The title is good because of the current hit movie, “Fast and Furious 7”. But moving on.
The spring edition of the Lowell 50 is this Saturday, a neat two weeks removed from the biggest ever Barry-Roubaix. The smaller of the two events, the Lowell 50 offers an intimate setting of suffering and success, with a flatter course and a race that is often decided by aggression and wind.
It’s a solid pack already confirmed for the event, including WAS Labs, who will also enter as big favorites in the Team Competition. They’ll look to score with three riders, Shawn Adams, Tom Burke and Aaron Cruikshanks. The team has been a habit of dominating the event, including a demonstrative effort last spring, where a quartet of riders pulled away with a few hangers-on to leave the rest of the field fighting over scraps. They’ll also have Jason Young looking for a big day as well.
They’ll have nearly perfect conditions in which to lay down the groundwork for a similar effort on Saturday, with temperatures into the 50s and a more gentle wind in the forecast than recent editions. Experienced racers will tell you to ignore the wind strength, however, as the force of it seems to find no inhibitions over the wide-open farms fields that dominate the sides of roads away from the river valley. After a Barry-Roubiax that kicked off at 16 degrees, it could feel like a summer morning for the hundreds of riders on the start line Saturday.
The six women in the 57 mile event will be mixed in at the mass start, and watch for the veterans to be marking the right wheels. Beth Collins is a Lowell 50 vet and won’t be content with simply winning her age group.
There’s a 5 man 57 mile SS race that will be of interest as well, pitting the ageless, shiftless Michael Seaman against Kevin Soules as perhaps the two favorites. It’ll be a game of grab and hold, with all the SSers hoping to hold contact over the early rolling climbs and sticking in with a big group across the windy flats.
Racing starts at 10am at Fallasburg Park just north of Lowell, Michigan. kolo t.c. will have a recap at some point afterwards. Probably.