The Tuesday/Thursday “training” rides had been a popular topic on the ABRT listserver, with lots of suggestions as to how newcomers or not-quite-as-strong-as-Ace riders could handle them. One suggestion was to follow Rick Paukstitus now that he has taken over the “Rocket Rick” role on the ride and is doing very well at it.
Perhaps stung by the implication that all he did was follow wheels and let people in, the first attack of the ride was before the Governor Bridge Road intersection, when Rick sprinted by everyone and disappeared up the road.
The Wheelsucker had reviewed his coach’s instructions:
“Group ride. Ride how you feel today: If tired, sit in at CP90-CP180; if fresh, ride race effort. Be smart.”
And feeling tired, he was trying to sit in. So he watched Rick go off and decided to wait. He didn’t have to wait long, as Rick was stopped by the side of the road, adjusting the bike, when the group reached the Governor Bridge Road intersection.
Perhaps the gods were amused by the Wheelsucker trying to have an easy day.
Shortly after crossing Governor Bridge Road Eric Boone got on the front, got low over his handlebars and took a serious pull. He pulled most of the way to 214 (Steve Owens also took a pull in there), with an increasingly alarmed Wheelsucker struggling to stay on his wheel. The Wheelsucker was seeing 350-400 watts on the short climbs. The Wheelsucker was giving serious consideration to pulling out of line and finding some place a lot further back (and better protected from the headwind) to hide in, but decided to hold on to 214 and get nearer the back as the group reformed.
But when the leaders arrived at the 214 intersection, there were only five riders in the group. The light turned green as they approached, and they coasted across without stopping. Ace bridged up very shortly afterwards.
So there were six. The group had:
Eric Boone, Ace McDermott, Steve Owens, the Wheelsucker, Ian Palmer and Bike Doctor rider Mike Schneider.
The Wheelsucker asked Ace who was left in the peloton to chase and he replied to the effect that no one was working, they were disorganized and that he got frustrated and jumped across. They did have Stu Waring and Brian Whitesell, but no "A" riders of the caliber of Ace and Eric.
So this was were the break of the day and the Wheelsucker concluded his job was to stay in it as long as he could, and maybe dare to think about how to shed some of the other weaker riders.
The group was going hard, driven by Ace and Eric, but they were not deliberately trying to drop anyone yet. Ian popped on Bayard after the South Polling House stairstep climb. He was a trooper, took his pulls (which may have been a mistake), and hung on as long as he could. So now it was five.
With five riders left, Ace and Eric eased up a couple of times to let a gapped rider back on. The Wheelsucker was taking shorter pulls and sometimes just pulling through and over, trying to conserve enough energy to make it up the short climbs.
The five were still together after turning onto Sands. Eric took a long pull, but eased up towards the end of it. Riding second wheel, the Wheelsucker could feel his gasping return to breathing and could see his HR coming down a little. Then on Ace's favorite second roller, Ace attacked! Eric was not able to accelerate, but the Wheelsucker had recovered just enough to try.
Giving it everything an aging Wheelsucker had, the Wheelsucker jumped clear of Eric’s wheel and went after Ace. But the gap slowly opened. Off the top of the roller Ace reverted to a more sustainable level of effort and a desperate Wheelsucker somehow made it to his wheel . Checking the shadows to his right, the Wheelsucker noticed there were just two. And then a few seconds later another shadow made it on. The Wheelsucker glanced around just enough to notice a white jersey; that would be Eric wearing his BAR Championship jersey.
Ace pulled off after his effort, and a gasping Wheelsucker tried to pull through; he couldn’t make it. Ace finally coasted so the Wheelsucker could pull through and over, and Eric started another fast pull. So now it was three.
Ace and Eric were clearly much stronger than the Wheelsucker. But the Wheelsucker desperately wanted to hang with the break, so shamelessly pulled through and over instead of taking pulls and even let Ace and Eric in in front of him a couple of times, to delay taking a pull.
The Wheelsucker does not remember how he made it up the climb out of the dip still with Eric and Ace. But the Wheelsucker does remember his relief at seeing the light was red at 214, so he could rest for a few moments.
Either Ace or Eric could have jumped at any time and gapped the Wheelsucker, but they were content to drive to the finish at a steady pace. With only three short climbs between 214 and the finish, the Wheelsucker was able to take short pulls and still have enough reserve to make it up the climbs.
Still a little ashamed that he was not “pulling his weight” in the break, the Wheelsucker was planning to lead out, but Eric took a long pull into the finish making it clear that he was not sprinting. Ace came around the Wheelsucker slowly and gestured to get on his wheel. The Wheelsucker eased off Eric’s wheel onto Ace’s wheel and was able to hold it as Ace carefully and slowly accelerated. Then, at what the Wheelsucker thought was about 200 meters, the Wheelsucker pulled to the left, got out of the saddle and kicked as hard as he could. But the Wheelsucker had almost nothing left. Ace had to soft pedal to slow down enough for the Wheelsucker to actually pull past him and cross the finish line first.
So the Wheelsucker won the “sprint” thanks to Eric declining to sprint, and Ace leading him out and then sitting up.
The Wheelsucker may never win a race, but finishing a Tuesday/Thursday ride in the lead group, with the strongest riders seems almost as good to the Wheelsucker.
Wheelsucker Data (from shortly after crossing Governor Bridge Road, to the finish):
30.42 miles, 1:14:45
231 watts average, 933 watts max, 275 watts normalized,
148 bpm average, 169 bpm max,
94 rpm average,
24.36 mph, and that was with a headwind or crosswind for everything but the stretch back on Sands and Patuxent River.
CP2sec, CP5sec and CP10sec are all together, where the Wheelsucker struggled to get to Ace’s wheel during the Sands Road attack. CP20sec and CP30sec are during the Wheelsucker’s "sprint". He could not even average 575 watts there.
So much for " If tired, sit in at CP90-CP180; .... Be smart."
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
The Greene County Road Race
The Wheelsucker Report
The forecast for Saturday in Waynesboro PA, where the Greene County road race staged, was a 60% change of rain and thunderstorms. It rained for almost the entire (long) five hour drive there, but shortly before the start the rain stopped, then the skies cleared and the weather turned out to be marvelous. Given this and the improvement in weather shortly before the start of the Morgantown race, the Wheelsucker is not inclined to bet against ABRA promoter JR Petsko!
The route was only 35 miles, but there were three significant climbs, the first not long into the race, the second not as hard, and the third not far from the finish.
The 40/50/60 men’s masters are apparently always combined in ABRA road races, but due to the small field sizes, the women and juniors were added to the same wave. So a decent sized group rolled out together, at a good pace. Despite the initial headwind there was nothing to make a selection until the first climb.
For reasons unknown to the Wheelsucker, Mike Spinnler was frequently on the front and probably pulled more than any other rider in the race. There were one or two half hearted attacks, but nothing that could actually shed anyone.
The first climb was not as steep as the third, but it was longer. The road was not narrow, there were no curves to gap riders, there were no desperate moves to get near the front; none of that mattered. What did matter was how fast one could climb. The Wheelsucker took roughly 10 minutes to climb it, and hit is max HR doing it, while averaging power very close to the top of his VO2Max range. At several points he was only doing eight mph. Brian MacLean easily pedaled away with one or two other riders and dissappeared up the road.
And here is where the Wheelsucker made the first of a series of mistakes. He knew Brian was up the road, but he was not sure if there were one or two riders with him, who they were, and what age group they were in. The Wheelsucker thought it was two other riders, with one of them being 50+. But actually it was just one other rider, Gunnar Shogren, and he was 40+.
