One biggest races of the season with six stages and a top notch field, the Nature Valley Grand Prix was looking to be some difficult racing, made even more arduous by the presence of United Healthcare who pretty much dominated the race.

I was looking to do well in the time trial to get off to a good start in the best young rider competition and best amateur competition. I didn’t do as well as I would have liked, but I ended up top 60. The crit later that night was the hardest stage by far, everyone was fresh and it included some pretty technical corners followed by long straight aways so it was an all out sprint out of every corner for about 70 minutes. As the race went on the field got smaller and smaller and it was easier to navigate the corners, however in the last few laps people started to crack which meant having to jump around them and close gaps, but in the end all the Panthers finished together with the main group which was only about 60 riders. Continue Reading »

Giro d’Grafton was last Saturday’s race which was part of the USA
Crit’s series, which meant extra $ and prestege. 150 dudes lined up
for the 90 minute crit on a hilly fairly technical course. I had
mentally readied myself for something along the lines of Speed Week
which took place earlier this year in the deep south, but this race
was a bit different. Grafton was lacking some of the firepower of UHC,
which meant a crit that wasn’t quite as fast, and therefore not quite
as strung out. Because of this the pack was pretty large and dangerous
for the duration of the race. Like I said there weren’t many instances
of difficulty during the race, I went for a prime mid race and got it,
then tried my best to be up front to watch for moves going from the
favorites like Johnny Cantwell and Bahatti. Continue Reading »

Paul Martin on the podium in 2nd for Team Panther at this National Racing Calendar event with Kirk Albers in 9th and Ryan Knapp in 11th.

RESULTS:

• 1. James Driscoll, Jamis-Sutter Home
• 2. Paul Martin, Panther Competitive Cyclist
• 3. Clayton Barrows, Stan’s Notubes-AXA
• 4. Andrew Seitz, GPOA
• 5. Clay Murfet, Rideclean
• 6. Luke Keough, Mock Orange Racing
• 7. Eric Schildge, Jamis-Sutter Home
• 8. Jared Babik, GPOA
• 9. Kirk Albers, Panther-Competitive Cyclist
• 10. Marco Aledia, Cleveland Clinic Sports Health Cycling
• 11. Ryan Knapp, Panther-Competitive Cyclist
• 12. Nathaniel Cornelius, Kentucky Flyers Cycling Inc
• 13. Nicholas Bennette, Metlife Cycling Team
• 14. Jonathan Atwell, Scholars Inn
• 15. Jacob Rytlewski, Kenda-Geargrinder
• 16. John Rowley, GPOA
• 17. Jeremy Grimm, Cleveland Clinic Sports Health
• 18. Ryan Shebelsky, Team Alliance Environmental
• 19. James Good, Audi
• 20. J Gabriel Lloyd, Metlife Cycling Team

Here are a couple pictures showing the team in action today at the Nature Valley GP!

Pictures by Cycleture .

The Mount Pleasant race weekend is always a favorite in the Michigan scene, this year the promoters decided to up the ante and add a time trial to make it a 3 day omnium. It was a short, windy and somewhat technical start to a long weekend of quality racing. Greg put down the best time for Team Panther but a delayed start cost him a podium spot.

The following day was the downtown criterium on the main strip in Mount Pleasant. The community really embraces this event and it shows with the amount of locals that come out to cheer. The course was extremely fast and very few breakaways were able to gain more than a few hundred meters worth of lead.

The team rode very well to cover anything that went up the road and with the presence of RGF, Louis Garneau and Bissell, it was evident that it would have taken the perfect combination of riders to roll away. With about 5 laps to go the team began forming at the front to prepare for what would be a very fast finish. Greg hit it hard with 3 to go and Mac and Kirk powered behind him to set up Ryan A, who had an awesome sprint in his legs today and pulled off an amazing win.

Sunday’s 130 mile road race was a test of endurance, tactics and of course, nutrition. The early break rolled away when the field decided to take a little nature stop on the side of the road.  We didn’t have a rider in the move but a few other teams missed the move as well so we weren’t terribly concerned in the beginning.

Kirk went to the front and rode at a steady tempo for about 90 minutes to keep the break in check. After about 2 hours the break had gained 8 minutes on the field – it was time for us to begin a concerted chase effort. Four of us went to the front and exchanged pulls for nearly 2 hours. With help from Alan Antonuk and Jeff Pendlebury of RGF we began reeling the break in steadily and it was together at roughly the 90 mile mark.  Counter attacks began flying left and right and we contained them very well despite our tired legs. After Greg and I put in a counter of our own which was reeled back, the big move went up the road. Brian Sheedy, David Williams and 3 others got a gap and began rolling away steadily.

The winning move was riding away so again, we assembled at the front and were forced to chase. The next 30 miles were tough. We exchanged pulls without saying a word for an hour while we slowly decreased our time to the leaders. We rode at 30+ miles per hour during the chase and caused a few splits in the field behind us. We finally caught the final remnants of the break in the last mile of the race. Unbelievably, the race came down to a  field sprint with what was left of the group. We did our best to mix it up in the sprint but the chase efforts had caught up with us and the fresh legs of those who sat on prevailed. We walked away a little tattered and disappointed that all of our hard work on the day didn’t’ pay off like we would have liked.

