Mr Peabody..who are these guys..?
Sherm this group wild eyed up and coming heroes were the beginning of a very formidable group of racers in the South East Michigan area...
Brian Rosewarne'
Steelman through and Through
They look fast.
Well Sherm, before we decide how fast they are
lets get a little background on who they are..shall we?
OK! Lets hear the background on these KOM killers
The year is early approximately 2003, The Micscne road scene was building steam. And what it needed was teams..
Hey that kinda rhymes..
Yes Sherm. Lets continue..The teams began to pop up like Strava segments at DTE, and one young and enthusiastic bloke by the name of his self given moniker SuperDave was early in his sales career for a new to the US bike brand called Orbea, and what Dave needed was some soldiers, and a trunk, I mean a bike shop to support the boys. And he found the infamous Bike-sport of Dearborn to be that shop. Assembling a small group of local Hotshoes Dave set on his quest for the Festina series. The first foray was with a few solid members, and up and coming riders. riders Jeff Hamilton, Gary something of other..A employee from the shop and few others that unfortunately the way back machine isnt getting a reading on this current moment...The first two seasons saw rise in Orbea bike sales. Rumored mainly due to some somewhat shady as i may be so bold to say dealings with Dave, but that is a story for another day. Lets move on. The series was getting better, races were added and buy the time the Sun rose on the next season things began to change.
What the flying fuc.. who are all these guys?
Well it seems the word got out and the stew began to fill up quicker than you can say Base Media..
South Lyon cycles
Gary DeAngelis Pro Cat 1-2 Male
Mark Caswell Pro Cat 1-2 Male
Robert Iser Pro Cat 1-2 Male
Alex KEOMANY Pro Cat 1-2 Male
John Rigdon Pro Cat 1-2 Male
Adam Sczech Pro Cat 1-2 Male
Jeremy Woolcock Pro Cat 1-2 Male
John Zaccone Pro Cat 1-2 Male
Scott Anderson Pro Cat 1-2 Male
Jordan Smitter Pro Cat 1-2 Male
Tucker OLANDER Pro Cat 1-2 Male
Thomas KachelmeyerPro Cat 1-2 Male
Robert Hockin Pro Cat 1-2 Male
Ian Lockley Pro Cat 1-2 Male
Andrew Weir Pro Cat 1-2 Male
David Boboltz Pro Cat 1-2 Male
young and older wild eyed riders started zipping up there fresh new kits, posting decent results from the spring-fling thing to the wonderful world of Tailwind..and with this new found street cred..the Pro-Deals were getting far too much for Tom over at Bike Sport, So the team sought sponsorship elsewhere.
Was Tom Mad at the boys for going elsewhere?
Not exactly Sherm, You see trying to run a large team out of a small Bike shop isn't exactly good for the bottom line. And most smart business owners will tell its a dead end street that always leads to hard feelings, broken friendships and just plain money loss for the already crippled bike shop.
No the boys found solace in a very strange place a man with a pocket full of money that was earned obviously out side the bicycle industry He thought it would be a neat idea to dump some dollars into a bicycle team and bicycle shop. Because operating a bicycle shop is nothing but fun. A man named Skaff i believe kept the growing crew in bags of clothing, Tifosi sunglasses, gel packets and a coffee company came on and got the the riders jacked up on caffeine. And with the exit of Super Dave to the West Coast and the Michigan market now saturated with pro-deal Orbea bicycles. The crew went on to the next big thing. Blue Bicycles.
Mr Peabody..whats up this above photo? South Lyon cycles??
Well either Mr Skaff was a smart business man or just grew bored of turning a million bucks into 2500 dollars. and pulled the plug on the bicycle venture and returned to the lucrative life of fitted magic and Berber. So the crew picked up shop and moved on to another Formidable bike shop with bike lines and possibly on good credit terms with there vendors. South Lyon Cycles replaced the Sun Rise sports logo, and team rolled on..
With all due respect though the team was chocked full of non egocentric riders, and just all around good people. And lets not forget some fast fellas to boot. riders, like Vince Roberge, Rick Lung, Tony The Giant Killer, fast masters rider. Rob Iser John Rigdon..Mr Single Speed Rich orange gloves Stark..even SIMONSTER put the colors to the test one weekend in late May. It was a good breeding ground of sorts for riders.. But probably the most influential person to emerge from the Orange, and Black would have had to been Mr TMS Joe Lekovich. Joe was quite possibly the biggest influence on the success of the golden age of the Miscene Roadscene
But Sherm we know the outcome, like most things in the cycling world it has about a three year life span. Some moved on to other ventures, and a good chunk stayed to together for another go around with Two-Wheel Tango shop. (of course now out of business) And eventually the only place you could spot these were on the back roads of Ann Arbor.
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