Converging on the Bike Haus in Marquette for the fourth running of the Ronde de Skandia Cycling Classic this past Saturday were some 35 riders from across the Midwest. The 80-mile road race, contested on the worst roads the race director can find, has become the traditional start to the cycling season and is viewed by many as the U.P. World Road Racing Championships.

All of the U.P.’s elite cycling squads were represented at the event: KMK Cycling Club, Chocolay Ace Hardware, Sisu Cycles and Culvers Cycling Team of the greater Marquette area and the Red Jacket and Flyer Cycles / Dorfblick Training Center teams of Houghton. Lining up for the Red Jackets were James Bialas, John Gershenson, Chris Schmidt and Steve Webber.

At press time, race officials had not confirmed that the increase in both the number and quality of racers was, at least in part, due to the Icelandic volcano, which kept several of the high-profile riders from traveling to Europe to race in this weekend’s Amstel Gold Race in Holland. Regardless of the reason for the increased turnout: the caliber of racers, the explosiveness of the attacks seen throughout the day and the harshness of the weather and road conditions left little doubt that the 80-mile Ronde de Skandia had secured its place among cycling’s Spring Classics.

Many elements of the Ronde change from year to year. One that does not, however, is the weather. The balmy temperatures and sunshine that had cruelly coaxed flowers to bloom and cyclists to shave their legs earlier in the week had been blown south by strong northerly winds, which brought with them cold temperatures and snow squalls. Though the U.P. winter had been relatively mild, it returned to the Lake Superior shores for one last hurrah, just in time for the start of the U.P. racing season. Culvers Cycling Team, which recently signed meteorologist and former Arizona hill-climb champion Ron Williams of Duluth (formerly of Ishpeming), no doubt had an edge when it came to selecting attire for the day’s event. For many, however, the choice was a simple one: if it was in your bag, put it on.

Following last-minute instructions by race director Tom Mahaney, the racers mounted their race machines – which ranged from custom carbon road bikes to cyclocross and mountain bikes. As the cyclists rolled down the spectator-lined boulevard, a flock of south-bound geese called from overhead, letting anyone who would listen know that they had given up on U.P. summers once and for all and were permanently relocating to warmer climes.

In a slight change to the parcours from previous years, the start of the race led racers down a narrow gravel road, followed by a sharp left turn onto a sandy two-track at the base of a gentle climb. The skinny race tires were no match for the road surface, however, and riders were soon forced to dismount. Even hardened cyclocrossers who attempted to forge a path through the forest, quickly found themselves pushing their two-wheeled steeds up the hill. Upon cresting the climb, the racers exited the sheltered woods one-by-one and were blown down the hill like missiles by the near hurricane-force winds.

The 20-mile neutral roll-out, the longest of any of the Spring Classics, is strictly enforced by race officials not only to ensure that racers have adequate time to ease their bodies out of a near-hypothermic state up to race temperature, but also to give the cyclists opportunity to size up the competition and directors sportif chance to plan strategies for the battles soon to be waged on the desolate Skandia landscape.

Tensions were high as racers neared the official start: domestiques fetched water bottles from the race support caravan, cyclists peeled off unneeded layers of clothing, and pepper spray canisters were readied for the onslaught of rabid dogs rumored to be ready to attack, from both within the peloton and along the road.

Chocolay Ace, which has dominated the Ronde every year since its inception in 2007 under the direction of peloton patron and Ace D.S. Tom Maheney, wasted no time in launching the first attack shortly after the race was declared to have been started: Ronde veterans Derek Anderson and Andy Langlois were sent down the road in hopes of drawing out and wearing down the competition. The first to take the bait was Culver’s rider Tom Carpenter. Chris Schmidt (Red Jackets) quickly followed in pursuit, only to be joined by Ace rider Matt Colligan, who brought Schmidt to his senses and returned him to the peloton.

