ABD/Gear Grinder announce 2008 Pro Development Team

ABD Cycling, based in the Chicago suburbs, and Gear Grinder Cycling, based in Milwaukee are partnering to sponsor a Midwest-based Pro Development Team in 2008. The team will compete in the region's biggest events and target select NRC races with the goal of reclaiming the top spot for an amateur team in the NRC rankings.

The ABD Team, part of the 200 member ABD Cycle Club, finished as the number one amateur team in the NRC rankings two years ago and 10 riders have come out of ABD's Elite squads to move to the professional ranks or the US National team.

Gear Grinder Cycling is the new name of PCW Cycling, one of Wisconsin’s largest cycling organizations, created by cyclists Paul Weaver and Rob Boldt ten years ago to promote all facets of cycling, with an emphasis on mountain biking, road bike, triathlons and cyclocross racing. Nearly 130 athletes strong, PCW has developed and supported top riders such as Megan Monroe (Spot Bikes), Travis Woodruff (Momentum Endurance), Tristan Schouten (Trek VW), Brian Matter (Gear Grinder Cycling), Brian Schaning (Timex Triathlon) and Chad Melis (Spot Bikes).

“Sponsoring and promoting competitive and recreational teams and events enables people of all fitness levels to satisfy their desire for competition, fitness and fun,” says Gear Grinder Cycling team leader Paul Weaver. “ABD is of that same belief, and together we can create greater awareness of the benefits the sport of cycling offers.”

Cyclists Pat Peery and Dan Mahlik join Weaver and Boldt to extend the Gear Grinder brand, launching in early 2008 a line of cycling-inspired apparel for consumers’ active lifestyles.

“Cycling is more than a way to stay fit or a means to get to a destination, it’s a feeling that just envelops you…the inspiration for the Gear Grinder brand comes from that bicycling culture,” says Weaver.

Equally important to supporting the club and keeping the team competitive, the Gear Grinder brand extension will donate to organizations that utilize the bicycle to inspire and educate our youth, provide opportunities for underprivileged children, protect the environment and promote health and wellness.

Says Weaver, “ABD shares in Gear Grinder’s philosophy that we each have a responsibility to give back more than we take out. Both teams are focused and goal-oriented so our combined effort will not only develop stronger riders but benefit those in our communities as well.

"Gear Grinder's philosophy of giving back to the cycling community is the perfect extension of ABD goal to make the sport of cycling fun and accessible for all riders", said ABD president Mike Farrell.

Gear Grinder's support insures the team's continued success and extends to adding two strong riders to the roster. The White twins, Rob and Ryan, both bring horsepower and a strong finishing kick to complement team sprinter Josh Carter, who in 2007 took ABD's first Superweek win and a silver medal at the US National Criterium Championship. The team has also added John Meyers from the Turin squad, who at 21 is now the youngest rider on the team. "John reminds me a lot of former ABD'ers Reid Mumford(KBS/MEdifast) and Bryce Mead(Jelly Belly), and not just because he's a foot taller than me!", says team manager Mike Ebert, "The really exciting thing is that he's still so young."

Qdoba Mexican Grill is another new sponsor to the program. "Qdoba is the perfect sponsor for a team that is always on the road and needs quick, healthy food choices," adds Ebert. With 44 locations already in Illinois and Wisconsin the team will never need to look far for refueling.

In 2008 the team will ride LeMond Triomphe Ultimate frames outfitted with Bontrager wheels and components and rolling on Serfas tires. Serfas Optics will also provide eyewear and other returning sponsors include PowerBar, Emergen-C and Voler Team apparel. The team will train on CycleOps PowerTaps under the coaching of Julie Carter.

ABD/Gear Grinder Pro Development Team roster:
Josh Carter Fairview Heights, IL
Mike Ebert Glendale, CA
Rob Jungels Elmhurst, IL
John Meyers Barrington, IL
Jeff Schroetlin Decatur, IL
Alex Sharon Wheaton, IL
Brett Stewart Munster, IN
Rob White Brown Deer, WI
Ryan White Lomira, WI

Team Coach: Julie Carter
Team Manager: Mike Ebert

ABD/Gear Grinder riders stop by Prairie Path Cycles' Batavia location to pick up their 2008 LeMond Victoires. From left to right: Brett Stewart, Rob White, Josh Carter, John Meyers, Ryan White and Rob Jungels. (Not pictured: Alex Sharon, Jeff Schroetlin and Mike Ebert)

The 2008 ABD/Gear Grinder PDT jersey, designed by Dave Hornung at Graphic Center.

