note: Our soon to be new Elite Team member Alan Smith pulled off a solo win in the cat 3 race. As of late, he has been flying having taken 2nd in the Waterford training race only 2 days earlier. Also in the Cat 3 race was Cruise taking 4th and Kroske with a respectable 10th. Way to go guys.

Danny - Posing

Alan - On the top step

Cruising home

Cory - Being Cory (Good finish for a sprinter on a hilly course)

Happy Boys

6 Hours of Addison - May 17, 2008

2008-05-20T15:24:00.000-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (May 17, 2008)

Rider results and comments from the race... 6 Hours of Addison – Leonard, Michigan Start Line Weather: Fair - 60 Degrees - WNW Winds at 11 mph

Christian Tanguy - Place: 1st Men 30-39 - Laps: 14"The nice weather encouraged me to race. The course, one of my favorites, was really bumpy and the suspensions were working overtime! A lot of fun, especially the last 100 feet, when you know that you will be able to finally rest the sore legs."

Alex Dolpp - Place: 2nd Men 30-39 - Laps: 12"65 degrees, a fast trail, lots of racers, relaxed atmosphere, flawlessly working bike and a positive surprise by finishing 2nd after 6 hours - this will be my new description of a perfect epic day."

Bill Clikeman - Place: 1st Men 40+ - Laps: 12"First race for me with full suspension (Trek Top Fuel) and what a difference it made, doing all those laps was still exhausting, but the bike kept the single track fun for the duration."

Robert Herriman - Place: 4th Men 40+ - Laps: 12"The plan was for some fun hard training, so mission accomplished. Weather was perfect and Christian, Alex, and Bill posted the three best, 6 hour solo rides of the day with Christian lapping us all, dang! A fun day!"

Posted by Robert Herriman.

Waterford Hills Thursday Night Training Race - 5-15-08

2008-05-16T16:04:00.002-04:00

Waterford Hill Thursday "A" Race 90 minutes + 2 Laps

This race had a new dynamic, they ran the in reverse! After riding this course the same way for 20 + years it was a whole new course. The race was a steady, fast speed from the gun because of Don Cameron (Specialized) setting tempo. Anyone that attacked, and a lot of people took a shot at the title, would get brought back to the group by the hard driving Cameron. With a lap to go, Alan Smith was able to get away with Cameron and finish just ahead of the group. A great lead out by Tim Finkel put Luke Cavender in the perfect position to win the field sprint.

Top WOLVERINE/AMERICAN C&F finishers:
Alan Smith (2nd)
Luke Cavender (3rd)
Tim Finkel (5th)
Scott Kroske (7th)
Ray Dybowski (12th)
Brent Delrosario (20th)

Waterford Thursday Race "B" Race:
Pat Russell (2nd)
Tim Rohaly (8th)
John Talbot (9th)
Maia Orabi (10th)

Posted by: Ray Dybowski

Cone-Azalia: Michigan Challenge Race 2 - 5-4-08

2008-05-06T15:00:00.003-04:00

Cone-Azalia: Michigan Challenge Race 2:

7 laps of a 10 mile road loop with 3 1/2 miles of dirt road. The race is known for wind, super rocky dirt roads and the view of racers with flat tires standing by the side of the road waiting for the support vehicle. This year’s race was tough, but seemed tame in comparison to years past. Oh yeah, there were flats that put riders out of the race or made them chase at full speed to get back into the race. There was wind, but not at the force that you normally get in the spring while riding the flat farmlands of Milan, Mi. And of course, there was the battle's between the toughness of the course, the power needed to go fast on the dirt and the luck to get to the finish line.

The Wolverine / American C&F team had 5 riders at the start of the Pro 1/2 race. On the first lap Tim Finkel was in a three person break that gained 30 seconds on the group only to his efforts turn into a beautiful waste of energy when the crossing guards came down, a train brought them to a stop and the group come back together. On the bright side, this also allowed Adam McClounie who flatted early in the first lap to rejoin the group before the train passed. Shortly after, a breakaway that grew to 7 or 8 riders escaped with Danny Klein and disappeared into the distance. On lap 4, a second breakaway of six, containing Cory Dubrish, Tim Finkel and Adam McClounie, took off and they were gone. Ray attacked the rest of the field on the last lap to get away with a small group and putting all 5 racers WSC Racers in the top 16.

Top Finishes Pro 1/2:

Danny Klein (3rd)

Cory Dubrish (7th)

Tim Finkel (11th)

Adam McClounie (12th)

Ray Dybowski (16th)

The Category 3 Race (5 laps) saw Christopher "Cruise" Bogedin(1st) win the sprint of a 2 person breakaway. John Coates(3rd) won the field sprint. And riders persevering to the finish.....Doug Hedges(13th), Scott Kroske(14th), Alan Smith(15th) and Brent Delrosario somewhere in the mix.

Masters 35+:

Simon Bailey (5th)

Cat 4:

Scott Fabijanski (10th)

Posted by: Ray Dybowski

Ray waiting for the start

Cory, Cruise, & Tim looking sharp in the new kit

They call me!...... "Tim"

Fort Custer XC - Augusta, Michigan - 5-4-08

2008-05-06T14:57:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & FitnessElite Mountain Bike TeamRace Report (May 4, 2008)

Rider results and comments from the race...
Fort Custer XC - Augusta, Michigan Start Line Weather: Sunny - 62 Degrees - SW Winds at 4 mph

Christian Tanguy - Place: 1st Elite Men – Time: 2:16:19 "Beautiful weather with comfortable temps. The trails were in the best conditions I have experienced. Smooth ride without any surprises until last lap where I had a slow leak on the rear tire. Stopped, put some more air and reach the finish line. Very good time!"

Bill Clikeman - Place: 8th Elite Men – Time: 2:23:04 "I was with a group of 3 for almost the entire race, which made the laps go by quickly as we kept the pace strong through the fun single track and long open sections of the trail."

Posted by Robert Herriman

Waterford Hills Thursday Night Races 05-01-08

2008-05-02T13:24:00.004-04:00

Robert Walking like an Egyptian

5/01/08 Waterford Hills Thursday Night Races: A Race 32 Racers / 90 min + 2 laps:

WOW, the field was strong and the wind was blowing just enough to make it a hard race. Don Cameron (Specialized) who loves to ride hard and pull long, drove a 9 person breakaway from the field with 80 min + 2 laps to go. The WSC had 3 riders in the break, Luke Cavender, Cory Dubrish and Ray Dybowski. Don did what he loves to do, ride a pace that puts the hurt on everyone that is with him, and didn't let up until the group lapped the field. With Luke & Cory (two of our fastest sprinters) in the group, Ray did his best at keeping everyone together as the strong guys from other teams took their shot at solo attempts to ride from the group. In the end it was a sprint between the 3 fastest guys in the group, Luke, Cory and Terry Palmer (Essex Brass). Terry started his sprint, Luke & Cory followed fast but the finish line came a little to soon and Luke and Cory finished just behind Terry. Top WSC Results: Luke Cavender (2nd), Cory Dubrish (3rd), Ray Dybowski (6th), Danny Klein (11th) and Robert Herriman (14th). In the pack sprint, Scott Kroske, Scottie Fab and Alan Smith.

Special thanks to John Sammut, giving his time to officiate so the rest of us could race!

Report posted by Ray Dybowski

Cory with his biggest fan, his dad George

Bloomer XC – Rochester, Michigan 4-27-08

2008-04-29T12:06:00.001-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & FitnessElite Mountain Bike TeamRace Report (April 27, 2008) Rider results and comments from the race... Bloomer XC – Rochester, Michigan
Start Line Weather: Fair - 52 Degrees - W Winds at 9 mph

Christian Tanguy - Place: 1st Elite Men - Time: 2:11:44"Despite a bad start, I was able to reach back to the lead within a lap. Then, the bike (Gary Fisher Hifi Procaliber) provided a smooth ride to finish line. Good weather, perfect trail conditions. Fun!"

Bill Clikeman - Place: 6th Elite Men - Time: 2:18:53"I started out mid-pack and worked my way up to 6th by lap 4 (of 5). Felt pretty good on laps 3-4 and had 5th place in sight during lap 4, but faded a bit on the last lap. Overall good conditions and fun day of racing."

Cruise Bogedin - Place: 8th Elite Men - Time: 2:22:16"The trail was in perfect condition for the race and of course the start was very fast. I started out in 10th and worked my way up to 8th. The full suspension Gary Fisher Supercaliber made the rough terrain of Bloomer a lot more smooth and enjoyable."

Robert Herriman - Place: 15th Elite Men - Time: 2:28:43"Just 2.5 weeks back to riding hard following three months of resting a back injury and my goal was to ride hard, not come in last place, not get hurt, and to have fun. I achieved all my goals!!! Following the race, I feel like I was hit by a truck and that's fun, right?"

Luke Cavender - Place: 1st Expert Men 19-29 - Time: 2:00:19"The race went well. I sprinted away right from the line and was gone. My back started giving me problems on lap 3 and I had to slow way down. On the last lap, I saw the second place guy for the first time and he was coming fast. So that last half of the 4th lap I took all the chances I could and just tried to block out the pain in my back and held him off by 45 seconds. The course was in outstanding condition and flowed really well. Had fun again racing with the fat tire people."

Brian Kozeliski - Place: 2nd Sport Men 35-39 - Time: 1:34:44"This was my first mountain bike race ever on bike I picked up on Thursday and had only ridden once before. I rode the Willow TT on Saturday and wasn't sure how I'd feel. I was so slow on the first single track section of the first lap that people were complaining about me. However, the bike (Gary Fisher HiFi Pro Carbon) made it extremely easy to quickly gain confidence, get into a groove and start reeling people in. My lap times really show that learning curve in action. I really enjoyed myself."

John Talbot - Place: 2nd Sport Men 45-49 - Time: 1:41:53"Loved the course! I now like switchbacks. Crashed 3 times, banged into some trees, had no idea what place I was in throughout the race. Gary Fisher 29er responded wonderfully. Still managed a sprint for the finish. Great time racing!"

Reported by Robert Herriman

No team work, No tactics, No drafting, just ride as fast as you can.

2008-04-28T12:15:00.005-04:00

The fast man.

That just about sums up a time trial. So, I have no reports about psyching out the competition with trash talk, or telling them how little you have trained the last few weeks. No launching attacks one after the other to wear down the other riders spirits, then hitting them hard when you see there head and shoulder slump just that little bit, and you know you have them. No, Just get on you bike and turn the cranks, it’s that simple. (You just have to overlook the constant pain you will be in during the entire race) Here are the results of all of the Wolverines at the Willow Park time trial on April 26th, 2008.

Women 35-44
Renee Schroeder 1st 35:07:41

Men Cat. 5’s
Mike Gardynik 9th 32:53:92
Fred Nemenski 34th 38:51:14

Men 45-54
Tim Faas 4th 30:58:65

Men Cat 4’s
Scott Fabijanski 3rd 30:42:52 Note: this is 4 seconds faster than our fastest cat 3 Scott Kroske. Mark this day down… April 26th, 20008, Fab beat Kroske senseless in a TT.
Steve Saunders 15th 37:30:63

Men Cat 3’s
Scott Kroske 5th 30:46:86 Note: this is 4 seconds slower than our top cat 4 rider Scott Fabijanski. Mark this day down… April 26th, 20008, Fab beat Kroske senseless in a TT.
Doug Hedges 12th 32:41:13

Mixed Tandem
Phillips/Aimore 1st 30:18:99
Kroske/Kroske 5th 52:50:85 Note: The Kroske’s time was a little off because Schuyler had to push her dad around the course because he had nothing left in his legs after his spirit was crushed by the spanking he received from Fab.

Male Tandem
Pacini/Caltride 1st 34:37:36

Cat 1-2
Ray Dybowski 4th 29:22:77 Note: The only WSC rider to break 30 minutes
Brian Kozeliski 10th 30:49:75
Dan Klein NDF Note: Danny ended his ride after experiencing bike problems

Kroske & Kroske rippin it up!

