Cold, Wind, Snow and Slush

The Wheelsucker started school many many years ago in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. On a good day he can recall that he walked to school (a very short distance of perhaps two blocks) in grade 2 and that in January or February the daily high in Edmonton could be 30 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, or colder, for days at a time.

While has not been in Edmonton since 1966, the Wheelsucker believes that global warming has reduced the number of -30 F days Edmonton has in a winter.

Never-the-less, one would think the Wheelsucker would shrug off not-so-cold “winter” days; but one would be wrong!

The Wheelsucker was visiting family shortly before Christmas. Having abandoned Edmonton in 1966, what remains of his family is in Guelph, Ontario. During his eleven days in Guelph the daily high was below freezing only once (uncharacteristically warm for Guelph in the second half of December) and the Wheelsucker rode most days. A high of 35 to 40 degrees F should have been fine. But Guelph tends to be windy, the air feels colder – perhaps due to moisture picked up when the wind crosses Lake Huron – and wet snow was falling on several days.

On Friday the 21st of December, the Wheelsucker was supposed to be doing 3x12 minutes at LT. There was some very light snow as he rolled out, but it became heavier as he warmed up. The temperature was 34 F and the snow was quite wet. Slush and water built up on the road. The Wheelsucker got his first interval in, desperately pedaling into a headwind and straining very hard to average one watt over his LT value. He was cold. His cycling tights were wet in the lower legs, and water had run down his left leg and collected in his left shoe, soaking his sock.

The Wheelsucker took a longer-than-two-minute recovery interval to manually zero the Powertap computer – perhaps it was not zeroed properly and he was actually working harder than the numbers he was recording?

The Wheelsucker started the second interval heading back the way he had come. He was going faster with the tailwind, but was struggling to hold power. He coasted briefly when a van slowed in front of him for a right turn. He was unable to bring average power back up after the turn, and then ran out of runway coasting into an intersection, losing more average power. In desperation he turned uphill at the intersection and tried to hammer the last minute of the interval but ended with an 11:50 interval averaging fourteen watts below is nominal LT power. Out of energy, out of breath, despondent, cold and wet, the Wheelsucker called it a day and soft pedaled back to his sister’s home. The leading “edges” of his handlebars, head tube and downtube, and seatpost were covered in slush.

What with driving back home on the 23rd, taking Christmas Day off, and then a day of monsoon-like rain (the 26th), it was Thursday December 27th before the Wheelsucker was back on his bike.

Back in Annapolis (which does not have a real winter when compared to most places in Canada), the Wheelsucker was hoping for a more comfortable ride. But it was 41 F and very windy when the Wheelsucker finally made it out.

After a ~27 minute warmup that took him to the dip on Patuxent River Road, the Wheelsucker hit interval and went for it. The first part of the interval was up the short steep section just passed the dip, and then up a less steep portion of Patuxent River Road to the right turn onto Sands and down Sands. The Wheelsucker was rather over his target power on the wall and initial climbing section, so his average power started out high and slowly came down during the rest of the interval. But with grim determination the Wheelsucker held on to an average power eight watts over his nominal threshold, without exhausting himself too much to do the next intervals.

The two minute recovery interval was too short, but as he was turning around to start the second interval going back, he pulled in next to a team mate (who shall remain nameless). The teammate was tired from doing his sprint workout, so he took the Wheelsucker’s wheel. Knowing a very strong young stud was following him, the Wheelsucker felt that he HAD to put in a solid effort. Pedaling grimly, he hung on for ten minutes and averaged eleven watts over his nominal LT power, despite having to coast into the Sands-Patuxent Road intersection and wait for a car to clear the intersection.

Another two minute recovery interval went by too fast and then it was time for the last interval, which started on the climb out of the dip. The light at 214 was – uncharacteristically – green, and the Wheelsucker powered through, with his teammate easily holding his wheel. This interval was quite hard. His legs and lungs hurt, his mouth was wide open and the helmet strap was digging in behind his jaw. But the Wheelsucker knew the road very well and tried to distract himself from the pain in his legs and lungs by thinking how close the finish line was. He hit the interval button at 10:03 and later determined that he had done 12 watts over LT for 10:01 (but his average power for 10:03 was one watt less).

The Wheelsucker is thankful to his young strong (wheelsucking) team mate; if the Wheelsucker had been alone he might not have had the incentive to keep pushing all the way on the last two intervals.

And the Wheelsucker is looking forward to spring and warmer temperatures!

Saturday November 3rd 2012 Training RideThe Wheelsucker ReportThe Thrilla in Manilla: Frazer versus Ali?

It was cold!; 45 F may not seem cold in February or March, but it is brutally cold for those coming off a hot summer and not yet used to fall and winter temperatures. It was so cold that Steve Owens was wearing a balaclava (what is Steve going to do when it gets REALLY cold?)

Despite a number of ABRT team mates racing cycle-cross it was a large group rolling out of the Park & Ride at 9:00am. The Wheelsucker was near the front as Sebastian Byers led the group around the left turn onto Rossback, and the initial descent.

As Rossback flattened out a little Sebastian was riding steady at the front. The Wheelsucker knew he needed to warmup before making any hard efforts, but… no one else was warmed up… so he decided to warm up by jumping off the front for fun.

And it worked!!!!

He got the gap and was quickly out of site up the road, or at least not seeing anyone when he looked behind. But after a few minutes the Wheelsucker was surprised to see Mark Frazer finishing a bridge effort.

A few minutes later the Wheelsucker flicked his elbow to indicate that he was pulling off and Mark could pull a bit. But Mark slowed and stayed glued to the Wheelsucker’s wheel. So the Wheelsucker smiled and put his head down and kept going. Finally, about 11 minutes into the ride, he pulled off and this time Mark pulled through. The two were slowed at 214 by a red light, but the light was changing, so they slowed to a crawl and then crossed on the green. But the delay was enough for Steve Owens and Sebastian to complete their bridge effort; they caught Mark and the Wheelsucker very shortly after crossing 214, making it four riders together.

What had started as a near-threshold individual warm up effort was suddenly a break off the front, with riders willing to work hard.

Steve Owens took killer-long pulls; the Wheelsucker took shorter pulls, trying to go harder. Sebastian and Mark took hard pulls. Whenever they looked back there was no sign of a chase. The only riders they saw were small clumps of non-ABRT riders they were passing. The lead group rode steady hard up Ed Prout, there was no reason to attack each other as they needed everyone pulling hard.

But the pace was hard and the four were tiring. Mark skipped a couple of pulls. The Wheelsucker had to strain to catch on at the back after some of his pulls. The Wheelsucker’s average power was slowly dropping, but his PE and HR were very high. There were no attacks, the four worked well together, and they rolled into the rest stop tired, happy and with no chase in sight. Steve reported it was the second fastest time to the rest stop.

It turned out to be a long wait, as no one had been chasing hard. There were two separate chase groups. The second of the chase groups rolled by the rest stop without stopping. They probably just wanted a bit of a head start, but some riders at the rest stop frantically jumped on their bikes and rolled out after them. The Wheelsucker and most of the rest stop group caught them part way up the climb out, probably abandoning some riders at the rest stop.

There were attacks on the rollers on the way to North Beach. A group opened a small gap, but was caught at the traffic light in North Beach.

The Wheelsucker was tired and drained. He felt like he had nothing left, and was worried about being dropped. He was sitting in, taking very short pulls when he did get to the front, and wondering if he was going to make it to the finish with the lead group.

The climb out of Herrington Harbor on Old Colony Cove Road and Friendship road was steady and the Wheelsucker was relieved to make it to the right turn on Fairhaven with the group. On the downhill (into a headwind!) riders with far too much energy were jumping clear; the Wheelsucker avoided chasing and others closed the gap as the jumpers quickly tired. The group was facing a headwind or crosswind all the way back, so the Wheelsucker thought a small break getting away was unlikely. But the risk was being dropped out of a move with strong riders and being unable to chase back on. Once on Towne Point Road the Wheelsucker was wondering how he was going to avoid being dropped on The Wall.