The Wheelsucker summited very close to three other riders, including a very energetic rider on a mountain bike with knobby tires, and these four soon combined and worked to close the gap, while trying to stay away from a large group that was forming behind them. But not only was the Wheelsucker’s group not closing on Brian and Gunnar, who were out of site up the road, but they were soon reeled in by the large chase, creating a combined group of about 15 riders. The Wheelsucker never rode to the back to see exactly who was in the group; it may have included some of the stronger women, but it was quite a bit smaller than the field that had rolled out.
The Wheelsucker quickly decided he could not work in this group, as Brian was up the road. And the Wheelsucker was encouraged because team mates Ken McDowell and soon Steve Owens were also in this combined group, making ABRT the only strongly represented team.
The route follows the top of the ridge for a little while, so there was no immediate descent. Mike Spinnler continued to do a lot of pulling, while the Wheelsucker and his team mates tried to be subtle about blocking. The amazing MTB rider avoided actually pulling, but was comfortable riding 3rd or 4th wheel and closing some of the easier gaps. And at least half the riders were not pulling at all.
The Wheelsucker guessed not much would happen until the third major climb and that was generally true. Mike Spinnler continued to take long pulls; a small number of other riders took pulls. There were a few half-hearted attacks but no gap lasted as long as 20 seconds. The Wheelsucker and other ABRTers took their turns at the front on occasion. But the Wheelsucker would start his pull at over 330 watts, and would very soon be apparently straining, and only putting out 190 watts.
There was a smaller second climb, but the Wheelsucker made it to the top with the leaders, though a couple of bike lengths behind a strong 50+ rider. Fortunately Ken McDowell was there to make sure the Wheelsucker got to a wheel on the descent, and most of the group reformed as the road flattened out.
Eventually the group approached the third climb. This climb was not as long as the first, but it was steeper. First there was a false flat and then the climb started. As the road tilted up the speed dropped while torque and power climbed up. This climb had a wall. The worst of the wall took a little less than a minute to climb, but it shredded the group. The MTB rider outclimbed everyone; A 40+ rider was standing pushing a big gear and straining to hold second, the Wheelsucker was holding 3rd. The Wheelsucker briefly looked around, saw gaps behind him, the two riders in front and concluded that neither the MTBer, nor the 40+ rider were going to ride away on their own, and so the Wheelsucker decided to ease up slightly and conserve some energy. Ken McDowell and another 50+ rider rolled up next to the Wheelsucker, with another 40+ rider not far behind. This group reformed at the crest with the last-placed 40+ rider yelling "We’ve got a gap!!" The five were flying down the steep descent within seconds; the Wheelsucker hit 53.24 mph within 30 seconds of the crest.
There was no sign of the next riders on the road behind.
The Wheelsucker considered the situation. He still thought (incorrectly) there was one 50+ rider up the road, so he thought he was racing for second. And there was only one other 50+ rider in this group, so the Wheelsucker thought he had a good shot at second. As the descent flattened out a paceline formed, with the MTBer skipping pulls. And then the Wheelsucker looked back and saw a very determined Mike Spinnler, towing another 50+ rider, within a few bikelengths of the group. Drat! Thought the Wheelsucker, who had rather liked only having one other 50+ rider to deal with.
But the Wheelsucker thought there might still be time to rectify the situation. He got to the front and accelerated, hoping to reopen a bit of a gap between his group and Mike. But instead he gapped the group and Mike and the other 50+ rider joined it. And here is where the Wheelsucker may have made another key mistake. With Mike presumably tired (he had pulled more than anyone else, had been gapped on all three climbs and had chased like a madman to get back on), two other 50+ riders in the group, but one of whom was doing no work, and with his ABRT 40+ teammate Ken McDowell in the group, the Wheelsucker could have tried to keep going and TT away to the finish. But he did not check his computer, did not check distance to the finish, and concluded that it was too early to try to get away, and eased up to let the group back on. A few moments later Spinnler was back at the front pulling.
Jeez! Does he think he's Cancellara or something?
A little while later the Wheelsucker pulled through again and again no one was on his wheel and again he got a small gap. And again he thought it was too early to go and eased up to let them back on again (in reality this might have been within two miles of the finish).
Then the Wheelsucker somehow missed the one-mile-to-go sign AND then also missed the 200 meter sign. The group went around a small bend, the Wheelsucker saw the finish tent, but the two riders who knew were the finish line was were already sprinting and had gapped the rest. Mike Spinnler had pulled off after taking yet another long hard pull and was spent. The rest of the group tried to react and start their sprint, but they finished together, with the two finish-line-aware 50+ riders a short distance ahead. And the winner of the 50+ race was the rider who was towed back by Mike Spinnler and who had hardly ever stuck his nose in the wind.
It was such a nice day the ABRTers rolled back on the course in the reverse direction (after checking this was OK with the officials), climbed back up to the top of the last climb and watched the 123 and 3-4 fields summit and start their descent to the finish. The Wheelsucker was mentally kicking himself the entire time, thinking he could have won the race if he had been a little more aware of the situation.
Thinking back on this race there were several thing the Wheelsucker could have, or should have, done:
1. Know where the finish is and what the last mile looks like.
2. Check the distance on his bike computer a little more often
3. Tried to go alone either of the two times he pulled through and had a small gap
4. Jumped Spinnler after he had taken a long pull in the sections between the climbs, trying to drop him and take a smaller group of strong riders, probably mostly 40+, to the base of the last climb.
5. Gone all out on the last climb to summit with the MTB rider, the 40+ rider in black and Ken McDowell, and gapping everyone else, though it would have been harder to hammer all the way to the finish line if he had gone to the max on the climb.
6. Know EXACTLY who was up the road.
After watching most of the 123 and 3-4 fields summit and start the descent, the ABRTers rolled after them. Wondering if he could have stayed away if he had attacked after the summit, the Wheelsucker jumped hard on the descent, opened a gap, and hammered as hard as an aging Wheelsucker can hammer. He hammered all the way to the last turn before the finish, turned around and saw he had a useful gap on Ken, who had been chasing hard all the way.
It took the Wheelsucker 8:52 from the summit to the last turn, averaging 29.15 mph and 247 watts (he was coasting in a tuck on the steepest parts and some of the corners). The distance was 4.3 miles.
In retrospect, the Wheelsucker knows he should have gone for it.
Results: http://www.abraracing.com/Results/2011GCRR.html
Route and elevation: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/80673054
The route was only 35 miles, but there were three significant climbs, the first not long into the race, the second not as hard, and the third not far from the finish.
The 40/50/60 men’s masters are apparently always combined in ABRA road races, but due to the small field sizes, the women and juniors were added to the same wave. So a decent sized group rolled out together, at a good pace. Despite the initial headwind there was nothing to make a selection until the first climb.
For reasons unknown to the Wheelsucker, Mike Spinnler was frequently on the front and probably pulled more than any other rider in the race. There were one or two half hearted attacks, but nothing that could actually shed anyone.
The first climb was not as steep as the third, but it was longer. The road was not narrow, there were no curves to gap riders, there were no desperate moves to get near the front; none of that mattered. What did matter was how fast one could climb. The Wheelsucker took roughly 10 minutes to climb it, and hit is max HR doing it, while averaging power very close to the top of his VO2Max range. At several points he was only doing eight mph. Brian MacLean easily pedaled away with one or two other riders and dissappeared up the road.
And here is where the Wheelsucker made the first of a series of mistakes. He knew Brian was up the road, but he was not sure if there were one or two riders with him, who they were, and what age group they were in. The Wheelsucker thought it was two other riders, with one of them being 50+. But actually it was just one other rider, Gunnar Shogren, and he was 40+.
