Cone Azalia 2010 - 05/12/2010
Under deceivingly sunny skies and in the teeth of a cold north wind, Cone Azalia once again showed that she is a harsh, cold mistress as she decimated many of the racers who braved the Mother’s Day gods to reach for cycling glory. The race is called the “Paris-Roubaix of the Midwest,” and that isn’t because Milan, Michigan looks anything like Paris (or Roubaix, for that matter). Cone Azalia features dirt roads with sand, gravel, hard pack, and gravel the size of golf balls, not to mention potholes which allow the otherwise flat course to feature an estimated 7,000 feet of vertical climbing. The road was littered with ejected water bottles, lost bike computers, and walking (and slightly dazed) racers whose steeds had disintegrated under the relentless pounding wrought by Monroe County Road Commission. To start at Cone one has to be brave; to actually finish is a privilege; and to actually place is to know pure glory.
As the Men’s Cat 3 group toed the line and prepared itself to ride directly into the mouth of this beast, it was joined by Hagerty’s Tim Barrons. Not content with having done battle with the entire Cat 3 field with only one teammate at his side at the previous day’s Kensington race, Tim was ready to throw down all over again at Cone, this time without ANY teammates! Unfortunately, his water bottle cage had different ideas. It rattled loose and fell into his drive train, prematurely ending yet another racer’s Cone Azalia dreams.
Meanwhile over in the Men’s Masters 45+ field, Peter Worden got to practice his tire changing techniques after he flatted, only to flat a second time. Lacking another tube and CO2 cartridge, he then enjoyed a very pleasant and relaxing walk with his bike on his shoulders through northwestern Monroe County.
But Cone Azalia otherwise smiled on Team Hagerty this day. Lars Welton participated in the Men’s Masters 55+ race, while Rachel Decker came in 4th in the women’s Cat 1-3 race. And over in the Men’s Masters 45+ race, Craig Webb and Steve Andriese brought the race to heel with superb team tactics even though they had just raced Kensington the day before, with Steve finishing 2nd and Craig 6th.
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