Rick Tucker jumped near the bottom of the Leitch Road climb. Calling down to the engine room for whatever was left, the Wheelsucker went after Rick, with Brian Synowiec on his wheel. After what seemed like a long hard effort, the Wheelsucker got close to Rick’s back wheel, and Brian launched past them both. Rick went after Brian, leaving the Wheelsucker gapped and gasping. But Brian sat up, Rick kept going, and the Wheelsucker kept chasing though gapped a little, but with a larger gap behind. Rick eased up at the top of the climb and the Wheelsucker caught on shortly after the sharp right turn, caught his breath for a few moments while wheelsucking, and then pulled into the descent and JUST HAMMERED up The Wall. Well, not really HAMMERED, maybe more just hammered. The Wheelsucker gave it about 80% and Rick declined to drop him and they reached the top together. The Wheelsucker felt he had done what he wanted to, get to The Wall clear of the group and make it up to the top without being dropped, so he eased up.

Rick continued. The Wheelsucker could see a small chase group behind him, but Rick was not far up the road, and was slowed slightly at the Deale Road/256 intersection and eased up after crossing. The Wheelsucker caught back on. The two continued and picked up Will Nuckols (who had probably short cut). The Wheelsucker got on the front for the descent into the Bay Front Road/258 intersection, where they were held up by car traffic.

Rick was riding like the energizer bunny and got on the front soon after they crossed. Will was gone; the Wheelsucker followed Rick. The chase – with Mike Wagner, Mike Faber, Steve Owens, Jay Murphy and Mark Frazer – quickly caught them. A really tired Wheelsucker took short pulls and mostly hung on at the back. Then somewhere on Nutwell Sudley or later on Sudley Road, Steve commented to the Wheelsucker that it was "the Thrilla in Manilla", Ali versus Frazer, again. Three of the four riders who were in the break to the rest stop were in this lead group, and presumably whichever of them beat the others in the sprint could claim they "won" the ride. A tired Wheelsucker noted that Steve’s focus on Ali versus Frazer was leaving Steve out of it. Hmn. The point may be moot, thought the Wheelsucker, because he was struggling just to stay on.

It was painful to Sudley Road, and then the climbing started. But the Wheelsucker was still there when the lead group crossed 255 and was thinking the only climb left was climbing out of the dip on Patuxent River Road. So he hung on, and schemed. Ace and Nick Vita bridged up to the group, catching it on the route 2 shoulder.

The Wheelsucker was following Mike Wagner (a great wheel to follow, being fast but very steady) near the back of the group after 214, and slowly rotated forward as riders pulled off. Mike ended up taking a long pull past the ball park, through the last dip and up onto the last flat. The Wheelsucker had worked hard to stay on Mike's wheel, and was thinking he did not want to start the sprint that close to the front. Without even waiting to get to the front he shamelessly pulled out of line and went to the back. Steve Owens was now second wheel, with Mark Frazer not far behind him. At the back the Wheelsucker found himself behind Ace, Nick Vita, Rick and Mike Faber. With the sprinters (and would-be sprinters) maneuvering for position, a small branch lying on the right side of the lane was not pointed out well enough for everyone to see it, and Mike Faber went over it and caught it between his seat tube and his rear wheel. The Wheelsucker passed him on the left as the wheel locked up and Mike skidded. The Wheelsucker was too busy looking at Rick’s rear wheel to notice Mike crash into the right side fence.

Ace was gesturing to Nick for Nick to follow Ace's wheel. The only idea the Wheelsucker could come up with was to follow Nick in the sprint. Just after the group sped through the last dip Rick launched early. The Wheelsucker knew he had nothing left and this was too early for the Wheelsucker to go, so he let Rick go, but then had to go hard to get to Nick's wheel. And just as he was finally closing in on Nick's wheel, Ace went, with Nick glued to him. The Wheelsucker want to maximum Wheelsucker power, essentially sprinting to go after them. Rick died and came back, then Steve Owens and Mike Wagner came back. But the gap to Nick's wheel was growing despite the Wheelsucker giving it everything he had left. Then the Wheelsucker's tired legs made it clear that his sprint was over; the Wheelsucker gave up. Perhaps ten bike lengths in front Frazer gave up about the same time, as Ace and Nick flew passed.

Nick won, Ace was second, Frazer was third, and a resurgent Mike Wagner pulled past the dead-and-coasting Wheelsucker for fourth.

So for those keeping score, quite possibly just the Wheelsucker and Steve Owens, Frazer beat Ali, and Steve.

Wheelsucker Data:

From jump to rest stop: 1:02:03, 23.85 miles, 232 watts, 618 watts maximum, 255 watts normalized, 91 rpm, 48 F. After comparing notes, Steve Owens averaged higher power for that interval, 244 watts.

Entire ride: 2:50:38, 59.6 miles, 195/717 watts, 142 bpm, 86 rpm, 50 F.

Tuesday October 9th Training RideThe Wheelsucker Report

With the hours of daylight shrinking rapidly, the Tuesday "world championship" ride start time has been moved back to 5:30pm, and the route has been shortened.

It was overcast and cool most of the afternoon, and there was not much light at 5:30pm.

It was a smallish group with Tom A., Mike F., Michel W. , Eric Wang and the Wheelsucker.

The Wheelsucker had had yet another stressful day at work, and was tired. His legs were still sore from a short run on Sunday, so his first thought was to sit in and warm up. But as the group rolled up to the left turn for Rossback, just after rollout, it occurred to the Wheelsucker that maybe everyone else felt like they needed a warmup before going hard, so the Wheelsucker casually ramped up the power to threshold, and kept pedaling on the downhill after the left turn.

And it worked!

By the time he crossed Governor Bridge Road, he could not see the group. With his forearms resting on the bar tops to get as low and aero as possible, he worked to hold threshold power, trying to go higher on the climbs and recover slightly on the downhills.

The Wheelsucker was very fortunate to roll up to the 214 intersection and see a car waiting at the light, which apparently triggered the light. The Wheelsucker slowed but did not have to stop, and rolled through on his own. A quick glance back just before a turn would have blocked the view of the intersection revealed the others at the intersection, not far behind, but probably not making it across on that green. The Wheelsucker quickly got back into his most aero position and pedaled for all he was worth. Having been surprised on Saturday when Nick Vita pulled Rick and Matt up to the lead group – the Wheelsucker and Steve Owens – the Wheelsucker was careful to check behind him at points when he had a clear view behind, but did not see the chase. He was alone climbing out of the dip and riding past the Sands Road intersection. He was alone climbing Harwood Hill, and he was alone on the way to route 2.

But then he was slowed by accident cleanup involving fire trucks, police cars, an ambulance, and police directing traffic. But he did not have to wait long – perhaps 40 seconds – and as he rolled past and accelerated he did not see a chase, and they would probably be held up as well.

Down the route 2 shoulder, right onto Polling House, left onto South Polling House, down the descent and up the stairstep climb, the Wheelsucker was alone. It was too dark to read the numbers on his computer display, so the Wheelsucker was pacing himself by perceived exertion.

Down Bayard and up Sands, left on Patuxent River, and then, as the Wheelsucker approached the 214 intersection, a waiting car triggered the light to green, and the Wheelsucker sprinted across on the last of the green. With about eight minutes to go to the finish line, a tiring Wheelsucker put his head down and pedaled as hard as he could. He checked over his shoulder a few more times, but saw no one.

Climbing out of the last dip, the Wheelsucker gave it everything he had left, pushing 370 watts for forty seconds, before easing up and crossing the line, alone.

A few minutes later, the Wheelsucker pulled into the Park & Ride and stopped at his car, and was surprised to see Mike, Tom and Eric come in just behind him. They reported being within range at the 214 light, but not making the same green and having to wait for a complete light cycle, and apparently did a slightly different version of the route (they may have continued on Polling House, skipping South Polling House), not going hard.

Hmn.

The Wheelsucker is still claiming a solo breakaway win.

Wheelsucker Data:

First crossing the finish line outbound, back to finish line on shortened route:
1:03:24 @ 264 watts average, 599 max, and 276 normalized, 154 bpm average, 87 rpm average cadence, 22.61 mph average speed.

Tuesday October 2nd Training RideThe Wheelsucker Report

While it rained on and off most of the day, the Wheelsucker was determined to ride if he could. So he was in the Park & Ride ready to go, before 17:30. With sunset earlier each day the route was reduced to the a single loop, so only doing South Polling House and Bayard once.

His coach's workout instructions were:

"Group ride. Ride how you feel today: If tired, sit in at heart rate 1-3 zones; if fresh, ride race efforts in all zones. Be smart."

At his advanced age the Wheelsucker never actually feels completely rested and fresh. So the Wheelsucker was unsure how to approach the ride (he has this same issue each ride).