Carter Takes Second At US Elite National Championships

ABD's Josh Carter once again proved himself as one of the country's top amateur riders with a solid 2nd place at the U.S. Elite National Criterium Championships in Downers Grove.

Carter rode tough in a 2-hour crashfest to sprint to within a half-wheel of the win. Unfortunately, a tangle with veteran Steve Tilford in the final turns slowed Carter down just enough that Dan Halloway was able to get by him for the win.

Carter was smart to never drift further back than 15th place in the race, and rode in the top 10 the entire last 5 laps.

Photo courtesy of Luke Seemann/ChicagoBikeRacing.com

ABD Places 3rd at Elk Grove Criterium

ABD rider Josh Carter sprinted to third in the Elite Men's race at the 2nd Annual Tour of Elk Grove on August 11th.

The windy conditions on the "L" shaped course with two, 180 degree turns proved too much for any breakaways of the day as team members Carter, Jeff Schroetlin and Mike Ebert all took their chances off the front. At one point Carter and three other riders gained 15 seconds almost instantly, but were reeled in after one of many $500 primes caused severe infighting amongst the members of the break.

In the final lap the field spread across the road leading into the first 180 degree turn and both Carter and Schroetlin found themselves boxed in against the curb. Fortunately, the group strung out again after the acceleration out of the turn and the two made it to the front, but now with almost a mile and half to go! Schroetlin once again proved himself as the team's leadout man, taking a one kilometer pull to keep Josh out of trouble before the field finally jumped with 400 meters to go. Carter's third place was within a wheel of race winner Graham Howard and second place Marco Aledia.

Carter and Schroetlin Continue Superweek Success

ABD Elite Team riders Josh Carter and Jeff Schroetlin continued the squad's success at Superweek this weekend hot on the heels of Carter's win at Bensenville last Sunday.

In Saturday's Carl Zach Challenge in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Schroetlin maneuvered himself into the winning break of seven riders late in the race and then attacked with just two laps remaining to isolate himself and one other rider. "I attacked just after a $100 prime and immediately the Rock guy [Rock Racing Pro Sergio Hernandez] and I had about 15 seconds," explained Schroetlin. Unfortunately, his shot at the win slipped away when he skipped his tire through a turn with enough force to unseat his tire. "I wanted to keep all the momentum I could so was pedaling through every turn when I caught one [a pedal] and jumped the tire." Schroetlin rode his hobbled machine as best he could to the line and his gap was big enough that he almost held on for a podium spot, only to be passed in the final meters and eventually finishing 4th.

On Sunday it was teammate Carter's turn to make the break, and with just 12 laps remaining in the 100 kilometer criterium he bridged across to the two leaders with a group of five other riders. The final eight escapees included Navigators pro Viktor Rapinski, Colavita rider Adam Bergman, 2004 Olympic gold Medalist Peter Dawson, New Zealander Josh England and fellow amateurs Tom Holladay, Marco Rios and Chicago rider John Meyers. In the final lap Bergman took the flyer to force the sprinters to chase and the move paid off as he stayed away for the win. Carter just missed second place in a very tight finish with Josh England that saw the pair neck and neck the last 150 meters.

With seven races remaining in the series the team is very excited about the upcoming events, especially Saturday night's Downer Avenue stage.

ABD Men Sweep the Winfield Weekend

Topping the sweep of the podium in 2006 would be a tough task, but the 2007 Elite Men's squad tackled it with aplomb as the squad took home the win in both Saturday's Twilight Criterium as well as Sunday's ABR National Championship.

The man of the weekend is certainly Jeff Schroetlin, who powered away to a solo victory on Saturday night and then spent the majority of Sunday's off the front- which allowed teammate Josh Carter to stay safely tucked away in the field. When Schroetlin was caught on the final lap of the race Carter went to work, taking the long, downhill sprint. Carter also won the field sprint for second on Saturday night.

Carter Sprints to Third at Houston Grand Crit

Josh Carter won seven primes and the field sprint en route to third place at last weekend's Houston Grand Criterium. "I've been traveling all over for work and training like crazy, so it was great to end up in a place where I could do some racing", said Carter. "This result makes me even fore excited for the Memorial Day Weekend races," he added.

Baumann takes 2nd at Baraboo Road Race

After driving an early breakaway of five and ultimately ending up in a group of nine coming into the finish, ABD rider Ryan Baumann lead out a long crosswind sprint only to be nipped at the line by fellow UW-Madison classmate Steve Scholzen.

The race was Ryan's final tune-up before the US National Collegiate Cycling Championships in Lawrence, Kansas.

