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It is hard to believe that this past Saturday, Aric, Christian and I (Marie) Dershem headed to race cyclocross in December in Michigan with no snow on the ground and relatively mild temperatures. This past Saturday, the Dershems (along with several other teammates) raced the State Championship Cyclocross race in Rockford, Michigan in near perfect conditions.
The course offered a good deal of off-camber fun, tight corners, some big mud puddles, rough, grinding climbs, and a fun fly-over. It was a relentless hammer-fest in that there was little time to rest but good opportunities to push through pavement sections.
Christian was the first to race at 9:15 in the morning. It was foggy and cold, but that didn’t slow this little guy down. He put his game face on and turned up the heat. He even carried his 30 pound bike up the fly-over (keep in mind he barely tips the scales at 70 pounds), hopped back on and rolled down like a pro. 
He finished with a huge smile on his face, even though he was unaware that he has won the State Championship in ages 9-12. When he found out he won… pure joy.
Inspired by the littlest Dershem win, Aric and I headed onto the course at the same time. The Women’s CAT 1/2/3 lined up and were released onto the course just a minute before the CAT 3/4 men. I had a rough start, but keeping a strong and steady pace throughout the race, I managed to work her way up to a 2nd place finish, passing 3rd place in the last lap of the race. I was thrilled to share the podium with two strong women, and privileged to race in a strong women’s field.
Aric’s race started out fast with a crowded field of CAT 3/4 men. With a strong start, Aric kept his eyes on his main competitors, just a few bike lengths ahead. Trading spots through the first half of the race, Aric was feeling strong and having a blast. 
A small crash slowed him down, losing the front group, but keeping them in sight. On the last lap, he pressed hardtop pass 4th place, coming in for a 3rd place podium finish.
The post It’s a Dershem 1st, 2nd and 3rd for Team OAM NOW appeared first on Team Athletic Mentors.
But somewhere between lap 2 and 3, I started to figure it out and enjoy the new challenges of CX racing. I built some speed and improved my mounts each lap 
Gravel road races draw a tough crowd. Rough dirt and seasonal roads, big climbs, and unpredictable fall weather make the perfect mix for a suffer-fest. The Michigan Mountain Mayyem Gravel Grinder did not disappoint. As Daniel Yankus, Team OAM NOW racer said, this year’s full course had wind as an appetizer, climbing as the main course, and some boulder filled descents for dessert. Dan was joined by teammates Chris Abston, Collin Synder, Alex Vanias, Amy Kimber and Kaitlyn Patterson for this year’s 60 mile Michigan Mountain Mayhem Gravel Grinder. Jon Morgan went after the 45 mile version.
This year, the race rolled out at a fairly easy pace due to the big headwind. 
Tristan followed shortly behind with an incredible ride for 8th beating one of the Aussie pros! Collin ended very respectably at 14th in an incredibly strong and deep field. Collin received his redemption, though, as later in the day he flew through the Single Speed race to win the race.
On the women’s side, Laura Melendez did an excellent job representing TEAM OAM NOW/Athletic Mentors in the Elite 1/2/3 race in Alma, MI. Racing against some of the top women, including Mackenzie Woodring, Paralympic Champion, and an elite cyclocross rider from Australia, Josie Simpson. The first race of the season is often a challenge as cyclocross is so completely different from road racing. But, Laura, who has fallen in love with this discipline, was thrilled to be back at it and finished strong in 7th place.
The following day, Uncle John’s Dirty Ride, a great gravel road race, called many of the same racers back to the dirt. Chris Abston, Collin Snyder, and Daniel Yankus did their best to shake things up early and often as the course was some kind of FLAT! Each TEAM OAM NOW/Athletic Mentor teammate took their turn, with 2 solo efforts from Chris and a 2 man move from Collin. On the turn home with the tailwind, Daniel attacked up to Chris’s solo move and a group of 8 chased to form a breakaway. The break was too big to succeed and another push from Daniel pulled out 2 racers. The 3 they rode well together and established a few minute gap. On the headwind home, these 3 did their best impressions of tracks stands in loose gravel. A few attacks later, Daniel was able to get away in the final mile to take the win. Chris took 4th out of a small chase group and Collin took the field sprint up the Uncle John’s Cider Mill hill for 7th. What an impressive finish for all three!
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knowing he wasn’t likely to win (he’s the little guy in the middle), he still did everything he could to stay with the lead group; and then to hang on the wheel of another rider who was dropped along with him. 
He ended up riding the last 2 laps on his own, still pushing it as hard as he could. He finished in 4th place… and loved every minute of it.