Rollout was easy, and the Wheelsucker waited for his muscles to warm up and his breathing to stabilize. But once he was feeling good he surged alone after crossing 214 and hammered hard. It was not quite a steady TT effort, rather the Wheelsucker was going easier on the descents, steady-hard on the flats, but saving enough to go rather harder on the Harwood Hill (331 watts for two minutes) and South Polling House stairstep (440 watts for 1:15) climbs.

It was a hard effort all the way, but when the Wheelsucker hammered across the finish line no other riders were in sight.

However this is most probably due to their being no other riders on the ride than to the Wheelsucker's efforts.

Wheelsucker Data (from 214 to the finish line): 55:49, 20.51 miles
263 watts average, 635 max
140 bpm average, 161 max
84 rpm average, 110 max
22.05 mph average
881 Kj

WHERE WERE YOU GUYS?

MABRA Track Championship (45+)The Wheelsucker at the Track

Have you ever watched Olympic track events? Watched two incredibly strong riders duel in a matched sprint? Watched two teams fight it out in a pursuit? Marveled at how quickly a rider reacts and accelerates? Been amazed at how fast they can be going in two or three seconds? Wondered how riders can ride fixed gear with no brakes that close together?

The Wheelsucker cannot do ANY of the above! Never-the-less, he has ridden the track a few times, and rather than miss riding the track entirely in 2012, entered the MABRA Track Championship event which was held Saturday September 1^st at Trexlertown PA. This is an omnium event, with the final standings based on points from each of the events.

Kevin Dillard images: http://alleycat.phanfare.com/5735366

When he checked the entry list after registration closed there was some "good" news and some "bad" news:

The good news?
There were only five riders registered for 45+, so events would be quick and not too crowded (a crowded bunch on the track riding fixed gear with no brakes terrifies the Wheelsucker).

The bad news?
Don Saroff and William Short are very experienced track riders – both ride for Team Saroff – and they were joined in the points race by Mark Sommers. All three of these guys have probably spent days on the track over the last few years, and have dialed in their gearing, position and tactics. Apparently they have track national championships, MABRA track championships, and multiple appearances at track nationals between them. Sommers is actually 55+, but is so strong he races senior (123) most of the time, was racing senior at this event, but jumped into the 45+ points race for fun.

The Wheelsucker has converted his Cannondale Capo (aluminum single-speed) into a quasi track bike (track bars, remove brakes, shorter cranks, flip rear wheel from single speed to fixed gear and acquire used American Classic 420 track wheels), and has ridden the track three to four times. He has no idea what he is doing. He is most probably a danger to himself and to anyone near him. The other two riders in the 45+ field had less experience on the track than Saroff, Short and Sommers, though one sounded like he had a little more experience than the Wheelsucker.

It is a long day with four events in the omnium and a flying 200 meter to seed riders for the match sprint, so five events. And there were nine categories (of cat or age group) racing. So it is a day of short intense efforts with long breaks in between events. Riders warm up between events on indoor trainers, or roll around slowly in the "infield" of the track.

Ben Williams and his wife Emma were kind enough to offer the Wheelsucker space under their tent roof set up in the infield so he could stay out of the sun between events and warm-ups.

The infield is a terrific place to watch the events from. With the long breaks between his efforts, the Wheelsucker had ample opportunity to watch other races and try to learn the techniques and tactics.

In particular, Ainhoa Perez-Diez of the ABRT women’s elite team was dominating her field, winning every event except the 2000 meter pursuit (in which she was second). It was a pleasure and an inspiration for the Wheelsucker to watch her dominate the women’s points race and the matched sprints.

The initial event was the flying 200 meters, which seeds riders for the matched sprints. A rider rolls out on the track on the back stretch, does one lap easy, gets high on the track, then starts to accelerate. The rider angles down the banking to accelerate, somewhere in turn two. Timing starts as the rider crosses a sprint line on the back side of the track and the rider is timed to the finish line, a 200 meter distance, about 2/3 of a lap of the track. To minimize distance the rider takes an inside lane through turns three and four and to the finish. As everyone knows, the Wheelsucker is not a sprinter, and short hard efforts are not his strong suit (it is not clear what IS the Wheelsucker’s strong suit other than a grim determination to hold the wheel in front of him). Trying to emulate the good riders who went before him, the Wheelsucker tried to do what he had seen them do. The Wheelsucker struggled to accelerate, struggled to keep his speed up on turns three and four, and struggled to stay in the fast (inner) lane on the track. He wonders if he could have been disqualified for touching the inner black line on the track. The Wheelsucker ended up ahead of the fifth place rider in his group, by a ridiculous .01 seconds, so was seeded fourth for the match sprint. The two experienced riders were much faster, and third place was just considerably faster.

The next event was a short pursuit. Some categories raced 500 meters (one and a half laps), others raced 1000 meters (you guessed it, three laps). The 45+ group did the 1000 meters, known as the kilo. Unlike most track events, the MABRA Track Championship allows the use of geared road bikes with brakes for these timed events, so the Wheelsucker brought his TT bike, rather than try to mount a base bar and aero bars on his fixie, between events. Riders with geared bikes are not allowed to change gears during the race.

These are very short intense races. Riders are held at the start, and accelerate from stopped at the gun. One rider starts on the front stretch, another on the back stretch. In theory each rider is pursuing the other. In practice the Wheelsucker was concentrating so hard on pedaling, and staying in the fast lane on the track that he never looked at his opponent. If you watched the Olympic pursuit, you probably saw smooth, very powerful riding. That was not what the Wheelsucker looked like. Trying his best to look like the good riders, the Wheelsucker stood at the "ready" and accelerated hard at the gun, at least hard enough to not fall over. Once up to speed good riders drop into their aero bars and pedal smoothly, keeping their bike roughly on the red line as they go around the track.

Riding his TT bike with a Powertap wheel, the Wheelsucker thought he could use the power meter to pace his effort, but it was so hard accelerating and then keeping the bike in the lane that he never looked at his power meter display.

The Wheelsucker ended up third out of his group of five. His time of 1:18:47 was about four seconds slower than the times of Short and Saroff, and about two seconds faster than Ray Plewacki.

The next event was a 2000 meter for some categories, a 3000 meter for others, including the 45+, and a 4000 meter for the male seniors. The format is the same as the kilo, but 3000 meters is nine laps of the track. One might ask "The race is nine laps and approximately four minutes long; how hard can it be?" At least for the Wheelsucker, the answer is, "extremely hard!"

From the standing start the Wheelsucker tried to accelerate a little less hard than he had in the kilo. In nine laps he never looked at his opponent, being too focused on keeping his bike in the lane (and he swerved a few times when not paying quite enough attention). Joe Jefferson was 'announcing' the event and giving an account of the action. Early on in his 3000 meter race the Wheelsucker heard Joe say that the Wheelsucker might have a slight advantage over his opponent. But then it was quiet except for the Wheelsucker's desperate breathing. Nine laps takes an incredibly long time when one is in pain.

When it was over the Wheelsucker did not know if he had defeated his opponent or not. He did not know if his opponent was riding a track bike or a road bike, or if he had aero bars or not. All he knew was that he had crossed the finish line, could stop pedaling (do NOT stop pedaling if you are on a fixed gear!), could roll onto the apron and off the track and get some water. His mouth was so dry the inside of his lips were sticking to his gums.

It took the officials some time to post the results of the 3000 meter event.

The next event was the points race. While some categories were combined, the five man 45+ group raced without another category on the track. This group raced 20 laps, with a sprint for points every five laps. Mark Sommers joined in "for fun" or as a "warm up" for his senior points race, so there were six riders on the track.

The Wheelsucker knew he had finished third in the kilo and suspected – or hoped – he had finished third in the 3000 meter, and was starting to dream of finishing third overall. With Don Saroff, William Short and Mark Sommers on the track, the Wheelsucker knew that beating one of these three was not a real option. But he was working on something of a plan that could see him finishing ahead of the other two riders.

The tactics of a points race are driven by the points awarded for each of the sprints. Points are awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th at each sprint. The Wheelsucker expects that riders not scoring any points are sorted out by finish position (which is the 4th sprint). Some points races are slow at times, riders may go hard for a sprint but ease up afterwards which gives the riders further back at the sprint an opportunity to catch back on. Or a break may go for a sprint, and continue hard after the sprint so the rest of the field is left out of contention for the next sprint in five laps. A rider or break may lap the field, which puts them in a very strong position for the rest of the sprints in the race.