The Wheelsucker summited very close to three other riders, including a very energetic rider on a mountain bike with knobby tires, and these four soon combined and worked to close the gap, while trying to stay away from a large group that was forming behind them. But not only was the Wheelsucker’s group not closing on Brian and Gunnar, who were out of site up the road, but they were soon reeled in by the large chase, creating a combined group of about 15 riders. The Wheelsucker never rode to the back to see exactly who was in the group; it may have included some of the stronger women, but it was quite a bit smaller than the field that had rolled out.
The Wheelsucker quickly decided he could not work in this group, as Brian was up the road. And the Wheelsucker was encouraged because team mates Ken McDowell and soon Steve Owens were also in this combined group, making ABRT the only strongly represented team.
The route follows the top of the ridge for a little while, so there was no immediate descent. Mike Spinnler continued to do a lot of pulling, while the Wheelsucker and his team mates tried to be subtle about blocking. The amazing MTB rider avoided actually pulling, but was comfortable riding 3rd or 4th wheel and closing some of the easier gaps. And at least half the riders were not pulling at all.
The Wheelsucker guessed not much would happen until the third major climb and that was generally true. Mike Spinnler continued to take long pulls; a small number of other riders took pulls. There were a few half-hearted attacks but no gap lasted as long as 20 seconds. The Wheelsucker and other ABRTers took their turns at the front on occasion. But the Wheelsucker would start his pull at over 330 watts, and would very soon be apparently straining, and only putting out 190 watts.
There was a smaller second climb, but the Wheelsucker made it to the top with the leaders, though a couple of bike lengths behind a strong 50+ rider. Fortunately Ken McDowell was there to make sure the Wheelsucker got to a wheel on the descent, and most of the group reformed as the road flattened out.
Eventually the group approached the third climb. This climb was not as long as the first, but it was steeper. First there was a false flat and then the climb started. As the road tilted up the speed dropped while torque and power climbed up. This climb had a wall. The worst of the wall took a little less than a minute to climb, but it shredded the group. The MTB rider outclimbed everyone; A 40+ rider was standing pushing a big gear and straining to hold second, the Wheelsucker was holding 3rd. The Wheelsucker briefly looked around, saw gaps behind him, the two riders in front and concluded that neither the MTBer, nor the 40+ rider were going to ride away on their own, and so the Wheelsucker decided to ease up slightly and conserve some energy. Ken McDowell and another 50+ rider rolled up next to the Wheelsucker, with another 40+ rider not far behind. This group reformed at the crest with the last-placed 40+ rider yelling "We’ve got a gap!!" The five were flying down the steep descent within seconds; the Wheelsucker hit 53.24 mph within 30 seconds of the crest.
There was no sign of the next riders on the road behind.
The Wheelsucker considered the situation. He still thought (incorrectly) there was one 50+ rider up the road, so he thought he was racing for second. And there was only one other 50+ rider in this group, so the Wheelsucker thought he had a good shot at second. As the descent flattened out a paceline formed, with the MTBer skipping pulls. And then the Wheelsucker looked back and saw a very determined Mike Spinnler, towing another 50+ rider, within a few bikelengths of the group. Drat! Thought the Wheelsucker, who had rather liked only having one other 50+ rider to deal with.
But the Wheelsucker thought there might still be time to rectify the situation. He got to the front and accelerated, hoping to reopen a bit of a gap between his group and Mike. But instead he gapped the group and Mike and the other 50+ rider joined it. And here is where the Wheelsucker may have made another key mistake. With Mike presumably tired (he had pulled more than anyone else, had been gapped on all three climbs and had chased like a madman to get back on), two other 50+ riders in the group, but one of whom was doing no work, and with his ABRT 40+ teammate Ken McDowell in the group, the Wheelsucker could have tried to keep going and TT away to the finish. But he did not check his computer, did not check distance to the finish, and concluded that it was too early to try to get away, and eased up to let the group back on. A few moments later Spinnler was back at the front pulling.
Jeez! Does he think he's Cancellara or something?
A little while later the Wheelsucker pulled through again and again no one was on his wheel and again he got a small gap. And again he thought it was too early to go and eased up to let them back on again (in reality this might have been within two miles of the finish).
Then the Wheelsucker somehow missed the one-mile-to-go sign AND then also missed the 200 meter sign. The group went around a small bend, the Wheelsucker saw the finish tent, but the two riders who knew were the finish line was were already sprinting and had gapped the rest. Mike Spinnler had pulled off after taking yet another long hard pull and was spent. The rest of the group tried to react and start their sprint, but they finished together, with the two finish-line-aware 50+ riders a short distance ahead. And the winner of the 50+ race was the rider who was towed back by Mike Spinnler and who had hardly ever stuck his nose in the wind.
It was such a nice day the ABRTers rolled back on the course in the reverse direction (after checking this was OK with the officials), climbed back up to the top of the last climb and watched the 123 and 3-4 fields summit and start their descent to the finish. The Wheelsucker was mentally kicking himself the entire time, thinking he could have won the race if he had been a little more aware of the situation.
Thinking back on this race there were several thing the Wheelsucker could have, or should have, done:
1. Know where the finish is and what the last mile looks like.
2. Check the distance on his bike computer a little more often
3. Tried to go alone either of the two times he pulled through and had a small gap
4. Jumped Spinnler after he had taken a long pull in the sections between the climbs, trying to drop him and take a smaller group of strong riders, probably mostly 40+, to the base of the last climb.
5. Gone all out on the last climb to summit with the MTB rider, the 40+ rider in black and Ken McDowell, and gapping everyone else, though it would have been harder to hammer all the way to the finish line if he had gone to the max on the climb.
6. Know EXACTLY who was up the road.
After watching most of the 123 and 3-4 fields summit and start the descent, the ABRTers rolled after them. Wondering if he could have stayed away if he had attacked after the summit, the Wheelsucker jumped hard on the descent, opened a gap, and hammered as hard as an aging Wheelsucker can hammer. He hammered all the way to the last turn before the finish, turned around and saw he had a useful gap on Ken, who had been chasing hard all the way.
It took the Wheelsucker 8:52 from the summit to the last turn, averaging 29.15 mph and 247 watts (he was coasting in a tuck on the steepest parts and some of the corners). The distance was 4.3 miles.
In retrospect, the Wheelsucker knows he should have gone for it.
Results: http://www.abraracing.com/Results/2011GCRR.html
Route and elevation: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/80673054
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Tuesday April 12 Training Ride
The Wheelsucker Report
The Wheelsucker REALLY looks forward to the Tuesday Evening World Championship, oops, he means Tuesday Evening Training Ride. So when the weather forecast and radar image was rain and more rain, he was reluctant to blow off the ride.
So the Wheelsucker arrived at the ABRT Ride Staging Area (known to non cyclists as the Davidsonville Park & Ride), and to his surprise, found another ABRTer -- Mike Faber -- there. It was not raining hard at that moment, but upwind the clouds were ominous. Mike and the Wheelsucker had just about convinced themselves that heavy rain was imminent, and they should go home and ride the indoor trainer, when Steve Owens drove in. With a combination of optimism and fatalism the three convinced each other to ride, and rolled out soon afterwards.
With only three riders this became a no-drop, long steady pulls, ride that resembled a three-rider team time trial. While there was some light drizzle from time to time and the roads were wet, the really hard rain held off until after the ride. The three opted to skip the loop portion of the Tuesday/Thursday ride route.
The Wheelsucker took the last long hard pull, Steve Owens launched the sprint from just after the bottom of the last dip and Jim Faber chased him down and passed him to take the sprint.
Where we you?
Wheelsucker Data (from accelerating after turning onto Rossback to sitting up at the sprint when Steve launched):
ride time: 1:11:15
average power: 241 watts
normalized power: 274 watts
average speed 21.97 (on a windy wet rainy day)
So the Wheelsucker arrived at the ABRT Ride Staging Area (known to non cyclists as the Davidsonville Park & Ride), and to his surprise, found another ABRTer -- Mike Faber -- there. It was not raining hard at that moment, but upwind the clouds were ominous. Mike and the Wheelsucker had just about convinced themselves that heavy rain was imminent, and they should go home and ride the indoor trainer, when Steve Owens drove in. With a combination of optimism and fatalism the three convinced each other to ride, and rolled out soon afterwards.