Some solid training and tons of red meat! Brett’s Belated Camp Report

In Brett’s defense, he sent this to me a few weeks ago but it got buried in my inbox. -Ebert

So the season is rapidly approaching, and the intensity is starting to pick up. Over Easter Weekend, I enjoyed the privilege of hitting some hills with teammate Alex Sharon down in good ol’ Bloomington, Indiana. And let me tell you what — it’s not all that enjoyable to do an intense climbing ride with a skinny lil mountaineer, but it was still fun. We hit up some climbs, ate good grub, drank some great coffee and wasted away on the couch to some on-Demand TV delights. All in all a great weekend, and magnificent prep for the Tour of Virginia!

Next, the training ride of the devil…well there I was pounding some coffee toying with the insane idea of riding outside in a beautiful 50 degree rainy day. Well the Belgium in me got the best of the situation and before I knew it I was off and about. Luckily for me, about 30 minutes into the ride the clouds parted and the sun came out. So I went ahead, completed my intervals and started on the long trek back home, when all of the sudden there was a massive gust of wind. Now when I say massive I mean insane! The wind gust pushed me clear across the road and into a roadside ditch! Within minutes the air had cooled from an enjoyable 60 or so to a scary 50 degrees and ominous clouds appeared from nowhere. Now at this point I am starting to get a bit concerned, after all I am in the middle of nowhere with no shelter about to get pummeled by some bully clouds. And then by the hand of Thor it rained, and rained, and rained, and rained, and hailed. Now to be honest, I lucked out, the hail was only 1/4 inch…but with wind gust shooting trees across the road those modest 1/4 inch hail quickly became little bullets pelting me! At this point I am flipping out, trees are going down and garbage is flying everywhere; being the conscientious athlete that I am, I took a gander at my heart rate monitor…195! Dare I say I was a bit scared? Suddenly as soon as it came it went, and the sun came out. Rolling back into campus I heard tornado alarms, car alarms and fire trucks everywhere; but I tell you what the look on peoples’ faces as I pedaled home were priceless! Behind me a whirlpool of black deadly clouds, in front a huge Chipotle Burrito…I’m thinking cow for sure.

ABD training camp was amazing. We lucked out in almost every conceivable way, the weather was great, the company was enjoyable, and the Paddlewheel Inn (personally deemed the Pad) was super. Day one was a solid 90-mile day with ample wind, plenty of tempo, and some crazy-sweet paceline sessions followed by Italian cuisine. Day two was simply one of the most fulfilling training rides of the year and about 100 miles to boot. I learned a ton about proper leadouts, and got my arse kicked on multiple occasions! The single greatest point of the trip was the downing of the largest steak I had seen in years. Being a deprived college student in all, I hadn’t had steak for well, a darn long time…sticking mostly to my canned tuna regimen; so naturally with any red meat offer you can always look for a heart-felt YES! Day three was struggle to say the least. While walking over to the continental breakfast, I quickly noticed that my legs weighed approximately 947 lbs each creating a bit of a challenge to get moving. We hit the road hot and did some nice little intrasquad racing, essentially trying to punish one anoother. Needless to say I was more than ready to hit the road and get some leg up time…the long weekend was tough but first-rate!

Later on,
Brett

Carter Report: Camp & TdG

Hey fellow ABD'ers

Let me introduce myself for those who do not know me. My name is Josh Carter and I am one of the new riders on the elite team. I just wanted to drop a note to all just to let you know how things are going.

We had team camp on the 13-15 of April and it was the first time we have had a chance to ride together this year. I think that we have a great team this year. Everyone seems to share the same excitement for the season and is eager to race together. The guys all look good and are riding very well.

Since then I had the opportunity to work the Tour of Georgia. The company that I work for (Dent Wizard International) was a major sponsor for the race and was the aggressive rider jersey. Not only did I get to watch all the races (with VIP treatment) I had the opportunity to present the jerseys to the riders on the podium, I got to meet and hang out with the likes of George Hincapie and Levi Liepheimer, and also have dinner with Floyd Landis. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work. (note to self: Brass Town Bald is for climbers not sprinters)
That was the hardest climb that I have ever done, and would be very happy if I never have to do it again.

My next adventure is coming up this next week when I get to take on the big boys myself at the USA CRITS Southeast Series with 8 wicked fast crits in 9 days. I start today with a 3k grid qualifier raced on computrainers (thank goodness for the ABD indoor TT's). I will keep you posted on the races. Wish me luck!

Josh Carter

Baumann Report: Hillsboro, Camp, Collegiate Scene

I've had a vaguely exciting life these past few weeks, and I’ll do my best to wrap it up in a few informative and interesting paragraphs.

