Laura Johnson cruises in front of the fort's main gate © Andrea Tucker
by Joe Lekovish
After a 25 year absence, cyclocross racing returned to the City of Detroit with the Mad Anthony Cyclocross Race on Saturday, October 17. Held at historic Fort Wayne in downtown Detroit, the race was named for General Anthony Wayne, whose fiery personality earned him the nickname “Mad Anthony.”
The grounds of the fort offered racers one of the most unique cyclocross courses in Michigan, featuring grass, pavement, dirt two-track, 150 yr old cobblestones as well as the famous “TUNNEL OF TORTURE”, a 25 meter tunnel through the walls of the old fort.
Racing began after the raising of the fort storm flag, along with a ceremonial lion of Flanders flag, indicating that the fort had been taken over by cyclocross racers for the day.
In the Elite Womens race Kelly Paterson of the Wolverine Sports Club put her fearless descending skills to good use on the two extremely steep drop-ins, distancing herself from Jessica Bratus by mid-race and winning with a comfortable 50 second margin.
In the Elite Men’s race a group of four racers immediately separated themselves on the thick grass in the forts old moat (now drained). These four continued to power away from the chasers until they had a 45 second lead. With two laps remaining the attacks started and 2006 Michigan State CX Champion, Jon Card, was able to pull away with only Vince Roberge of Trails-Edge in tow. At the run-up section with one lap to go Vince put in a strong surge to gain 10 seconds on Card and held this gap to the finish.
Photo Gallery:
Brief Results:
Men
1 Vince Roberge, Trails-Edge
2 Jon Card, Saturn of Toledo
3 Jay Moncel, Wolverine Sports Club
4 Matt Ashley, Flying Rhino Cycling Club
5 Daniel Kotwicki, Fisher
Women
1 Kelly Paterson, Wolverine Sports Club
2 Jessica Bratus, CrossCrazee
3 Anne Grofvert, Drakes Coffee
4 Laura Johnson, Priority Health
5 Monica Tory, Velo Bella
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