With only three riders this became a no-drop, long steady pulls, ride that resembled a three-rider team time trial. While there was some light drizzle from time to time and the roads were wet, the really hard rain held off until after the ride. The three opted to skip the loop portion of the Tuesday/Thursday ride route.
The Wheelsucker took the last long hard pull, Steve Owens launched the sprint from just after the bottom of the last dip and Jim Faber chased him down and passed him to take the sprint.
Where we you?
Wheelsucker Data (from accelerating after turning onto Rossback to sitting up at the sprint when Steve launched):
ride time: 1:11:15
average power: 241 watts
normalized power: 274 watts
average speed 21.97 (on a windy wet rainy day)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
2011 Tour of the Battenkill
The Wheelsucker's Myopic Report on the Back of the 40+ Race
ABRT President and Masters Team rider Stu Waring brought the Tour of the Battenkill race to the Masters Team’s attention months ago. After checking the website (http://www.tourofthebattenkill.com/)the Wheelsucker thought this could be an epic race. The ABRT Masters team had agreed to focus on road races over crits, and doing some high profile away events. And Battenkill fit that description perfectly.
So the Wheelsucker registered for 40+ rather than 50+ so as to race with team mates. But then Stu pulled out, so we had five riders on the start line for the 40+ race , another five in cat 2, and Bob Walters in 60+.
Stu had taken care of logistics before pulling out, and Matt Albanese stepped up to do this afterwards, so it was relatively easy to get there with four out of the five car pooling.
None of us had raced Battenkill before; no one knew how bad the gravel roads actually were.
We were all in the area by noon on Saturday. We had a nice easy ride Saturday afternoon and then drove the entire course, taking notes. From the cars the course looked brutal and endless.
The 40+ field had the second wave start, at 9:00am. It was about 42 degrees F, with the forecast indicating it would be in the 60s by the time we finished; this was a little challenging to dress for.
The five of us got to the starting area early and had a front row start. Knowing that there was a narrow bridge very soon after the first turn, the Wheelsucker rode second wheel for much of the first easy five miles. He was well protected in the middle of the second row of riders, and was putting out almost no energy for the one kilometer neutral rollout. When the moto-ref released the field, one rider yelled to the rest of the field that we could start racing, but everyone was content with the easy ride pace.
But the Wheelsucker was not the only rider who wanted to be near the front for that first turn, and as the peloton neared the turn riders were surging up both sides. The Wheelsucker was too well protected in the middle and could not get to a side to move up. He felt swarmed as the peloton squeezed in and -- unwilling to jam the bike into a small hole – he quickly ended up at the back.
The peloton stretched and narrowed going through the bridge and immediate right turn and stayed stretched as the leaders hit the gas on the first shallow climb. The Wheelsucker was holding on at the back, knowing he should try to move up, but was trying to conserve energy. Riders were being dropped one by one on the rollers as the gravel sections tired them, and they could not surge to stay on.
Then the climb steepened – the first real climb -- and the race became quite a bit harder. Beyond the attrition at the back, the peloton split. Desperately clinging on at the back, much of this happened out of the Wheelsucker's sight, particularly as he was focused on the riders immediately in front of him.
As the wheelsucker was going off the back, three strong riders got away together. A decent sized chase formed with Jim Johnson in it and Ace McDermott able to get to it, and a second chase behind that which included Matt Albanese, with a lot of single riders and small groups behind that. Brian MacLean was initially with Jim and Ace in the first chase, but was gapped. He chased very hard, could not make it back on, and was blown when he was caught by the group Matt was in, and promptly dropped by them.
Meanwhile, once over the first climb, the Wheelsucker chased down a few riders in front of him and that small group slowly reeled in single riders ahead, slowly growing in size.
That group eventually grew to a 10-15 person chase group that caught Brian. Early on the Wheelsucker struggled to stay with the stronger riders in this group on the long climbs, but others seemed to tire more than he did, and he became relatively stronger as the race went on.
Brian had recovered and was clearly the strongest rider in the group, gapping everyone on the climbs without really trying to get away, and then slowly being reeled back once the group was over the summit. Having a team mate frequently ahead apparently trying to ride away from the group was enough of a reason for the Wheelsucker to limit his pulls, and go quite easy when he was on the front.
After all, there is a reason the Wheelsucker is called the Wheelsucker …
Up the road, the three leaders were opening a significant gap. They reportedly gained one minute on a long descent and they eventually finished five minutes clear of the next riders.
As riders in the Wheelsucker’s group tired, over half stopped taking pulls, and only four or five were pulling through. As riders tired, the climbs and some of the gravel descents became harder, and the Wheelsucker’s chase slowly shrank. By the last climb it was down to five riders with Brian still the strongest, and the Wheelsucker finding he could hang with the survivors on the climb.
Brian opened a small gap with one other rider while the Wheelsucker sat on the other two. Eventually a slightly rested Wheelsucker saw an opportunity to jump across on a gravel downhill followed by a short gravel climb, and jumped as hard as an aging Wheelsucker can jump. AND IT WORKED! He made it up the short climb, got to the wheel s of the two riders in front and encouraged them to go hard while he wheelsucked and recovered. The two riders behind were outgunned and outnumbered and the gap quickly opened.
Down to three riders, past the last climb and nearing the finish, the Wheelsucker’s chase was passed by a cat 3 field lead car and then a decent-sized cat 3 lead group. Several more groups of cat 3s came by as the Wheelsucker’s group was careful to not try to stay with the cat 3s by drafting.
Then as one more cat 3 group rolled by, the Wheelsucker’s chase grew in size as three or four more 40+ riders came up (the Wheelsucker suspects they took the pull from a cat 3 group) and rejoined. “Darn!“, thought the Wheelsucker, that well timed jump had amounted to nothing.
But the group shrank again and was down to four riders for the last five kilometers.
Somewhere around three kilometers to go one of the four got a small gap in the cat 3 confusion and the Wheelsucker decided to close it. Putting his head down he pushed 300 watts as long as he felt comfortable doing it (not long at all), pulled back a little over half the small gap, and pulled over and flicked his elbow. One of the remaining riders took over the lead, and the Wheelsucker got to the back with Brian. The Wheelsucker had planned to lead out Brian, but at about one kilometer Brian – to the Wheelsucker’s surprise and apparently the surprise of the other two riders as well – launched from the back and opened a gap. Being very tired the Wheelsucker instantly concluded it was not his job to chase Brian and followed the remaining two riders. Neither of them had enough left to go after him, so Brian went clear.
The Wheelsucker still followed. Mixed in with cat 3 riders, Brian and then the other three 40+ riders made the last right turn to the finish. Brian had the gap. The Wheelsucker dove for the right, was temporarily slowed by potholes, came back behind the other two to accelerate again, and then launched to the right. And for the first time that the Wheelsucker can remember he “outsprinted” two other riders in a race and got them on the line.
Wheelsucker data:
Time: 3:12:45 as per chip timing
Average power: 219 watts. Average HR: 140 bpm. Normalized power: 264 watts.
Average speed: 19.83 mph
Climbing: 5775 feet
It was a very hard race, indeed epic for the Wheelsucker. There were 150 riders registered for 40+, 103 finished.
The Wheelsucker found his team mates just outside the finish line barriers and learned that Jim had finished 12th trying to lead out Ace. Ace had been forced to “lock it up” coming out of the last turn when a rider in a leadout train had overcooked the corner and locked it up to avoid hitting Jim. After restarting his sprint, Ace finished 15th. Two riders from their chase had jumped clear about ten miles from the finish and had stayed away with a one minute gap, still five minutes behind the three leaders.