The fastest times of the day were:

Cat 1-2
Tom Burke 1st 28:06:06
Jonathan Card 2nd 28:06:15 Note: that’s fast and tight!

The boys, hard at work. They will have a great careers in road construction.

Tales from the Dirt - That Tanguy is amazing

2008-04-21T15:54:00.003-04:00

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (April 19, 2008)

Rider results and comments from the race...

Cohutta 100 - Ducktown, Tennessee
Start Line Weather: Rain - 57 Degrees - Calm Winds

Christian Tanguy - Place: 4th Open Men – Time: 7 hours 2 min "The trails and dirt roads were muddy from the rain the night before the race. The first section of the trail was quite slippery and all racers were riding conservatively to avoid a bad fall. After 10 miles, while in approx. 15th place, I got a flat tire. I chased pretty hard to catch up with the front of the race. When I finally reached back to the top 10, I got a 2nd flat tire. After a long time riding hard on the climbs, I caught up to Mike Simonson (Trek Midwest) and Harlan Price (Independence Fabrication). Although I felt sore and tired, both of them were also fading. Shortly after aid station 4, on another flat/uphill section, we all went on our separate paces. Few minutes later, I found myself reaching Chris Eatough (Trek Factory Team). We were riding together until the last aid station (number 6). Immediately after, in an uphill single track section, Chris Eatough lost contact. From that point on, I kept telling myself that no matter what happen, if he catches me or not, I was going to focus exclusively on my riding. Surprisingly, I was able to stay in front of him and finished 4th. Fantastic!"

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & Fitness Elite Mountain Bike Team Race Report (April 20, 2008)

Rider results and comments from the race...

Yankee Springs MTB Time Trial - Middleville, Michigan Start Line Weather: Fair - 57 Degrees - NW Winds at 5 mph

Bill Clikeman - Place: 2nd Elite Men – Time: 44'47"
"The normal trail direction was reversed for this event, which I found out as I was about to start a morning pre-ride. Trying to go fast on a now unfamiliar trail definitely added to the challenge. In either direction, though, this trail is seriously fun, and the weather was perfect."

Runway Plaza Training Race, Ann Arbor – 4-20-08

2008-04-21T12:58:00.000-04:00

It might have not been a total WSC dominance as in weeks past, but it was more than enough to get the job done and silence the naysayers. The job?..... Keep Ray and Danny in the 1st and 2nd spots in the spring training series. The closest racer to Ray’s title was the West Coast rider, Bart Carlson. We needed to hold him back from gaining more than 7 points on Ray and 4 on Danny. That meant that Bart was going to be the marked man. Now don’t get me wrong, Bart is a great kid, and is going to be one of Michigan’s best very soon, but we had a job to do. Thanks to a high average speed at the beginning of the race, the breaks were kept to a minimum, with those who did manage to get off the front not lasting very long. About half way through the race Tim was able to get into a 4 man break that had a good lead on the pack. This was a perfect scenario for us as we had a guy in the break, and Bart could not get one of the top 3 spots. This group stayed away for a while until Bart jumped across the gap. At that time, Tim immediately stopped working. This helped Ray who was dragging the whole field up to the break effectively ending Bart’s bid for the win. A few more breaks went off the front only to be pulled back in by the pack after only a few laps until Ray got decided that the best defense is a good offence and attacked with 3 other riders with 10 minutes left in the race. They held a tenuous lead until the last 2 laps when one rider jumped across the gap and still had fresh enough legs to out sprint the others for the win. Ray was able to just hold the hard charging pack off for 3rd, but more importantly Bart was not able to score any points in the race giving the WSC first and second in the series. Luke and Tim both had good sprints to finishes in the top 10 and Scott Kroske in the top 20. Scott Fab finished with the field in his first ever “A” race along with Danny, John, Cruise and Tom Markley. Great ride and team work guys.

I love this team! (But in a manly kind of way)

04/17/08 Waterford Hills Summer Series

2008-04-21T08:23:00.003-04:00

04/17/08 Waterford Hills Summer Series: A Race 90 min, 30 riders / B Race 60 min, 11 Riders

The "NEW' Thursday Night Race Series at Waterford Hills opened with warm weather and a few more talented racers fresh from training camps in warmer temps then what we have been experiencing.

After a number of early attacks the peloton split in two, with WSC riders, Danny Klein, Tim Finkel, Cruise Bogedin, Robert Herriman & Ray Dybowski in the front group. After a few laps of cooperated effort by the group of 12 to establish a lead, the attacks started flying. Ray found himself in a lead group of 3 riders with 20 minutes to go. Danny bridged into the lead group with Tim Saari (Essex Brass) making the group five strong and moving fast. With 500 meters to go the 5 started making their moves for the win only to see Danny accelerate by everyone for the VICTORY and Ray sprinting for 3rd. Once again, the W.S.C. had a number of riders in top placings: Tim Finkel(8th), Cruise Bogedin(9th), Alan Smith(12th), Brent Delrosario(17th) with Robert Herriman & Alex Dolpp bring up the rear.
Props for this victory has to go to the whole team, everyone did their part for an overall successful race, good job all.

The B race saw an exciting field sprint with Scott Fabajanski 3rd and Pat Russell 5th.

Reported by: Ray Dybowski

Thursday, April 17, 2008 Waterford Hills Summer Series

Wolverine Sports Club/American Cycle & FitnessElite Road Bike Team

Robert's Race Report (April 17, 2008)Waterford Hills Summer Series – Waterford, MichiganStart Line Weather: Cloudy - 73 Degrees - SW Winds at 7 mph
Robert Herriman - Place: 21st Category A"It was pretty fun. First time on my road bike in 7 months and my first hard ride of the year after some time off for a low back issue, and I'm racing and in an 11 man break with Danny, Ray, and Tim. Cool!! By mid race Ray, and then Danny, got away in a nice mix of guys and Tim and I knew things were looking good for the team. Tim and I got caught by the main field with about 5 laps to go and with about 2 laps to go I finally popped and just rolled in solo off the back of the main field. Wow, I don't recall ever finishing a road race off the back like that but I was still pretty happy I made it as far as I did. Hopefully just a few more weeks off the back and I will be back!"

Reported by: Robert Herriman

Pontiac Lake MTB TT

2008-04-18T12:26:00.002-04:00

Rider results and comments from the race...
Waterford, Michigan
Start Line Weather: Snow - 33 Degrees - ENE Winds at 21 mph
Bill Clikeman - Place: 2nd Elite Men – Time: 1:27:23"All the rain left the trail slippery in many sections which added to the challenge to go as fast as you dared and maintain a good pace for this long TT. Rode a steady first lap then upped the effort for lap 2."

Cruise Bogedin - Place: 8th Elite Men – Time: 1:35:50"Starting temps were in the mid 20's and there was snow on the ground, but once the race started, adrenaline took over and that didn't seem to matter anymore. The turns were a bit slippery, but it was good to be on the trails again. I embarrassingly missed the turn around point for the second lap and had to backtrack, which caused me to lose a good minute, but I still had a good overall ride."

Luke Cavender - Place: 2nd Expert Men 19-29 – Time: 1:34:26"There was about a half inch of snow on the ground at the start of the race. The course held up pretty well for the first lap, but on the second lap was pretty muddy and slippery."

Reported by: Robert Herriman

The weather may have been cold and dreary, but the WSC racers were hot!

2008-04-14T11:06:00.003-04:00

The weather was 42º and raining at the start of the 3rd and final Waterford training race of 2008. That didn’t stop the Wolverines from turning up the heat. The group stayed together for the first couple of laps of the 90 minute plus + 2 laps race. Then the attacks started, nothing was getting away at first, until a small group of 4 got off the front being led by our own Big Ray. This group was off the front for about a lap of the 1.4 mile course before Danny and Tony from the South Lyons team jumped across the gap to make the break 6 strong, and strong it was. This group steadily grew a comfortable lead over the next 20 minutes. Then Danny started to mix thing up with a few attacks. This tactic work perfect by wildling the lead group down to Ray, Danny, and Tony. The other 3 riders were quickly caught by the main pack. Now we have 2 of the 3 that are off the front, and with 20 minutes left, and there lead of over half a lap, I decided to see if I could get a second break going. It took 3 tries, but I was finally able to get away with 2 others. We worked well together and quickly built a comfortable lead of our own without even coming close to Ray and Danny up front. Meanwhile, Danny and Ray disposed of there break away companion, and charge off the front of the now lapped main pack heading for a 1-2 finish for the Wolverines. (Ray got the official win) Little Tony hung in there for 3rd, you got to give a hand to that kid, I think he’s only 15 or 16 years old and able to hang with the big guys. Watch out for that kid in a few years. (That warning is for the pro’s, because that’s where he is going to be) I thought I had taken the sprint for 4th, but Official Steve said that Todd just nipped me on the line, so I had to settle for 5th (I still want to see the film on that one) And to top things off, Alan Smith took 3rd in the field sprint for 9th overall, not bad for someone still recovering from a bad cold. Way to hang in there Alan.

Ann Arbor Runway Plaza Training Race, WSC’s total domination.

Another cold day of racing. It was snowing at my house when the race was do to start in Ann Arbor, yes, I was home and not in Ann Arbor, I wasn’t up to driving 75 minutes each way to go and race in the snow. Call me what you want, but one cold and wet race per weekend is enough for me. Fortunately Ray and Tim didn’t feel the same way and went out to brave the conditions and kick some but, and that they did! After repeated attacks Tim and Ray were able to split the field in half. Then after establishing a good lead proceeded attacking the lead pack and dwindled the numbers down to 4. Tim, Ray and 2 Priority Heath riders. Again, not satisfied, the started attacking these 2 near the end of the race until Ray was able to get away by himself for the second win in 2 days. Tim was able to out sprint the other 2 riders for 2nd place completing the total domination of the race by the only 2 Wolverines in the race. Oh, and they won all 5 primes. With Ray’s rugged good looks and Tim’s kill smile up on the first 2 steps of the podium, Hollywood could not have written a better script.

So, to recap, 2 days of racing, 2 wins, 2 seconds, a 5th, and a 9th. Great job guys!!!!

Runway Plaza crit in Ann Arbor 4-6-08

2008-04-07T16:11:00.002-04:00

The racing out at the Runway plaza this weekend started out fast, and didn’t slow until the checkered flag had dropped. There were a few more riders than the previous day’s race, and a lot of fresh legs. This contributed to the high speeds and many attacks. Many attacks went away only to be pulled back by the hard charging pack until a group of 8 got more than away half way through the race. They kept about a 20 second lead in front of the pack for a few laps until a few more riders jumped across the gap to make the lead group swell to 13. That’s when the main pack sat up for just a few seconds, and they were gone. This suited us just fine having Ray, Danny, & Tim in the lead group. Our odds of ending up with a high placing looked good, so none of the WSC riders weren’t going to help out in the chase. A few riders tried in vein to get a chase going, but gave up with 15 minutes left to go when they realized that the lead group had lapped the field. The lapped riders were finished 3 laps early to keep things clean, this led to some confusion with our guys up front, this caused Danny and Tim to start there sprints early. Even with all of the confusion, Ray was still able to hold on for 7th, while Tim and Danny ended up 10th and 12th respectively. One other bright spot on the day’s race was our young lad Alan taking 3rd overall in the field sprint for 16th overall and Kroske hanging it out for 18th. Brent, Tom and I all finished in the pack.

Waterford Hills training race 4-5-08

2008-04-07T15:46:00.004-04:00

Sunny and in the high 50’s, this was welcomed change in the weather, and the first time this year I have ridden in temps above 50. The warm temps helped bring the number of riders in the “A’s” field up to 48.

