Course change makes a difference in Cycle Fest

A slight course change created exciting finishes at the Lodi Cycle Fest on Sunday, a Criterion race featuring a figure-eight course just shy of a mile.

This year’s races started and finished outside of Cellar Door on School Street near Elm.

“I enjoyed the new course and the new stuff that we had,” race director Damien Gonzalez said. “It’s really nice to have everything in a central location here.”

At least one rider from the host team, Michael David Winery Cycling, found success in the downtown Lodi event, with Devin Armstrong winning the Men’s Category 4/5 race ahead of Tom Perkins of JAKROO and Peter Coffman, out of Rocklin.

“On the final turns before the straightaway sprint, there’s more turns leading into that sprint, so it’s a little more technical,” Gonzalez said. “You have to kind of position yourself to be in the front on the backside going from Elm down to Oak on Church. Once you hit that, it’s hard to pass, there’s just turn after turn.”

Other locals finishing high in the 44-rider Men Category 4/5 race were Ian Johnsson of Lodi (UC-Davis) in seventh, Krisztian Markella of Stockton (Michael David Winery Cycling) in 11th, Lawrence De Leon of Stockton (Eight Mile Llamas) and Daniel Wallmark of Lodi (Michael David Winery Cycling) in 17th.

Other winners included Joseph Chicoine of Clovis (Eliel Factory Team) in the Men Master 35-99 Category 1/2/3, Matthew Johnson of San Francisco (Dolce Vita Freewheel) in the Men Master 35-99 Category 4/5, Scotti Fonseca of Fair Oaks (Audi Reno-Tahoe Racing) in the Men Master 45-99 Category 1/2/3), Manny Canson of Sparks, Nev. (Orange Cycle Pedaling) in the Men Master 4599 Category 4/5, Owen Gillott of Brisbane, Australia (Storck-CCN) in the Men Category 1/2, Stephen Lenz of Turlock (Chico Cycling Team) in the Men Category 3, Hanna Muegge of Marina in Women Category 1/2/3 and Shelby Tramel of San Francisco (Razzle Dazzle) in Women Category 3/4/5.

Locals finishing in the top 10 were Albert Lehman of Lodi (Clean Power Cycling) sixth in the Men Master 35-99 Category 4/5 and Albert Lehman of Lodi (Clean Power Cycling) ninth in the Men Master 45-99 Category 4/5.

“It was a good turnout, and I think some of the businesses did really well. A lot of restaurants gave us gift certificates as prizes, so a lot of riders were eating here after the race,” Gonzalez said. “The women’s pro field was smaller than usual, but the men’s pro field was pretty big. There was a good amount of prize money, so that always brings out a lot of pro racers.”