Saturday Was For Biking the Trail During First Paint Creek Cycling Event

It was part scavenger hunt, part bike race, and part fund-raising event on Saturday as riders turned out for the first .

The event started and finished at the ; 99 cyclists participated in the event, which was organized by the Friends of the Paint Creek Trail.

“We are really happy with the turnout and everyone had a really good time,” said Jim VanDoorn, president of the Board of Directors for the Friends group.

Cyclists departed from the Paint Creek Cider Mill at their own pace; some left right at 9 a.m. while others mingled a bit, soaking in the sun and having a pre-crawl breakfast. The object of the cycling event wasn’t to see who could make it to Lake Orion and Rochester and back first. Instead, bikers needed to collect a stamp from five different businesses, return to the starting point and give their registration card filled with the stamps to the Friends.

All of the completed cards were then submitted into a raffle drawing to win a grand prize of a $500 gift certificate to the Rochester Bike Shop, in addition to about 50 other raffle prizes.

“We get to break in our bikes for the season,” said Mike Mellor, 23, of Rochester Hills. “Plus the scavenger hunt concept is cool and there are good odds with the raffle.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Regina Lawler of Rochester Hills said. “It’s an incentive to finish by going all the way down and all the way back.”

Attendees could go to the five businesses in any order. Participating businesses for stamp stops were Elements and Times Square of Lake Orion, of Oakland Township and and of Rochester. Bikers made good time VanDoorn said, with many making it back to the cider mill two hours later. 

Not only was Rochester Bike Shop a stamp location and sponsor, a slew of Rochester Bike Shop Cycling Team members decided to participate in the crawl.

“It’s a good way to get people out riding, and to get them to learn about the trail,” said Matt Antoniou of Lake Orion, who is a Rochester Bike Shop Cycling Team member.

One couple decided to tackle riding the trail with a tandem bike. Renee Achterhof, 25, of Grand Rapids said it was her first time ever on a tandem, but her boyfriend, Luben Mitevski of Rochester Hills, told her it would be fun. About halfway through her journey she found herself agreeing. 

“It’s been really good, very fun and there are a lot of friendly people everywhere we stop,” Mitevski said.

Proceeds from the event will support upkeep of the trail. VanDoorn said that in combination with its other fundraisers, the Friends would like to put money toward another water fountain along the trail as well as a bench and possibly an additional restroom.

“It couldn’t have gone better,” VanDoorn said. “We received really nice feedback and everyone wants us to do it again next year, so we’ll start planning.”