Matt had ridden strong in his group, trying to get up the road from them several times, but being reeled in each time; he finished 46th.
Brian and the Wheelsucker had seen their group shrink from about 15 down to four, and had finished 65th and 66th respectively. The Wheelsucker finished 22:39 behind the winner, and 1:25:11 ahead of the last place 40+ finisher.
In the cat 2 race, Hef2 had to lock it up similar to Ace in his sprint and ended up 20th with the rest of the team strung out not far behind. Apparently Yanni rode a Jens Voight-style race and kept the lead group going fast all the way to the last climb.
The amazing Bob Walters had ABRT’s best finish, 7th in the 60+ race.
The Wheelsucker’s lessons:
There are an awful lot of riders stronger than the Wheelsucker.
One cannot do much for one’s team mates if they are up the road without you.
Once the stronger riders are up the road the racing gets easier.
If one cannot outclimb them, one might be able to outlast them.
If race organizers suggest an 11-25 cassette, wheelsuckers need at least an 11-28.
Climbing standing in loose gravel is an acquired skill.
While 25mm Gatorskins, heavy tubes, sealant inside the tubes and training wheels may have been overkill, none of the ABRT 40+ team had flats (or any mechanical issues) and the Wheelsuckers group passed several riders on the side of the road fixing flats.
Results: http://www.velocityresults.net/results/309/tour-of-the-battenkill-cambridge-ny
So the Wheelsucker registered for 40+ rather than 50+ so as to race with team mates. But then Stu pulled out, so we had five riders on the start line for the 40+ race , another five in cat 2, and Bob Walters in 60+.
Stu had taken care of logistics before pulling out, and Matt Albanese stepped up to do this afterwards, so it was relatively easy to get there with four out of the five car pooling.
None of us had raced Battenkill before; no one knew how bad the gravel roads actually were.
We were all in the area by noon on Saturday. We had a nice easy ride Saturday afternoon and then drove the entire course, taking notes. From the cars the course looked brutal and endless.
The 40+ field had the second wave start, at 9:00am. It was about 42 degrees F, with the forecast indicating it would be in the 60s by the time we finished; this was a little challenging to dress for.
The five of us got to the starting area early and had a front row start. Knowing that there was a narrow bridge very soon after the first turn, the Wheelsucker rode second wheel for much of the first easy five miles. He was well protected in the middle of the second row of riders, and was putting out almost no energy for the one kilometer neutral rollout. When the moto-ref released the field, one rider yelled to the rest of the field that we could start racing, but everyone was content with the easy ride pace.
But the Wheelsucker was not the only rider who wanted to be near the front for that first turn, and as the peloton neared the turn riders were surging up both sides. The Wheelsucker was too well protected in the middle and could not get to a side to move up. He felt swarmed as the peloton squeezed in and -- unwilling to jam the bike into a small hole – he quickly ended up at the back.
The peloton stretched and narrowed going through the bridge and immediate right turn and stayed stretched as the leaders hit the gas on the first shallow climb. The Wheelsucker was holding on at the back, knowing he should try to move up, but was trying to conserve energy. Riders were being dropped one by one on the rollers as the gravel sections tired them, and they could not surge to stay on.
Then the climb steepened – the first real climb -- and the race became quite a bit harder. Beyond the attrition at the back, the peloton split. Desperately clinging on at the back, much of this happened out of the Wheelsucker's sight, particularly as he was focused on the riders immediately in front of him.
As the wheelsucker was going off the back, three strong riders got away together. A decent sized chase formed with Jim Johnson in it and Ace McDermott able to get to it, and a second chase behind that which included Matt Albanese, with a lot of single riders and small groups behind that. Brian MacLean was initially with Jim and Ace in the first chase, but was gapped. He chased very hard, could not make it back on, and was blown when he was caught by the group Matt was in, and promptly dropped by them.
Meanwhile, once over the first climb, the Wheelsucker chased down a few riders in front of him and that small group slowly reeled in single riders ahead, slowly growing in size.
That group eventually grew to a 10-15 person chase group that caught Brian. Early on the Wheelsucker struggled to stay with the stronger riders in this group on the long climbs, but others seemed to tire more than he did, and he became relatively stronger as the race went on.
Brian had recovered and was clearly the strongest rider in the group, gapping everyone on the climbs without really trying to get away, and then slowly being reeled back once the group was over the summit. Having a team mate frequently ahead apparently trying to ride away from the group was enough of a reason for the Wheelsucker to limit his pulls, and go quite easy when he was on the front.
After all, there is a reason the Wheelsucker is called the Wheelsucker …
Up the road, the three leaders were opening a significant gap. They reportedly gained one minute on a long descent and they eventually finished five minutes clear of the next riders.
As riders in the Wheelsucker’s group tired, over half stopped taking pulls, and only four or five were pulling through. As riders tired, the climbs and some of the gravel descents became harder, and the Wheelsucker’s chase slowly shrank. By the last climb it was down to five riders with Brian still the strongest, and the Wheelsucker finding he could hang with the survivors on the climb.
Brian opened a small gap with one other rider while the Wheelsucker sat on the other two. Eventually a slightly rested Wheelsucker saw an opportunity to jump across on a gravel downhill followed by a short gravel climb, and jumped as hard as an aging Wheelsucker can jump. AND IT WORKED! He made it up the short climb, got to the wheel s of the two riders in front and encouraged them to go hard while he wheelsucked and recovered. The two riders behind were outgunned and outnumbered and the gap quickly opened.
Down to three riders, past the last climb and nearing the finish, the Wheelsucker’s chase was passed by a cat 3 field lead car and then a decent-sized cat 3 lead group. Several more groups of cat 3s came by as the Wheelsucker’s group was careful to not try to stay with the cat 3s by drafting.
Then as one more cat 3 group rolled by, the Wheelsucker’s chase grew in size as three or four more 40+ riders came up (the Wheelsucker suspects they took the pull from a cat 3 group) and rejoined. “Darn!“, thought the Wheelsucker, that well timed jump had amounted to nothing.
But the group shrank again and was down to four riders for the last five kilometers.
Somewhere around three kilometers to go one of the four got a small gap in the cat 3 confusion and the Wheelsucker decided to close it. Putting his head down he pushed 300 watts as long as he felt comfortable doing it (not long at all), pulled back a little over half the small gap, and pulled over and flicked his elbow. One of the remaining riders took over the lead, and the Wheelsucker got to the back with Brian. The Wheelsucker had planned to lead out Brian, but at about one kilometer Brian – to the Wheelsucker’s surprise and apparently the surprise of the other two riders as well – launched from the back and opened a gap. Being very tired the Wheelsucker instantly concluded it was not his job to chase Brian and followed the remaining two riders. Neither of them had enough left to go after him, so Brian went clear.
The Wheelsucker still followed. Mixed in with cat 3 riders, Brian and then the other three 40+ riders made the last right turn to the finish. Brian had the gap. The Wheelsucker dove for the right, was temporarily slowed by potholes, came back behind the other two to accelerate again, and then launched to the right. And for the first time that the Wheelsucker can remember he “outsprinted” two other riders in a race and got them on the line.
Wheelsucker data:
Time: 3:12:45 as per chip timing
Average power: 219 watts. Average HR: 140 bpm. Normalized power: 264 watts.
Average speed: 19.83 mph
Climbing: 5775 feet
It was a very hard race, indeed epic for the Wheelsucker. There were 150 riders registered for 40+, 103 finished.
