Blount Today -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 2/11/2005
Last Visited: 5/30/2006
Metro Detroit Cycling Club members, from left, Mark Swint, Eddie Sloan, Larry Carter, Brian Cox and Daryl Heard pose with Melissa "Itchy" Brown at a rest stop.
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MDCC cyclists Mark Swint, Larry Carter, Brian Cox and Daryl Heard marveled at Brown's speed on some of the steep climbs in and around Laurel Valley.
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Carter, 57, a retired supervisor at General Motors Milford Proving Grounds, had ridden with Brown before.
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"I came up behind her and said, 'Who's that little girl?'" Carter said.
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Brown, Sloan and Carter are indicative of the broad sweep of the 700-plus cyclists who gathered at the staging area at Heritage High School for the Tour de Blount's annual run.
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Carter, Sloan and their MDCC teammates represent a place where the sport hopes to go.
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Founded by Detroit native Dave Davis, MDCC formed after Swint, Cox, Heard, Carter and Davis continued to run into each other at various races.
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With MDCC's success, Carter said the club decided to take cycling to Detroit's African American community at large, a place where the sport traditionally had little following.
"We said, 'Why don't we take this to a community where it doesn't get much exposure," Carter said.
Sloan, a lifelong fan of 20th century African American cycling champion Marshall "Major" Taylor, happened upon Carter and his MDCC teammates at a rally along the Michigan/Canadian border a few years ago.
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Seconds later, Davis, Swint, Cox, Heard and Carter came hurtling up the road in single file.
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Carter stayed on until Tuesday to get in a few more climbs, including Montvale Road's famed "Wall."
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Oh, he'll be back, Carter said.Brown's going to get that rematch.
"The riding (this weekend) was excellent," Carter said.