Since track bikes are fixed gear, selecting the optimum gear is important. Experienced track riders know what "gear inches" they are using, and know from experience what gearing is best for them. They may change gearing between events if they believe the optimum gearing for the next event is slightly different than the optimum choice for the previous event, and they may alter gearing as they tire in the course of a full day's racing. Typical track gearing is something like 48x14 or 49x14. Elite riders may use a 50x14 expecting the races to be fast. Spinners may go 47x14. The Wheelsucker knows he does not develop much power at high cadence, and his experience in the two or three points races he had done previously was that he was chasing a break desperately, wishing he was pushing a slightly bigger gear. So the Wheelsucker had chosen 50x14 for gearing, which was probably too tall for his strength and hard to accelerate, but which allowed him to wheelsuck behind a fast rider, at a cadence he could hold for a little while.

The Wheelsucker had watched the earlier points races and had seen races go slow between sprints, had seen break attempts and even seen an individual rider break free alone and stay away for enough laps to win to sprints.

With three very strong and experienced track riders in his field, the Wheelsucker suspected a break would go, and the race for 4th, 5th and 6th could well be decided by which – if any – of those riders made that break.

The points race starts with riders stopped and lined up in self selecting order, against the high wall of the track. They hold on to the wall with their right hand. The official blows a whistle, the riders let go of the wall and start rolling. The first lap is somewhat neutral. Riders maneuver for position, with many trying to stay high on the track so they can dive to accelerate quickly.

The Wheelsucker wanted to be behind one of the strong three riders, ideally one who would not jump too hard, giving the Wheelsucker a chance to stay on his wheel. But the Wheelsucker is nervous riding fixed gear with no brakes on the track, in a group, and quickly found himself riding sixth wheel, last. But Don Saroff was not riding in line, rather he was positioned up the track banking, nose in the wind, but positioned where he could dive. The Wheelsucker moved up track for Saroff's wheel. The pace increased and then suddenly it was game on.

The strong three knew the game and easily gapped the other three riders while accelerating for the first sprint. While the points were awarded on the fifth lap, the accelerations and maneuvering started well before that.

When Saroff jumped the Wheelsucker gave it everything. He was still gapped behind the three leaders, but he was riding fourth, with the other two riders behind him. The strong three were riding away, but the Wheelsucker chased as hard as he could, knowing his best chance was to get up to the break. He did not know if anyone was on his wheel, was unable to look behind him to check without risking going off the track, so kept going hoping no one was on him. And he was also hoping the leading three would ease up after the first sprint.

And ease up they did.

It was not much of an ease up. They were still going fast, just not quite as fast as they could. The Wheelsucker was at max cadence and max effort but somehow closed the gap before they accelerated again for the second sprint. When he finally got to that third place wheel he had almost nothing left, but riding fourth in line was just enough relief that he was initially able to hold his position. Somehow the Wheelsucker knew no one was on his wheel.

Last year at the MABRA track championship the Wheelsucker had been in a similar situation, chasing the break as hard as he could. And Paul Mittelstadt had waited until the Wheelsucker tired, then had come off his wheel and around him, gapping the Wheelsucker. Paul caught the break and proceeded to win the points race, while the Wheelsucker stayed gapped and chasing for the rest of the race.

But this year the Wheelsucker made it to the break, and made it alone.

Shamefully the Wheelsucker opened a gap in front of him each time the lead rider pulled off to the right, momentarily climbing the banking and slowing down, so that the rider could pull in, in front of the Wheelsucker. While it may have annoyed these riders to have to pull in ahead of the Wheelsucker, pulling in behind him and expecting the Wheelsucker to close the gap was too big a risk for them, so as the lead three rotated pulls, the Wheelsucker did the only thing he could do well, wheelsuck.

And all the while the gap to the two riders behind was presumably increasing. There was no time for the Wheelsucker to congratulate himself on catching the break, there had been an all too brief moment of mental relief when he caught the three and when the first rider rotated in, ahead of him. But the Wheelsucker was still going as hard as an aging Wheelsucker can go, just to stay with the strong three.

Experienced track riders know how to look around, or sense what their competitors are doing; the Wheelsucker was too focused on the one most important thing, holding the wheel in front of him. But given the pace the strong three were setting the Wheelsucker was hoping the gap to the two behind was opening.

The lead group contested the second sprint (lap 10) and that broke the group up. The Wheelsucker was going as hard as he could just to be there, and had nothing to accelerate with. The other three gapped him, but hoping he had enough of a gap on the trailing two, the Wheelsucker kept chasing as hard as he could.

And then something strange happened.

The Wheelsucker found himself gaining on one of the leading three riders (the other two kept going), and realized it was Don Saroff. The Wheelsucker was too focused on the task of pedaling as hard as he could to ponder why Saroff was gapped from Short and Sommers, but with desperate efforts he caught Saroff’s wheel.

And Saroff was slowing, so holding that wheel became a little easier. And then Saroff pulled off up the banking and slowed further.

The Wheelsucker had no plan other than to stay ahead of the trailing two if he possibly could, so he continued rolling, and to his amazement was ahead of Saroff for the third sprint, taking the extra point.

But the effort was tiring the Wheelsucker rapidly, and soon Saroff, who was going easy, caught him. The two traded short pulls, with the Wheelsucker unable to understand what Saroff was doing. But the slower pace gave the Wheelsucker his first opportunity to glance anywhere but the wheel in front of him, and he saw the trailing two closing the gap. Still unable to fathom what Saroff was doing, the Wheelsucker yelled, "lets go, they are going to catch us!", and jumped. The Wheelsucker was again going as hard as an aging Wheelsucker can go. He had no idea how far ahead the leading two were; it didn’t matter, catching them was impossible. He did not know how far behind the trailing two were; it didn’t matter, he had to keep going. And for some reason Saroff accelerated and easily followed the Wheelsucker. The two traded pulls again, with the Wheelsucker taking half lap pulls thinking he had to conserve something because Saroff was obviously so much strong than he was.

Once in awhile the Wheelsucker had enough presence of mind to check the lap counter as he rolled across the finish line, to check how many laps were left. And then Saroff said something about not letting Sommers lap them, and accelerated to speed. The Wheelsucker held on for grim death. At the finish line the Wheelsucker was still on Saroff’s wheel and Mark Sommers was coming past the Wheelsucker to his right. The Wheelsucker has no idea of Sommers lapped him or not, but it didn't matter to the Wheelsucker, he had been ahead of his two real rivals at each of the four sprints, and had even taken the extra point from Saroff at one of them.

After the race Don Saroff congratulated the Wheelsucker for being able to bridge and explained his tactics. Saroff had been working for his teammate Short, and had dropped off the pace to create a two rider break, confident that the two rider break would stay clear and that his teammate could win the sprints over one other rider. Somehow Sommers had gotten clear of Short at some point in the race, but Short had crossed enough sprint lines ahead of Sommers that Short won the points race, by one point, with Sommers second.

The Wheelsucker is unsure of scoring, but suspects that if Sommers had lapped Short, Sommers would have won despite Short winning more sprint points. Perhaps that was why Saroff finally started to go near the end of the race, so as to not let Sommers catch him and draft briefly, and then catch Short.

The Wheelsucker was in 4th for three sprints, and 3rd in one, so five points in the race, good for 4th in the points race. Short won with 36 and Sommers was second with 35. For the Wheelsucker finishing 4^th in the race and ahead of his two rivals for 3^rd place in the omnium was a victory.

And when the results from the 3000 meters were finally resolved and posted, the Wheelsucker had finished 3^rd in that event, putting him solidly in third for the omnium with just the match sprint to go.

His 3000 meter time was 4:05.94, about ten seconds slower than the winner, but seven seconds faster than Ray Plewacki, and further ahead of James Bellora.

The larger fields had initial rounds for the match sprints, then second round, and so on, until they determined a winner. With only five riders in the 45+ field, Saroff and Short raced for first and second while the Wheelsucker and the remaining two riders raced in a field of three, to sort out 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th in the match sprints.

The Wheelsucker had been watching the earlier match sprints carefully, trying to understand the tactics. The Race Officials were extremely helpful in explaining each event to the riders just before they started, and answering the Wheelsucker's many questions. And the Wheelsucker had many questions about the match sprint, as he had never done it before.