A huge thanks goes out to Mr. and Mrs. Brennan who did our feeds on the day (like pros) and the Fink family for graciously hosting 5 sweaty Panthers for the weekend.

The North Carolina High Point Criteirum took place two weeks ago Friday Night. Since the race started at 9 it was pitch black the entire time, and the back of the course was really dark with no street lights at all, however the finishing stretch went through a covered bus terminal which was brightly lit with a block party and a ton of live music, it was a really awesome course.

The mile long course also had a pretty decent amount of climbing per lap, so the field got whittled down pretty quickly after the start. With a pretty technical course and a 300 m climb out of the last corner to the finish the course was really perfect for me. A large breakaway/field split rolled off midway through the race that was pretty well represented with 3 Mountain Khaki riders an RGF rider and a smattering of others. I attacked to bridge across after it was pretty clear the field wasn’t going anywhere. Another Mountain Khaki rider tagged along for the ride up, and of course attacked me when we were about 5 seconds off the back. Continue Reading »

This last weekend Mac and I did the West Branch road race and criterium in Northern Michigan. The road race course has a good-sized hill at the finish, which we raced up 4 times. Last year I made the mistake of not taking advantage of the hill, so I wasn’t going to let that happen again. Throughout the rest of the course we were pretty lax about letting breakaways roll off the front, and I would hit it hard all the way of the climb in hopes of forming a selection. The plan worked quite well, and after two laps Mac and I were both in a breakaway group that had a good advantage on the rest of the broken-up field. I attacked with about 10 miles to go and finished solo for the win. Mac attacked a bit later, also successfully, so we took the top two spots in the race.  The next day’s criterium didn’t go quite as well, with only Mac making the front breakaway. I got away a bit later in a small chase group, but we never caught the leaders. Mac ended up 3rd in the sprint, and I finished 3rd in my group’s sprint for something like 12th overall.

-Greg Christian

This last weekend was one of my favorite race weekends of the year, despite the fact that I have never had any success there. I was out to change that at this year’s Memorial Day Weekend  Bike Races in the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois. I set the goal for myself of one podium performance in any of the 4 races. I thought (and kind of wished) that it would come in the second day, at the infamous Snake Alley Criterium. More on that in a second. Continue Reading »

The course was a pretty flat out and back and it was pretty windy out. After several attacks and following wheels a group of three finally got away, which included Erik. As their lead grew there were several attempts from the field to bridge up, but nothing ever stuck. Things settled down after that and one guy just kind of rolled off the front of the field so I jumped on his wheel and we just rode away. We were joined by another rider and continued to ride away.  In the process of bridging up to the lead group, we dropped a rider.

By the turnaround of the race we were within a minute of the lead group and caught on shortly after. The five of us got into a rotation, but the gap to the field was starting to fall. We really had to ramp it up which resulted in the rider that I bridged up with getting dropped from the group. The gap continued to drop and it looked like we would get caught, but we kept driving.

With about a mile to go one of the riders stopped pulling through and Erik and I started attacking. However, we just could not get away from the other two rider. Erik and I attacked two times each, but were unable to distance ourselves. In the end we ended up 3^rd and 4^th.  In hindsight we probably should have attacked from further out, but with the pressure of a chasing peleton it was difficult to judge.

- Mac Brennan

Day 2 of the Memorial Day Weekend Racing and one of the most anticipated race of the year. Snake Alley Criterium has 8 corners and a famous 300 meter switch back cobble climb that defiantly makes the race. The most important lap was the first one, because 110 riders sprinting toward a single lane climb was bound to get messy. I started mid pack and in the first few hundred meters had a lot of ground to make up so I was not in the backlog of riders having to hit the brakes. This was definitely some of the most aggressive racing that I have been in. Fighting for position nearly the whole race made it all about who could have their elbows out the widest.

After the climb there was a fast decent and a few flat straightaways before you hit the climb again. This race had no field; there were many groups of riders on the road chasing each other trying to catch the leaders. Knapp, Erik and I were a part of the lead pack of about 20 riders covering attacks up the climb. Erik, who was feeling a bit tired from his 75 mile break the day before, used himself up towing the pack to a small break that formed with 10 laps to go that could have changed the outcome of the race. Unfortunately that dig got the best of him next time up the climb but he did manage to close the gap.

The race was heading toward a sprint finish, and you would expect the line to be at the top of the climb but actually it was close to the bottom. The final time up the Snake saw 4 riders start to open a gap. I took a few risks but caught the back of them on the decent. I tried but could not move up because second wheel was the ideal position to win the race. Heading around the final corner 4^th wheel meant I had a lot of ground to make up in very little road ahead. Just missing out on the podium I crossed the line 4^th, Knapp close behind in 9^th, and Erik 15^th.

- Ryan Aitcheson