The Greenbelt Park A Race

The wheelsucker can be a dreamer. And one of his dreams is that despite his advanced age and limited talent and ability, he can race with the local "big dogs" in cat 1/2/3 races. Of course, being a cat 3 (the wheelsucker is a cat 3 after sweet talking the upgrade coordinator into giving him the 4-to-3 upgrade a couple of years ago as he was hoping to go to Masters Nationals which requires that one be a least a cat 3), he can register and show up at the start line. But the wheelsucker's dream is to do more than just start these races; he wants to be the there at the finish and maybe even do something.

So occasionally the wheelsucker tries an "A" race or a 1/2/3 race. A couple of years ago the wheelsucker jumped into a Tradezone Training Series A race and hung for some hard laps before deciding he had proven his point and did not need to risk crashing a week before his Spain trip; last year he raced the 50+ Dolan race, then the 35+ and then started the 1/2/3 race, but his legs had had enough part way through; this spring he jumped into the 1/2/3 race at Carl Dolan and hung for a few laps on in the pack until taken down by a crash in front of him; then this past Sunday he jumped into the Dawg Days 1/2/3 race for about 30 minutes before the very hard rain and sliding in a corner convinced him it was time to stop.

The wheelsucker's latest venture was the "A" race at Greenbelt, yesterday evening. This was the last Greenbelt race of the season, and therefore the last chance for the wheelsucker to do this race, this year.
First the caveats: This is a training race series, not quite full on racing, but the course is multiple laps of a just-over-one-mile loop that includes a climb that is very hard when done at full gas, a nice downhill into a sweeping right turn, and a flat section before the next climb starts. It is roughly one third climb, one third descent and one third flat. The start/finish line is near the top of the climb. Though smaller than a typical 1/2/3 field, the race included many of the "top dogs" of local 1/2/3 racing.

The wheelsucker has several key shortcomings as a bicycle racer and one of them is short interval power; short intervals like the 15 seconds it takes to sprint out of a corner, or the roughly one minute or so it takes to climb the hill. And with 18 laps of the Greenbelt loop, 18 sprints out of the corner and 18 climbs of the hill, these shortcomings become very evident.

Forty two riders lined up for the A race. The whistle blew, the field accelerated and the pain and suffering began. The start/finish line is close to the top of the climb, so from the start it is not far to the top and the start of the descent. The wheelsucker was already in trouble at the top of the first very short climb.

He had started mid pack and was trying to stay mid pack and well hidden, but moving up frequently requires pedaling hard "in the wind", jamming one's way into crowded situations, squeezing between another rider and the edge of the pavement, or "dive bombing" the one corner on the course, none of which the wheelsucker is good at. But a determined wheelsucker stayed on wheels, tried to limit the energy he was expending and tried to maintain position. Each lap he would lose positions on the climb and then fight his way back a few places either on the downhill or on the flat section, then lose them again on the next climb, and then do it all over again. He was usually the last or one of the last riders at the top.

Many times up the climb the wheelsucker would have to accelerate as riders in front jumped to chase down a break; he would spin it up hard and hold on, but knowing that he was seconds away from his limit and about to be gapped. And several times he hit the limit and knew he was going OTB (off the back), but somehow each time the field either slowed briefly, or the wheelsucker dug deep and managed to stay within range of a wheel at the top, and then desperately chased back on. This continued lap after lap, with the wheelsucker usually jammed in on the right hand side and looking at the lap counter each lap, trying to will it to count down faster.

With eight laps to go the wheelsucker knew in his heart he could not hang on to the finish. Then at five laps he thought he could go no further, but somehow hung on. At three laps to go the wheelsucker thought that even if he went OTB he would at least finish on the same lap, with two to go the wheelsucker thought he might make it to the sprint, and somehow the wheelsucker made it to the last lap and the start of the sprint up the hill with the main group. There had been multiple attacks, most from Battley Harley riders particularly Chuck Hutcheson, but all had been brought back, though many of those came back because Chuck did not like the composition of the break and sat up.

The wheelsucker had few chances to glance behind him, so never saw other riders going OTB, but somehow the "gruppo compacto" had shrunk in size as it was no longer 42 riders.

The wheelsucker was completely knackered for the start of the sprint but knowing what he had to do he stood up and pedaled as hard as he could. It was nowhere near enough power as the stronger riders powered away up the hill. The wheelsucker went as hard as he could but was spent, he clicked into an easier gear, sat down and tried to spin more, but that didn't work either. He did pass a couple of riders who had given up sprinting part way up; perhaps they had done leadout for team mates. And he was passed by stronger sprinters who started the last climb behind him. But somehow the wheelsucker rolled across the finish line 16th.

This was the first time the wheelsucker had finished a cat 1/2/3 race and he had somehow – incredibly – hung on with the main field. For a strong rider 16th and nearly last out of the lead group would not be a finish to be pleased with, but for an aging wheelsucker riding at or beyond his limits it felt almost a victory.

But the wheelsucker was also aware that 50+ rider Paul Mittelstadt had sprinted for 8th, so clearly some 50+ riders like Paul or Art Brown or Randy Thrasher, can ride at this level and be fully competitive instead of just desperately hanging on.

Wheelsucker Data:
Race time about: 59 minutes
Power: 237/957 watts
Heart rate: 147/165 bpm
Cadence: 101/191 (hard to believe that max value)
Speed: 26.1/42.01 mph