The Wheelsucker found his team mates just outside the finish line barriers and learned that Jim had finished 12th trying to lead out Ace. Ace had been forced to “lock it up” coming out of the last turn when a rider in a leadout train had overcooked the corner and locked it up to avoid hitting Jim. After restarting his sprint, Ace finished 15th. Two riders from their chase had jumped clear about ten miles from the finish and had stayed away with a one minute gap, still five minutes behind the three leaders.
Matt had ridden strong in his group, trying to get up the road from them several times, but being reeled in each time; he finished 46th.
Brian and the Wheelsucker had seen their group shrink from about 15 down to four, and had finished 65th and 66th respectively. The Wheelsucker finished 22:39 behind the winner, and 1:25:11 ahead of the last place 40+ finisher.
In the cat 2 race, Hef2 had to lock it up similar to Ace in his sprint and ended up 20th with the rest of the team strung out not far behind. Apparently Yanni rode a Jens Voight-style race and kept the lead group going fast all the way to the last climb.
The amazing Bob Walters had ABRT’s best finish, 7th in the 60+ race.
The Wheelsucker’s lessons:
There are an awful lot of riders stronger than the Wheelsucker.
One cannot do much for one’s team mates if they are up the road without you.
Once the stronger riders are up the road the racing gets easier.
If one cannot outclimb them, one might be able to outlast them.
If race organizers suggest an 11-25 cassette, wheelsuckers need at least an 11-28.
Climbing standing in loose gravel is an acquired skill.
While 25mm Gatorskins, heavy tubes, sealant inside the tubes and training wheels may have been overkill, none of the ABRT 40+ team had flats (or any mechanical issues) and the Wheelsuckers group passed several riders on the side of the road fixing flats.
Results: http://www.velocityresults.net/results/309/tour-of-the-battenkill-cambridge-ny
Sunday, April 3, 2011
ABRT At (and Getting To) The Morgantown Road Race
When the Harwood Road Race was postponed (and later cancelled) we had the opportunity to race the Morgantown Road Race, which was one of the six West Virginia ABRA road races the ABRT Masters Team had decided to target. We had a strong team registered in 40+ and 50+ (this was a combined field with 60+), so it looked like we could race as a team. Several of the elite team guys were also registered for the 1-2-3 race and Sara Clafferty was racing the women’s 1-2-3, which was a combined field with women’s 4 and some juniors.
I e-mailed the team and then those who were registered trying to work out car pooling, but on Friday it became apparent to me that everyone else had some sort of arrangements in place, while I did not. But I was able to drive up with Mike Brown and Sara Clafferty, while my bike went up with Matt and Ace.
Like a “B” war movie where the planning session ends with “synchronize your watches”, this “plan” required me to wake up at 4:40am to drop my bike off with Matt, and then get myself to the BWI overlook before 6:00am to meet Mike and Sara.
Not having to drive myself – we were in Mike’s Volkswagen – I was able to phone, text, e-mail and check Facebook for the 4.5 hours it took us to get to the race. Randy Thrasher was about ten miles in front of us, while Matt and Ace were behind us and Mike Hefner and the elite team guys behind them.
As we neared Cumberland weather conditions worsened
and the calls and texts started. Randy reported accidents including jackknifed trucks ahead of us, while Matt and Ace were expressing doubts about racing. Soon the rain changed to snow, and a short time later, near Frostburg we were driving slowly on unplowed interstate, passing cars in the ditch and shoulder. The pace slowed down considerably, and soon we were slowly moving around trucks stopped in traffic lanes on the interstate while drivers mounted chains.
We were getting phone, text and e-mail updates from others driving to Morgantown. Considerable doubt was being expressed about driving conditions or racing conditions. But a couple of e-mails to the MABRA list server from riders in Morgantown reported no snow there. So we continued.
Ken McDowell was driving to the race in his Corvette and after one minor mishap decided road conditions were ridiculous to be driving a Corvette, and turned around. Mike told us his Volkswagen station wagon was 4wd; we did not have any close calls. I think my ’92 Honda Civic would have been fine too.
But Ken, I feel for you buddy, having to drive that Corvette, so I am offering to trade you even, my 1992 Civic 4 door for your Corvette, so you have a reliable way to get to races.
After a very long drive with two breakfast stops, we found the snow turning back to rain as we descended towards Morgantown. When we arrived at the race staging area there was no snow to be seen, just some light rain.
We had plenty of time, but as I changed into my kit, the rain got harder, then it included sleet. When I got back outside for a warm-up ride it was snowing hard, with huge wet snow flakes.
Knowing in advance there was a significant chance for precipitation I had brought kit for cold and wet. I went with the ABRT knickers thinking that the easiest way to have a bad race would be to get hypothermia.
By the way, I would like to publically thank Alex Pline for finding these on the Pactimo website and pushing to have these included in our team store. I think all of us who have them, love them.
But it took only a minute of riding to conclude that the knickers were not going to be enough. The snow flakes were splatting on my glasses so it was hard to see, and the wet and slush from the road soaked the back of my knickers in seconds, while the exposed lower leg was immediately wet and quite cold (OK, I am not a Belgian hard-man).
So it was back inside to add leg warmers. While working on this the race starts were postponed 30 minutes.
Meanwhile a number of riders were wondering why on earth they were in nowhere WV to race bikes in the snow, sleet and rain, and many left. More turned back on the drive to Morgantown.
And then things got a little better.
When I went back outside after adding the leg warmers the snow had stopped and all we had was a light rain.
Racing was a go, and soon fields were rolling out. The men’s 1-2-3 was first followed by 3-4, 4-5 and 5, then the combined men’s masters field. Our field was clearly reduced in size, -- perhaps 25-30 -- and the large and strong ABRT team that had registered was reduced to just Brian MacLean and myself. After being warned about potholes on the course, the yellow line rule and the usual, the whistle blew and we rolled out.
The first while was flat or small rollers. Even when it was not raining everything was very wet so riders and bikes were covered in spray. There were some not-very-serious attacks, but these were all brought back. I jumped across on a wheel once or twice, but most riders figured the climbs would sort it out so there was nothing to get too excited about until the first hard climb. I was trying to save energy for the climb, so I only got on the front once and soft pedaled until someone came by me.
Mike Brown and another rider got into one of the not-very-serious break efforts and were a short distance ahead at a right turn. When I got to the turn Mike was stopped on the side of the road. I asked him if he was OK and he replied he was. I think he had been giving some excess clothing to a marshall.
Just after this turn we hit a section of a couple of small rollers that trended up. Someone on the front decided to drill it HARD and I very quickly found myself on the rivet riding about 12th or 15th wheel. Once the road flattened out and it got slightly easier the pace eased up, I looked back and no one was behind me; the rest of the field was gapped and gone. Mike had probably not quite gotten on when this attack happened (and for all I know someone tried to take the opportunity to gap him), but rode by me not long afterwards, so clearly had no trouble getting to this group.
When we did get to the first climb Gerry Pflug and Mike Brown quickly gapped everyone else. I thought I was going as hard as I could and was staying near the front of the rest of the group, but always following wheels. Once the gap had opened a little, Randy Thrasher easily jumped by and bridged, still on the climb. Brian MacLean was either with them, or caught them. It was a long hard climb and those four were gone by the time I got to the top. The rest of what had been the lead group were scattered all over the climb, though I was close to Gunnar Shogren, Mike Spinnler and a tough 60+ rider. Shogren slowly opened the gap on me, and Spinnler came by me, and was 3-4 lengths clear by the time things started to flatten out. I should have had the mental toughness to accelerate and grab his wheel, but didn’t. I tried to work with the 60+ rider, but he was probably going as hard as he could, and was winning his field, so did not need to catch and pass anyone. The sun came out for awhile while we were climbing so I went from very-wet-and-a-little-cold to much-too-hot even-with-everything-I-could-unzip-opened-up. This seems quite funny in retrospect, but I was uncomfortably hot for awhile before the sun left for good.
