Wissink and Smiley win in Michigan

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Michigan racers saw another beautiful day for the latest stop in the Tailwind Enterprises cyclo-cross series. Race number seven in the nine race series was held at Lower Huron Metropark in Shelby Township, and was sponsored by Paint Creek Bicycles whose owner, Keith Riege, is a long time cyclo-cross fanatic. Lower Huron is infamous for its long beach section, blistering winds, and truly spectacular scenery. The course designers changed things up a little for this years edition as they started the race in the opposite direction, a move that brought the beach section close to the beginning of each lap and left out many of the twists and turns of years past, giving riders a course that had a little bit of everything.

The day's first races started in cold overcast conditions with the wind just starting to whip off of the lake. These first brave souls are the people that really keep our sport going, so a big thank you goes to all of them for coming out on their Sunday mornings every week. In the C - men under 39 race, Shawn Schaffert (Cannondale Midwest) and Paul Steigerwald (Wheels In Motion), took turns attacking each other all race long with Schaffert claiming first place at the line.

In the 40 and over C group, Trey Cassidy from Grosse Pointe Woods ran very consistent lap times to run away with the win by over a minute. It was a close race for the second spot with Russell Kissel (Sign Outfitters) and Talbot Hack from Ann Arbor, giving the spectators a show for the entire race. Kissel came up with the goods though on the last lap and left Hack a few seconds behind to claim second position.

In the next race we saw the B-men line it up as the wind began to pick up and the mud began to bubble to the surface. Clint Verran riding for RunGuru.com and Daniel Gerow (Wolverine / American Cycle & Fitness), road away from the field on the first lap and the two never looked back. They both road very impressive races and worked together to make the gap to third larger with every pedal stroke. Gerow unfortunately had a mishap with a barrier with two laps to go and had to hope for a mistake from Verran if he was going to latch back on. That mistake never came though and Gerow had to settle for second place, as Verran took his second win in a row.

Wissink wins again

In the Elite Men's race there were no surprises, as Michael Wissink (Specialized) dominated from start to finish yet again. As soon as the race hit the sand for the first time Wissink was gone, with Tim Saari (Essex Brass) and Cory Stange (CycleFit Multisport) just hanging on for a short while. Saari was able to finish second on the day with Jeff Weinert (Wolverine / American Cycle & Fitness) behind him in third. Wissink has been having his best season yet winning every Tailwind race so far and continually finishing in the top three in the USGP series.

All smiles for Smiley

The final race of the day was the Master's men and Elite women. Marne Smiley (Scott Bikes/Ollett Coaching) had a slight bobble at the beginning but was able to quickly recover and leave the other women and many of the men behind. Kelly Paterson (Wolverine / American Cycle & Fitness) took the second spot and also took over the lead in the series standings. Rounding out the top three was Sandie Domagalski riding for the Flying Rhino Cycling Club.

The Masters 35+ has been without a doubt the most entertaining race to watch this season and that excitement continued this weekend. Rich Stark (Priority Health - Ann Arbor Elite) road away with the win while riding a single speed but left the real race for the series behind. The battle between Patrick Russell (Wolverine / American Cycle & Fitness) and Pete Thompson (Flying Rhino CC) has been going on all season, but this time Thompson was able to get a little help from teammate Mark Wolowiec, who has his series wrapped up and decided to race with the younger guys. After attacks back and forth all race long Thompson closed down on Russell on with less then half a lap to go and went right by him and held the gap all the way to the finish. Russell was able to stay in front of Wolowiec to get as many series points as possible.

It was a great race at Stoney Creek and another well run event by Tailwind Enterprises. Again a big thanks to Specialized and Dave Massey for lending his voice for the announcing, and to the bike shop sponsor Paint Creek Bicycles in Lake Orion, MI. The next race in the series will be held at Bloomer Park in Rochester, this Sunday. For more info check out www.tailwind.net and for more pictures go to www.tuckerbikes.com