P/1/2 Podium in Lombard

Hi readers. Seth here, writing a short recap of Sunday's ABR Illinois State Championship Criterium in Lombard.

After a long Superweek in Wisconsin, with the large, national-level P/1/2 fields really whipping me into shape in a bunch of 100-kilometer criteriums, it was time to come back to Chicagoland and test out some new form. Although the course in Lombard, essentially a 1-mile, windy oval with no more than 20 feet of elevation is not exactly suited to my twiggy climber's frame, this is exactly where I was hoping to see some improvement after Superweek.

Meeting a small field at the start line, presumably because many were exhausted from the long haul of July races or maybe because there were still some also in Whitefish Bay, just north of Milwaukee, whatever the reason, I wanted to make sure this race wouldn't be too lazy or too easy before a finishing sprint. So I clipped in first and fastest from the gun and went to the front to whip up a fast pace to start the race.

Lo and behold, I look behind and see that only two other guys were really ready to ride. The others in the Pro/1/2 field were content to let us go, even though the event was an uncharacteristically short 45 minutes (which I would argue should encourage only very short leashes on breakaways). In any case, these two and I decided to keep rolling and see what would happen. After a few minutes, two bridged up to us, and, with a nice gap, we decided to give this sucker our all.

Halfway through the race, we all had the thought, I'm sure, that this was bound to be much harder than we had calculated. I was already counting down the minutes at 20 in, but, after some mistakes riding in the breakaway earlier this year, I knew that the first and most important rule was to ride it to the bitter end. So I kept on, along with the other two original members. One of the bridgers eventually couldn't handle the pace, however, and another could no longer pull. He sat on the rest of the race and was not a factor.

With pleasure and a bit of disbelief (too good to be true?), our gap hit the one-minute mark close to the end of the race, meaning we would soon lap the field. Nice! To make it fairer in the last few laps, we took shorter pulls, but, of course, the attacks had to come sometime. With two to go, one of my companions attacked incredibly hard. Neither my mate nor I could match his acceleration. So we decided to try to bring him back together by equally pulling as fast as possible these last two laps. It just didn't happen, though. The attacker was the strongest man. My companion won the sprint at the line, with the sitter-on not being a factor, meaning I took the final rung of the podium.

At first, I was a bit disappointed ending up 3rd out of what was a 5-man main move of the day. On the other hand, I had never gone from the gun to the finish in a successful breakaway, and of course I hadn't in a Pro/1/2 race either. So it was definitely progress! I have to admit that Superweek has brought me on some great form. Let's hope I can keep it up and get some more results in the P/1/2 field with it, including by continuing to develop that strength capacity for going with a winning last-lap attack after a long breakaway!

SUPERWEEK - BREWER'S HILL CRITERIUM - CAT 3

Today's players consist of Eric, Chip, Jon, and myself(Steve). It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee, and we know today's course is well suited for our racing style. Aggression, Aggression, Aggression!!! With a nice little hill just before the finish, going up 60 times, we figure to make a break stick or simply shred the field. As it turned out, it was a nice day for a break.

Roughly half way through the race Chip and I slowly roll off the front, the field seemed to be giving us a rather long leash, so we decided to take advantage. After a sharp effort, we had a nice gap super fast. A couple others bridged up and then the field really started chasing. After a few laps, things started to come back together, but I wasn't ready to give up. I held a decent tempo just off the front, and pretty much like I expected, the counters began. After a few other attempts, eventually a group of 9 formed with most of the teams being represented. This was the group that would stick and actually wound up lapping the field.

Lapping the field is an interesting thing. The simplicity of a break becomes rather complex or confusing the instant you reintegrate. The first thing you think is get to the front as fast as possible. Next you're trying to get on the same page w/ your teammates and make sure everyone knows what to do. It's funny how you're not exactly sure who all was in the break with you, when you were working together just minutes earlier. I'm sure this is more the case w/ a large break, such as a group of 9 like ours.

My team was awesome today!!! Chip and I started things off while Eric and Jon controlled the pace behind. Chip later joined in controlling the chase. As soon as we lapped the field, Eric brought me straight to the front and kept me safe. Then the guys sat back a bit and let me take advantage of the Beans and Barley train who was taking care of Loberg, their guy in the break.. With about 3 to go my team came forward again, Chip upped the pace for about 2 laps and then Jon took the reins for the last one. The only unfortunate happening was Jon going up one side while I was on the other. The rider who got his wheel, who I didn't even remember being in the break, wound up 1st and I was 2nd. So close! But I'm happy with a 2nd place Superweek finish, especially considering who won was also the guy who ran away with the overall.