The Wheelsucker drew position one, the most down the track banking. That meant his two rivals started higher up on the banking. As per the officials the rules were that the low rider had to stay ahead of the other rider (or riders) until crossing the sprint line on the opposite side of the track. However it was OK if the other rider or riders accelerated to go ahead. In response to the Wheelsucker’s question, the official explained that the low rider could go as high on the track as he wanted, but had to leave room for the other riders above him. As the riders approached the start finish line to start the second lap the bell would be rung. Any rider could jump at any point, and the first rider to the line would win.

The Wheelsucker was unsure what tactic he should employ. He considered that he was a weak sprinter and was probably geared slightly higher than the other two riders. And all he could think of was getting behind the other riders and wheelsucking, and then trying to come around one or both as they tired.

The three riders were held at the start line, the official asked each rider if they were ready, and then the whistle blew. While he was supposed to lead to the sprint line the Wheelsucker was desperate to not lead after that, so he rode as slowly as he could. And the other two riders appeared to have the same strategy. The three rolled around the track at a snails pace. But it was not working, as the Wheelsucker approached the sprint line the other two riders were clear behind him, not where he wanted them to be. So the Wheelsucker slowed even more.

And then he blew it!

Riding very slowly on the steep banking, he suddenly felt himself start to fall towards the high side of the track, and unclipped and put his foot down to stop falling. This was immediately seen by the officials, a whistle was blown, and it became apparent that there would be a restart. The Wheelsucker was unsure if he was disqualified or not. He apologized to his competitors, and to the official when the three had returned to the start line. The official explained that it was a restart, and that the Wheelsucker would be disqualified if he put his foot down a second time.

Once again the whistle blew and the three rolled out. Once again the three all rode as slowly as they could trying to get behind the other riders. Once again the Wheelsucker was unable to get off the front. But once past the sprint line and clear ahead, the Wheelsucker was able to climb high on the track staying next to the high wall, so he could get the best dive to accelerate. He could see one of his competitors overlapping him and below him on the banking (Bellora), Pleewacki was somewhere behind. Experienced track riders can ride slowly and look behind to check where their competitors are. The Wheelsucker can barely ride the track at all, never mind ride slowly near the high wall while glancing behind him.

And then it happened. Bellora, the Coppi rider, below the Wheelsucker on the banking jumped going into turn three. The Wheelsucker saw it happen, and used his position higher on the banking to accelerate and was very quickly on Bellora’s wheel. Bellora apparently knew how to play the game and immediately turned up the banking in the middle of turn 3, to slow down. And the Wheelsucker followed him.

And then it really happened!

Plewacki jumped from wherever he was, and in an instant was going fast and low out of turn three. Bellora dove and jumped hard for his wheel but was gapped. And the Wheelsucker in turn dove and jumped as hard as he could but was gapped slightly behind Bellora. In an instant the three were across the finish line and on the last lap. Everyone was going absolutely as hard as they could. Bellora slowly fought his way up to Plewacki's rear wheel, and by about turn three, the Wheelsucker had closed the gap to Bellora's wheel.

But the speed was high and time was running out very rapidly. The Wheelsucker moved slightly up track between turn three and four and gave it everything he had left – darn little – to try to come around on the right (Plewacki and Bellora were both in the sprinter's lane). As they approached the finish line the Wheelsucker felt himself gaining on the two others, but he was still behind Plewacki and overlapped but behind Bellora, as the three crossed the line.

That gave the Wheelsucker fifth out of five in the matched sprint. Unsure of omnium scoring, the Wheelsucker hung around after carrying all his bikes and gear back to his car, loading the car, and showering and changing. But the officials were still working on results, and with a three hour drive to get home, the Wheelsucker finally left without knowing for sure what his finish position was.

But while stopped on the way home the Wheelsucker checked his e-mail and saw the results had been e-mailed out. He had finished third in the 45+ omnium, one point ahead of fourth.

Results on US Cycling website: http://www.usacycling.org/results/?year=2012&id=2426&info_id=54249

The Wheelsucker is rather pleased with himself for finishing third in his age group in the MABRA Track Championship, but knows perfectly well this was due to a combination of blind luck and a very small turnout.

The Wheelsucker greatly appreciates the work of the promoters and their club in organizing the event, and greatly appreciates the officials for their patience, support, and willingness to answer all his questions.

It is really too bad the velodrome is so far – 2:45 driving time – from Annapolis, because riding the track is a LOT of fun.

Tuesday August 28th Training RideThe Wheelsucker Report

The Wheelsucker arrived early and had time for two laps behind the Park & Ride for a warmup.

A large group was gathered in the Park & Ride for rollout. Nick Vita and Denzil Hathaway were the strongest riders, but there were a number of solid riders. Rick Paukstitus and the Wheelsucker agreed it was a "Plan B" ride. The pace at rollout was easy, and Rick and the Wheelsucker continued the discussion, concluding that the chances of a successful breakaway were low, as even if the two strongest riders got clear, there was enough firepower in the group to bring them back. The only risk was if several riders got clear with both Nick and Denzil.

The pace picked up part way to 214/Central Avenue and was fast from 214/Central Avenue on. On Harwood Hill the Wheelsucker was positioned where he could watch Denzil, but Nick was somewhere behind. Jeff Chun was on the front for the second half of the climb, and drove the pace. Denzil maneuvered into second, and the Wheelsucker grimly held on to Denzil’s wheel for third. But despite the pace everyone was there with no gaps.

The Wheelsucker took a short pull when he rotated to the front and moved back to hide. When the group turned left onto South Polling House the Wheelsucker was well back. Jeff Chun moved up on the downhill before the South Polling House stairstep, and the Wheelsucker followed, also wanting to be closer to the front.

The Wheelsucker pushed right from the start of the climb moving up to about fourth wheel, then accelerated two-thirds of the way up and got a gap with Denzil following. The Wheelsucker swung wide at the turn to let Denzil lead and then decided it was too early for a break to work, so the Wheelsucker eased up and let Denzil go off by himself. The Wheelsucker tagged on at the back of the group and let the leaders work to bring Denzil back.

The group was together until Nick jumped on the golf course false flat and rode away. The group accelerated to chase, putting the Wheelsucker in difficulty momentarily, but he hung on. At the start of the stairstep climb the second time, Nick was still ahead but the gap was coming down. The Wheelsucker again waited until they were two-thirds of the way up and accelerated, closing down most of the remaining gap and getting to the top second, a few bike lengths behind Nick, before pulling off and letting someone else finish the job.

It was still a rather large group. The Wheelsucker’s next pull was on a fast downhill on Bayard and he some trouble catching on at the back; it took quite some time to drift back, and the group was moving fast, but he made it on after straining to his limit.

The pace was steady and fast. Climbing out of the dip (where the Patuxent sometimes floods Patuxent River Road) the Wheelsucker was riding about fourth wheel, with Steve Owens taking a long hard pull. When Steve stood up about half way up the climb the Wheelsucker decided Steve was at his limit and this was a good opportunity increase the pace and get to the top first. The Wheelsucker pulled out left and accelerated smoothly. He went by the riders in front easily, but then Nick Vita went by to his left going much faster and saying "Lets go!". The Wheelsucker jumped hard to get Nick’s wheel.

Initially this worked, but the power required to accelerate and then stay on Nick’s wheel was rather more than the Wheelsucker could put out, and as they reached the little kicker at the top Nick accelerated again, the Wheelsucker realized he was done, and the next few riders who were responding to the attack went flying by.

A gasping Wheelsucker was passed by the entire group. He was unable to accelerate to get a wheel and was gapped behind the last rider, but finally got it going and got back to that wheel, took a few breaths, and came around and closed the gap to the back of the group. While the light at 214 is almost always red, it turned green as the group approached. The group accelerated again, and the Wheelsucker barely made it across with the group.

The Wheelsucker tried to find a strong wheel to follow for the sprint, but was gapped off that wheel, and it didn’t matter anyway, as Nick simply rode away from everyone to cross first.

So decent climbs on Harwood Hill and the South Polling House stairstep (twice), and a nearly suicidal attempt to go with Nick on Patuxent River Road. If there is a lesson here for the Wheelsucker, he has not figured it out yet.

Wheelsucker Data (from 214 to the finish):
30.64 miles, 1:15:53
Power: 205 av/777 max watts
HR: 146 av/168 max bpm
Cadence: 87 av/119 max rpm
Speed: 24.39 mph

Is it Fixie Season Yet?

The Wheelsucker had bailed on doing a Sunday ride, so decided to do the Monday evening Parvilla Shop Ride instead. This is usually an easy ride, so the Wheelsucker decided to make it a little harder by riding his fixed gear. Or maybe he was influenced by Wilee the bike messenger in “Premium Rush”, which the Wheelsucker had seen Sunday evening.