The Wolverines were once again attacking from the gun and often during the race. There was never a break without a WSC jersey in it. We were also, more often than not the instigator of the breaks. But despite all of our efforts to get a break way from the pack, the field was having none of it, and the race came down to a field sprint. With most of the team’s efforts going toward breakaways, there was not much left for a field sprint, so it was left up to the 2 newbies (Alan and Kroske) and the old guy (me) to fight it out for the sprint. Even through I didn’t do my job organizing a lead out for Alan, he was still able to get to the line in 10th place. Simon snuck in just ahead of me for 15th. (I was 16th) Despite the fact this was the first race of the year that we didn’t put someone on the podium, the Wolverines had a great race, and we even had members from other teams telling us how hard we made the race. Ray, Danny, Tim, Brian, Adam and Scott all finished in the pack. The average speed was reported at over 26mph.

Ann Arbor training race 3-30-08

2008-04-02T14:52:00.002-04:00

Sunday, Ann Arbor Criterium
60ish racers
55 min
24.5 mph avg speed:

Ray Dybowski(3rd) and Scott Kroske (11th) in a competitive race. Tim Finkel had a strong ride and helped Ray control things after the 6 person breakaway lapped the field. New to the "A field" in Ann Arbor, Scott Kroske, Alan Smith, Brent Delrosario & John Coates had strong finishes and raced with growing confidence from their winter fitness.

One for one in 08

2008-03-30T10:23:00.002-04:00

Danny started off the Wolverine season in fine fashion with a win at Waterford race track, the first training race of the year. In typical Danny style, he launched an attack at the gun and never looked back. He stayed away with one other rider for the first 10 minutes, unfortunately that rider could not handle the pace and dropped back only to be replaced by 5 other riders including our own Luke Cavender. Now, with 1 hour left in the 90 minute race, we had 2 riders in a 6 man break, and they were gaining time with every turn of the pedals. This was helped along with some fine blocking tactics from the 9 other Wolverine riders. The break continued to gain time for the next 45 minutes with the pack staying in one piece, until I decided to drop to the back and grab a snack and a drink. The next thing I know, the pack is in two large groups, and Brian, Alan and I were caught on the wrong side of the split. Despite all of our efforts, we could not get the group to work together to get back to the front group. In the mean time, Tim had managed to get into a three man chase group. Cruise made a late move with one lap to go and was able to hold off the field for 9th, and Ray brought home the main pack for 10th, just ahead of Terry Palmer. Danny was able to out sprint his 3 remaining breakaway companions to take the first win of the year, in the first race of the year. Although Luke was not able to hold the front group to the end, he was able to hold the chasers off for 5th place. With Tim taking 7th, that gave 5 of the top 10 places to the Wolverines. Simon finished in the main pack, and Brian, Alan, and I finished in the back group. Not a bad start to the 2008 season.

Ray getting some help dressing from Alan and Scott.

Danny, in the break

Tim in the chase group

The crew - left to right: Cruise, Tim, Danny, Luke, John, Ray, Alan & Brian. Kroske was taking the picture, and Simon is hiding behind Rays left leg.

I’m not going to write Scott into my blog cause he wants me to………..

2008-03-18T14:08:00.008-04:00

The actual lyrics to Sara Bareilles hit song is: “I’m not gonna write you a love song ’cause you asked for it” This song is still resonating in my ears after hearing Scott Kroske sing it to us over and over throughout the weekend, most of the time with a few words changed hear and there to fit his mood.

The weekend training camp up at Ray’s father-in-law’s cabin, “The Buck-N-A” Ranch, started out with Tim sliding off of the ¾ mile long driveway. It didn’t take us long to hook up the tow rope and get him, Angela, & Alan out of there predicament. After all of the newbies were done ogling the huge log cabin and we had all of the sleeping arraignments settled, we got dressed and headed out for our ride. We did a mostly flat 67 mile loop with a few hills in the middle just to give use a couple of efforts. We were almost done with our ride when two ladies in a car passed us pointing and staring, as this is nothing new to us, no one gave it a second thought until they turned around just a bit up the road. Now, most of use are very seasoned riders, and we all know that when a car turns around, it’s usually not a good thing, so all eyes were locked on this car in case we had to react. Much to our surprise when the two women made there second pass, this time in the opposite direction, they did not flip us off or through something out the window at us as we half expected, no, instead both women flashed us by simultaneously lifting there tops. It took a few seconds to set sink in, what we had just seen, but then all eight off us busted out laughing, some to the point of tears. We returned to the cabin to find that Megan, Angela, Sarah, & Aimee had dinner almost complete, the only thing left for use was to cook up the Salmon. (Which Ray did out on the grill) And then we ate like kings. After the meal, we all sat around the fire and told stories of races past, great rides, bikes, and flashing women. It must have been close to midnight by the time the hot tub was warm enough for us to climb in, so we all grabbed another drink, changed into our swim suits, and continued the party out on the deck under the stars. It is a day that none of us will soon forget.

Saturday started out with a huge breakfast, most of us had the soon to be famous Tim McMuffin ver. 1.1 or 1.2. Around noon Ray led us on the West Branch loop. Lots of hills. After most of us completed our 100 mile day, we returned to the cabin to find out that the girls had gone to the store and got steaks for dinner. A quick soak in the hot tub before dinner, and more stories around the fire place afterwards was the end to another great day up at camp. We all agreed that if we had our choice of ground hogs day, this would have been the day to live over and over throughout eternity.

Sunday’s breakfast was steak and eggs prepared by Alan. Most of us had to get out early to make the Wolverine Banquet that night, so we decided to just do an easy 35 mile to round out the 200 mile weekend. Thanks once again to the girls we came back to a squeaky clean cabin. The mood was a little somber as we finished our packing, but we all vowed to return next year, or sooner, to do it all over again.

Note: Always read Ray's e-mails carefully

Mmmmmmm....... grilled Salmon

And the biggest story teller of them all.......

Looking a little tired after 100 miles.

Our wonderful support crew, from left to right, Megan, Angela, Aimee, & Sarah

Sarah's cookies were the best!

A BIG thanks to our sponsors, new and old

2008-02-29T12:41:00.001-05:00

First of all, I would like to thank our past sponsors who continue to support our team. American Cycle & Fitness, Industrial Inspection, LeMond & Trek bicycles, just to name a few.

Secondly we would like to welcome our new sponsors into the Wolverine family.
Qolium, a New Zealand company specializing in all natural sports cream, oils, and lotions.
Dick O'Dow's, the best Irish pub in the greater Detroit area located in Birmingham.
Tifosi Optics will be protecting our eyes from the sun and flying debris.
Engineered Athletics, a high performance sports studio offering physiological testing and custom training programs.

Without these sponsors it would be impossible to support our Jr. program or even have a team.

Tuesday/Thursday Indoor Training Series

2008-02-29T08:32:00.006-05:00

OK, I know it's been 87 days since my last posting, but for me, winter is more family time and less bike racing stuff. But now the race season is coming up quick with the Waterford spring training series only 4 weeks away.

So, What have we been up to, you ask. Many of the Elite team have been doing the Tuesday/Thursday Indoor Training Series. Twice a week Big Ray would lead us through a work out. The series averaged 25 riders per night, with a total of 62 different riders that showed up to give it a try. Our largest one day turnout was 37 .

Waterford Cyclo-Cross State Championship 12-2-07

2007-12-05T13:08:00.001-05:00

A couple inches of fresh snow, temps in the mid 30's, and heavy fog, now this is cross weather. The whistle went off and the sloshing began. The races that raced on the course before our Masters 35+ race had made somewhat of a path for us to follow, but it also made the corners muddy. It was the most fun I have had in the snow in a long time. Check out the pictures and Ray's report below.

Oh ya, John Meyers won the 35+ race with Jason Lummis taking Silver and Terry Ritter grabbing Bronze. Simon ended up 11th and won the overall series. I slotted in 17th on the day. Matt Baroli won the 45+ race and Mike Wissink came out on top in the Elite race.

This in from Ray:

State Cyclocross:

Well, it was cyclocross weather, but was not near as bad as it looked, and trust me when I say, it looked bad. (Snow, rain, ice, a good day to ride the trainer or lay on the couch and watch movies) In fact, the hardest thing to do was coming up with the motivation to get out of the car and on the bike; because I was still mostly clean & dry when the race was over. Did the 45+ Masters race, didn't get a good start. Rode the first lap in 8:15, the leaders were just under 7 minutes. Wow, off the back, way off the back! As the laps went on (6 in total) I did get faster, my last lap was a 7:15. Anyway, rode the entire race in last place until I caught a guy with about 1/2 a lap to go, thanks to some motivation from John Sammut, and put the pass on him over the last double barricade (1/8 lap to go), held him off to the finish to put me in the TOP 10! Yeah baby! (oh, did I tell you there were only 11 starters.) Watch out, now I'm inspired, next year I'm rocking the Cross circuit!

Iceman 2007 10-10-07

2007-11-13T14:22:00.000-05:00

This is a recap of Iceman from Ray;

The Iceman treated me Well! I did a 1:54:05, I figure I could have cut 5 minutes on a clean (nobody in my way) trail. I avg 2 k/mph (1.24 mph) faster then last year. Most of the best riders were in the lower 1:40's.
Top Three Pro"s
Brian Matter - Hyundai - 1:30:30
Mike Simonson - Bell's Oberon - 1:31:03
Jermey Horgan-Kobelski - 1:31:11
*inspirational: 52 year old Ned Overland was 6th - 1:34:21

The race: 93 starters in my category. I took off from the gun leading the first mile when we went into a sand pit and I lost it. (didn't crash but did stop) By the time I got the momentum going 30 to 40 riders had passed me. Went into full TT mode, started picking off riders. I must have gone into aggressive mode also since I had a number of riders yelling at me as I flew by them. (creative passing?) As I started catching and passing riders from my category, then stragglers from the other waves. (About 500 Expert men/women, single speeds, & tandems had already started) I heard more yelling! I had no idea what place I was in or where the front of my group was.

Hit the first long section (about 8 min.) of single tracks behind 8 riders that were following a tandem, nobody gives up the trail no matter how loud I yelled "track"! Hit the roads and two-track in all out TT mode, flying through packs and cutting outrageous turns trying to shorten the course. More creative passing, more yelling! Hit the next single track behind a tandem, more yelling!

Anyway, with about 3 miles to go I caught a rider from my category, raced him for a while and then dropped him with the sound of "Beep Beep, Mother Beep" (censored). Went into the last single track behind a slower rider, my encouragement didn't make her go faster or get out of my way. By the time I came out, I didn't know it but the rider I dropped was on my wheel again. (he told me later he had a clean ride through the single track and was surprised to see me) I went up the last hill well but he went up better and passed me at the top. Paced him into the "chutes" but I couldn't find a place to pass, lost his wheel on a tighter then expected turn. He beat me to the line by 6 seconds throwing his hands in the air.

Trust me, until then I didn't know if I was in 30th or 10th. I rolled up to him and asked if he had just won, he said "No, I'm second, 1st place was about 45 second up". So, I finished 3rd in my category, same as last year. However, this year I was 34 seconds behind 1st, last year 7 minutes. I'm sure the mistake at the beginning cost me a shot for victory at the end.

Veterans Park Cyclo-Cross 11-3 & 4

2007-11-07T12:01:00.000-05:00

The weather was a little more like what cross weather is supposed to be, high 40's, but still dry. This race was set up at Veterans Memorial Park in Ann Arbor, a mostly rough grassy course with only about 10 feet of pavement and not much more dirt sections. The organizer did a good job using the hills that were available to make the course challenging, they were even able to through in a 40 foot run-up that took it's toll on the riders. The race didn't start out great for me, in the first 200 meters my bike started making an awful noise when I would shift into the big ring. After a few attempts to cure the problem on the fly, I conceded and had to stop only to find my cable end rubbing the tire and the frame. The noise was a lot worse than the problem actually was. By the time I remounted I was in last place. It took me the rest of the first lap and all of my adrenaline to catch back onto last place. I was able to pass a couple of riders before the effort of the first lap caught up to me and I started fading. Let's just say my only reward on the day was not to get lapped. All the while I was fighting it out at the back, Simon was fighting it out at the front. From the few times that I saw him during the race he was in the lead group of 4. Simon said that Jamie Parker countered his last lap attack to pull away from him and Terry Ritter to take the win with Terry out sprinting Simon for second. Another fine podium finish for Simon. (I don't think he has finished off the podium all season).