Big thanks to my team!!!
Steven Vandeven

Team Get A Grip Cycles Prepares for an All-Out Assault on the International Cycling Classic

Starting on July 13th, Team Get A Grip Cycles will be bringing its full weight to bear on the International Cycling Classic, the longest running cycling stage race in North America.

Riders will be facing seventeen straight days of racing held on various courses in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas. For a complete schedule, go to internationalcycling.com.

Condolences

Staff and team members of Get A Grip Cycles offer their condolences to all affected by the death of Beth Kobeszka at this weekend's Proctor Cycling Classic.

T-E-A-M Victory at Fox River Grove Criterium

Team Get A Grip Cycles had a fantastic day at the Fox River Grove criterium in Illinois, organized by a very professional, top-notch organization in RDS Cycling.

Steven Vandeven, Eric Wiecek, Chip Gray, Lee Heaton, and Seth Meyer, fresh off the Tour of Ohio, lined up to take on the field on the 1.2-mile circuit that included one very steep and difficult climb. From the gun, TGAGC made the pace high, making sure that the hill would take its toll on the pack in the short, intense event. On the third lap, attacks really began, with Vandeven being the one eventually breaking the elastic going off solo.

With four dedicated teammates in the pack disrupting all forms of a chase, Vandeven's gap grew larger and larger, to a maximum of one minute—solo, no less! About halfway through the race, the field's anxiousness grew unbearable and multiple bridge attempts flew off the front. After some attack-counter-attack games, it was Jason Knauff of Team ClifBar Midwest making the move that stuck, and Meyer latched onto his wheel to do his duty for the team.

At this point, Vandeven was off the front, with a motoring Knauff in between with a resting Meyer in a great strategic position just sitting on the wheel, and Wiecek, Heaton, and Gray still keeping a grip on the field. With two to go, it was time to utilize these numbers and circumstances, as Meyer attacked Knauff in efforts to create a TGAGC duo up front.

Meyer bridged up to Vandeven and paced him up the climb the last lap, followed by the two exchanging pulls until the finishing straight, where they crossed hand-in-hand as 1st and 2nd place! Knauff did a fantastic ride to stay off for third, but, just behind, it was Wiecek fighting it out on the line in the field, ultimately taking second in that finishing group and 5th overall, with Heaton just behind in 7th and Gray in 9th.

Photos of the race and this domination are coming soon. Team Get A Grip Cycles used all of its strong members to perfection today, racing with precision and guts for a breath-taking 1-2.

Check back for next weekend's racing in Proctor. An even larger, even stronger TGAGC contingent will be out for these IL state championship races (sans Meyer, who is off for a rest after the first half of his season and shall return as a full-time elite Pro/1/2 competitior). TGAGC will be looking to keep up its dominance in the elite fields of the region. Stay tuned!

Tour of Ohio Stage 6: A First Last Day

Well, Seth's first stage race is all over. And, for the third day in a row, the peloton stayed together for a bunch sprint. I'm a little discontent with that fact, that the race was decided in the early stages. The way it went was that the second day was the day to lose it if you had mishaps or nerves or crashes or flats in the rain, and the third day was the day to win it (the queen stage). Everything else was just very minor sorting out. I wish there would have been one more difficult stage like the third one on the fifth or sixth day, but, alas, that's how it went.

The positive side of losing time on the second day is that it gave me more courage and reason to attack on the third day, and the time, attention, credit, and experience that that gave me was all more than I could have asked for in my first stage race experience. The even greater positive is that, being in that break with Swain, especially when Hekman bridged, I got to really learn a new level of suffering that I probably could not have otherwise found (certainly not on my own), and that alone makes me feel like a stronger rider, not to mention the fitness six days of racing will give you.

So results ended up like this: I was 62nd overall out of 129 riders (so top half, which is all right for my first Pro/1/2/3 stage race, I think), 18th in the collegiate rider classification, and then, most importantly, 6th for the King of the Mountains Jersey and 5th for the White Jersey. I guess that basically means I'm young, I'm gutsy, and I go uphill fast. So let's hope I stay on the upswing there.

Thanks so much for reading about the experience this week. I'm looking forward to the second half of the season with Team Get A Grip Cycles!

Tour of Ohio Stage 5: Another Day

Seth here, from the Tour of Ohio's final [what was supposed to be] selective day.

Well, I tried my little heart out, but, quite honestly, today's profile just wasn't difficult enough. There was only one hill on the 11-mile loop, and it was a short big-ringer that wasn't difficult enough to cause a split in the field.

