Keith Riege, the owner of Paint Creek Bicycles admits his hobby as a Cyclo-Cross racer is a little on the crazy side.
But Riege is among the state’s best, a position he continued to solidify earlier this month at the 2006 State Cyclo-Cross Championships in Waterford.
Riege won the gold medal for placing first in his age bracket and placed second overall in the Masters Men 45+ season-long point series.
Riege has won the gold medal four times in the past six years at the state championships, and has also won the series four times (from 2002-05).
So, what exactly is Cyclo-Cross?
Riege describes it as a combination of two of his other passions on the bike, road racing and mountain biking.
‘For road racing, you’re in a big pack and you can draft,? Riege explained. ‘In mountain biking, there’s irregular terrain and you’re by yourself. Cyclo-Cross combines the two.?
The courses consist of a variety of surfaces, ranging from pavement to dirt to grass, with barrier challenges thrown into the mix.
Riege said the barrier challenges vary from course to course, but are designed to get the riders to dismount their bikes and then remount as fast as possible once running through the barrier on foot.
‘Cyclo-Cross is a sport where bike handling plays a major part,? Riege added. ‘It’s technically challenging.?
Riege said the off-camber turns were the most difficult parts of a course to navigate.
‘It’s very difficult to maintain your traction,? he said.
A typical Cyclo-Cross lap takes around seven minutes, according to Riege, and the races last 45 minutes.
‘They’re very short in duration,? Riege said of a Cyclo-Cross race, ‘which makes them very intense.?
The season runs from October to December, meaning the weather can play a big part in the outcome.
‘At last year’s state championships we had four inches of snow the night before,? Riege said. ‘It changes the race – crashes piled up.?
Riege said all of this adds up to make Cyclo-Cross a great spectacle.
‘It’s the most spectator-friendly sport there is,? he said of Cyclo-Cross in relation to the other events he’s competed in.
‘I’d been racing bikes for 25 years and I always wanted to do Cyclo-Cross,? Riege said.
He eventually got a Cyclo-Cross bike, which differs slightly from both a road bike and a mountain bike.
Riege said a typical Cyclo-Cross bike has a bit more clearance in the frame and a fork for larger tires when compared to a standard road bike, but he added that the differences might not be that noticeable to an untrained eye.
Riege’s Cyclo-Cross bike, along with a variety of other bikes, are available at Paint Creek Bicycles, located at 27 E. Flint Street in downtown Lake Orion. For more information, contact the store at 693-9620.
For Riege, who will be getting married in February, the end of the Cyclo-Cross season means a bit of a break from racing until road and mountain racing begin early next year.
‘I still race on the road and I still race on the mountain,? Riege said.
‘But Cyclo-Cross gives me some variety. It’s the most fun of them all,? he added.