Simon was once again on the podium Sunday, this time finishing second to Don Cameron, and one step up from Jason Lummis. I am told that the course was run backward, but most of the course was unchanged.

Halloween Ride 10-28-07

2007-11-06T21:49:00.000-05:00

So this is my best attempt at self humiliation. I think I succeeded.

The 9 brave (or crazy) soles.

Yes, that's me as "The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man" next to Cruise as a "Power Ranger". (though I don't know which one)

Win Number 2! - Lower Huron Metro Park 10-21-07

2007-10-23T13:10:00.000-04:00

This just in from Simon

Again we were blessed with another wonderful (if a little windy) fall day in Michigan as we all lined up for race number 5 at Lower Huron Metro park in the Tailwind cyclocross series. I was a little nervous on the startline because I knew the first hurdle of the race, a 20 meter sandpit, was going to cause problems for the 35+ racers as we all charged upon it, eager to make good time on the first lap. And so the whistle went off and we all raced up the 200m of asphalt before hitting the grass. I quickly settled into a rhythm and found myself nicely placed in about 4th spot by the time we hit the sandpit. And then disaster struck. As I tried to ride through the sand, my front wheel dug in deep and I came to grinding halt. I then carried my bike through the sand but when I went to remount I realized my chain had come off. So, by the time I put on my chain and got back on the bike, I was clearly in last place. So, I then had to stay calm and pick my way through the field and work my way back up to the front. Fortunately, the pace didn't seem too fast and so I was able to claw my way back up to the leader by the time I was completing my second lap. And then it was only four laps to go. So, for the next two laps and I sat in and tried to save my energy. By the fourth lap, I started to feel good so I put in a hard effort as we came off the tarmac and surprisingly I quickly got a gap. Then, I carefully dismounted BEFORE the sand and carried my bike so as not to loose my lead. By the end of that lap, I had got a nice 10sec cushion that I then just held onto for the remaining two laps. And finally, I looked over my shoulder as I entered the finishing straight to make sure I was in the clear, and rode home to my second win of the season.

Simon A. Bailey

Stony Creek Cross Race 10-07-07

2007-10-16T08:45:00.000-04:00

Another hot and sunny cross race, this one at Stony Creek Metro Park.

Simon leading the pack through the sand on the first lap.

Considering this race was only 4 miles from my house, I decided to make this race my return to Cyclo-cross racing after a 7 year hiatus. So I lined up next to my teammate Simon and said my goodbyes as I new it would be the last time I would be near him until we were having a glass of cider after the race. The course, designed by Jeff Weinert, started off with about 200 meters of black top leading into a fast grassy section, an off camber loop around a tree and onto a short 2 track, right turn back onto more grass and a 180 at the bottom of a small decent. Next we made our first pass by the wheel/bike pit, a hard right back onto the 2 track. We would wind around a few trees and barriers for the next part of the course before coming to the first taste of the sand, 7 or 8 step around a drum in the middle of a volleyball court and you were through it, not bad I thought, more grass then back to the volleyball court. I dismounted and ran through, though some rode this part because it was a straight shot, I didn't because it through to much sand up into the drive train. A short section of soggy grass then came the "Beach", I was calling by other names, but I will keep this clean. 75 meters of sand, deep soft sand. The heart would sky and the legs would burn every time through, and I would have a few choice word for Jeff, the creator. After crawling back onto the bike I would make my way around the last few trees back to the finish line. Repeat 5 times. Simon couldn't out kick Terry Ritter in what I am told was a very close sprint finish. (I was still on the back side of the course finishing my last lap.

1 RITTER, TERRY
2 BAILEY, SIMON
3 VANI, ROBERTO
4 BAROLI, MATT
5 SELLE, ROB

Oh ya, I ended up 15th. This is me slogging through the sand.

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

2007-10-02T08:13:00.000-04:00

After a long summer of working two many hours and riding too little, I finally got back into the saddle and kicked off the cyclocross season with a race at the Tailwind KTR double cross Masters 35+. The pace of my first ever Masters cross race seemed ok at first and for 1/2 a lap I felt there was a chance that I could survive with the leaders. But a lack of racing miles soon took there toll and all I could think about for the remaining 40 minutes was that I was grateful I wasn't doing the Elite race. In the end I rolled over the line in sixth place with a big smile on my face, just happy to be racing again and already looking forward to another race the following week.

Simon at the KTR race

At Bloomer the following week, I managed to get a good position on the start line and as the whistle blew, I quickly found myself at the front of the pack. As my legs felt better than the week before, I threw caution to the wind and decided to put a hard lap in. That seemed to pay off and for the remainder of the race, I jockeyed between 1st, 2nd and 3rd position with a very strong Terry Ritter and Bill Clikemon. In the end, it came down to a sprint finish for the line with Bill leading out the sprint. I think lady luck was on my side because I don't think Bill or Terry gauged the finish right, so I jumped first and caught them both off guard and sailed home to my first 35+ cyclocross win. Here is a picture from the KTR cross.

Simon A. Bailey

Bloomer Cyclocross Race - 9/30/07

2007-10-01T13:06:00.000-04:00

Mid 70's, sunny, and light breeze out of the south, sounds like a perfect summer, except it was September 30th in Michigan, not mid summer, and definitely not cross weather. Well, the hard cord riders may not have liked the weather, but the spectators and one official sure liked it. (Yes, I was the one official, so I had a really good seat for all of the action) Simon was the only WSC rider in the 35+ field of 15 or so. After the dust had settled from a furious start, Simon found himself in the lead of a strong group of 7. The lead was exchanged a few times during the 6 lap race, but Simon was able to out sprint the 2 guys that were left with him at the end to take his first cross victory of the year.

Tour Of Leelanau

2007-09-18T07:27:00.000-04:00

My 2 cents:

Pre-Race:

I arrived in the parking lot at about 12:05pm, which meant the rest of the squad had been waiting for me for about a half hour because we all had to sign in together. Sorry guys. I think I started getting my stuff on at about 12:20. Luckily, my girlfriend (Raychel) was there to help. I changed into my uniform using her as a barrier between my nude rear end and some elderly female spectators who probably weren't expecting to see such an early attack. Raychel then pinned my numbers on for me.... it is now 12:40 (ask her). I had time to use the restroom and have a quick energy drink before the announcer called us to the start line at about 12:50. I rode through the parking lot and up the hill to join the other riders. I like to call this warm up part 1. The next ten minutes consisted of riders being called to the front, the national anthem, and the 5, 3, and 1 minute warnings. Most of the time I was thinking to myself, don't be "that guy" who throws up at the start line. Then we were off.

The Race:

The peleton hit about 32mph as soon as we turned onto M-22. I remember this because Tim said, "oh sh*t my computer isn't working." And I said, "we're going 32." It stayed around 30 mph until about a mile in when there was a big crash and I had to go off the road to avoid it. Then I had to chase at about 34mph for about 1/2 mile to catch back on. I like to call this warm up part 2. the race stayed fast for the next 40 miles or so as the pro's kept attacking off the front and the peleton tried to chase. At about 50 miles in there were only a few pros remaining in the peleton and I started thinking about Tower Road. It was around then when another break went with about 15 or so riders, some pro, some not (as I remember it). It was decision time; chase and risk blowing up on Tower or hang out and hope to catch them later. My legs chose the latter. Tower Rd (mile 60) seemed shorter but steeper than last year, but I had pretty good legs for it. I also got an extra boost from what seemed like a hundred fans gathered Tour de France style at the top. We passed through single file to the sound of ear-ringing cheers and clanging bells.That was fun. The next 50 miles or so was basically a group of about 15-20 riders occasional trading pulls against the wind at around 22mph. As the miles slowly wound down I was really just thinking about how cold I was and how much my body ached and how much I wanted to get off my bike. The "race" seemed to be too far up the road to think much about. As we made the turn onto the ramp that led up to the finish, Robert took off and I jumped to try and catch him. At first, I didn't see any fans on the hill and I thought, did they pack up and leave already? But they came into view and cheered as loud as ever as we rounded the last bend and crossed the line. I think about 3 riders passed me in the last 20 yards or so, including Tim. Raychel said she was counting and that I was about 38th. Much better than I would have guessed 20 miles prior.

Post-Race:

I spent the next half hour or so shivering and talking about the race with other riders and giving my dad the play-by-play over the phone. Then Tim's girlfriend Angela drove Robert, Tim, Raychel, and me back to my car. I said bye and thanks and changed my clothes and Raychel drove the 4.5 hours home. Should I have jumped on that break before Tower Road? I don't know.

Robert Dobbie

And the other Robert wrote:

My 2007 Tour De Leelanau race report...
Getting ready for the event and I see all kinds of pro teams I have only heard about before. I'm started to wonder if it's just silly of me to start. I'm starting to think this race is kind of a big deal. The bike feels a little strange for a mile or so, it's only my 3rd time on a road bike since last year's Tour de Leelanau. Wow, just rolling out of town and things are already scary fast and furious. A multi rider crash right in front of me at mile one and I'm wondering, what have I gotten myself into. The first quarter of the race was pretty painful. I was on the rivet most of the time and I was concerned that I could survive to the end. Finally with a strong group of about 20 guys up the road by mile 35 things started to settle down a little. Whew! So now we are in what I figure is the main field, maybe 50 guys. That group rolls along for the next 20 miles trying to keep the gap to the break manageable. At mile 55 on the Hlavka road KOM a little gap formed in the middle of the field. I wasn't too worried cause all the KOMs seem to create little gaps and we all seem to come back together on the other side, but unfortunately not this time. We loose another 15 guys. That group is in site for quite a while but everyone is getting tired and motivation to work is low so looks like this bunch may be racing for about 35th place, AKA nothing. The rest of the way was a bit like a 110 mile, fairly hard, training ride, with feed zones, support crews, a rolling enclosure, and cheering fans all along the way. Near the end I started asking the other guys if they were gona race to the line when we got there. I wanted to, but I didn't want to look like a dork if everyone else was just going to soft pedal in. I didn't get a clear indication from anyone that they want to contest 35th position.. Oh well, I was gona go hard at the end anyway. Approaching the last turn I was about 3rd wheel trying to keep an eye out over my shoulder for anyone making a jump. I learned on my first TDL that there's not a lot of position changes after that turn so I wanted to be first right there. Made my jump into the turn and went for it. Looked back and was happy to see the other guys wrestling their bikes up the hill. Dang, suddenly that short little hill seemed a lot longer than I remember and my legs were getting angry with me, but I stayed on the gas and rolled across best of our group in front of a huge crowd of people that lined the finish chute area. I'm so glad I was allowed the opportunity to race. Turned out to be another awesome Tour De Leelanau.

Robert Herriman

2007 Priority Health Tour de Leelanau Men's Results
1 PELTONEN Garrett Priority Health 4:21:03
2 ROTH Ryan Kelly Benefit Strategies 18
3 ZWZANSKI Scott Priority Health 1:28
4 KING Ted Priority Health 2:36
5 PERRAS Dominique Kelly Benefit Strategies 2:38
6 BOWMAN Daniel Kelly Benefit Strategies 2:59
7 ENGLAND Rich Priority Health same time
8 ALBERS Kirk Saurn of Toledo 3:05
9 HENRY Timothy Jittery Joe's 3:08
10 ZIRBEL Tom Priority Health 3:14
.........
34 Robert Herriman
37 Tim Finkle
38 Robert Dobbie

Thanks to Aldo and Robert H. for the pictures, and the 2 Roberts for the stories.

