Birmingham Bike Festival

The Birmingham Bike Festival was held today in downtown Birmingham, Michigan. Katrina Pawley Mason was the only Courtesy Bicycles Race Team member that made the trek to the northern suburbs of Detroit to Birmingham, Michigan for the race. Katrina raced in the USA Cycling Junior 9-14 category against other girls and boys, ranging in age up to 14! In Ontario, the age group that she races against is 11-12 so the older girls and boys provided some very tough competition. The races in Ontario are also gender specific as the boys and girls generally do not race at the same speeds (it's not that boys go faster, many times they do not and girls in all age groups at times pass boys' groups many times after having 30 second start delay).

The 2014 Birmingham Bike Festival was the site of the Michigan Criterium State Championship and, as a result, it attracted a fairly good gathering of racers of all ages. While the juniors were not racing for state championships, there was a good turnout nonetheless. This was a true race criterium (“a crit”) that is situated in downtown Birmingham right on W. Maple just off of Woodward Avenue. The course is “L-shaped” with 6 sharp 90 degree corners (5 lefts and 1 right) with the longest stretch of course covering only 3 city blocks, making for quick speeds, lots of sprinting and very technical corners. Old Woodward lived up to its name with lots of potholes and generally a rough road to ride through (the only complaint to be heard from racers).

Katrina was the only Canadian racing in the Junior 9-14 category but there were 3 other youth entries from Canada in the Junior 15-18 category. Andrei Enache (Maple Leaf Cycling Club) of Windsor took bronze, Josh Myers (Maple Leaf Cycling Club) of Windsor placed 7th and Garrett Belanger (Tower International) of Tecumseh finished 8th. Each of the boys did exceptionally and rode great races against some of the best junior racers in Michigan and the USA.

The Junior 9-14 category was delayed a little due to being the first race of the day and as city police removed a few parked cars. Katrina was surprised to see all the young kids her age organized on various teams and the quality of athletic equipment each of the youth were using

The race was fast paced from the onset with four boys attacking the field immediately off the line. Katrina was ready for the attack and went with the boys. Katrina tucked in very nicely and used the advantage of drafting behind the riders to stay pace with the boys. About half-way into the race, the pace the lead 4 boys were maintaining and the quickness of the corners took their toll on Katrina and she fell off the back of the main group. The breakaway group had already lapped the chase group and they were going fast! Katrina continued on by herself, trying to maintain the same speed but the 4 boys were able to pull away from her.

(This very professional photo was taken by Bob Bruce)

Katrina managed to hold her position and finished fifth overall and winning the Gold Medal in the girls Junior 9-14 category. It was an exceptional effort for Katrina and a much deserved victory in the USA.

Race information at: Birmingham Bike Festival

Full results at: USA Cycling