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Sports

Riders Will Race for Cash at First Birmingham Bike Festival

Hefty grand prizes Aug. 28 will attract pros to half-mile downtown loop.

Pedal power will fill traffic-free downtown streets Aug. 28 during the inaugural Birmingham Bike Festival, featuring races for professional and recreational cyclists.

Cash prizes are serious enough to draw sponsored riders on a national racing circuit, says Cullen Watkins, vice president of racing for the Wolverine Sports Club, based in Royal Oak. He's a volunteer coordinator of the day-long event, featuring a six-turn closed course through the city's business center.

The ambitious program is the brainchild of Jeff Surnow of West Bloomfield, a commercial real estate developer and advanced cyclist. In March, he earned support from the and approval from the City Commission to host the Sunday festival in Shain Park and on seven surrounding streets. Another major achievement was bringing in Bank of Birmingham as the presenting sponsor for a $10,000 donation.

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"I'm passionate about this sport and want to show the community know how bike-friendly this city is," says Surnow, who used "passion" repeatedly during a brief interview. "A lot of groups ride through here, but there are not a lot of cycling events."

Long-range vision

The 60-year-old executive, who owns "more than 10" bikes, envisions the festival and race becoming a yearly tradition.

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In a more substantial contribution to the city, the property manager and developer last year renovated the 1940 former post office on Martin Street into modern office suites. The Surnow Company, which moved there from West Bloomfield in January, leases space to other professional service firms and will use the site as a bike race registration base.

Among cyclists, the upcoming event is a criterium, or crit for short. With roots in Europe, the word describes a multi-lap race on a short urban course. Most fans "walk the course" to see the action from varied points.

To encourage spectators to ride to downtown Birmingham, "bike valet" storage will be available.

This type of race for riders of any ability is gaining popularity. The first Criterium Detroit City was held July 9, and the Michigan State Criterium Championships are July 31 in Milford. Traverse City has a criterium Aug. 14 and downtown Grand Rapids hosts the national Grand Cycling Classic USPRO Criterium Championships eight days before Birmingham's races. "There's one (in Michigan) just about every weekend during summer," Watkins says.

Circuitous laps

Birmingham's half-mile loop, which starts and ends at Maple and Henrietta, heads down Bates for a block, turns onto Martin for two blocks, then follows Pierce to Merrill to Old Woodward and back up to Maple. 

Riders in nine classes, split mainly by age and gender, will start in staged groups from 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Juniors' laps will take about a half-hour, followed by five men's and women's races running roughly 35-50 minutes each. A hand cycle race, also called paracycling, begins at 10:30 a.m. for riders with disabilities.

At 5 p.m., barricaded streets reopen to vehicles with more than two wheels.

Spectators will see pros take the six turns swiftly and sharply while trying to "hold the line" — their positions in a closely bunched pack. The 1:30 p.m. race for two categories of sponsored riders will be the day's longest at just over an hour and a quarter — roughly 67 laps. 

Sprint contests within races

To jazz up the interest for riders and observers, sprint ability is rewarded with interim prizes called "primes" (pronounced preems, as in premiums) that are announced during the race for whoever wins the next lap. "These incentives add excitement and interest," explains Watkins.

Amateurs have $50 to $300 worth of primes in each class, while pros get shots at a $1,000 pool.

First-place finishers among two categories of juniors (10-14 and 15-18) win $100 and $150, while adult amateur champions qualify for $400 and up. The prize total for pros is $4,000. 

Surnow and Watkins, his technical adviser, decline to say how many riders are committed so far. Early this year, Surnow estimated at a city commission meeting that 350 people would ride — a figure Watkins says is still "very realistic."

"There's typically a late registration surge shortly before the race, especially by the pros," adds Watkins, 53. He works at American Cycle & Fitness in Royal Oak, an event sponsor. He's confident some riders will stay in Michigan after the Aug. 20 pro race in Grand Rapids, ideally heading east to Birmingham a weekend later.

Registration under way

"We haven't really given them a reason to sign up early," adds Watkins. Advance entry fees are $40 for adult amateurs and $45 for pros, or $10 more on race day. Fees for youngsters are $10 ahead of time or $15 at the event.    

A one-lap free race for kids, with medal prizes, starts at 11:20 a.m. A two-lap free race for adults is at 1:10 p.m.

Activities also include a helmet safety clinic hosted by Beaumont Health Systems, a children's "bike rodeo" with bike decorating and face painting alongside on Henrietta and vendor tents in the park.

The course will be marked and monitored by more than 100 volunteers from the Wolverine Sports Club, a Royal Oak group with nearly 400 members that serves as event host and USA Cycling permit-holder.

Factory demo, electric bikes

Shopping district consultant Julie Fielder is soliciting sports equipment companies, local merchants and restaurants to set up park booths for $300. Already aboard are Trek, an event sponsor that will demonstrate new models, and Pedego Electric Bikes, a Harrison Township shop.

Vendor "participation is low so far," Watkins admits. Surnow notes that because it's a new event, "people are waiting to see how it goes."

Each of those key organizers will be too busy to race Aug. 28, in contrast to most summer weekends.

Typically, each is in the saddle often and for long stretches. Surnow does road rides as well as mountain biking, and last summer completed a "triple century" (300-mile) benefit ride over three days from Traverse City to Chelsea for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan.

Festival details and entry forms are at birminghambikefestival.com.

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