The Last Ciociaro of 2007

2007-09-17T12:18:00.000-04:00

Thursday September 13th, 2007, 6:15pm. The start of the last Ciociaro training race for the 2007 season, and for most of us the, the last race of any kind until next spring. (6 long months away) Before the start of the race, Aldo announced that Danny already had enough points to wrap up the sprints competition, and that there would be an awards banquet on the 21st at the Ciociaro Club where he and the other winners would be honored. Danny once again attacked from the gun but was not allowed much before the pack responded and chased him down. He kept attacking, and counter attacking until he managed to get away in a group of 8. This group stuck together for a few laps before 3 of the riders were dropped and the final group of 5 settled in to fight it out for the final. Although the lead group was off the front for over half of the race and came close to lapping the main pack, they could never quite close that last gap. Danny ended up taking 4th, and John (That's me) took 3rd in the field sprint for 8th. So that was the end of our road season, we will have to wait to see what the other boys did up in Leelanau.

This just in from John C. on Superweek

2007-09-07T16:00:00.000-04:00

Race Report #11,, Wednesday, July 25th, Superweek Stage 12 Pro/Am Criterium, Green Bay, WI, 100K. The post-race vibe…
Warm, swimmingly humid, the race was 100K or 62 miles, 50 laps on a flat, speedway course – wide open and flat – right up my alley. The race seemed to last forever and the heat and humidity took their toll. However, the wide course and open corners meant that I never even hit my aerobic threshold until 2 laps to go. When it was finally “my time,” I was relatively fresh, strong, and ready to sprint.
I moved up into position with a couple laps to go. Not to the top 10 like I would in a course with tight corners – instead to about 20th as I knew that in the final laps there would be a series of surges, and that being too far out front would lead to being swallowed up by the pack.
I was sitting pretty in about 20th place with one lap to go when it happened again – the screeching of metal on concrete as a crash occurred right in front of me.. again.
I was moving at 30mph at the time and I braked so hard that I have a flat spot on my rear tire from the long skid. Even as I skidded and avoided, I saw Ben Renkema – former Wolverine and fellow Michigander catapult off the wheels and body of a downed biker and then tumble to the ground himself.
Skidding to a stop, other riders pinging off me from behind like a pinball bumper, I found a path through the fallen even as the masses came to a stop behind me.
I gave chase.
Like Evanston I had about a 200 foot gap to close to the peleton, but this time I only had less than a lap to try and recover my position. I was furious.
I caught the peleton about halfway down the backstretch – now half its size due the crash. I moved obnoxiously through the middle of the 50 rider pack as gaps opened and I came around the last bend in about 30th. The pack accelerated and I accelerated. I shifted up, and then up again as the pace continued to increase. I shifted one more time as the finish line began to come into distant view and found my final gear unavailable. I’ve never used that gear and never expected to, so I notched it one back and cranked out the highest RPM’s my tired legs were capable of, dodging this way and that as I continued to work my way forward, finishing a few riders behind young sprint prodigy Luke Cavender from my club as we crossed the line in about 12th and 14th respectively.
The tension relieved, the pack splayed wide into course. I drifted aimlessly amongst the riders, thoughts elsewhere. A right turn, another right, coasting, pedaling, listening to the other riders, I made my way around the course, focused on nothing… Finally I made it all the way around and coasted into the pits to confess to my high counselor Jose…
I began to question aloud my tactics for the last laps of the race - historically my one area of strategic and tactical mastery. I was beginning to lose confidence in my ability to read the tea leaves of the race and avoid incident. Was it just bad luck and coincidence? Or was the Brownian motion of the riders in the pro peleton different and less predictable? Were my instincts based on an outdated paradigm? Did I need to be in a different place in the pack? Sure the easy answer is always, “move into the top 3 riders” - an answer whose result is also easy – I’d last 300 meters and then blow up long before the sprint.
Somehow, from a previous pattern of going 20, 30, 50 races without being involved with an incident, I was now facing the reality that for 4 races in a row I have been thwarted by crashes. I wondered aloud again whether I “need to revisit my race strategy” and wondered quietly whether my limited strengths really gave me any choice. Jose voiced it best asking, “Do you think you’ve gotten strong enough to ride right up front during those final laps?”
The answer was “no.”
I clipped back in my pedals and headed downstream in the dampening evening. The sun was now setting - a brilliant corona of light escaping the close knit clouds and then disappearing, sound and shapes now muffled by the moist sweater of the descending humidity.
My mood was still a bit heavy with the results and effort of the long race but my long face disappeared entirely when I was suddenly visited by the brightening visages of Ray, Scott, Kelly and Brent – all teammates from my Detroit based cycling club and associated racing team. The lingering remorse over the outcome of the race quickly fled, and was replaced by that lightness of being, that inner glow from the reflecting beacons of each of their faces, and their playful recognition of a hard fought finish – regardless the outcome.
An unexpected surge of energy began to course through my veins, replacing the lactic acid and by-products of the exertion and I began to feel that arbitrary happiness, that youthful optimism and sense of good spirits return. The subtle mix of humor and respect (“Coyle – there is no prize for most laps last across the line…”) they expressed for the effort was much the same as I felt for their same suffering and mixed results… we began packing up our equipment…
I’ve written before about the post-race vibe – that special human condition where the soil for ideas is fertile and where the interactions between humans on our massive planet become truly that – human. Tonight was one of those nights – one of those special evenings where the post-race vibe found resonance in the boxy shell of an old RV.
Even before the race I my spirits were lifted when I discovered my long lost Michigan teammates were here – racing in Wisconsin. With a banner, a tent, and bikes hanging, I rediscovered my team of old – the Wolverine Sports Club.
Days before, at Blue Island I kept hearing voices, and seeing a pair of faces – male and female – that would raise their fists and yell “Wolverines” (reminding me of the old movie “Red Dawn”) appearing intermittently throughout the course during the long race. Tonight I was to learn that they were Brent and Maia and wore my team colors – that of the long celebrated WSC or Wolverine Sports Club.
I finally met them in person tonight.
Unclipping, I spoke to Ray Dybowski first and noticing the flush of sweat still on his brow let him know that he was welcome to come cool off in the RV. He embraced the idea and indicated that several other club members were intrigued by the previous descriptions of the tottering old vehicle and all its charms and would enjoy coming aboard.
As Ray and I chatted Scott, Kelly and Brent came by and I extended to them the same offer to visit us in the RV for a glass of wine or water.
Standing, one foot still locked in the pedals in the deepening gloom we then began to relate a few tales of the day – the crash in the final corner, Brent’s magnificent win, Kelly’s great finish, Ray’s decision to become a spectator, Ben’s injuries. At one point I looked down and pressed a few buttons on my cycling computer: max speed, 48.6 mph. I pointed down at it. Scott’s eyes registered the sprint speed.
“Check this out,” he said to the others and pointed down at the LCD display… “on a flat course…”
“And I didn’t win…” I added, and one by one they glanced at the figures with the same reaction… wow… that’s fast.
I told everyone to come over in about 10 minutes after they finished packing up their trailer and I made my way over to the RV to find Shannon busy straightening up and Katelina curled up on the couch with a blanket watching a movie. I kissed them both and then took a quick rinse in the nice hot water of the RV shower. I made a post race electrolyte drink and changed into civilian clothes to go collect whatever winnings I might have earned.
I stepped down out of the chill air of the RV and re-entered the warm green waters of humidity that had been my font during the race. I drank deeply and smiled.
Extremely humid nights like this are strangely familiar: like old negatives the colors are inverted and the grainy green-gray light creates an air of mystery around everything and everyone. Suddenly the looming shapes of cars and people and the hulking presences of mundane buildings become the plots of a mystery or romance novel – an unseen but vaguely glimpsed world around us assumes the dark and dusky forms of shadowy possibility. These were the nights growing up where my friends and I would sneak out and go on midnight bike rides to the old “haunted” mansion in Wabeek Hills, or go play “ding dong ditch”, or go for a midnight swim in the lake.
I felt my way through the damp to the registration area but the results were not yet posted, so I waded back to the RV just as the first of our visitors arrived. We climbed in past the creaking screen door into the relatively bright world of the old RV. Ray, Kelly, Alan, Maia, Brent, Ben, Scott, Luke and Tim – they all found places in the relative cool of the interior along with Shannon, Katelina and I. It was into this mix of humanity, that I began to find myself again.
Each time I consider selling this RV that has been the bane of my existence on more than one occasion, I consider these moments that it seems instrumental in creating.
Despite its significant size from the outside, the RV’s interior is designed with utilitarian prospects and is fairly tight. As the 12 of us poured in, we had to crowd. Despite being sweaty and dirty, having spent an entire day outside hot humid weather, suffering the effects of wheels and wind and sun, in came my teammates with grace and ease, elegantly folding themselves into all the nooks and crannies the RV offers up as seats, casually leaning against each other, exhausted outstretched legs overlapping without any sense of discomfort or intrusion.

Contrast this to the office, where showered, and clean shaven, in our wrinkle free spotless clothes the idea of physical contact with each other is so uncomfortable that a tight fit in an elevator is a story to be repeated as distasteful, or a prospect uncomfortable enough that people wait for the next ride, while sharing banal “elevator talk” to pass the time.
I wonder – why does comfort breed distance? Millions of men and women toiling neatly in their comfortable jobs are granted silver plated plaques or trophies as a result of their “achievements”. Did they realize that they too were becoming plated, year by year, by a reflective, insular coating? Trapping the light within, and reflecting away the lights of others?
We “polished professionals…” has the combination our analytical logical approaches to business problems, combined with modern comforts of quiet cars, humming air conditioning, the gauze of TV, Advil and carpeting – has this insulated us from the real, human features and flaws of other humans? Our ability to recognize each other’s feelings – have these comforts so reduced our highs and lows, our smile and frown lines so much that we can’t read each other?
Designed by God and nature, the human body is capable of physically working at relatively high intensity without food or water for long periods, with the notable and needed side effects of hunger, thirst and suffering providing reminders of what the body needs in order to continue producing. Has it now become so muffled by the platinum sweater of decent living that its capabilities for “really living” are compromised?
But suffering – nominally this awful thing to be avoided – it more than anything else strips away the plating – like an acid wash it removes this layer of chrome and allows, for a brief moment, a glimpse back at our humanity, that human connection flesh upon flesh – all the warm sweat of it.
It is always amazing to me – the dirt of a race. Every exposed wrinkle becomes black with dust – upon inspection the dust of suffering on the road becomes a fine tracery of black veins delineating the fold of the inner elbow, the creases of thumbs, eggshell folds of the ears and underlids and the worry lines of the forehead. Like a patina added to the contours of our modern life, humanity again becomes obvious and for those brief post race moments we ignore the normal formalities that add distance between us and use the memories of our common suffering to cleave to one another.
Tonight, the silver plating was off, the patina was on and real people pressed against each other in the closeness of the brown shag and mauve velvet cushions and began to regale each other with the stories that follow such efforts. Faces shiny, opening up like like moonflowers to embrace the evening dew, they shared the suffering of the day, sloughing off the façade of indifference, the discomfort of contact, and becoming – for a brief moment in the chrysalis of the ancient husk of the RV – transfigured. Our stories weaving a web of color, our contact cementing future friendships.
We talked about old races, old faces. We talked about the future, and travels. We talked quite a bit about Luke’s one-handed 48mph sprint. It seems that during the final meters of the finish Luke crossed paths with another rider. A track sprinter to the core, Luke took one hand off the bars to fend the other rider off and hold his position. The digital photos to prove it made us all laugh, and we howled louder when I pronounced, “the speed has to be over 50mph before Luke needs to use both hands in the sprint.”
But then again, it is, afterall, just a dirty old trailer full of filthy bikers and booze, so it seemed only appropriate to crank up “Cowboy” by Kid Rock as the post-race festivities continued, and we sang and a warm, hearty laugher rocked the RV. We decided to fulfill a relatively new Wolverine tradition and take photos of all the racers with their “winnings” – their checks for their performance. After multiple tries, we were able to get some that took and laughed again when we saw that Katelina was making a different crazy face or posture in each one in the background.
In theory the team was supposed to be driving 8 or 9 straight hours back to Detroit from Green Bay that evening, but as the clock continued to tick and nobody got up, they slowly began to realize that maybe that wasn’t such a great idea and they decided to stay the night in Sheboygan before heading the rest of the way home. Eventually they all disentangled and squeezed out of the RV to make their way south.
I returned to the cockpit and turned the key, starting the big V8, and pulled slowly out of the parking area to make our way back to the highway and back to our campsite. I couldn’t stop smiling. The setbacks, the long, long races, the inability to find that magic route to the finish line and come out on top – maybe it all didn’t matter.
Maybe we suffer like animals so that we can learn to be human again.
In the end, it isn’t the race or the finish or the money or even the achievement that we remember. The weightless riches we carry on in our journeys are nothing more and nothing less than the human connections we make in the process of suffering for a noble goal.
As I accelerated down highway 43 and time closed in on the black of midnight, I sat in my vinyl captains chair, my feet nestled in the brown shag, the vibrations and the rattling of the 10,000lb, 20 year old vehicle traveling up my calves, and I felt wealthy beyond my dreams.