Meanwhile up ahead Brian popped out of the lead four while climbing and Gunnar Shogren and Mike Spinnler eventually caught him, though all three were out of my sight up the road by the time this happened.
Now there was a lead group of three with Mike Brown, Randy Thrasher and Gerry Pflug. The first chase was Brian MacLean, Gunnar Shogren and Mike Spinnler. I was chasing with the 60+ rider, and could not see anyone from the 40+/50+/60+ field behind us. The 60+ rider and I were catching lots of riders, either alone or groups of two, but each time we caught them and checked numbers they were riders dropped from the 3-4, 4-5 or 5 fields.
Each time I saw a rider up the road I would try harder to catch them. I was taking much longer and harder pulls than the 60+ rider, but it was still useful to follow him and recover briefly before pulling again; I saw no reason to try to drop him. But each time we caught someone it was not a rider from our combined fields.
After the race I heard how the race had played out for the six riders up the road. Mike Brown told Randy he was going to go, and eventually did, riding away for the solo win, apparently by a minute or more. With about a mile to go Randy jumped Gerry Pflug and stayed away to the finish. So DC Velo finished 1,2, with Mike first overall and first 40+, while Randy was second overall and first 50+. Gerry Pflug crossed alone for 3rd overall and 2nd 40+.
Brian won the sprint out of his group to finish 4th overeall and 3rd 40+. That gave Gunnar Shogren 4th in 40+ and Spinnler second in 50+.
As I recognized the road near the finish (same route we had driven in on), I could see a lone rider up the road. I worked hard to catch him, and did inside 200 meters. But once again it was someone dropped from another field, not a 40+/50+/60+ rider. There was a slight uphill to the line and I had nothing left to sprint with, so the rider I had just caught, and the 60+ rider launched and came by me. I didn’t think I was racing against them so ignored them and
coasted across the finish holding my rain jacket tight hoping this would help the officials see my race number.
The 60+ rider who I had towed for most of the second half of the race told me afterwards I should not have pulled hard for the last mile, but I didn’t care about him, I had been hoping to catch one of the 50+ riders in front of me.
After a quick chat with Brian, I concluded I was probably 3rd in 50+ and 8th overall. Brian already knew he was 3rd in 40+.
The women’s 1-2-3 had been combined with the women’s 4 and some juniors. Sara told us that once on the climb, a single woman rider had jumped clear and no one except Sara was interested in chasing. Soon she was in a group of three a short distance behind the single rider. Then she was gapped by the other two, and they got to the lone leader, so Sara chased this group of three for 25 miles, by herself, and did not catch them. She was eventually caught by a small group from behind, but won the sprint out of that group. Then it turned out that two of the riders in the lead group of three were cat 4s, so Sara was second to Betsy Shogren in the women’s 123.
Well done, Sara!
After changing, rinsing off the bikes and then slowly freezing while waiting for awards, we rolled out. With strong déjà vu feelings, I was in the back seat of Mike’s station wagon, only now it was more crowded as we had squeezed my bike in on top of the other two.
We left late enough that road conditions were somewhat better on the drive out, unlike what happened to those who turned around on the way in, or left before the race started. Finally around Cumberland we noticed blue sky and sunshine. With lots of time to phone, text and e-mail, we learned that our elite team had bailed before getting to Morgantown and that Hef and Wahl had a great training ride in warmth and sunshine, near Hef’s home. Kyle Pitman reported hard rain towards the end of the Davidsonville ride.
Nearly starving, we got off the interstate in Hagerstown looking for a place to eat supper. After a sequence of events that could be the basis for an episode of a sitcom (except it took much longer than 30 minutes) we found a Ruby Tuesday we could get into without a long wait and had dinner.
I took the opportunity to let Mike know we were doing things with the masters team this year in terms of picking “A” and “B” races, having a coordinator for each field in each “A” and “B” race, and so on, without actually mentioning any roles or names. He had commented on the drive out that he had not found what he expected at DC Velo in terms of masters team organization.
Then it was back to the BWI overlook, unpack bikes and gear out of Mike’s car and into Sara’s and mine, and off home. I was home a little after 11:00pm; a long day.
Congratulations to Sara for a great hard ride in her race.
Congratulations to Brian for his race and result. As those of us who have ridden with him know, Brian is very strong. But his size and weight worked against him on the long climbs in this race, and he was up against some very strong riders.
My 3rd seems a good result. I don’t yet know how many 50+ riders I was ahead of, but I wish I could have held on to Mike Spinnler and Gunnar Shogren and been more in play towards the end of the race.
As for the ABRTers who turned around, or left without racing. Given the driving conditions and the conditions before the race (hard rain, then rain and sleet, then heavy snow) turning around or leaving before the race were eminently reasonable decisions.
Results: http://www.abraracing.com/Results/2011MRR.html
Images: http://fredjordan.smugmug.com/Sports/Morgantown-Road-Race-APRRS-1/16433060_X6DeJ#1237455762_kpPi5
I e-mailed the team and then those who were registered trying to work out car pooling, but on Friday it became apparent to me that everyone else had some sort of arrangements in place, while I did not. But I was able to drive up with Mike Brown and Sara Clafferty, while my bike went up with Matt and Ace.
Like a “B” war movie where the planning session ends with “synchronize your watches”, this “plan” required me to wake up at 4:40am to drop my bike off with Matt, and then get myself to the BWI overlook before 6:00am to meet Mike and Sara.
Not having to drive myself – we were in Mike’s Volkswagen – I was able to phone, text, e-mail and check Facebook for the 4.5 hours it took us to get to the race. Randy Thrasher was about ten miles in front of us, while Matt and Ace were behind us and Mike Hefner and the elite team guys behind them.
As we neared Cumberland weather conditions worsened and the calls and texts started. Randy reported accidents including jackknifed trucks ahead of us, while Matt and Ace were expressing doubts about racing. Soon the rain changed to snow, and a short time later, near Frostburg we were driving slowly on unplowed interstate, passing cars in the ditch and shoulder. The pace slowed down considerably, and soon we were slowly moving around trucks stopped in traffic lanes on the interstate while drivers mounted chains.
We were getting phone, text and e-mail updates from others driving to Morgantown. Considerable doubt was being expressed about driving conditions or racing conditions. But a couple of e-mails to the MABRA list server from riders in Morgantown reported no snow there. So we continued.
Ken McDowell was driving to the race in his Corvette and after one minor mishap decided road conditions were ridiculous to be driving a Corvette, and turned around. Mike told us his Volkswagen station wagon was 4wd; we did not have any close calls. I think my ’92 Honda Civic would have been fine too.
But Ken, I feel for you buddy, having to drive that Corvette, so I am offering to trade you even, my 1992 Civic 4 door for your Corvette, so you have a reliable way to get to races.
After a very long drive with two breakfast stops, we found the snow turning back to rain as we descended towards Morgantown. When we arrived at the race staging area there was no snow to be seen, just some light rain.
We had plenty of time, but as I changed into my kit, the rain got harder, then it included sleet. When I got back outside for a warm-up ride it was snowing hard, with huge wet snow flakes.
Knowing in advance there was a significant chance for precipitation I had brought kit for cold and wet. I went with the ABRT knickers thinking that the easiest way to have a bad race would be to get hypothermia.
By the way, I would like to publically thank Alex Pline for finding these on the Pactimo website and pushing to have these included in our team store. I think all of us who have them, love them.
But it took only a minute of riding to conclude that the knickers were not going to be enough. The snow flakes were splatting on my glasses so it was hard to see, and the wet and slush from the road soaked the back of my knickers in seconds, while the exposed lower leg was immediately wet and quite cold (OK, I am not a Belgian hard-man).