With a field of 20+ women, the team knew it was going to be a good race. Jenny, our newly minted CAT 3 racer, is an incredibly strong rider and even better sprinter. Knowing she was the team’s best chance at a podium spot, the plan was for a good lead-out for her. Marie spent much of the race covering attacks, with Jenny’s assistance as well. Even with many good attacks and a strong field, no breakaway stuck and after 50 minutes on the course, it came down to a sprint. Laura led the field out on the last lap. Unfortunately, she was swarmed by eager riders on the long back-stretch. Laura and Marie both got caught in the field, but
Jenny managed to work her way toward the front of the pack as the peloton rounded the last corner. Without a lead out, Jenny still managed a very strong sprint, crossing the line with two other women. 
With only a hair separating them, she landed a 4th place finish. Like the men, the women were able to walk away knowing that they rode strong, learned more about racing together, and can look forward to future races.
In the Men’s 45+ Masters race, TEAM OAM NOW had Rich Landgraff, Jon Morgan, Chris Abstain, Mike Wyzaleck and Mark Olson all working together for this 30 minute race. Given the short amount of time, the team took an aggressive stance, attacking hard and often. Finally, Chris was able to make it into the winning break, placing 4th overall, Mark followed with a 7th place finish. Great race all!
Some of these same men decided to race in the Men’s Masters 35+ race as well. Rich Landgraff and Terry Ritter took on this challenge and found themselves once again in a fast field with many attacks. With both Rich covering attacks, Terry was able to bridge up to a potential winning break. But, with only a few laps to go, the break was brought back into the peloton and the race came down to a sprint. Exhausted from the fast pace and attacks, Rich landed 8th and Terry 19th overall.
The masters 55+ squad was represented by Glenn Dik and Loren Simons, a race that was combined with the 45+ masters field. Glenn rode strong, attempting to control the peloton as Chris Abston and Jon Morgan took turns going off the front. At the end, Glenn was right on the wheels of Fred Anderson and Mark Warner but, lacking sprint legs, he was not able to come around them. Both he and Loren finished in the midst of the combined field at 5th and 9th respectively.
Far from the Gaslight Criterium, Mike Krywanski represented OAM NOW/Athletic Mentors at the inaugural Cherry Roubaix Gran Fondo held in Traverse City and featuring all the most challenging climbs in Leelanau County. In what proved to be an absolutely epic adventure, Mike finished 6th overall in the 80 mile event despite the 92 degree temperature and an untimely crash on the gravel section of Miller Hill Road which separated him from the lead pack Along the way, the course traversed the legendary climbs of Inspiration Point, Hlavka Road, Shomberg, Dufek and Herman Roads in addition to the aforementioned Miller Hill Road, a brutal 15% climb on loose sand and gravel.
The race (and it was definitely a race) started on Front Street in downtown Traverse City with a neutral rollout to the top of Grandview Road at the 5 mile point. From there it was full gas with Einstein Racing Club at the front followed by the entire Haggerty squad and OAM NOW’S Mike Krywanski happily sitting in. The climb of Inspiration Point split the field roughly in half with a few riders catching back on the descent. The real damage was done on Miller Hill where those riders who knew the climb were able to pick the solid line up the gravel ascent. After that the field spread out with those riders who had punctured or crashed losing contact. It was a fantastic race and a fantastic finish party afterward. After the ride, awards were given and food and drinks were shared along with stories from this epic ride.
Another fantastic weekend of racing as the summer nears it’s end.
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It is flat, smooth, and beautiful. With no traffic to deal with, riders are able to just put their heads down and hammer out the race. For juniors, the course was 20K; for adults, 40K. And, TEAM OAM NOW/Athletic Mentors had great representation in almost every category with top 3 finishes in all but one category.
Starting with our youngest through our oldest, here are the results:
Christian Dershem (Junior age 9-12): 1st place and State Champion
The following day, Marie found herself without a teammate for the Race for the Wishes Road Race due JoAnn’s unfortunate crash. She also, however, found herself standing next to Kristen again. Knowing each other’s ability to break away and stay away, it took only a glance for an alliance to form. Marie and Kristen looked at each other at the start line, nodded, and knew the plan. With this 3 lap race, they had the opportunity to test the field on the first lap and determine the best place to break away. Marie chose the first hard hill and on that second lap. She jumped on the hill and Kristen hopped on her wheel. The two rode away from the field to build a 4 minute lead by the end of the 53 mile race. 