BTR Crit. in Kalamazoo 8-11-07 "A great day for the WSC boys"

2007-08-14T10:28:00.000-04:00

Once again our team iron man Ray did the tri-fecta of 45+, 35+, and Pro-1-2 races. His highlight of the day was winning the 35+ race and the fine trophy that went along with it. He said "I finally have something I can take home and show the kids other than just money"

The 35+ race started out with 21 riders contesting for $400 payed to 10 places. The first 10 minutes of the 50 minute + 2 lap race was a series of surges by the pack, but nothing got off the front. Then a few riders were trying solo attacks but nothing was sticking for very long. About half way through the race I decided it was my turn to try something so I launched an attack from about 5th place and quickly got 75 meters on the pack before settling into my version of a solo breakaway, but it didn't last long. I was quickly chased down by the pack, and that's when Ray put in a powerful attack up the right side. This was a good move because it came at a point when the field had just finished chasing me, and I was still at the front of the pack ready to cover anyone that had ideas of chasing, but to my surprise, no one did. This gave Ray time to build up a sizable lead before the pack started chasing. They chased for a while, but was not gaining any ground thanks to some good team work by Rich, Doug, and myself. Eventually 2 riders were able to slip away from us and bridge the gap to Ray, ( Jeff Koch Priority Health & Robert Iser South Lyon Cycles) but he was able to outsmart them in the sprint to take a well deserved victory. With about 4 laps left in the race when it was apparent that we were not going to catch the leading 3, Rich, Doug and I started setting up for a field sprint. Rich found my back wheel with 2-1/2 laps left while Doug moved to the front of the pack to pick the speed up to keep any late breaks from going. The sprint started to wind up on the back side of the course with Rich and I in 6th & 7th, with 200 meters to go, I made my move up the left side and Rich was able to come around me in the last 50 to take the field sprint for 4th place while I was able to coast in in 7th.

We had just enough time while the kids race was going on to go back to the cars and get ready for the Pro-1-2 race. WSC was able to put 6 guys on the start line in a field of 42. The race started out as many Pro-1-2 races have started out this year, fast, and it wasn't long before a group was off the front containing Danny. This group hung just off the front for a while until a few more riders bridged the gap, two of them were Tim and luke. After taking the number in the break upto 13, it was gone. The break slowly pulled away from the pack until they were clear out of site. Eventually this group broke into a few smaller packs. Danny was able to make the front 6, and ended up taking 2nd on the day, while Tim made the second group and came home 9th. Rob Daksiewicz Lathrup Industries/Giant took the win with James Meurig Lathrup Industries/Giant finishing out the podium in 3rd. Great finish for Danny considering he was out numbered in the by the Lathrup boys 3 to 1.

Superweek

2007-07-27T12:10:00.000-04:00

Brent gets the win!!!!

From Ray:
Hello all,

It's was great to be at the International Cycling Classic (Superweek). Not only is it a 16 day traveling Bike Racing party with some of the best racers from all over, but people from all around the US and World want to talk about the Wolverine Sports Club because they know of the club, rode with the club, know someone who was in the club or went to the Walden School of Cycling. We have to be the most recognized amateur jersey at any race. It really makes you proud to be part of the Wolverine Sports Club! Even though most of us could only go for only 3 days we showed them the W.S.C. are contenders in all categories! (Kelly, Maia, Kristy & Brent are staying until Sunday, lucky dogs!)

I guess the announcer at Superweek put it the best:
"The Wolverine Sports Club, an American Institution of bicycle racing"

Notable Finishes:
Holy Hill Road Race:
Pro 1/2: (160 starters, 100 miles) Tim Finkle 30th
Cat 3: (80+ starters, 70 miles) Alan Smith 12th
Masters: Ray Dybowski 30th

Cederburg Crit:
Women's: Kelly Paterson 7th
Cat 3: Scott Kroske 24th
Masters: Ray Dybowski 15th

Green Bay Crit:
Pro 1/2: (62 miles, 130+ starters, National Points Race. Top speed of finishing sprint was 48.8 mph! Oh yeah, it was flat!): Luke Cavender 20th, John Coyle 22nd, (12th & 14th in field, 8 riders were away) Tim Finkle mid-pack (John Coyle also received special recognition by being called up to the front with the other Superweek Point Leaders, World and Olympic champions)
Cat 4: Brent Delrosario 1st (see picture above)
Women's: Kelly Paterson 4th, Maia Orabi 20th
Cat 3: Scott Kroske 7th
Masters: Ray Dybowski 6th

From Scott Kroske:
Subject: The Greatest Wolverine Cat 3/4/5 Victory Ever Caught on Film!

My proudest moment at Superweek 2007 was digging though my gear looking for the Gold Bond Powder for Tim Finkel and hearing Luke Cavender and Alan Smith screaming, 'Oh my God! Brent is going to win this thing!'
See the front page of the Greenbaygazette at:
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070726/GPG02/707260556&located=FLASH

What a great picture. Congrats Brent Delrosario on his Superweek Victory! (Jeez am I stoked)
Kroske

Fenton Road Race 7-21-07

2007-07-24T12:14:00.000-04:00

The Fenton race was started with the singing of the French and American National Anthems, and all of announcements were done in both French and English. This was something a little different from the norm, but my family said that it go old really quick. The temp at start time was in the mid 60s, a little chilly, but with over 200 feet of climbing in the first 2 miles the legs warmed up quick.
John Sammut placed second in the Masters 35+ race 0.25 seconds behind winner Jon Morgan and 0.01 seconds ahead of Dave Hietikko. John was in a 2 man break with Dave H. for around 4 miles early in the race but was brought back by the pack on the second climb.

The A 12 man break got off the front of the 1-2 race, unfortunately that was the one break that we were unable to cover.

Results for the 1-2 race was:
1st - Chris Fisher
2nd - Steve Howard
3rd - Dave Williams
Luke got 2nd in the field sprint for 13th overall.

The area was so nice that we decided to take a few team pictures in park.

Commons Crit in Lansing 7-15-07

2007-07-16T12:36:00.000-04:00

High 70's, clear skies and a 15 mph wind out of the West are perfect conditions to hold a bike race, and that's just what the folks out in Lansing did, and what a bike race it was. The race was held around the State Capital building. Rumor has it that it is the only race around a Capital building. Don't know if that is true, but it sounds good.

The women's Cat 4 field kick things with Mary Ward from the WSC women's team taking second. Next up was the women's cat 1-2-3 with Kelly Paterson single handily fighting off all attackers from 4 PH riders to take second in her race. Nice work!

Up next was the master's race, yes, all the master's in one race. This is Ray's take on what went down.

"Rode hard, tried to keep myself active in the front. Just missed bridging to the 2 man winning break. Found myself off the front with a couple laps to go and ended up with bad company (2 sprinters) with a half lap to go.
Drove the 3 of us to the line, of course they passed me, but I was able to hang on for 5th place. (barely beat the winner of the field sprint to the
line)" - Ray

The last race of the day saw 49 cat 1-2's come to the line in what would promise to be a good show. Danny started things off by going from the gun and stringing things out for 2 laps before surging again and getting off the front of the pack in what would be the first of a day filled with constant attacking. there was not one lap were we didn't have an attack going off the front. No rest for the wary in this race. Danny and Ray got into a 5 man break with 10 minutes + 3 laps left in the race that I thought for sure would last until the line, I was wrong, they were caught with less than one lap to go. That's when the sprinters moved to the front to take things over, and things started to get dicey. The whole pack made it safely through turn 1 on the last lap, but one of the South Lyon boys crossed a wheel half way between 1 & 2 and went down. Just after the rest pack got around that we had to deal with a second crash in turn #2, the 5th rider in line, Terry Palmer, went down when his front wheel came out from underneath him. Fortunately the rest of the field was able to avoid him too. So, the race came down to a field sprint with Rob Daksiewicz taking home the trophy for first place.

This is a link to view a vidio of the Cat 1-2 finnish. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGZrHfo_BJw
Video by Kelly Paterson.

Crit State Championship in Dexter 6-30-07

2007-07-03T08:56:00.000-04:00

This was the second annual Dexter Crit, and the site of the State Championship for 2007. Big Ray started thing out in the 45+ master's race by attacking solo with 10 minutes + 2 laps left to go in the race and holding off the pack to take the win and the gold medal as our new Master 45+ State Champion. Our hats off to Ray (You da man!!!!)

The Dexter course starts off with a 135 degree turn only 50 yards from the start line, the next 1/4 mile is a slight rise to a 1/4 mile long flat before turning right and starting the climb. The hill is not that bad until you consider that we would do it 30+ times in the race. The hill had a right hander just before you reached the top. The last obstacle was 3 quick 90's going down hill before coming out onto the finishing straight. The Cat 1-2 race was lengthened from 60 minutes to 75. This was not a good thing for me as the course is not flat, and everyone knows that I don't go uphills as easy as most.
Danny was able to make it into the first serious break of the day, this group of about 10 stayed off the front quite a while before a smaller group of 5 broke clear of them. (Derek Graham, Jason Swiatlowski, Scott Riddle, Jeff Hamilton, & Meurig James) This group would stay together to the finish while the others were swallowed up by the pack. Derek Graham of PH took the win followed closely by Jason, Meurig and Jeff. Scott came in a few seconds later to claim a respectable 5th, and Big Ben Renkema brought home the field for 6th. Luke was involved in a 3 man chase group late in the race that looked like it would be able to bridge the gap, but that small group just didn't have enough to finish the job off and went back to the pack with 3 laps to go. (Nice effort Luke, good to see you trying something new)
Will post pictures when I find some.

Allen Park Crit. 2007 "Another hot one"

2007-06-18T12:20:00.000-04:00

As usual the Allen Park Crit was hot... I don't know how they do it, but it is always hot at that race.

The earlier races had the WSC riders starting off on a good note with Maia winning the Women's cat 4 race and Kelly taking on comers in a field sprint to win the Women's cat 1-2-3 race.

The Pro-1-2 race was scorcher, starting out in temps nearing 90, the sun straight above, and most of the fastest racers in the state at the start line. We did have a little breeze out of the South for a head wind finishing sprint. The attacks started from the gun, one break after another would launch off the front, but nothing was sticking until about 30 minutes into the 90 minute event. Four got away, including our own Danny boy, this pack stayed away at between 30 and 40 seconds, adding and dropping a few riders along the way. Unfortunately Danny was not able to stay in the front group. Toward the end of the race the pack really picked up the speed and was closing in on the lead group, but could not close the last 12 seconds before the end of the race. Derek Graham pulled out the win in front of Jon Card and Greg Christian. Luke was the best placed Wolverine at 13th.