So it was back inside to add leg warmers. While working on this the race starts were postponed 30 minutes.
Meanwhile a number of riders were wondering why on earth they were in nowhere WV to race bikes in the snow, sleet and rain, and many left. More turned back on the drive to Morgantown.
And then things got a little better.
When I went back outside after adding the leg warmers the snow had stopped and all we had was a light rain.
Racing was a go, and soon fields were rolling out. The men’s 1-2-3 was first followed by 3-4, 4-5 and 5, then the combined men’s masters field. Our field was clearly reduced in size, -- perhaps 25-30 -- and the large and strong ABRT team that had registered was reduced to just Brian MacLean and myself. After being warned about potholes on the course, the yellow line rule and the usual, the whistle blew and we rolled out.
The first while was flat or small rollers. Even when it was not raining everything was very wet so riders and bikes were covered in spray. There were some not-very-serious attacks, but these were all brought back. I jumped across on a wheel once or twice, but most riders figured the climbs would sort it out so there was nothing to get too excited about until the first hard climb. I was trying to save energy for the climb, so I only got on the front once and soft pedaled until someone came by me.
Mike Brown and another rider got into one of the not-very-serious break efforts and were a short distance ahead at a right turn. When I got to the turn Mike was stopped on the side of the road. I asked him if he was OK and he replied he was. I think he had been giving some excess clothing to a marshall.
Just after this turn we hit a section of a couple of small rollers that trended up. Someone on the front decided to drill it HARD and I very quickly found myself on the rivet riding about 12th or 15th wheel. Once the road flattened out and it got slightly easier the pace eased up, I looked back and no one was behind me; the rest of the field was gapped and gone. Mike had probably not quite gotten on when this attack happened (and for all I know someone tried to take the opportunity to gap him), but rode by me not long afterwards, so clearly had no trouble getting to this group.
When we did get to the first climb Gerry Pflug and Mike Brown quickly gapped everyone else. I thought I was going as hard as I could and was staying near the front of the rest of the group, but always following wheels. Once the gap had opened a little, Randy Thrasher easily jumped by and bridged, still on the climb. Brian MacLean was either with them, or caught them. It was a long hard climb and those four were gone by the time I got to the top. The rest of what had been the lead group were scattered all over the climb, though I was close to Gunnar Shogren, Mike Spinnler and a tough 60+ rider. Shogren slowly opened the gap on me, and Spinnler came by me, and was 3-4 lengths clear by the time things started to flatten out. I should have had the mental toughness to accelerate and grab his wheel, but didn’t. I tried to work with the 60+ rider, but he was probably going as hard as he could, and was winning his field, so did not need to catch and pass anyone. The sun came out for awhile while we were climbing so I went from very-wet-and-a-little-cold to much-too-hot even-with-everything-I-could-unzip-opened-up. This seems quite funny in retrospect, but I was uncomfortably hot for awhile before the sun left for good.
Meanwhile up ahead Brian popped out of the lead four while climbing and Gunnar Shogren and Mike Spinnler eventually caught him, though all three were out of my sight up the road by the time this happened.
Now there was a lead group of three with Mike Brown, Randy Thrasher and Gerry Pflug. The first chase was Brian MacLean, Gunnar Shogren and Mike Spinnler. I was chasing with the 60+ rider, and could not see anyone from the 40+/50+/60+ field behind us. The 60+ rider and I were catching lots of riders, either alone or groups of two, but each time we caught them and checked numbers they were riders dropped from the 3-4, 4-5 or 5 fields.
Each time I saw a rider up the road I would try harder to catch them. I was taking much longer and harder pulls than the 60+ rider, but it was still useful to follow him and recover briefly before pulling again; I saw no reason to try to drop him. But each time we caught someone it was not a rider from our combined fields.
After the race I heard how the race had played out for the six riders up the road. Mike Brown told Randy he was going to go, and eventually did, riding away for the solo win, apparently by a minute or more. With about a mile to go Randy jumped Gerry Pflug and stayed away to the finish. So DC Velo finished 1,2, with Mike first overall and first 40+, while Randy was second overall and first 50+. Gerry Pflug crossed alone for 3rd overall and 2nd 40+.
Brian won the sprint out of his group to finish 4th overeall and 3rd 40+. That gave Gunnar Shogren 4th in 40+ and Spinnler second in 50+.
As I recognized the road near the finish (same route we had driven in on), I could see a lone rider up the road. I worked hard to catch him, and did inside 200 meters. But once again it was someone dropped from another field, not a 40+/50+/60+ rider. There was a slight uphill to the line and I had nothing left to sprint with, so the rider I had just caught, and the 60+ rider launched and came by me. I didn’t think I was racing against them so ignored them and
coasted across the finish holding my rain jacket tight hoping this would help the officials see my race number. The 60+ rider who I had towed for most of the second half of the race told me afterwards I should not have pulled hard for the last mile, but I didn’t care about him, I had been hoping to catch one of the 50+ riders in front of me.
After a quick chat with Brian, I concluded I was probably 3rd in 50+ and 8th overall. Brian already knew he was 3rd in 40+.
The women’s 1-2-3 had been combined with the women’s 4 and some juniors. Sara told us that once on the climb, a single woman rider had jumped clear and no one except Sara was interested in chasing. Soon she was in a group of three a short distance behind the single rider. Then she was gapped by the other two, and they got to the lone leader, so Sara chased this group of three for 25 miles, by herself, and did not catch them. She was eventually caught by a small group from behind, but won the sprint out of that group. Then it turned out that two of the riders in the lead group of three were cat 4s, so Sara was second to Betsy Shogren in the women’s 123.
Well done, Sara!
After changing, rinsing off the bikes and then slowly freezing while waiting for awards, we rolled out. With strong déjà vu feelings, I was in the back seat of Mike’s station wagon, only now it was more crowded as we had squeezed my bike in on top of the other two.
We left late enough that road conditions were somewhat better on the drive out, unlike what happened to those who turned around on the way in, or left before the race started. Finally around Cumberland we noticed blue sky and sunshine. With lots of time to phone, text and e-mail, we learned that our elite team had bailed before getting to Morgantown and that Hef and Wahl had a great training ride in warmth and sunshine, near Hef’s home. Kyle Pitman reported hard rain towards the end of the Davidsonville ride.
Nearly starving, we got off the interstate in Hagerstown looking for a place to eat supper. After a sequence of events that could be the basis for an episode of a sitcom (except it took much longer than 30 minutes) we found a Ruby Tuesday we could get into without a long wait and had dinner.
I took the opportunity to let Mike know we were doing things with the masters team this year in terms of picking “A” and “B” races, having a coordinator for each field in each “A” and “B” race, and so on, without actually mentioning any roles or names. He had commented on the drive out that he had not found what he expected at DC Velo in terms of masters team organization.
Then it was back to the BWI overlook, unpack bikes and gear out of Mike’s car and into Sara’s and mine, and off home. I was home a little after 11:00pm; a long day.
Congratulations to Sara for a great hard ride in her race.
Congratulations to Brian for his race and result. As those of us who have ridden with him know, Brian is very strong. But his size and weight worked against him on the long climbs in this race, and he was up against some very strong riders.
My 3rd seems a good result. I don’t yet know how many 50+ riders I was ahead of, but I wish I could have held on to Mike Spinnler and Gunnar Shogren and been more in play towards the end of the race.
As for the ABRTers who turned around, or left without racing. Given the driving conditions and the conditions before the race (hard rain, then rain and sleet, then heavy snow) turning around or leaving before the race were eminently reasonable decisions.
Results: http://www.abraracing.com/Results/2011MRR.html
Images: http://fredjordan.smugmug.com/Sports/Morgantown-Road-Race-APRRS-1/16433060_X6DeJ#1237455762_kpPi5
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