Word quickly spread throughout the Keweenaw community on Wednesday, December 16 that Bill and his son, Pete, were in a head-on collision just outside of South Range. The airbag deployed for his son, Pete, and the other driver who were both taken to Portage Hospital for treatment. Both survived.

Bill riding trikes with one of his kids after the 2008 Deer Chase in downtown Calumet.

Bill worked at Cross Country Sports in Calumet. He worked hard to provide his family with excellent bike and ski equipment. It was much more than equipment, however; it was an opportunity to spend time with his children.

I remember racing my hardest in one of the Keweenaw races. Someone came up behind me and nicely asked if he could get by. I let him go by and was a little shocked to see that it was Bill. What was Bill doing behind me in a race!?

You see, Bill was pretty darn fast on his bike, and his kids are a force to be reckoned with, as well. Bill’s son, Pete, has caused many a grown man to cry by beating them in races time and time again. Okay, not really, but Bill’s kids are fast and give the adults quite a bit of competition – even the fast adults. I did hear comments from other racers that they were having a great race and suddenly Pete would fly by and beat them. Pete, who is 13 years old, placed first in the 17-Mile Great Deer Chase in Calumet with a time of 1:13:07, this past summer. Bill placed sixth with a time of 1:18:05.

Forty-two-year-old Bill is survived by his wife, Lisa, and his six children: Nina, Peter, Oscar, Heidi, Ethel, and Sami. His spirit will live on in his children.

The Keweenaw cycling community is raising money and collecting food for the Karinen family. Those who wish to donate money can make deposits into an account for Bill at the Michigan Tech Employees Federal Credit Union in Houghton-Hancock.

The following is an email that went out to the community:

Hello Friends of the Karinen Family:

Many have asked how they can provide help and support to the Karinen family and have already dropped off food. Thanks. I would like to serve as a coordination point for the food so that we make sure that we keep them supplied for some time and don’t overwhelm them with too much too fast.

What can you bring?

• Hot or cold dishes – lunch type food or dinner

• Groceries – easy to prepare food/breakfast eats/fruit/snacks
• Grocery store gift certificates

Other things to consider:

• Send food in containers that you don’t want back or disposable

• Although not essential – things that could be frozen – they don’t have a large freezer but this time of year – outside in a cooler or box works!

How to get it to them:

You can drop at my house – [Removed for privacy], Hancock or at the Red Cross Office in the old school at the junction of Elevation and US-41 (the old Wright school) also in Hancock. Annette who works for Red Cross has graciously agreed to help us with transportation as she is the Karinen’s neighbor in Painesdale.

Please let me know if you are delivering food by either calling or emailing. Annette is on vacation – so she won’t be keeping regular hours at the Red Cross office although she said that her office staff would put anything in the fridge as needed and she will come in when needed. However, we will need to know if things need to be picked up and brought to the Karinen home.

Questions:

Call me – Betsy Rossini – 482-XXXX or email me at “ear1 AT charter DOT net”.

I know that the Karinen’s have already been touched by the kindness of the community and are appreciative.

Betsy

Related Articles to Bill Karinen

• Daily Mining Gazette Obituaries: William G. “Bill” Karinen

• Updated: Community groups call for food, support for Karinen family after accident
• WLUC TV6 Story

It was my goal to defend my title, as my team mate, Carp, put it. I won first place in my age group, last year, and I was going to do it again.

The race actually started Friday night. I ate a healthy sandwich from The Library as my bike was readied at The Bike Shop. Caleb fixed my rear brake and adjusted both, re-cabled the bike, and lubed it up. I had absolutely nothing else to do to prep it for the race.

I didn’t sleep well. That really wasn’t part of my strategy. My sleep has been hit or miss, and it wasn’t in my favor when I couldn’t sleep straight through the night. I had Malt-O-Meal, coffee, and grapefruit for breakfast. That part went very well.

I arrived in Calumet and chatted with many people before the race. My strategy was to start up front and not get stuck behind non-technical riders on the singletrack like last year. It worked. My singletrack riding was very good and I managed to hold a really good pace until the end. You see, the course, in a nutshell, is downhill on the way out, and uphill on the way back. I am not a strong climber, and those long, gradual ascents are what really kill my mental game.

It wasn’t an uneventful race. I flew around a corner really fast and heard the person behind me miss the turn and fly into the woods. It was actually quite funny hearing the prolonged crunching and crinkling of the leaves and branches behind me. At one point, I was traveling in a pack and hit a dip with my front tire that threw me off balance. My left hand flew off the handlebar and hit the shifter as my body shifted to the right. I managed to grab the handlebar and hit the shifter to bring my chain back up on the middle chainring. It was a prevented endo. That woke me up, which is funny because it’s not like I wasn’t paying attention. I was aggressively riding the course wide-eyed. It’s amazing how alert one is while racing.

I was told that I was in third place as I rounded the corner where the race split between the long race and the short race. It was time to head to the finish line. I wanted to catch up to the person in front of me, but I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t see her and I was bonking. After riding alone for a bit, someone caught up with me and flew right by. That was it. I had nothing left, and I couldn’t catch up with her. Oh well. I lost third place and everything I had just wasn’t enough. The important thing is that I gave it my all.

I came in fourth place for the women’s fifteen-mile race and first in my age group. It was a strong finish and I feel very good about it. The only thing I would do differently is fueling. I didn’t take anything in because, while the course is fast and flowy, it doesn’t really have any areas where it’s safe to take your hand off the handlebar for food—at least when you’re riding as hard as you can because you are racing for a top spot. The funny thing is that I may not have bonked at the end had I reached for my bottle. My next race will be different.