Barry-Roubaix in Grand Rapids Press

A note from VeloLoser: The following article by Howard Myerson is from the March 21, 2010 edition of the Grand Rapids Press. Barry-Roubaix will be my first bike race of the year. My pre-race thoughts (fear) and post-race report (self-loathing) are forthcoming. If you have raced Barry-Roubaix or another gravel road race in the past, or will be this season, I'd love to hear from you.

Cyclists take to gravel roads in Barry-Roubaix

By Howard Meyerson | The Grand Rapids Press

Nearly 300 riders competed in last year's inaugural Barry-Roubaix road race at Yankee Springs State Recreation Area. About 600 competitors are expected for this year's race, set for March 27.Scott TenCate rode hard and finished dead last in the inaugural Barry-Roubaix road race in 2009. It was a hard race, the first of its kind in Michigan: more than 2,000 feet of climbing more than 31 miles on dirt and gravel roads.

TenCate of Ada rode the loop twice, 62 miles for “elite” riders. It wasn’t pretty. But that isn’t keeping the 44-year-old sales representative from trying again.

“It’s a fun ride -- in a suffering kind of way that only bikers refer to as fun,” said TenCate, one of more than 400 cyclists who have signed up so far for the March 27 event at Yankee Springs State Recreation Area.

“This year, I am going back to the expert category, which is only one lap and about 33 miles,” TenCate said. “I pre-rode the course last week. It was sloppy, but a lot of fun and a lot of hills.”

That’s the idea, said Comstock Park resident Rick Plite, the man behind the Barry-Roubaix -- a race billed as “The Killer Gravel Road Race.” Eighty percent of the 33-mile route is on gravel roads. The other 20 percent is pavement.

Riders, from left, Mike Clark of Holland, Kaat Tahy of Grand Rapids and Dan Jelens of Byron Center competed in last year's inaugural Barry-Roubaix.Plite of Comstock Park owns Kisscross Events, which puts on mountain biking and cyclocross races.

The Barry-Roubaix is Plite’s latest brainchild and can be done on a mountain bike, road bike or cyclocross bike, which essentially is a road bike with higher clearance and fatter tires. By design, the Barry-Roubaix is intended to take riders on a long, difficult ride compared to cyclocross rides that typically are short course events in local parks.

The Barry-Roubaix -- best pronounced with a French flourish: “Baarrreee,” like “Paarrreee” -- is named after France’s famous cobble road race that runs from Paris to Roubaix. It started in 1896 and is considered one of the oldest road cycling races.

“We’ve had cyclocross racing since the 1930s,” Plite said. “But it has really become popular in the last 10 to 15 years. Back then, it was a pretty small group. It has since gone mainstream.”

The move to gravel road racing, he said, evolved from of his own experience. Plite began cruising on them just for fun a decade ago and realized their potential for a road-racing event.

He anticipates nearly 600 riders will participate in this year’s event. Last year's debut drew 288 riders from as far as Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

The group will start together and roll out following a sheriff’s patrol car as a pace car for the first mile and half, stringing the riders out. They then will split off onto one of two courses, the 23-mile beginner loop, the 35-mile sport or expert loop, or go twice around the expert loop for elite standing.

“The elite riders last year said it was the toughest race they had done in Michigan, and they are used to 130 mile road rides,” Plite said. “The hardest parts of the course are two very large climbs. Riders tend to call those hills ‘The Wall’ because they are as steep as they are.”

Steven Virkstis, a 54-year-old Comstock Park High School teacher, said he has trained for this year’s event. He finished second last year in the Beginners 50-and-older class. He is stoked to try it again.

“I did the seven-week spin class at the Belmont Y and have a Turbo trainer,” Virkstis said. “I do a lot of running road races.

“The course was challenging, and the sandy two-track was an interesting part of it. It was a neat experience to get off the pavement and do something you don’t get a chance to do all the time.”

Elite riders will compete for a $1,500 purse. But the race is open to anyone at any level, Plite said. Registration runs from $30 to $55, depending on the distance and the class rides enter.

“We have first-timers who have never raced and are out there for the personal challenge,” Plite said. “The beginners tend to be recreational riders, while experts and elites are the aspiring racers who want to do very well.”

TenCate said he entered last year’s event to get in shape for the Lumberjack 100, a Kisscross mountain bike event held in the summer at Big M in the Manistee National Forest. This year, he’s coming back for the sheer sport of it.

“I love the competition, and a gravel road ride like this is the litmus test of early season conditioning,” TenCate said.

His wife, Marnie, also will race again. She finished fourth in the 35-and-older category last year, having completed one 31 mile lap. The couple regularly ride for fun and fitness.

“My wife commutes to work every day on her bike. And we go out and ride two or three times a week during the summer. We might go to Luton Park or Egypt Valley Trails. That’s our date night rather than going out to a movie or dinner,” TenCate said.

“Biking is our life. It’s not all about competition, but the people we meet through events like this.”