Tuesday May 10th Training RideThe Wheelsucker Report

Each Tuesday evening world championship – conventionally known as the Tuesday training ride – seems to have a different character. The Wheelsucker supposes it comes down to which strong riders are there, how they feel, and what they feel like doing.

Two weeks ago the Wheelsucker struggled to hold onto Eric Boone’s wheel early in a headwind, and when they arrived at the 214 intersection Eric (with some help from Steve Owens) had pulled five riders clear of the pack. Moments later Ace bridged up, and that was the break of the day. With Stu and Brian the strongest riders left in the peloton, the break had more horsepower than the peloton.

Without much power to cross a gap, the Wheelsucker has to be careful not to be gapped by the stronger riders. As long as there are good wheels to follow, the Wheelsucker can let one or two go up the road but then he has to stick like glue to the remaining strong riders, hoping for the tow across.

So the Wheelsucker is vigilant from the very beginning of the ride. Others relax, perhaps chat, and don’t appear to take the ride seriously until it gets going. But after seeing the winning break form shortly after crossing Governor Bridge Road two weeks ago, the Wheelsucker is racing from the rollout.

But the May 10th ride pace was easy from rollout to the 214 intersection. The Wheelsucker was watching the strong riders and was ready to grab a wheel, but there were no moves. The firepower was certainly there, with Ace, Eric Boone, Steve “Stevie Wonder” Wahl, Ryan Guttridge. and Brian Whitesell.

There was a short wait for a green light, the peloton rolled through, and without anything obvious happening the pace picked up. The Wheelsucker tends to focus on the rear wheel in front of him, and where the strong riders are, so does not look back much. But after passing the Sands road turn, a quick glance back revealed that while still a sizeable group, it was smaller than what it had been at rollout.

The Wheelsucker was prepared for an attack on Harwood Hill. Unfortunately he was second wheel at the bottom and the lead rider pulled off part way up, leaving the Wheelsucker pulling up the climb. Normally the Wheelsucker would pull off after taking a short pull, tuck in, and watch the stronger riders. But pulling off on a climb is dangerous; it invites the next rider to accelerate, and the Wheelsucker has real trouble responding. So the Wheelsucker struggled up the climb expecting to be attacked, but no one went hard. But the pace was not hard enough to satisfy several of the stronger riders and 3-5 slowly rolled by near the top, with the Wheelsucker struggling to grab a wheel and hold on.

Some riders were probably gapped, but most of the peloton was still there. And the pace stayed high.

The Wheelsucker thought the next excellent attack point was the stairstep just before South Polling House ends at Bayard. The Wheelsucker managed to avoid any pulls or gap closings for some time before this climb, and was watching Ace, Eric, Stevie Wonder, Ryan and the other strong riders. Sure enough Ace got out of the saddle and took a dig all the way up. But the Wheelsucker likes to climb seated, and digging deep hung tough and stayed glued to Ace’s wheel. And it worked! He was still on Ace’s wheel, and with the strong riders at the right turn onto Bayard. The Wheelsucker was not able to look around much, but thought there was a bit of a gap to the next bunch. But no one got on the front and drove the break. Either the break slowed, or riders in the chase worked like madmen, but it all came together shortly after the right turn.

There are a couple of rollers on Bayard where something could go, and the Wheelsucker was watching, but nothing went.

The next good location for an attack is at the golf course after turning onto Polling House. After the descent and right turn, there is a false flat past the golf course, and then a short wall at where the strong riders can rid themselves of those tired from a hard pace up the false flat. The Wheelsucker was hanging tough, but Ace pushed the pace, gapped the Wheelsucker and rode away. A tired and straining Wheelsucker tried to close it, but the gap was opening. Fearing that he would be so exhausted he could not catch a wheel when someone else decided to go, the Wheelsucker pulled off, watched the train go by, and searched desperately for a wheel to grab. Somehow he managed and hung on, though it was a near run thing.
Either Ace eased up, or the strong men in the peloton drove the pace, but Ace was brought back soon, and it was “groupo compacto” before the right turn back onto South Poling House.

Of course the next challenge coming up was the South Polling House stairstep. That and the second roller of the pair on Sands were the last obvious attack points, so the Wheelsucker was vigilant and right behind Ace, Eric and Steve for the climb. The pace was hard but not desperate. One rider jumped clear, but none of the “A” riders went with him, so the Wheelsucker let him go. He won the climb, but the Wheelsucker’s victory was still being with the strong riders at the right turn back onto Bayard, with only one more good attack location on the ride. The trouble was that each time a selection had been made, the lead group had not driven home its advantage and the peloton had chased back on. So not only was the Wheelsucker with the riders he wanted to mark, so were another 15-20 riders!

Once on Sands the Wheelsucker was careful to not take a pull anytime soon before the double roller, so he was as ready as he could be, and was watching Ace carefully. But Ace didn’t attack.

The Wheelsucker found himself second wheel as the peloton rolled into the last dip on Sands, before the climb to the left turn back onto Harwood/Patuxent River, and then the lead rider pulled off, leaving the Wheelsucker pulling down the dip and up the other side. As with Harwood Hill, the Wheelsucker HATES being on the front for a climb, as he feels very vulnerable to attacks. But just like Harwood there were no hard attacks, just a few riders rolling by near the top, and a desperate Wheelsucker finding a wheel and holding on.

The descent into the low point on Harwood/Patuxent River with the sweeping right turn and the climb out towards 214 would be a terrific place to attack, except that if a break goes there, they have a really good chance of being held up by a red light at 214, allowing the peloton back on. So attacks rarely go here. The Wheelsucker was attentive none-the-less and was watching the “A” riders ready to go to the limit to stay with them, if they went. But no one went.

Then it was across 214, and hold on for the sprint. The pace had been high since first crossing 214, and continued high from 214 to the finish line. The Wheelsucker was suffering, but so were a number of other riders; the Wheelsucker could see pain on some faces. Another rider or two may have been gapped on the last rollers as the train rolled by too fast for some to catch on at the back.

So it was going to come down to a field sprint. The Wheelsucker – as he had most of the ride – maneuvered for Ace’s wheel. The amazing Eric Boone took the last long hard fast pull down the last dip and started up the shallow climb to the finish. Ace was on his wheel; the Wheelsucker glued to Ace’s wheel. Behind them another 17-20 riders, presumably in single file. Then with a “woosh” Steve Wonder launched and went by on the left. The Wheelsucker has no ability to jump hard enough to catch on to a snap sprint like that, and had committed to following Ace’s wheel, hoping for a slower acceleration when Ace launched. As Stevie went by Ace pulled out to the left of Eric and started to accelerate. The Wheelsucker tried to stay glued to Ace’s wheel, hit 972 watts (and averaged 457 for the last 45 seconds) trying to do it, but it wasn’t enough and the gap slowly opened.

And then there was a crashing sound and Stevie Wonder swerved as his left foot came out of the pedal. He may have run it over! Somehow he kept the rubber side down and the bike upright, though that ended his sprint. The Wheelsucker was still trying to claw his way back to Ace’s slipstream as Ace accelerated, and the rest of the group eased up as an idiot driver in a minivan decided this was a safe moment to pass 20 cyclists.

Ace won easily, even after sitting up; the Wheelsucker rolled across second, but second out of only two riders seriously sprinting.

Wheelsucker Data (from first crossing 214 to the finish line):
1:03:59
27.4 miles
233 watts average/952 watts max (as I tried to follow Ace's wheel on the sprint)
152 bpm average/168 maximum
87 rpm cadence
25.62 mph