As they neared the finish line, Marie came out from behind Kristen’s wheel the real sprint began. At the line, neither Marie nor Kristen knew who had won… it was truly a photo finish. Soon, the timer announced that Kristen had crossed the line before Marie and Marie took second… what a finish!
The Kalamazoo Race Weekend saw a full turnout for the masters 55+ squad with all 7 racers toeing the line for the BTR Ctiterium on Saturday and the Maple Hill Race for wishes on Sunday. Due to the early start time for the masters 55+ criterium, many of us were up at 4:30AM to make the trip to Kalamazoo, get registered, warm up and be ready to race at 8:00. This was the first crit in the 55s for new team members Leonard VanDrunen, Larry Strayhorn and Steve Buccella but nonetheless everyone rode like veterans and did an excellent job of chasing breaks and keeping the field intact. All were very much in the mix throughout the race and were there as the sprint wound up heading into the last turn and onto the finishing stretch. Though we finished off the podium, it was a successful effort and a good learning experience for our newer racers. It was especially rewarding to have Dave Stebbins and Glenn Dik back racing with us after their successful efforts at the National 24 Hour Challenge in June.
On Sunday, a large 55+ field containing all the best masters racers in Michigan lined up for the Maple Hill Race for Wishes. At 1:00PM all 7 team members rolled out for what turned out to be an eventful first lap. We expected the attacks to start in earnest on the second of three laps but instead, Dan Hofstra and Craig Webb lit it up the first time up the hill at 4 miles and put in an attack the the field was not able to reel in. Our guys spent a majority of time at the front with huge pulls being taken by Leonard VanDrunen, Dave Stebbins and Glenn Dik among others. A lack of cooperation from the rest of the field combined with a massive effort from the two leaders doomed the chase and by the end of lap one we were all racing for third place.
Lap two was relatively uneventful with Bill Gilboe attempting a doomed solo break and the field rolling through the start/finish together. A bad strategy decision by team captain Mike Krywanski caused our squad to miss a break by a small group midway through the last lap and at that point, all the podium places were up the road. Coming into the finish, Leonard led around the last corner with Mike leading out the sprint for Steve and Loren who both came around and finished at the front of the main field. It was disappointing to miss the podium when several of our riders were clearly capable of making the break but again, we plan to learn from our mistakes. It was however, a great race and a great racing weekend.
The Masters 45+ were out in full force this past weekend fielding 4 riders at BTR and 5 at the Race for Wishes. Strongman Chris Abston was out with an injury and Jon Morgan made his return to racing after a lengthy recovery from a ski racing injury so the squad is in a rebuilding mode as they shift the focus to other riders. At BTR this put all the pressure on team all-rounder Rich Landgraff, Terry Ritter, and perennial worker Mike Wyzalek.
The BTR 45+ race had a stacked field of about 40 riders and the pace was consistently fast. No breaks were successful so it came down to a field sprint with the team focused on neutralizing late flyers by other teams – Terry and Mike had worked a lot during the course of the race so Jon chased down a last lap flyer by series leader Mike Gardiniak which was also an effort to string out the field and give Rich room to get into sprint position. Unfortunately, in the bend on the back side of the course a rider missed the corner and rode off the course onto the grass. The 6 riders coming up the outside including Rich were forced out onto the grass through a team tent in a giant ball of flying dust and grass. Rich emerged mostly unscathed with a bruised foot, but the placing for OAM was gone for the day.
At the Race for Wishes Mark Olson came off the bench to ride in place of Abston and the team rode to counter a lot of breaks until the right one formed for Rich. Mark’s deep experience showed and the team rose well throughout the race. The group was weary by the last lap after covering many attacks and Rich went it alone through the final climbs in hopes of making it to the downhill into Lawton or to be joined by a good break partner. The race came together before Lawton and the squad set up for a field sprint. Mark took Rich to the front through the final corner and Jon took the inside and jumped early. Both efforts were placed well, but the distance to the line was too long and both were swarmed before the line. As this squad gels we expect great finishes in the latter part of the season.
The course was completely closed to traffic and had 4 corners, all right turns. With the boost of rolling off a starting ramp, the race was fast and furious. With a time trial this distance, you start with a sprint and hold on for dear life as you pedal as hard as you can for 3 miles. TEAM OAM NOW/Athletic Mentors were able to take 2 podium spots for that 2 mile race.
Finally, the morning of June 20, the Michigan State Games Time Trial started launching racers at 9:00a.m. With 4 TEAM OAM NOW/Athletic Mentors racers taking on the challenge, 3 landed on the podium.
