Team Get A Grip Cycles Wins National Championship

Team Get A Grip continued it's summer success when Jonathan Gray won the United States National Criterium Championship held this past Sunday in the Chicago suburb of Downer's Grove, Illinois. In the final lap of the race, Charles Biro carried Gray along the outside of the field and dropped him off in second wheel at the top of the hill, halfway through the last lap. From that point on, it was up to the sprinter to finish the job.
"I think that XXX-Athletico tried to set up something at the end," said the new national champion, "but they were too slow and dumped their leadout in less than a block. I recognized my opportunity and jumped them with everything I had."

"When I came out of the final turn, I knew that I had won and was so excited that I started bouncing my front wheel and high-fiving my team mates on the sidelines." "Chip seems to win the really big races. At the beginning of the summer, he won the biggest criterium in Wisconsin and now he goes out and wins the biggest criterium in the nation," said Jon Tenney, the team director. "Charles was fantastic in the final lap, and the rest of the guys did a good job monitoring the front of the field during the prime sprints. Last year, we dictated the course of every category three race we entered; but because of injuries and upgrades, we were no longer able to operate with such strength. As a result, the team had to be a lot more intelligent and use the efforts of other teams to our advantage. We did it at the Hillsboro Roubaix at the beginning of the year and again here at the National Championships."


The riders on Team Get a Grip have had considerable success at Downers Grove. "At this race, the only thing that matters is good position over the top of the hill on the last lap. Once there, you give it all you have got to the end. It is a simple formula for victory, but it requires flawless execution. I think that members of Team Get A Grip have won this race at least three times in the past."

Although she was aware of this strategy, Lindsay Koren was unable to capitalize on the knowledge in the womens 3/4 event. "I had second wheel going into the last few turns, but I thought that it was too far to start my sprint so I drifted back to fifth wheel. Too bad I did not trust the advice of others, because that is exactly the place I finished."

It was a welcome result on a weekend that otherwise would have been disastrous. Eric Wiecek smashed his head in Saturday's premier event, Devon Haskell was caught up in at least one wipe out, and Cesar Correa and James Holten went down in Sunday's finale when another rider stuck his pedal in Correa's front wheel breaking the spokes. "The announcers saw Cesar in the medical tent bloody and with a ripped skinsuit. For some reason they thought it was funny and started ridiculing our team and calling us 'Get A Rip.' I am not sure why they did that, because crashes are never funny. Still, I was glad that Chip won. It made up for what was being said and showed the announcers that we are not a bunch of jokers."

The whole team would like to thank significant others, Get A Grip Cycles, Subaru, Cannondale, Sidi, and the spectators, young and old, for a fantastic end of the racing season.

Thanks is also extended to Peloton-pix.com for making available all of its 2008 Downers Grove Photos free of charge. Congratulations on 10,000 hits!

Vandeven Wins Missouri Bicycle Racing Series

Jim Vandeven, Team Get A Grip's sole Missouri resident and father of two, sewed up the Missouri Bicycle Racing Association's series (MOBAR) title this past weekend after finishing the season with two top-six finishes at a pair of St. Louis area criteriums.

Vandeven's quest to take the series began when he dominated the spring road races by winning the Dogwood Road Race and O'Fallon Grand Prix and coming in second at the Hillsboro Roubaix. "My principal goal for the year was to win this series, and I knew that I had to perform well in the early season road races. I have a wife and children to support, and I am not willing to risk a major injury by bombing corners in the finale of a criterium just to get a few extra places" said Jim. "I started all of the criteriums, but I played it safe and never really gave it everything." His secret to success was simple: "I trained harder than I ever had this winter by riding every day and doing 100 miles twice a week on a very hilly route. I became really strong, but my sprint suffered a little."

Still, the overall victory was not really assured until Jim won the Missouri time trial championship. :"I never do these time trials, but this year I went out and gave it everything for the points."

As the series went on, Jim's regular competition started to complain to the local officials in an attempt to force Jim into the elite ranks. " I wanted to win the series and was not going to upgrade until it was in the bag. People started to take it out on my wife at races. It is a shame that they tried to upset her that way. I had planned on winning it earlier, but there was some tough competition from one local rider. "

Now that Jim has the series, he will be moving into the category two ranks. He said, "I am really looking forward to racing the Gateway Cup with the other elite riders on Team Get A Grip. " We should have five or six good riders, including my brother Steve, and I expect us to flex some muscle."

Photo courtesy of John Musselman and stlbiking.com

Chicago's Two Top Teams Control Elgin Cycling Classic

After a sub-par result at Saturday's Tour of Elk Grove, only three of us lined up for the category three race at the Elgin Cycling Classic. Chad, Uwe, and I didn't really get a chance to discuss the tactics for the day but were still able to work as a single unit.

