Cherry-Roubaix Criterium

Race Report by Derek Graham:

The Cherry-Roubaix Criterium is held on a flat 6 turn course in downtown Traverse City. The weather this year was very wet and cold, which made the course slippery and technical. Most of the turns had changes in surface type; asphalt to brick, brick to concrete, brick crosswalks, etc. The race was short so we knew it was going to be fast and aggressive. Right from the start Cory Durbish (Wolverine) took off solo and started gaining time on the field. The pack was chasing, but going much slower through the wet corners. A few laps in I attacked coming out of turn one. I found that I could go a lot faster than the pack since I could see better and pick the fastest line. I also had 23mm tubular tires at only 90 psi and was getting decent traction. Over the next three laps I bridged to the Wolverine rider and we worked together, gaining time on the field. Then Cory slipped on one of the painted lines on the road and almost went down. He sat up and I raced on alone. A few laps later Daniel Lam caught me. He was a good replacement for Cory, taking hard pulls on the windy section of the course. We sprinted for a few premes which I was easily winning. Meanwhile Jason had attacked what was left of the field and was riding across to us solo. In the last few laps we lapped and passed Jimi. On the final lap Jimi caught up to us and went straight to the front to lead out the sprint. He kept the pace high until about 400 meters to go where I attacked just before the final turn and held the lead to the finish. The BISSELL/ABG team ended up taking 1st, 3rd, 6th and most of the day's premes.