Rather than agonize over what gearing to use, the Wheelsucker took the bike as it was, with a 47 tooth chain ring and a 17 tooth cog.

The Wheelsucker has not ridden fixed gear much in some time. It is always … interesting … getting on the fixed gear after being off it for some time. Sooner or later one tries to coast and the bike reminds you – by bucking – not to do that! So the Wheelsucker was going easy for the rollout.

At the right turn onto 468/Muddy Creek Rd there were already three riders clear, slightly up the road. Easy ride or not, this was more than the Wheelsucker could tolerate. The Wheelsucker checked for a gap in traffic, pulled left and accelerated. As he pulled past the main group he heard someone saying “there he goes”. It was still a small gap, and not too hard to close. The leading group was Nick Vita, Mike Faber and Andrew the Saxo Bank kid. Once across, the Wheelsucker tucked in at the back.

But as one approaches the 255/Owensville Rd intersection there are some more bumps on Muddy Creek Rd. The Wheelsucker could handle the uphills, but the downhills were … interesting.

On the first significant downhill the Wheelsucker was on the front and felt obliged to keep the speed up. He was bouncing too hard to read the computer display, but it looked like one-fifty-something and later turned out to be 156 rpm. The Wheelsucker was regretting his gear choice. And even 156 was not fast enough, because several more riders including Steve Esmacher made it across to the lead group on that descent.

The Wheelsucker was gapped on the next descent, but caught on at the right turn onto 255/Owensville Rd. 255/Owensville Rd. trends uphill, so the Wheelsucker was fine and even able to take a pull or two. A couple of riders disappeared off the back somewhere on Owensville Road or early on Owensville Sudley Road.

Once on Harwood Road, after turning off of route 2, the next challenge was getting down Harwood Hill. The Wheelsucker pulled to the left to avoid blocking anyone on the descent and went down as fast as he could, but 156 rpm was not enough and he was gapped again. But Mike, Nick and Andrew were kind enough to sit up and wait and help him back to the group.

Shortly after Harwood Hill, Harwood and then Patuxent River Road trend down. The Wheelsucker was hanging on, but spinning hard. He was gapped slightly descending into the dip, but pushed hard to follow Mike Faber back up to Nick and Andrew on the climb out. Nick, Mike and Andrew were looking strong. Several other riders were dropped on the climb. There were six riders left together at the top of the climb and turning right onto Queene Anne Bridge Road. The Wheelsucker was riding last, barely holding the wheel in front of him. But that rider was not able to hold Steve Esmacher’s wheel, and Steve was very slowly being gapped by the leading three. A gasping Wheelsucker finally came around the one rider and closed in on Steve, but he could not quite get there and the leading three were driving hard.

When Steve and the Wheelsucker got over the last hard bump on Queene Anne the leading three were still within range, but it was now a fast section, slightly downhill to 214, and an exhausted Wheelsucker was spinning out and not able to produce effective power at 25.4 mph, which had him spinning at 118 rpm! And the leading three were going faster than that! He took short pulls, apologized to Steve and pulled right back in behind him. The gap opened. There was hope that the leading three would be held up and caught at the Davidsonville Road light, but they got a green light and rolled through. Steve and the Wheelsucker make it through on the same light, but 214 is mostly downhill in this direction and fast, and the Wheelsucker had very little left.

Steve was kind enough to wait each time the Wheelsucker was gapped, and the Wheelsucker was still trying to pull when he could. The Wheelsucker averaged 161 bpm for the last 20 minutes (above his threshold HR) and 22.61 mph, averaging 102 rpm with a high of 141 rpm.

Not Quite Ready for the Nancy Boy Ride

The Wheelsucker has been having headaches for some weeks now. Not the very painful, shut-you-down headaches like migraines, but mild headaches that keep recurring and perhaps slow one down, even if they don’t stop one. And then about last Tuesday the headaches stopped being intermittent and became continuous. The Wheelsucker also found he was down on power (and willpower) on the Tuesday ride, and dropped out and short cut for the Park & Ride.

Being slowed down a little is one thing, being unable to contest the Tuesday training ride is an entirely different matter; the Wheelsucker was on the phone making a Doctor appointment the next morning, was at the Doctor on Friday, and by Friday evening was on medication.

This took care of the headaches, but what about the power?

The Saturday ride is normally a great way to find out what one’s form is. But the group was discussing a "Nancy Boy" easy ride. There WAS a race in West VA, but that was a long way to go if it turned out the Wheelsucker was still lacking in form, or started on a bad headache ten minutes in. So the Wheelsucker decided to do the Saturday ride on his own, hard.

Kyle Jones suggested the Wheelsucker start thirty minutes behind the others and chase, but catching the group when they had a thirty minute head start would require riding twenty percent faster than the group, for sixty miles, which seemed pretty much impossible to the Wheelsucker. So he rolled out just before the group, to stop at the ball park for a bathroom break, intending to chase from there.

He passed the Annapolis triathlon club group forming up at the intersection of Governor Bridge Road and Patuxent River Road, and spooked a couple into going hard until the Wheelsucker turned off at the Ball Park. Nick Vita was at the Ball Park waiting for the group, but was gone – so the group had gone by – when the Wheelsucker left the ball park.

Riding alone, with no one to surge or attack, the Wheelsucker was able to ride at his hardest sustainable pace. It was almost one hour – 59:03 – to the rest stop, and the Wheelsucker averaged 261 watts, a HR of 154 bpm and 21.91 mph. He passed a number of recreational cyclists, but did not catch any of the ABRT group; but they were all at the rest stop when he rolled in.

The Wheelsucker wanted to keep going hard, and did not want to be tempted to sit in with the group, so he refilled one water bottle, jumped back on his bike, and was rolling again in less than two minutes.

He took a very short interval to get going again and to the correct side of Chesapeake Beach Road and then "hit it" again. But the Wheelsucker was tired, and his power dropped. He averaged 272 watts for the first two minutes, but about 216 for the next two minutes. Forty-five minutes later, halfway to the finish line, he was averaging 216 watts, though his average went up from that point on.

And the Wheelsucker was expecting to be caught! His lower average power was resulting in lower average speed and surely the large group had not waited long at the rest stop and was coming up the road after him. The Wheelsucker pressed on. He crossed the finish line alone, 1:32:16 into the interval, averaging 228 watts, 149 bpm, and 20.66 mph.

Shortly after he reached the Park & Ride a small group rolled in; they had short cut at Boyds Turn Road.

A little later the main group rolled in. They had been delayed first by a flat tire, then by a reported head on collision between two cars on Towne Point Road when a car tried to pass them, crossing a double yellow line at a blind spot on the road, and hit the oncoming car head on.

Wheelsucker Data:
From Ball Park to Finish Line (so excluding warmup and cooldown): time: 2:32:23
distance: 53.55 miles
2185 KJ
Power: 239 watts average, 635 watts maximum, 250 watts normalized
HR: 151 bpm average, 166 max
Speed: 21.09 mph.

Tuesday August 7th Training RideThe Wheelsucker Report

After a hard weekend on the bike; an epic ride on Skyline with team mates Saturday and a struggle on Sunday to complete a workout on the TT bike, the Wheelsucker was tired and sore for the Tuesday world championship.

A large group gathered in the Park & Ride. While Ace is still out sick, some solid riders were there: Denzil Hathaway on his TT bike, Patrick Hogan, Matt Albanese, Mike Faber, Mark Lahuec, and more. The Wheelsucker had hoped to warm up before the ride started, but was engaged by a newcomer asking about the ride, so no warm up.

When Nick Vita rolled in the Wheelsucker announced to Rick Paukstitus that it was a "Plan F¹" ride.

The group rolled out and the Wheelsucker held a place far back in the group and struggled to warm up and feel good. There were some surges and small gaps would open. And everytime the Wheelsucker let the gap to to wheel in front grow to more than a couple of feet, someone would start to come around him, as if they were expecting the Wheelsucker to pop.

Kyle Jones was looking good. Will was looking good. Tom Aga was looking good; so was Rick.

The Wheelsucker was starting to wonder if everyone else was having a good day, or if he was having a bad day.

Going into the dip Nick Vita drove the pace and then attacked on the first little wall on the climb out.². Patrick Hogan and several others chased after him. The Wheelsucker put down all he had and caught them, but they all eased up soon enough.