At the beginning of April I headed to Hillsboro-Roubaix for the first team “A” race of the season. Ebert's back was killing him--literally, I think I saw him howling in pain, wretched on the ground before the start of the race. Now don't get me wrong, I like pain and all, but this pain looked pretty much as obnoxious as racing a crit with ice on the road (which, subsequently, I managed to do this past weekend). Needless to say I had no expectations for Ebert to jump on his bike and race for 90 miles in the wind. But not only did he jump on his bike and race, he also took the honor of covering the early breakaway--which just by chance became the winning selection on the day. Fancy that. My back felt fine on that Saturday morning, but I surely didn't want to be out in the wind all day long! Soon enough the race got hard, and Jeff, Carter, Bret, Alex, and I were trying to jump on a train and bride up to Ebert's breakaway and give the guy a hand. There were these cobblestone like contraptions on the course on each lap, and being as excited as I was to race on cobbles for the first time I threw down a partly intentional, partly "cool, this is what it must feel like to be Tom Boonen!" attack and got a nice sized gap with a Turin rider. I quickly found out that my legs were not exactly "going well" that day, and after 5 minutes off the front I was kind of toast. Then came the crosswinds, and the hell that accompanies their gusting, gutter-driving force. I positioned myself poorly coming into the windy section, and that decided the rest of my race: doomed to chasing back to the peloton after every crosswind. Needless to say the legs died pretty quickly after 22 miles of that, and my race was over.

Right after Hillsboro I hightailed it to UW Madison's team training camp for spring break in Bryson City, North Carolina. If you've never been to NC--there are mountains. Big mountains, but not at high altitude. Big mountains that make you climb for hours then descend for over 20 minutes. Big mountains that make the legs sting and burn with lactic acid. But the big mountains gave us a great excuse to hammer out a 32 hour training week to prepare for the Tour of Virginia stage race at the end of April. In that terrain I got the training hours on the bike and traveled back to a snow-covered Madison, WI landscape to end the week.

Finally this past weekend April 14-16th I went down south--we're talking the deep south in small town America. Yes, you know where I'm talking about, Oregon IL but of course! The ABD guys got together for a nice training camp starting with a solid 4.5 hour ride on Friday. The weather was perfect, and we got the green light from Ebert to hammer a bit and see how the legs hurt in a paceline. I guess we should hurt pretty good, because we averaged 23 mph on a group ride in the wind! Nothing is better than Italian food after a nice solid ride on the bike, so for dinner the guys got together for good eats at your local Oregon, IL Italian food joint. Then on Saturday morning, after a team photo or two, I said my goodbyes and jumped in the car drive to a few collegiate races in Indianapolis on Saturday and Sunday.

Being the informed and responsible consumer I always am, I managed to carry no cash or debit card with me for tolls and consequently got 5 "Missed Toll Reminders" from the kind folks who run the Illinois Tollway. After surviving the tolls I realized I had 2 hours to get from Chicago to Indianapolis in time for the crit race on Saturday - it was "fast lane" drivin' time. Unfortunately the white out (read: snow) prevented me from doing things my way, and the drive was slow enough to put me at Marian college's campus 10 minutes before the start of the Men's A cat criterium. Somehow things came together and I lined up on the starting line. The race was shortened to 40 minutes due to the ridiculous weather conditions. This is how collegiate racing works--the race promoter approaches us and says "how long you guys want to race today, is 20 minutes alright?" Then we verbally duke it out with the promoter until a set time is decided upon for the race. Seconds later, we're off!

The race was just a test of cojones and bike handling skills. There was never really an attack, there were just so many corners and chicanes on this course that you can't really corner fast enough to close any gaps. So after 10 laps or so it's just 5 riders left at the front of the race, including myself and my teammate Steve. We're taking preem points at every opportunity before I attack and string out the breakaway with 3 laps to go and set up Steve for the sprint win. With 1 lap to go everything comes back together and Steve still has fresh legs - so a job well done. I latch on and hang on to get what I can for the finish while Steve takes the easy sprint win by several bike lengths. I managed to stay up for a a podium spot in 3rd place.

Sunday brought 2 more races, a TTT in the morning and a circuit race in the afternoon. Our TTT team had a hard time getting things going and keeping the pace smooth, which landed us in an unfamiliar position--3rd place! This was the first conference TTT Madison has lost in quite some time, so it was hard to swallow.
Three hours later, the circuit race was held on a very good course--one very steep 150 foot climb, followed by flat, twisty crosswind sections, and finally ending with a long downhill into a headwind finishing straight. I made it across and the field chased and I sat on the break until some very strong riders bridged up to the move and we began to work together. After that it was home free, we worked smoothly together in the break and put 2.5 minutes into the field before the last lap. On the last lap hill, Greg Christan of Michigan State University attacked and I held like glue to his wheel, and from there we continuously attacked and counterattacked each other until the finishing straight where the cat and mouse game ensued. Unfortunately, I lacked the savvy to take the win in the tactical game, and I ended up coming up short on Christan's wheel at the finish for 2nd place.