After only a few miles, the Anderson-Langlois duo had managed to build a substantial lead and had disappeared from the watchful eye of the main group. While out of sight, they were not out of mind. Efforts to organize a pursuit, however, were half-hearted at best, and little progress was made at reigning in their lead. As the race neared the 30-mile mark, the tide began to change. Ace rider and two-time winner of the Ronde, Wes Pernsteiner, made a provoking move. Schmidt followed and was shortly thereafter joined by Tyler Gauthier and Ron Williams (Culvers), Steve Pribyl and Eric Hemstead (Flyer Cycles / Dorfblick Training Center) and the neutralizers from Ace, Dave Grant and Matt Colligan. The non-Ace riders, at least those who weren’t struggling to hold on, worked to organize a chase. Hemstead and Gauthier put in solid efforts as the group pedaled feverishly to distance themselves from the peloton. Over the course of just a few miles, the gap was substantial, yet the leaders where nowhere in sight. Tempo in the chase group faltered somewhat as the riders worked their way through a series of rollers. Hemstead, sensing weakness among the group, used the opportunity to move clear of his compatriots and continue the chase for the leaders alone, or with whoever was strong enough to go with him. Only Ace rider Matt Colligan was able to follow. As the duo rode away, leaving the poursuivants in the dust, heads turned in the chase group. “Who is that guy?” the disbelieving Marquette riders asked in unison in response to the amazing display of power they'd just witnessed. With a man up the road, Pribyl, Hemstead’s teammate, could relax. The pressure was on the Culvers riders, Gauthier and Willams, and the lone Red Jacket in the group, Schmidt, to pick up the chase.

The group, now resigned to being caught by the chase group, pressed on at a relaxed pace until it passed Derek Anderson at the side of the road as he worked to repair a flat tire. Gauthier, armed with the knowledge that Langlois was now alone, was motivated to again resume the pursuit. The pace increased at the front of the pack. At the rear, Schmidt, who had been sucking wheels as hard as he could, was blown out the back and soon picked up by the next group. Unknown to all on the road was the fact that Derek Anderson’s breakaway companion, Andy Langlois, had made a wrong turn and was off course. Hemstead and Colligan were now in the lead.

Working hard to recover from a flat early in the race was Sisu Cycles rider Jesse Bell, who had worked his way through several groups and settled in among the leaders for the final third of the race.

At the front of the race, Eric Hemstead, a young, but experienced road racer in top form, upped the pace further and was able to drop Colligan. Just over 20 miles from the finish, certainly all that could keep him from victory was a mechanical, a train crossing, or some other equally disastrous event. As Hemstead, unfamiliar with the area, crested the Engman Road climb and entered the sleeping Alpine hamlet of K.I. Sawyer, he was unable to find the course, race markings no doubt having been stolen by souvenir-seeking fans. Hemstead’s healthy lead quickly disintegrated into minutes and then seconds as he searched frantically for the otherwise omnipresent road markings. Receiving notice of the race situation via race radio, the chasers picked up the tempo and found a disoriented Hemstead at K.I. Sawyer.

The race had been equalized, but there were still 20 hard miles ahead. The first challenge was the brutal Mur de Sporley, a steep dirt road with pockets of loose sand that can bring the strongest rider to a standstill and the weakest to his knees. A select group crested the peak, leaving carnage and broken dreams in its wake. Over the top, all that remained were 15 miles of pavement, every inch of which would be against gale-force winds. While Lake Superior surfers were enjoying the small-craft warning, racers of the Ronde could take solace only in the fact that their tears of pain were blown off their face before the race photographers could capture their misery for the world to see.

Leading up the final miles, a washboard, dirt-road descent gave the leaders one last chance to put courage and skill to the test in an effort open a gap that might hold to the finish. The wind proved to be too much, however, and the leaders entered the final kilometer together. In a tight sprint, Matt Colligan (Ace) took the win over teammate Dave Grant and Tyler Gauthier (Culver’s). Other riders in the top ten included Eric Hemstead, Wes Pernsteiner, Jesse Bell, Ron Williams, and Steve Pribyl. Capturing the Lantern Rouge was Red Jacket rider James Bialas, the sole rider to contest the Ronde on a mountain bike.

In a post-race interview, race winner Matt Colligan spoke highly of his breakway companion’s strength and ability and said that, had Hemstead been able to find his way through K.I. Sawyer, victory certainly would have been his.

Over the course of the next hour, racers trickled into Ronde headquarters. Those who weren’t already smiling at merely having finished the race, were within minutes as the first drops of Belgian ale coursed down their parched throats and noses caught a hint of the bratwursts and burgers cooking on the grill.

Once again, a big thank you to race directors and hosts Tom and Mary Mahaney for putting on what has, for years, been the highlight of the U.P. cycling season.