The Wheelsucker was watching Nick carefully on Harwood Hill. The pace was steady, but not ridiculous early in the climb. The Wheelsucker was trying to follow, trying to not be blocked in, and trying to watch Nick, all while minimizing the effort. Kyle Jones rolled by him, apparently going easily and once again the Wheelsucker wondered if he was just having a hard day. And then on the little flat section before the top, Nick went. Nick went so hard that no one went with him. Sure, some tried, but no one was close. There was a large gap at the top. The Wheelsucker was one of the first chasers to the top, but was disinclined to lead the chase. So he pulled over and Matt Albanese did a massive pull to bring back Nick. Just holding his place in line was draining the Wheelsucker, and all he could do was gasp "Good Pull!" to Matt, when Nick was safely contained.

As soon as Nick was caught – and in truth he sat up – the pace eased, and everyone regrouped. The Wheelsucker watched and waited. It was still "gruppo compacto" at the base of the stairstep. The Wheelsucker had pulled out of line on the descent so he could get to Nick’s wheel. And he stayed glued to Nick’s wheel at the start of the climb. It was another steady-hard but not ridiculous pace until half way up the climb, Nick launched. The Wheelsucker was as ready as he could be, and calling down to the engine room for full Wheelsucker power (somehow this resulted in bouncing a wheel off the ground), he went after Nick.

And it worked!

Nick pulled to the top with the Wheelsucker able to follow. There was a significant gap to the pack behind. The Wheelsucker dreams of getting into a break with the strongest rider and getting a two to the finish line.

But that is not what happened.

Nick took a short hard pull and swung off. Knowing it would take hard efforts to keep the gap, the Wheelsucker gave it everything. A couple of quick glances at the power meter revealed 380 and 450 watts.

But it was not enough!

After each had taken a couple of short hard pulls, the group had caught back on. A strong rider or riders(s) in the group had seen the danger and worked to close the gap. Nick and the Wheelsucker gave up for the moment and drifted back to recover. The Wheelsucker tried to apologize to Nick for not being able to go harder.

The pace was fast on Bayard and around the sweeping right onto Polling House. The Polling House false flat and short wall at the golf course are good places to split the field, but one rider dropped a chain before the sweeping right, and the entire group soft pedaled. When Rick finally told the Wheelsucker to take it back up to speed, the group was halfway up the false flat. The Wheelsucker went to 400 watts and accelerated with everyone else following. Getting to the wall he stood and hammered as hard as he could, and could only watch as Nick, Patrick, Matt and another rider or two jumped by him. But this time the Wheelsucker was able to grab on to the back of these guys. Checking behind he saw a gap and told the others. But once again strong riders in the chase saw the danger and it was very quickly close down.

So it was still a large group up Polling House and back onto South Polling House. Mark Lahuec took the last pull downhill and started up the stairstep climb at a good pace. Then Rick attacked and got a gap. Mark pulled over and the Wheelsucker took over. Finally starting to feel warmed up, the Wheelsucker drove the pace. Mark stayed on his wheel. They caught Rick half way up the climb. The Wheelsucker was expecting Nick and maybe some others to come by in a counter attack, but as he and Mark reached the top he sneaked a look back and saw a gap to the group. Rick made it to the top third.

But the effort had cost Mark and the Wheelsucker, and they did not make a serious attempt to stay away. Indeed when the group came by it was going fast enough that the Wheelsucker had to work to get on at the back and stay on!

Down Bayard the group sped. A little later the Wheelsucker was on the front pulling. He got the group up to speed and pulled off, only to see the next few riders going by accelerating. Small gaps were opening. The Wheelsucker was looking for a gap to jump into behind a good wheel, but missed several. Seconds later it was a desperate chase down the last descent on Bayard, and part way to Sands. There were about 12 riders going very hard (probably with Denzil driving the pace at the front), a small gap to the Wheelsucker, and then a small gap to the group behind him. After going as hard as he could and getting within 2-3 bikelengths, the Wheelsucker pulled out of line. The leaders eased up and it was all back together, with a gasping Wheelsucker looking for a place to hide, near the back.

The pace eased a little on Sands and in a brief chat Rick and the Wheelsucker agreed that the race manual³ was awarding KOM points for Harwood Hill, the stairstep each time, and the climb out of the dip. The Wheelsucker knew Nick had led up Harwood Hill, but thought that the Wheelsucker had been second. And it had been Nick and the Wheelsucker 1,2, the first time up the stairstep, and the Wheelsucker, Mark and Rick 1,2,3 the second time.

Though he would have been in contention, Rick graciously said he would pull the Wheelsucker up the climb from the dip. As the group approached Rick asked Mike to pull part way up, but Mike declined. Rick – on his TT bike – ramped it up from the bottom, with the Wheelsucker going hard to stay on his wheel. Rick kept going and going, and going. The Wheelsucker was going into the red to stay on his wheel, and could sense riders behind him. Rick finally pulled off before the last slightly steeper section and the Wheelsucker stood up and hammered as hard as a tired, sore and aging Wheelsucker can hammer, and led at the top. He flicked his elbow and pulled over. Matt and Mike were on his wheel, Rick was gapped and there was a gap to the rest.

The Wheelsucker figured 2nd/, 2nd, 1st, 1st was good for the KOM for the night, particularly since Nick had gone 1,1,>4,>3, but could not spend much time working that out, as he still had to get to 214 and then the finish line.

The group was immediately back together, with the Wheelsucker safely tucked in about 4th or 5th wheel.

As the group approached the 214 intersection the light was red. But then it changed to green. The Wheelsucker sprinted for the light, crossing about level with Nick Vita. This is a short green light, and it seemed unlikely to the Wheelsucker that everyone would make it across. He and Nick speculated about the carnage at the back, and eased up to let everyone who could get across, make it back on. But a large enough group made it across.

As the finish line approached the Wheelsucker considered an attack at the penultimate dip. But with the large group and several strong riders on TT bikes, the Wheelsucker considered that his chances were slim. And in the meantime, Patrick Hogan was offering a lead out to Nick, so the Wheelsucker decided to follow Nick. Mark Lahuec attacked exactly where the Wheelsucker had considered going, near the bottom of the penultimate dip. With tremendous effort Mark got a small gap at the top of the climb, but was quickly shut down. Denzil was looking ready to go early, and there were some early jumps. But the Wheelsucker simply followed Nick, who was following Patrick, who was following Mike. And sure enough none of the other attempts accomplished anything because Patrick launched from the bottom of the last dip. Nick was easily holding his wheel seated. The Wheelsucker was immediately gapped and had to stand and sprint to stay on Nick’s wheel. This worked initially, but then Patrick peeled off and Nick launched, and the Wheelsucker had nothing to respond to that.

Nick rode away for the win, after all, it was uphill (see note 2, again). But somehow no one either followed the Wheelsucker or tried to come around him, and he crossed a distant second.

Wheelsucker Data:
From 214 to the finish:
Time: 1:07:33
Distance: 27.39 miles
Power: 220 watts average, 865 watts max, 281 watts normalized
Heart rate: 135/161 bpm
Cadence: 87 rpm average
Temperature: 83 F

Notes:

1 Plan "F" is when there are too many strong riders, we are F'd! Sit in!
Plans "B" and "C" are the same.
Plan "A" is when there are no dominating riders

2 Nick attacks on each and every climb!

3 There is no "race manual", Rick and the Wheelsucker just made this up, and did not tell anyone else about it. So no one else was contesting it.

July 31st Training RideThe Wheelsucker Report

The Wheelsucker was tired and sore from his Sunday race, the VA and MABRA age-graded road race, in which the Wheelsucker had been racing against VA 30+, MABRA 35+, VA 40+, and MABRA 45+ riders. There were only three riders over 50 in that race, and the Wheelsucker was the oldest, and he felt it!

And he still felt it Tuesday afternoon!

Knowing he was tired and sore, the Wheelsucker arrived early and did a lap behind the Park & Ride, and decided to "sit in" early to get more of a warmup. Even when he is tired and sore, his legs usually eventually start responding, but it takes a lot longer to warmup.

As the group (which included Rick Paukstitus, Patrick Hogan, Brian Whitesell, the Saxo kid (named Andrew), Tom Aga, and a few more) gathered in the Park & Ride, the Wheelsucker saw Nick Vita roll up. Seeing Nick, the Wheelsucker announced that it was a "Plan B" ride.

As the group turned onto Rossback Road Aaron Canale joined in. The Wheelsucker loudly advised Rick Paukstitus that it was now "Plan C".