Early on, I was active trying to get in a small group if one would be let off. Scholzen and I were actually in three separate little moves together in the first two circuits, but it soon became obvious this was to be a bunch sprint. Since the hill was a smallish power climb (1/3 of a mile, not crazy steep, as advertised), it wasn't my terrain for a sprint for climber's points either, and I was stagnant in that competition.

We'll see official results later, but, due to this, I may have dropped in the KOM competition. That's too bad, since the KOMs were like just slightly uphill sprints today. Things are pretty much set too, as tomorrow is just a short, little twilight criterium to close things out. So long as I don't crash, I think I'll be 67th in GC, 6th in KOM, 5th in White Jersey, and gutsiest friggin' 21-year-old out there (who else went on a 55-mile break with Hekman and Swain on the queen stage)?

Thanks for support, reading. Final report and results tomorrow from my first pro-am stage race!

Tour of Ohio Stage 4: An Easier Day

Easier is a relative term. This stage was by no means easy, but thank goodness it was not want-to-get-off-and-walk difficult. It was a circuit race in a residential area, 33 laps and 33 times up a big-ring climb. Luckily, the field was obviously staying together for a bunch sprint so I could rest assured in the middle of the pack that all would be okay if I just stayed upright and conserved.

Tha's exactly what I did, finishing smack dab in the middle in 58th today, hopefully doing the legs some good by avoiding hard efforts. I'll have to be ready to go on the attack again in Stage 5 if I want more KOM points (the last day they're offered)!

Team Get A Grip Cycles all over cyclingnews.com

Just below Tour de Suisse and Nature Valley is the Tour of Ohio on cyclingnews.com, where Tim Swain (A&F) and Seth Meyer (TGAGC) were given massive props on their antics in the breakaway all day long in the queen stage, Stage 3. Read on! http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2007/jun07/tourofohio07/tourofohio073

In other news, after official results, Meyer is sitting 5th in the KOM classification, 5th in the white jersey, and 67th overall. And it turns out Dickey (Mercy) did inch past Hekman (A&F) on the line yesterday. So Abercrombie will be out to get that jersey back this week. In the meantime, Meyer will keep shooting for his!

Tour of Ohio Stage 3: A Big, Big Day

Seth reporting from Ohio again, the Team Get A Grip Cycles member on a composite squad for the elite Pro/1/2/3 stage race: I wasn't necessarily looking for redemption today, nor the breakaway, but you don't say no when opportunity jumps up right in front of your face!

After some really tough attacks in the first few miles, I rode a good wheel (Brian Sheedy, Priority Health pro team) up to the first few positions of the main field, wanting to stay attentive in the case of a split in the group due to all of these accelerations. I then moved over to a Mercy rider's wheel who starts rolling. A minute later, he turns around and says, "You know we have a gap right?" What? I look back, sure enough, we're all of the sudden in the breakaway.

I can't see how or why, I guess I was just in the right combination at the right time, but, after three more guys bridging up, we were given a bit of a leash, and we rode away from the main field. Great. All we had to do was 60 more miles of very hilly terrain, 5 KOM (King of the Mountains) classifications, all under the very hot, midday sun. Yes...yikes! That was bound to be tough.

I have never had my legs burn so much before. I have never had four gels and so many bottles and all the energy-saving and economical breakaway riding in the world still leave me dying out there, but I was honestly on the verge of tears nearing the end of the stage. The breakaway actually reformed, as A&F sent another guy, Mark Hekman (current leader of the nation's professional criteriums series and now GC leader of Tour of Ohio), Dewey Dickey (Mercy) came up, and the Time Pro Development Team and Colavita had solid riders help out too. In the end, we were twelve in front of the field of 129. Holy cramp!

Hekman, Dickey, and two others had the strength to attack in the end. I, just buried in this move, was passed by one elite group and ended up somewhere around 40th and 4 minutes down on the day, but it was ahead of a ton of people and a ton of people who lost a ton of time. What's more is that I gained a number of KOM points and am now Top 10 on that classification, am on the podium for Best Cat 3 (my teammate on the combination team here, Matt Waite, currently has the white jersey), and I'm making my way toward the top half of the GC after yesterday's fluke disappointment.

What's even more is that, today, skinny little Seth Meyer mixed it up in a P-R-O breakaway for 55 miles. It's a shame I couldn't stick out the last few, but the advantage and recognition it gave me already was much more than I could have expected. This is a big comeback for me during the tour. Let's hope I can recover well and stay on the upward pattern for the last three stages.

'til next time!

P.S. We're keeping a video diary for the Tour of Ohio at http://www.seth-meyer.com/page4.html