So, I ended up with three podium places this weekend. But one of these days I'm going to win a race. And that, my friends, will be a day worthy of celebrating with an entire can of Diet Sam's Choice Cola AND a baguette.

Keep it on two wheels--
Ryan

Buamann Podiums Two Days in a Row at Mizzou!

March 10th & 11th

I headed down to Mizzou University in Columbia, MO this past weekend to race with my collegiate cycling team, UW Madison. On Saturday we had a 60 mile road race on rolling hills, complete with beautiful 70 degree sunny weather. Our team made the race good and hard, attacking all race long and making a very elite selection for the finish. It ended up being myself and one of my teammates in the winning breakaway of 7 riders after I was off the front solo for 25 miles. My teammate attacked near the finish of the last lap, while I sat on the remaining breakaway riders. I ended up winning the sprint for 3rd, with my teammate up the road snagging 2nd place.


Sunday’s race was a 9 mile, very windy, rolling time trial. Due to some race organizer miscommunication, I only got 10 minutes to warm up! That made the legs hurt pretty bad, and consequently I felt ridiculously slow the entire race. I guess the legs weren’t too bad though, as I managed to ride into 2nd place with a time of 20 minutes, 40 seconds and an average speed of 44 Km/h.

UW Madison easily won the team competition for the weekend, and we are well on our way to having a very strong team for Collegiate Nationals in May. Last year we were 4th in the Team Time Trial and 3rd in the road race—-which is really great—but I think this year we can top those results.



This weekend I’ll be racing down in Ohio with ABD. Josh Carter will join me, and we’ll try to put together some good results for the team. A race report will follow. Time to rest up and prepare for another 8 hour drive!

ABD Reloads for 2007: Announces 2007 Elite Team Roster

With last week's announcement of the 8th annual ABD Indoor Time Trial Series (the largest event of it's kind in the United States), the members of ABD Cycle Club are hard at work putting on preparing for another successful run in 2007. They have their work cut out for them after a productive 2006 season that included organizing 21 sanctioned events, winning their first USA Cycling National Title with junior rider Jackie Kurth, and the Men's Elite team finishing as the numer one amatuer team in the country in USAC's NRC team standings (not to mention the landslide victory in the recent Druber awards at Truesport.com).

Much of the Elite team's success was due to riders Frank Dierking, Bryce Mead and Reid Mumford - and the club is very excited that all three of these riders have taken the step up to bigger programs for next year. Mead recently signed with the US Continental Jelly Belly squad and Mumford is also finalizing arrangements with an undisclosed Cont. squad. In addition, ABD alumni Ben Raby (2002-2004) recently inked a deal with the KodakGallery.Com/Sierra Nevada team and Frank Pipp (2003) moved to Healthnet, the U.S.'s number one continental Pro squad. The most winning ABD rider to date, sprinter John Puffer, is undecided on his plans for next season. "We have a lot of horsepower to try and replace," says ABD administrator, Mike Ebert," but I'm very happy for all of those guys. ABD is all about developing riders, and every club member can take pride in seeing our riders move to the next level."

With rider development in mind, the team looked for riders with a mix of experience and talent that could also be ready to head to the professional ranks within a year or two. They've found just such a mix in riders Ryan Baumann (Madison, WI), Josh Carter (Fairview Heights,IL), Jeff Schroetlin (Decatur, IL), Alex Sharon (Wheaton, IL) and Brett Stewart (Munster, IN). Both Carter and Schroetlin have raced the Midwest circuit and numerous NRC races for the past few years, whereas Stewart and Sharon are 21 year old ABD "veterans" who started out with the club as Category 4 riders and moved their way up. 20-yer old Buamann is a very promising young rider who's worked under the guidance of Jelly Belly Pro rider Nick Reistad for the past season.

The ABD Club at large, with over 200 members and growing, is also looking forward to another busy and successful season. Winter training classes in the ABD Cycling Center at Prairie Path Cycles are almost completely booked through March and the club has plans for promoting at least 12 outdoor races once the Midwest weather warms up. Ebert adds, "There are so many dedicated people not only in our club but all over the upper-Midwest. Everyone is working hard to ensure that 2007 is the best schedule we can offer for riders of all ages and abilities." More details and the most up-to-date Midwest calendar are available at www.ABDcycling.com.