After a few warm-up laps, the attacks started with me going off the front first. I was just trying to keep the early breaks from getting away and to keep my position close to the front for any primes. As soon as I was caught, Chad countered. He went with a few others, but they were reeled in fairly quickly. It seemed it would go this way until the right combination of riders was reached. Shortly after, and about the 20 minute mark, Julian from VitaminWater-Trek snuck off the front solo on the backside. Seeing as there was a strong representation of VitaminWater-Trek guys, I jumped and easily bridged up to Julian. When Julian saw my friendly face, he knew that this break was for real.

We quickly stretched the time gap to thirty seconds. After a few more laps of continuous and smooth pulls, I believe the time gap increased even more. The announcer then called out a 100 dollar prime for the two of us. We agreed to split any and all primes evenly, to make sure that we worked together smoothly and to ensure that the break would stick. Julian did most of the work on the backside as I monitored the pack's distance, and I would take over on the home stretch and carry it through the high speed chicane. Our team mates in the pack did a tremendous job of foiling any and all attempts to bring us back.

On one of our trips through the chicane, my front end started washing out at close to 35 mph. Miraculously, I kept my bike upright and did not crash into the hay bales much to Julian's relief since he was glued to my wheel.

When the pack started to close in, the adrenaline rose. They came dangerously close at least twice before the wheel pit closed. At that point another prime was called to the leader of the next lap--100 dollars to the first rider across the line--and the pack as barreling down on us. With only two laps to go, we were about to get caught, but then a lone unattached rider bridged to us in an attempt to steal the prime. At that point, it was two against one.

Coming out of the final corner the unattached rider jumped around Julian and got a pretty good lead. Unfortunately for him, Julian and I had made an alliance and I was a better sprinter. I clicked down a gear, jumped, and gapped both by at least four bike lengths as we crossed the finish with one lap left. I eased up some to safely navigate the chicane for the final time and they came around me with the pack hot on their heels. We took very short, hard, and fast pulls to keep from being gobbled up by the rest of the race. Between turns three and four Julian started his sprint and pulled away with the other rider. Exiting the fourth and final turn I had to wind up and close a sizable gap to them as the unattached rider started to gap Julian. I gave it all I had and the three of us crossed the line together for a photo finish. We were millimeters apart and nearly rubbing shoulders at the end. Julian was third, I was second, and unattached won. Julian and I split the lion's share of the primes and took home good money. I would even venture to say that we each made more than the lone rider even though he finished ahead of us.

None of this would have been possible without the combined and dominant efforts of Team Get A Grip and VitaminWater- Trek. The break lasted the entire second half of the race.

-Chip

Talent Identification Camp at the Olympic Training Center

Last week I headed out to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado springs for a talent identification camp. I was a bit bummed to miss out on Superweek races, but I was also very excited to relive the glory days of camp. What can be better than spending a week eating and sleeping and doing the sport you love to do most? I'm also a pretty good camper. Back in my soccer camp days I won the "well-behaved" camper award (that's what you get when you are a good camper, but not necessarily the most talented).

Anyway, camp was a ton of fun. The first day we had a lab test. Most of us thought it was going to be a grueling workout and we were all surprised to find that they just wanted us to pedal for 10 minutes at an easy pace with our noses plugged and a big funny-looking mask on our face. This was an economy test - it measures how efficient your body is at utilizing oxygen for functional movement... pretty cool. Later that day we went on an easy ride around town. I was a little bummed that we didn't get to ride any hilly terrain because being from Chicago, I don't get many chances to see hills.

However the next day I was appeased! We went out for our first field test which was a timed climb up a short and steep hill. I was pretty excited to finally get to ride in the mountains. The test was short, but long enough to learn the pain of riding hard at elevation. About a minute in to the climb, my lungs started screaming for air! It burned! Afterwards, we continued our ride along a dirt road with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.

The next day I encountered more hilly fun with a timed climb up a long long road... nothing like the 47th street overpass on Chicago's lake front path. The climb started off pretty good and mellow, but the lack of oxygen soon kicked in making for a tortuous end of the climb. Can't they make mountains at sea level? Coming back down was fun - i even saw a fox! Then we ended the ride with another scenic route - this time cycling through the "garden of the gods". The red rock formations here were awesome!

The rest of camp was spent learning lots about performance testing, nutrition, sports psych, etc. We also spent a lot of time eating (the Olympic Training Center doesn't have your typical camp food - it was delicious) and watching the tour together. It was fun hanging out with and getting to know other racers from all over the country. Overall, a fun time.

--Devon