Firing bullets in Madison

One day after a win by resident billy goat Seth Meyer,* five members of Team Get A Grip Cycles lined up for the always fast, always fun, Wheels on Willy Criterium in Madison, Wisconsin. The course is a nice, 4 corner affair; and, despite the fact that one side is completely uphill, the race traditionally comes down to a group sprint.

Lacking a pure sprinter and determined to buck history, four members (Meyer, Vandeven, Tenney, Wiecek) repeatedly shot their bullets in an attempt to break away from the field. Despite multiple, hard, attacks by each rider, no one could escape the peloton; and the race came down to a field sprint. Meyer attacked with two laps to go to set up the sprint for Gray, who had been sitting in the whole race, but was brought back. Vandeven (7th) and Gray (9th) managed to squeeze into the top-10 in the somewhat confusing final lap.

The racing in the WCA series is always competitive and anyone who is anyone is going to show up and race hard. Combine that with the fact that us Cat 3s would be allowed to race against some of the of the best regional professional teams (Bianchi GP, Grandstay, etc.) in the last race of the day makes these trips to the North worthwhile.

*See "Victory in Wisconsin," below.

GALLERY (Photos courtesy of Craig Gartland)

Strong-man Steven Vandeven checks the gap during one of his breakaway attempts.













Wiecek goes for it with the Wisconsin State Champion and an ISCorp rider.












There was at least one attack each time up the hill. This time, Tenney gives it some grit.













With just 2 laps remaining in the race, Meyer goes off the front to set it up for the sprinters.



But, he gets caught and admits at the finish: "That had no chance."