Kudos go out to BIG Ray for completing his second Tri-fecta of the year competing in the 45+, 35+, and the Pro-1-2.

Cadar Creek State Championship Road Race 6-10-07

2007-06-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

The State Championship Road Race up in Cedar Creek started with a light breeze out of the east, temperatures in the mid 60's and dry, perfect conditions for a bike race. We hadn't even been racing 5 minutes before the first break got off the front. The pack allowed it to get a little way up the road before chasing it down. This kept the pace high for a few miles. (And me at the back) After the first break was caught, the settled a little and allowed me to move to the front with not too much effort. Not long after I got to the front, there was another break that went, I was able to help chase that one down as no one from our team was in it. A few move attempts went and came back before Tim got into a 4 man. At first it didn't look like it would stick because they didn't get a big gap on the field for a long time. I stuck to the front of the pack to jump on any attempts to bridge the gap. They stayed at about 30 seconds for a whole lap before the field let up and gave them a little more time. I stayed up front and blocked the best I could for 3 laps and the break got over 2 minutes on the field, and I thought that would be the last that we would see of them till the finish. Unfortunately one of the riders in the break took a wrong turn on the course which cost them about a minute, and at the start of the last 15 mile lap the break's lead was down to 90 seconds. Hearing that, the Priority Health boys moved to the front and pulled it back with 1/2 lap to go. We tried to get our sprinters (Rich & Luke) a lead-out, but it didn't go as planned, the other teams just had too many guys at the front. We will be back in force at Allen Park.

Maybe if I had ridden this baby, things would have turned out different.

Ciociaro Training Race June 7th - The debut of the Wolverine Cannon

2007-06-08T09:44:00.000-04:00

"The Wolverine Cannon"
That is the name we have given to our new race strategy. It debut last night at the Ciociaro Training Race, and it came out with both barrels firing. The whole Wolverine team through down last night (including a strong showing by the cat 3/4 squad led by Kroske) I think we are really starting gel as a team. Our man of the hour S. Kroske started the action out early with a 2 man break that stayed off the front for some before the pack reeled them back in. After that it was one Wolverine attack after another. There was not one move without one of us present. We had a couple of serious attacks that looked like they would stick, but the back always managed to bring them back until the winning move went away with Danny, Kroske, and Vince from the Maple Leaf squad with about 35 minutes left in the race. Danny attacked on the "climb" on the last lap to take a well deserved victory. Ray attacked the field with 3 laps to go and held on for 4th. 1st, 3rd, and 4th, not too bad.
Kudos go out to John Talbot and Kelly for taking 1st and 3rd respectively in the "B" race. (She's back) Looks like we will have to more Wolverines in the "A" race next time.
Good work team.

Tuesday nights out at Stony

2007-06-07T12:45:00.000-04:00

This Tuesday was another great ride out at Stony Creek Metro Park. Although the weather was a little chilly, we all warmed up quickly when the sprinting started. The group started out with 24 riders, down a few from last time, but still a good size group. The ride has been bolstered thanks to some other local teams, 5 or 6 from the KLM squad, 5 from Essex, 2 from RMS, and even 1 from Spout.com??????? Who was that guy?
The pack stayed mostly in tacked thanks to a regrouping after each sprint. We started out with 1 warm up pace-line lap followed by 3 laps of 3 sprints each.
I want to thank the KLM, Essex, & RMS riders for coming out and giving the WSC boys some good sparring partners.

See you all in 2 weeks,
John

Tour De Gaslight Village

2007-05-30T12:09:00.000-04:00

This was a great Crit. course, turn #1 was a tight left going from 2-1/2 lanes down to 1-1/2, turn 2 opened up to a 3 lane back stretch with a slight down hill and the wind at our backs. Although turn number 3 was 120 degrees, it opened up briefly to 4 lanes before narrowing back down to 2-1/2. The last turn was pretty straight forward with just a slight rise before leveling out to a 150 meter head wind sprint. The weather was perfect, and the racing was fast. Still feeling the effects from Frankenmuth, and a warm up shortened by a flat that I had to change 10 minute before the start of the Pro-1-2-3, I stayed put in the back of the pack for the first half of the race until the legs started to respond. After that I was able to move up to front and start doing a little work. I was in good position when Ray launched Danny off the front with 4 laps to go, and was able to cover a couple of surges, but the pack was too strong, and brought him back with one to go. I worked my way in front of Luke to see if I could give him a lead-out, but he said the legs weren't going good and to fend for myself. Knowing my chances weren't great, I backed off a little knowing that I had another race in 10 minutes. I rolled in 29th.
The master's race was a much nicer pace. I think this was do to the fact that most of them had just finished the Pro-1-2-3 race. Not much happened before the halfway point of the race. I covered a few attacks, got in one break before the real break of 8 took off, then I settled in and did what I do best, blocking for Ray and Danny who were in the break. The race stayed that way to the finish with Danny taking 4th and Ray finishing 7th. I finished 8th in the pack, 16th overall.

From the Iron Man:

Tour de Gas Light:

Sunny and 80, alright! What a great course (.8 miles - 4 left turns, 2 you had to think about) in a nice little village in East Grand Rapids. I decided I was going for the Tri-fecta (pro, 35+ & 45+) since they were back to back to back, and only a 10 min break between each. I didn't have to worry about the cool down, warm up cycle. The Pro Race was a fast 27.5 mph avg. speed. Won a prime, $25, was happy with that. Tried to launch Danny Klein with 3 1/2 laps to go with a vicious attack that put us maybe 8 second ahead of the group but we couldn't hold it and the field sprinters took over.

The 35+ race (26 mph avg speed) felt like it was slow motion compared to the Pro 1/2 race. Lots of attacks in the first 2/3 's of the race, and then I found myself in an 8 man break (Tom Archer, Rob Daksavage, Danny Klein, Terry Palmer, Rob Isner, Jason Swatlowski, Paul ???, Ray D) Terry Palmer lit up the group for a well deserved victory! This was after getting 5th in the Pro race! Danny was 4th, just behind Tom & Rob D. and I finished 7th, at least they paid to 7!

The 45+ race (25 mph avg speed) WOW, was I feeling bad. The race started moving and the legs were strong enough to drag but not to crack the group. A 2 man break (Jim Bruce & a Saturn Guy) went with 10 laps to go and stayed about 12 second in front of the field. Every lap Luke would scream to me to bridge up, my legs were shot and all I kept thinking is the Tom Markley "Make a move, Make it count". I knew if I was going to bridge up, I would have to plan it just right. With 5 laps to go they had a field prime, I attacked coming into the last turn and raced for the line, Scott Clease (sp?) was on my wheel. I won the prime and we were within a few seconds of the 2 man break. We had a gap on the pack and Scott kept rolling, problem was he was rolling away from me. I asked him to slow so I could get on his wheel, WOW, was I happy he did! He pulled us the rest of the way to the 2 man break. We rolled the final laps to the finish, Jim Bruce getting the "W", followed by Scott C., I was 3rd by a bike throw over the Saturn Guy.

$$$ in all four races!

Tour of Frankenmuth

2007-05-30T11:32:00.000-04:00

From Ray:
Tour of Frankemuth Road Race. (77 miles, 25 mph avg speed) New Race, nice roads, POURING RAIN, 50 degrees! Ben Whitehead (Pro/Priority Health) and I started what became a 10 man break with 40 miles to go. Jake "the Snake" Rytaliski (sp?) (Pro/Rite Aid) started doing 30 mph pulls until the group got tired of trying to hold on and just rolled away from our group with 25 miles to go. Ben Whitehead rode smart and when Jake pulled away, he bridged up and the two were gone. At that point the 8 of us left kept fighting for last position, no one wanted to pull because everyone was feeling the effects of the cold, wind and rain. Tom Archer, the only one that consistently stayed at the front finally attacked and stayed out for 5 or 6 miles. The surges to bring him back took its toll on the group and whittled the 8 of us down to 5. With about 5 miles to go, I looked back to see the pack and it looked like they could close us down. Not wanting to get caught, I got inpatient and drove the group the next 4 miles but cooked my legs and couldn't finish higher then last in our group (7th over all!) Luke won the field sprint for 8th. We were the only team to have 2 guys in the top 10. Not to bad......

Jake "the Snake" Rytaliski (sp?)
Ben Whitehead
A guy from Team Venom (just upgraded from Cat 3) Nice Ride!
Tom Archer
Paul Eugeni
Steve Clark
Ray Dybowski
Luke Cavender
Bruce Rivera

Oh hey, and I finnished. I don't know how far back, and at the time, didn't care, I just wanted a hot shower.

Tour of Kensington Vally

2007-05-21T11:59:00.000-04:00

The Tour of Kensington Vally started out with a short time trial Saturday morning (2.7 miles) the first half down hill and the second half up. The best time was Greg Christian at 5:03:00 with Graham Howard less than 2 seconds back.
The TT was followed up by a crit in South Lyon that afternoon. The racing was fast, but the pack was not letting anything go too far off the front before chasing it down. We averaged 27.5 mph. Graham Howard came through for the win with Terry Palmer taking second place. Graham also took over the leader's jersey.
Sunday found us back at Kensington for a 47 mile Road Race. The Priority Health boys sat on the front and controlled the tempo all day long. They never let a group more than a few seconds off the front before chasing them down, But they were unable to hold off Ben Renkema for the sprint win, though they did hold on to the over all victory.
Below are a few pictures of use racing, lounging and recovering. Yes, that is Bobbie in sling, and yes, that is an x-ray of Bobbies broken collar bone. He already has his sights set on the State Time Trial at the end of June for his comeback race.

A preview of riders in the new kits

2007-05-18T15:10:00.001-04:00

The new kits are in! A few pics of some of those who showed up to get them before Kensington. Say what you want, call us bumblebees if you must, but I felt faster in them. We are going to try to get everyone together for team pic this weekend. I will post them soon.

Ciociaro 5-10-07 "Priceless"

2007-05-11T09:00:00.000-04:00

Gas to and from Ciociaro - $14
Bridge toll - $6.50
Race entry fee - $12 (US)
Forgetting your race # - $5
Seeing Tim gyrate and strut his stuff wearing nothing but bib short made to look like a Speedo in front of the old ladies from the Ciociaro Club - "Priceless"

The race didn't get off to a good start with Jamie, Tim, Luke, and I getting a late start caused by traffic on I-75 and the bridge. I was still registering when Aldo called the riders to the line. Luckily Aldo was a bit long winded with his instruction before the race so I had enough time to go back to the truck and drop off the wallet and pick up another water bottle. My warm up consisted of riding to registration and back, but I figured if Tony can do it so can I. The pack was kind to me with an easy pace for the first few lap, Then I repaid them by attacking on lap number 5 followed by some kid that was unwilling to work with me. The prime bell rang after one lap and I new the case would be on. I dropped the kid on "the hill" and was able to hold the pack off until the last corner. All was not lost as my move set up Luke for his first of three primes on the night. I managed to infiltrate a few more breaks throughout the race, but none of then were very serious until with about 9 laps to go I got into a 4 man with 2 Maple Leafs and 1 Hooter's rider. This looked like a good break, and it lasted for 4 or 5 laps before a hard chasing pack pulled us back. I was able to recover and finish in the top 10. Luke had an impressive ride with 3 primes and 3rd place in the race. Paul from the Hooter's squad was once again able to pull off the win.

