Monday Bike Doctor RideThe Wheelsucker Report

After being taken out by crashes in two of the three races he had done so far this year, the wheelsucker was tired of being beaten up in racing. He was also tired of the struggle to make the winning break on the Tuesday ride. The solution was to find an easier ride …

The Monday Bike Doctor Annapolis ride is a "no drop" ride in the Crownsville area; there a few short climbs, and it is generally "rollier" than the Tuesday/Thursday route, with fewer strong riders and a much wider range in skills, abilities and speeds; best of all, the ride regroups at several locations to let everyone catch on.

The wheelsucker arrived at Bike Doctor Annapolis early, got the bike ready, and got his game face on while carefully checking out the competition. There were several younger guys wearing team jerseys the wheelsucker had not seen before. Several of these riders drove the pace early, while the wheelsucker reverted to sitting in and using his "don’t drop the pretty women" line. The wheelsucker was careful to ride at least 5th or 6th wheel, letting others do the work. But the wheelsucker did move closer to the front on the climbs to be sure he was there if anything happened, but nothing did happen, and the wheelsucker was careful to not win those climbs and to save his match sticks for later.

After the first regroup point, Stu Waring rolled off the front on his TT bike. The wheelsucker was well back, wheelsucking. Michelle Faurot was riding just a few riders back from the front and saw the gap opening. She went to a strong uphill sprint to try to close the gap. The wheelsucker saw this playing out, waited for the top of the short hill and then went to maximum sustainable wheelsucker power and slowly started to accelerate. Just about the time Michelle was running out of steam the wheelsucker rolled by. With careful pacing the wheelsucker made it across the not-yet-too-large gap to Stu's wheel, leaving everyone else. And then the wheelsucker sat on Stu's wheel, and sat, and sat. And then Stu pulled off! After a brief discussion initiated by the wheelsucker asking why he should pull at all, the wheelsucker shrugged and pulled through, taking a not-very-hard pull. Stu merely waited until the next short roller, came around the wheelsucker and ramped up the power. The wheelsucker thinks he could have gone with Stu, but was also thinking this was supposed to be a 45 minute z1 recovery ride per his coach, and perhaps going to max wheel sucker power to stay with Stu on the climb, early in the ride, was not really necessary. At least that is the wheelsucker's story, and he is sticking to it!

The wheelsucker sat up and went easy up the hill while Stu sprinted away down the road. Continuing at a good-but-not-hard pace the wheelsucker was slowly caught by the main field led by Chris "Jens Voight" Adair.

The group reformed after going down the hill, through the stop sign and through the right turn. Stu had sat up to wait for everyone else. And then the young guns ramped it up at the front. The group was quickly in single file with the wheelsucker tucked in well back, doing almost no work. And then a gap opened two or three riders in front of the wheelsucker. Still being quite fresh, the wheelsucker went to full sustainable wheelsucker power and to his amazement and satisfaction, powered by the two or three riders in front of him and quickly started to close the gap. But he did not have to go all the way, because Chris "Jens Voight" Adair was also crossing the same gap, and the wheelsucker only had to get to Chris' wheel, not close the entire gap himself. This worked remarkably well, and the wheelsucker was only slightly winded when he found himself safely on the back of the lead group of five riders or so.

After a sweeping right the lead group was at one of the wheelsucker's favorite places on the route; a short steeper section, then a longer medium steepness section and then a false flat to where the road ends in a T on Crownsville Road. The young guns drove the pace early, but the wheelsucker was careful to be close, and as the young guns eased up on the medium steepness portion, the wheelsucker kept going. Not as fast as he could of course, just fast enough to be in the lead by a wheel, and able to go if he needed to. But no one went, and the wheelsucker slowly ramped up the power doing just enough to keep his one wheel lead, and then gratefully made it to the stop sign, first.

After another long wait for the tail enders, the group turned right on Crownsville road heading back to General's Highway. The leaders rolled out first, while the wheelsucker waited for the last two riders. The leaders accelerated a bit. This opened a gap and all of a sudden it appears that some serious chasing would be necessary, but Chris "Jens Voight" was just ahead and the wheelsucker carefully rolled up to his wheel and then, when Chris stood to accelerate, the wheelsucker carefully held his wheel and took the fast tow up to the leaders. There was another long wait at the traffic light where the group turns left onto General's Highway. Soon after the green light the group was strung out in single file and once again the wheelsucker was sitting near the back doing no work, but a gap opened two riders in front of him. The wheelsucker asked the rider in front of him if he was going to go around and close the gap. The wheelsucker did not hear a reply. Reluctantly he called down to the engine room for maximum sustainable wheelsucker power, checked there was a gap in traffic, pulled out across the white shoulder line, and ramped up the speed. He quickly rolled past the gapped rider, encouraging her to grab a wheel. In no time at all, without working very hard, the wheelsucker was safely back on a wheel at the back of the lead group. Just in case the wheelsucker was tired, there was another rest at a red light, and then the group rolled up the General's Highway shoulder towards Honeysuckle. By now the wheelsucker was warmed up and feeling strong, and sensing fatigue in others. Still on the General's Highway shoulder he closed a small gap to a lone rider ahead, and when that rider pulled off, the wheelsucker took a decent pull, which shattered the group again. At the right turn onto Honeysuckle the wheelsucker sat up to rest and Chris Adair hammered down the road and up the climb. The relatively fresh wheelsucker ramped up the speed in pursuit, stood up for the climb and easily chased Chris down, but carefully sat up and slowed just before passing Chris. The other strong riders caught up, and the remains of the group hammered back to General's Highway, with the wheelsucker once again doing no work, at the back.

Then there was a right turn onto General’s Highway and some fast pulls back towards the Bike Doctor Annapolis store. Having done almost no work in the ride except for two or three short efforts, the wheelsucker was feeling good, and when he got to the front, he layed it down pushing at 300 to 400+ watts for a solid pull. When he flicked his elbow and pulled off shortly before the Ram's Head Roadhouse, no one left in the lead group would pull through, and other riders looked at each other for a few seconds while the wheelsucker soft pedaled on the front. Eventually Stu Waring on the TT bike came through and took a pull.

It was an easy ride back to the Annapolis Bike Doctor, and the wheelsucker took it easy and marveled at how much fun it was to be one of the stronger guys on a training ride.