The Wheelsucker Tries Cat 3 Racing at the Page Valley Road Race

Not having done the Page Valley Road Race before and still trying to find a race course that suited him, the wheelsucker decided to do the race this year. But Page Valley had no age group racing; fields were by cat only.

In what would best be left as a separate blog posting rather than explained at length in this one, the wheelsucker was upgraded to cat 3 several years ago without having distinguished himself in cat 4 racing, so signed up for the cat 3 race. Having done a fair bit of 40+, 50+, 35+ and 45+ racing over the past four years (as MABRA age categories changed and the wheelsucker aged), the wheelsucker was hoping that the cat 3 field would be easier than his recent 35+/45+ races.

The plan was simple: Sit in, do no work, do not chase breaks. It was expected to be a race of attrition and the idea was to be there at the end.

The reality: The wheelsucker rolled out with a large cat 3 field, while fiddling with his Powertap which was not reading data from the hub. The wheelsucker got that working during the neutral rollout without hitting anyone and then shortly after the start of the race the wheelsucker heard a bang and then clicking sounds which stopped after a few seconds. The wheelsucker looked around for the source of the sound but it had stopped by then. He then examined his bike. The front wheel was fine, but after looking carefully at the rear wheel the wheelsucker noticed a wobble in the rim and concluded he had broken a spoke. The wheelsucker had already dropped to the back of the field while fiddling with the Powertap and checking his bike, and he considered stopping for a wheel change, but doubted he would be able to chase back on after the wheel change and did not want to be OTB so early in the race. So he decided to keep going and just opened the rear brake caliper so the wheel would not rub on the brake pads.

The Page Valley RR course has two solid climbs per lap, the first one is longer; the second is shorter but has a steeper wall at the end. The feedzone is on the wall and the finish line is at the high point as the wall ends and the next (steep and fast) descent starts.

Nearly everyone was there for the first two climbs, so it was gruppo compacto for the first lap. The attrition started on the second lap. The wheelsucker had been riding at or near the back sometimes with only Eric Boone – notorious for riding at the very back until he makes a move – behind him, but would move around riders who appeared to be gapped on the climbs. And the main field was gradually shrinking in size as riders went OTB. About lap 2 a break got off the front, but other riders assured the wheelsucker it was just one rider, and as per the plan the wheelsucker was not going to worry about single riders and small breaks. He was slowly moving up in the pack when he could to reduce the risk of being gapped by someone in front of him and to reduce the accordion effect as riders sprinted out of corners.

On the fourth lap, at a sharp left turn shortly before the start of one of the climbs, a rider in front of the wheelsucker cut the corner a little too close and lost control in the grass on the inside of the turn, and without crashing went all the way across the road to the right shoulder. The wheelsucker was close enough behind that he was forced onto the grass on the right as well, but not stopped. Unfortunately the entire field was sprinting out of the corner, while the wheelsucker was slowed to a crawl. The wheelsucker chased hard and was back on a wheel – albeit last in the main field – as the climb started.

The effort hurt the wheelsucker and he was gapped near the top of the climb along with several other riders. Off the top a desperate chase started with the wheelsucker and two others, later joined by three more, taking short hard pulls. At first the wheelsucker figured he would be chasing for the rest of the race, knowing that he could not sustain this level of effort for long. But after a long hard chase on a fast slight downhill section of the course, the main field ahead slowed a little for two turns, and the wheelsucker and his chase caught back on. The wheelsucker decided this was a near miracle as he hid himself in the pack and tried to recover. Fortunately the next climb was not for awhile, and the wheelsucker was able to recover and move up in the field. Being closer to the front, and standing to sprint out of the corners, seemed to be helping and the wheelsucker was getting on a wheel more quickly coming out of the corners, and not losing any places doing it. There were also some opportunities to move up when gaps opened on the right shoulder; a brief moment of pedaling harder and the wheelsucker would be by a rider, and would find a wheel five places further up in the field.

But on the penultimate lap, two thirds or three quarters of the way up the long climb, the wheelsucker was riding in 15th to 20th place when all of a sudden he could not hold the pace or power. A small gap opened and then one by one riders rolled by going slightly faster. Unfortunately for the wheelsucker the last rider in the main field went by the wheelsucker rather before the top of the climb, so the wheelsucker was gapped again. But he was not alone as other riders had been gapped. The wheelsucker chased and caught a small group in front of him and tried to recover, but this group was not catching the main field. On the second climb of the lap the wheelsucker was slightly gapped out of his chase group on the wall. The wheelsucker had lost count of laps and thought this was the finish and declined the water bottle Mike Wagner was urging him to take, and was shocked, surprised, disappointed and crushed to cross the line and realize everyone was still racing. The wheelsucker had one empty bottle with him and a lap to go, and he was gapped!

There is a steep fast descent after the second climb, with two bumps on the way down. The wheelsucker had had the earlier laps (several of which had seen him slightly gapped and chasing back on at the top of the second climb) to practice chasing on the downhill and knew his next move. He kept working hard for a few seconds to accelerate as the downhill started, then went into a very aero tuck and stopped pedaling and started hyperventilating. Then on the first bump the wheelsucker stood and sprinted hard and rolled right up to the two riders in front of him. And one of then was kind enough to give the wheelsucker a swig of sports drink. The wheelsucker did the same sprint on the second bump and opened a gap on the two riders.

On the rest of the fast descent he kept his speed up and tried recover. Not far in front was a group of 4-5 riders which the wheelsucker hoped to catch. But the downhill ran out and after a sweeping right turn it became a long straight flat slight downhill and it was time to pedal hard, not sit in a very aero tuck. The wheelsucker went hard for awhile, but realized he was losing ground on the group in front of him. He then noticed that one of the two riders he had just dropped was coming back. The wheelsucker eased up and waited. The rider who caught him was the rider who had given him a swig of sports drink and this time the rider just handed him a 1/3 full bottle! The wheelsucker and his new best friend worked together, but were both tiring, and the group in front was slowly pulling away. Eventually the two agreed to ride within themselves to make it to the finish and try to hold off anyone behind. They caught and dropped two riders who had blown, and then one more (it looked like Andreas Gutziet) who was off the bike on the shoulder trying to stretch out a cramped leg.

On the long climb the wheelsucker decided he was strong enough to take the other rider when he wanted to, and decided to keep working with him to the finish and then just go hard on the wall to the finish. AND IT WORKED! The wheelsucker stuck it to the guy who had kept him alive by giving him a bottle, and pulled away in the last 100 meters to finish… 32nd. Grateful that it was finally over the wheelsucker pulled over on the shoulder, put his head on his bars and waited for his breathing and heart rate to recover.

The wheelsucker was just about recovered and thinking about riding 200 meters down the hill to the feedzone when the lead car for the Men 1-2 race appeared. The wheelsucker did not want to be coasting down the hill while the sprint was going on, so waited at the finish line. He watched the leading Men 1-2 riders sprint up the hill at an amazing pace.

Thanks to Sue McQuiston and Janet Okney who drove out for their race early, so they could be in the feedzone on the wheelsucker’s third and subsequent times through. Also thanks to Mike Wagner who was trying to give the wheelsucker a bottle with one lap to go, but which the wheelsucker was too stupid to take!

The wheelsucker was pleased that he was able to hang out and support Janet, Sue and Christine in their race (after the cat 3), and the ABRT riders doing the cat 4 race at the same time as the women. .