Cone - Azalia 05-06-07

2007-05-08T12:53:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of Greg Chistian winning Cone - Azalia. This picture was the first time I saw him because by the time I finished, he already changed, packed up his gear, probably had a little something to eat, and was on his way home. OK, maybe not that bad, but......
The race started out good for me, I was at mid pack when we hit the first section on dirt. I slowly move up to the front 15 to 20 by the time we hit Cone Rd. for the first time (The end of the 1st section of dirt) only to find a small group already off the front. Things got really fast at this point with a 25mph tail wind. I was able to hold position going into and most of the way through the next section of dirt when we hit the really bad section, I went up the left lane, I should have gone right, the left lane fizzled out into gravel and pot holes. That's were I flatted. I was really hoping to make it at least one lap without flatting. Game over, as I was only one of about a half dozen to be standing on the side of the road with a wheel in there hand. By the time I got a change, the pack was well out of site. I spent the next 6 1/2 laps in and out of different chase groups consisting of 1-2's and masters. I ended up finishing 27th, 25 minutes down. (But I finished)
And the top 4 were:

Greg Christian - WMCR
Jake (the snake) Rytlewski - Rite Aid
Paul Martin - Texas Roadhouse
Kirk Albers - Texas Roadhouse

Other WSC finishers,

24. Tim Finkel

25. Tony Bruley

30. Robbie Dobbie

Past teammates tearing it up in the big leagues

2007-05-02T14:21:00.000-04:00

An astounded and elated Mark Hekman stood in the floodlit streets of Athens, Georgia, on April 28 as the winner of the Heyward Allen Toyota Athens Twilight Criterium.
The 29-year-old Abercrombie & Fitch rider was one of the few in the elite men's field to walk away unscathed by an evening of spectacular crashes. Two significant pileups, one of which led to the neutralization and subsequent restart of the race, changed the fortunes of many hopefuls who came geared up for the kickoff race to this year's USA Crits and USA Crits Southeast series.
At one point, dozens of riders went down after one became entangled in a stretch of metal fencing and dragged it onto the course behind him. Shortly afterwards another fall brought more injuries, leaving local Jittery Joe's man Trent Wilson with an ugly gash to the forehead.
Wilson and Hekman had been part of a seven-man breakaway that lapped the field nearly 30 minutes into the race. Primes kept the bunch active, but no one could sustain the effort necessary to lap the field and join the leaders.
In the final corner, Hekman made an early jump and shot past Wilson and Josh Thornton (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada). After a few moments of confusion, Hekman was declared the winner, with Thornton second and Wilson third.
"It took a while to get through traffic, and it was real scary. But with 10 (laps) to go, it lined up pretty well, and I was just trying to maintain position. I didn't even know that I'd won until I was halfway down (the course again)!" he said

And one of our origial U-23 riders, Danny Bowman and Jake Rytlewski at Tour of Virginia. Two more success stories from the WSC. This just makes you great when you see one of your kids doing great things. Way to go boys.

2007 TOUR OF VIRGINIA Stage 7 (road race). April 29

1. Jesse Anthony, Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada, 100 miles in 3:13:11

2. Kayle Leogrande, Rock Racing

3. Graham Howard, Priority Health-Bissell

4. Marcos Rios, Kahala-La Grange

5. Dan Bowman, Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast

6. Javier Zapata, Caico

7. Christopher Jones, VMG Racing

8. Mark Walters, Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada, all s.t.

9. Eddy Hilger, Priority Health-Bissell, at 0:35

10. Mike Norton, Rite Aid, at 1:50

Final standings, after 7 stages

1. Javier Zapata, Caico, in 18:54:18

2. Dan Bowman, Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast, at 1:04

3. Christopher Jones, VMG Racing, at 1:12

4. Alejandro Borrajo, Rite Aid Pro Cycling, at 2:23

5. Mark Walters, Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada, at 3:03

6. Mike Olheiser, Memphis Motorwerks-Carve, at 3:38

7. Alejandro Cortes, Caico, at 3:46

8. Daniel Vaillancourt, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 3:58

9. Andrew Guptil, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 4:16

10. Jake Rytlewski, Rite Aid Pro Cycling, at 5:01

Ann Arbor Training Race #4

2007-05-01T10:07:00.000-04:00

These 2 pictures say it all, fast and fun. Tony leading the pack through turn one followed closely by Tim and I. (top) and Tim hamming it up for the camera. (bottom)

Ray's comments -
Raced hard the first third of the race then my cold took started taking best of me. It was taking longer and longer to recover. Almost dropped out with 20 to go. John came back, I told him I was in dyer straights and just hoped to finish. Got passed at myself for even thinking about quitting and tried the "Ray" with 8 to go. Off the front for two laps, got caught. Went again with 2 to go, ended up leading the pack out until 1/2 lap to go, limped in the last half lap.

Tony's -

Well, the Race was super fast, despite a field that was unwilling to form chase groups. The team seemed to be miss firing a bit, and Ray had a uncharacteristic off day, I think he even got sick, despite this he toughed it out and finished. I tried to bridge up to the breakaway about 4 times, but the legs and lungs aren't quite here yet, a few more hundred miles and a couple of more pounds and I should be able to help represent the team the way I know I am capable of. Good job guys, we should do a little better at Cone.

And Tim -
I felt much stronger this race than the past few weeks, I just was not able to put myself where I needed to be. My biggest regret is not trying to bridge to the break after Bruley's attempt. However, I'm not looking behind me...just ahead at Cone Azalia...yearning for the mayhem of the dust, dirt, potholes, and brutal open country winds.

A big thanks to our guy Kroske for using his tricky camera work to make us look fast.

Below is Simon off the front by himself. (top) And Ray pushing the pace before he got sick. (bottom)

Ciociaro Training Race # 2 "A little piece of Belgium"

2007-04-27T11:38:00.000-04:00

This was the only picture taken of the miserable conditions. It was worse than in looks.

With a starting temp. in the mid 50's, (and falling) heavy rain and through in 20 mph wind just for good measure, it felt just like a spring classic. The pace started out slow for the first few laps before the first attack of the day by our Alan Smith. (He took a page out of Ray's book and just slowly rolled off the front) He held that for over 3 laps before the pace decided it was time to pull him back in. When they did, Tim put in a counter attack and took a few Canadians with him for company. That was it, game over as that ended up being the winning break. Tim ended up 3rd out of the 5 in the break. Rich also stayed off the front of the pack in a group of 4. Allen, Ray, and myself did our best back in the pack to make sure those guys stayed off.

Results:1. Paul Eugeni Hooters Cycling Team
2. Daniele DeFranchesi JetFuel Coffee
3. Tim Finkel Wolverine Sports Club

Tim Take:
Tonight was my first return to the Ciocaro Race Series this year. I missed the first race of the year because of the Georgia Trip. WSC’s own Raymond Dybowski came home victorious for the season opener on April 12th, 2007.Think Fast…Ride Faster…Think Fast…Ride Faster…repeat. This is my new mantra passed onto me by Ray this week. After a stern talking to on Tuesday night, it seems Ray gave me just the words I needed to hear.Tonight’s race started with a gentle pace, as many of these Can-Am races do. Within the first three laps, the field watched Allen Smith ride away solo and did not seem to react much. He stayed out for a few laps and started to get two turns ahead. Just when he was far enough away to no longer read the WOLVERINE on his posterior the field decided to react and pull him back in. As soon as we made contact with him, I attacked with what I thought would be the start of several early attempts to get away. However, I got a gap quite quickly and was joined by two Maple Leaf Cycling teammates, as well as Daniele DeFrachesi (formally of the Hooters Cycling Team and newly signed to the JetFuel Coffee Cycling Team). Shortly after, we were joined by Paul Eugeni of the Hooters Cycling Team who had bridged to the break. Knowing we had the horsepower necessary and enough teams represented in the break we began to roll an organized pace line. The temps dropped in the 40s and the clouds began to torrentially downpour. The race was not comfortable, but I was happy to only have four guys around me instead of thirty with such intense wheel spray. The first prime was called and surprisingly I won it without much effort. We regrouped after the sprint and fell back into line. We quickly lapped the field. I was instructed by Ray to keep Paul and Daniele in my crosshairs. At this point, the rain just got too intense and the race was called early. As we saw the 3 lap card I decided to sit in a lap and attack on the 2 to go. Knowing I was racing against two of the finest sprinters Ontario has to offer, I knew my only hope was to out muscle them early. At 2 I attacked, got a gap and stayed out until 1 to go. I then got stuck in a dipsy doo with two very snappy riders. Impatiently, I went into my sprint early and basically lead Paul and Daniele out for the 1-2 win and myself for a respectable 3rd. Oh well, first podium of the year, I cannot complain.

And Rich - WET! Nice call by Ray telling me to get my butt moving and catch up to that break. Good call to end the race early on Aldo’s part. Overall good training race!

Ronde Van Metamora

2007-04-26T12:10:00.000-04:00

The exact mileage for the Ronde Van Metamora was 52.90 for 5 laps, at 10.58 miles per lap. We shortened the race from 7 laps to 6 when we figured out the lap mileage was long, and then shortened it again when everybody decided they had enough of the torture, one more lap would have driven us into the ground like a circus tent stake.

The dirt section had 8 climbs of 75 to 100 ft per climb. Dryden road from Thornville to the just above town climbed for aprox 3 miles at 450 ft. So I average it out to be about 1100 to 1200 feet of climbing per lap for a elevation gain of 7000 ft. This ride/ race was one of the hardest rides I have ever done, the combination of Dirt roads and climbing was a killer, this will be the most epic race in Michigan next year. For all of you that missed it you lucked out, it was brutal. The three mile climb out of Thornvile to Metamora was into a full frontal head wind. Cone will seem like a cake walk after this epic ride, I am sorry you guys missed it, We will give another chance in the Fall maybe, but It will definetly be a sanctioned race next spring.

The winner was the Wolverine's Simon Bailey, 2nd was Jeff Weinert, 3rd was the sub 200 pound, Papa T. Simon won the first ever addition of this race netting a hefty $30, a Bottle of Chimay Ale, and de Ronde Van Metamora Trophy (Basically a Stone with a Little Steel bike on Top.) I would like to thank Tom McCardel and Matt from the Tri City Cyclists for making it out for this ride, they suffer like dogs but loved the grassroots feel of the ride. Tom was the only one that flatted, and he had the best set of tires of us all, Vittoria Pave Clinchers, go figure.

Ann Arbor Training Race #3

2007-04-23T12:10:00.000-04:00

The race started with 60 riders on the line to face off in a 50 lap battle on the warmest day yet this year, (73 deg.) but windy. The race started off fast and never let up. The Wolverines were agressive at the beginning of the race putting a someone in everyone of the early moves (I was even in one of then) Then a group of 4 got off the front never to be seen again despite our efforts to bring them back. The pace was high, and a lot of riders were getting dropped. About half way through the race a big split in the main field happened and only Ray and myself were able to make the front group. Ray tried a hand full of times to get off the front and chace the break down, but the pack was not letting him go anywhere. Josh Tarrant won a four up sprint to take the victory. I finnished around 15th in the field sprint to be the first WSC rider to cross the line.

Ray's take on the race - After the break took off, 2 laps into the race, I chased and attacked trying to keep it close and/or get into a second break. I was always with the right guy's but couldn't get away. Have to work on that field sprint!

And Tim - Sunday A2 “A” Group Race Report in a nutshell: Blistering pace from the get go. Headwind on two of the three stretches. Lots of attacks…lots of attacks…lots of attacks…and a few more attacks. Josh Taurrent and some other unknown fast guy (rumored to be from Britian) get away and stick it until the end. Josh took first and the unknown Brit took second. Nice ride Josh, you get the second “Who Cares, I’m Flying” Award this week. Overall, no significant results for the WSC “A” or “B” squad. However, next weekend is another race and a whole new slate. You know what they say, “Racing never gets any easier…just faster”. Keep your heads up.

I will post more pictures as I get them.
A special thanks to the Cat. 4's for providing pictures.

First weekend of racing for 2007

2007-04-16T12:47:00.000-04:00

The season has gotten off to a great start with a win in the first race of 2007. Danny out road everyone in the field to draw first blood of the year out at the Waterford race track.

Pictures from Ann Arbor the next day. (4-1-07)

Big Ray making one of many moves on the day.

Adam making a move.

John looking for a place to hide.

Rich keeping an eye on the front of the pack.