The pace was mostly civilized until the 214 intersection, but picked up afterwards. The Wheelsucker avoided long pulls and tried to position himself where he could watch Nick and Aaron. When Aaron drove the pace on the descent into the dip and the climb out, the Wheelsucker was riding second, and just let the gap open rather than strain to close it. So Rick closed it.

Sure enough, Aaron attacked on Harwood Hill, with Nick and one or two more going with him. The Wheelsucker was expecting something like that and going to full Wheelsucker power,went after them. He was initially gapped by about two bike lengths, but with help from Rick Paukstitus got to the leaders quickly. But at that point everyone was fresh and almost everyone was back on moments later.

Nick pulled from the right turn off of route 2 to Polling House, to the left onto South Polling House, and then pulled off leaving the Wheelsucker on the front. While generally reluctant to pull, the Wheelsucker is especially disinclined to pull hard on a downhill before a hard climb where the strong guys like to attack. So he took a short medium-hard pull and swung off. But when he swung off only Mike and another rider were on his wheel, and there was a gap to the rest of the group. So the Wheelsucker tucked in.

Riding third wheel, the Wheelsucker encouraged the two in front of him to keep the gap, and they drove hard to the base of the climb. Mike started the climb in the lead, spinning at a high cadence, and then pulled off. This left the Wheelsucker on the front; he went to 500 watts initially, but all of a sudden several strong guys (Nick, Aaron, Patrick and Andrew) went by on his left, going considerably faster.

The Wheelsucker immediately went to full Wheelsucker power, but nothing happened and he was quickly gapped by a few bike lengths. But going almost as hard as he could the Wheelsucker was eventually able to match their speed and stop the gap opening, and then slowly closed it and grabbed a wheel.

OUCH!

But the leaders had eased and the second half of the climb was not so hard.

At the top-and-right-turn onto Bayard, the group had shrunk.

The Wheelsucker found himself on the front again shortly after the right turn onto Polling House and pulled up the climb, and through the right turn to go past the golf course. The Wheelsucker knew that that false flat, and particularly the little wall at the end, are favored attack points for strong riders. So the Wheelsucker pulled off slightly early to recover at the back.

Very soon after he pulled off, while he was at the back, and before he had recovered, Nick and Aaron jumped on that little wall climb and gapped everyone else. The rest of the group accelerated hard trying to go with them, and the Wheelsucker was straining to stay on at the back. Despite the group accelerating, Nick and Aaron got clear.

The rest of the group gave chase. The chase looked strong with Patrick Hogan, Brian Whitesell, Andrew the Saxo kid, Rick P. the Wheelsucker and another rider or two.

But Nick and Aaron were riding strong!

Nick and Aaron kept going hard and were chased hard, though the chase was not as smooth as the Wheelsucker would have liked. There were some too-quick accelerations, and some too-sudden slowing, and the Wheelsucker was having to use his brakes much more than he wanted to.

The pursuit continued up Polling House, and onto South Polling House. The gap closed as Aaron and Nick started the stairstep, but they were riding smoothly and opened it again later in the climb.

The Wheelsucker observed that the chase would gain when going smoothly on the flat, but would lose a little to the leaders on climbs and other places the rotation was disrupted.

Up Bayard and onto Sands Road the chase continued. The Wheelsucker considered that the advantage should swing to the chase once on Bayard and then Sands, as the two leaders had to be tiring and the road was flatter, making the chase smoother. But while the leaders had to be working very hard, riders in the chase were working very hard too. And the chase started taking casualties, leaving good men on the road. Rick sat up after yet another hard pull, other riders sat up, or did not make it on at the back, after a pull. Part way up Sands the chase was down to four: Patrick, Andrew (the Saxo kid), Mike and the Wheelsucker.

And the chase was faltering! The relentless pursuit was taxing the remaining riders in the chase and the pace was slowing! At one point the Wheelsucker was following a rider when they grabbed a water bottle (half full of sports drink, not water) and dumped most of the contents on their head! OOPS! But up the road Nick and Aaron were also finally tiring and slowing. And slowly the gap was closing.

Finally warmed up well, and confident that no one in the chase was going to surge on a climb (there were few climbs left on the route), the Wheelsucker was able to get to the front and take a fast hard pull. The Wheelsucker's view was that to close the gap to the leaders, whoever was leading the chase had to be going harder than Nick and Aaron. With the carrot not far up the road inspiring the Wheelsucker, he was going very hard (for an aging Wheelsucker) and then pulling off with just enough reserve to get on the back and recover. And it was getting easier to catch on at the back as the chase was smaller. And each time he pulled he could see the gap shrinking.

But Nick and Aaron were not going to give up easily. They still had a gap at the top of Sands Road, and then they accelerated on the fast descent to the dip and sweeping right. But now the gap was shrinking all the time.

The Wheelsucker pulled the chase up from the dip. He was no longer desperate, and when starting his pulls was being careful to not hurt the rider who had just pulled off; there was no point losing another rider out of the chase. Nick and Aaron were just up the road and only a miracle in the form of them catching a green light that turned red just behind them, could save them now.

But no miracle occurred.

The Wheelsucker had considered waiting until they were close and then trying to jump across alone and revitalize them, but it would have taken a big effort to shake the other riders in the chase, and the mostly likely outcome was that it was all coming back together at the 214 traffic light, so there was little point making that effort.

Once through the 214 intersection the Wheelsucker sat in at the back of the recombined group of six. He quickly decided that Aaron and Nick still had some matchsticks left and tried to position himself where he could see them.

As the finish approached the Wheelsucker was busy scheming at the back. He knew all five other riders could outsprint him (your deceased grandmother could outsprint the Wheelsucker), so a desperate Wheelsucker decided to go early. He decided to attack on the penultimate dip, and tried to be on the back of the line for this point. But the rotations did not quite work out for this, and the Wheelsucker was 2nd or 3rd last in line as the group descended into the dip.

With Aaron on the front the Wheelsucker pulled left out of line, stood and accelerated hard on the last of the descent. Pushing close to 800 watts the Wheelsucker powered up the short steep climb, accelerated on the flat and then clicked into the gear he wanted and put his head down for speed. He looked down and behind him and saw a front wheel not far behind him. And just about this point in time the Wheelsucker realized he was out of matchsticks and had almost nothing left.

And the Wheelsucker gave up!

He pulled over and prepared to grab the wheel. But as he did, he saw the next few riders, all slightly gapped but closing fast, and the Wheelsucker waited until four riders had gone by, and then slowly started pedaling after them. Behind him Andrew the Saxo kid close the gap to his wheel.

The Wheelsucker was only a few bike lengths behind the four leaders, but had almost nothing left. After recovering for a few seconds – which took them through the final dip and starting up the false flat to the finish – the Wheelsucker stood up and started a long sprint. But it was too late to close the gap, as the four ahead were already sprinting and riding away. Andrew sat up and the Wheelsucker eventually rolled past Aaron who had led the other three out, rolling across the line a distant fourth.

He was too far back to see who won it, but thought it was Nick, Patrick, then Mike.

Wheelsucker data (from 214 to the finish):
1:06:36
236 watts average, 898 watts max (the penultimate dip attack), 285 watts normalized
143 bpm average, 162 bpm max
89 rpm average, 119 rpm max
24.74 mph <=== one of the fastest Tuesday rides!

Tuesday July 24th Training RideThe Strange Case of the Shrinking Peloton

It was another hot afternoon, though not quite as hot as last Tuesday afternoon. Perhaps the Wheelsucker was acclimatizing; he was slightly more comfortable than the previous Tuesday afternoon. He arrived early enough for one easy lap behind the P&R, for warmup.

When the Wheelsucker returned to the P&R at 5:59, some of the usual suspects were assembled. Looking at the group and not seeing any "A" riders, the Wheelsucker was deciding to go with "Plan A¹." Then Nick Vita arrived and the Wheelsucker quickly switched to "Plan B." When Iain Banks joined in early on Rossback it was simply further weight in favor of Plan B.

There were some riders the Wheelsucker was not familiar with including a kid wearing Saxo bank kit who turned out to be quite strong, and a rider wearing a white jersey and riding a tri bike who was also on the front a lot, early.

In fact there were several riders who seemed to want to drive the pace hard early, with Nick, the Saxo kid, white tri guy and Jeff Chun all driving the pace, and some other riders feeling obliged to keep the pace up when they took a pull.

The Wheelsucker was finding himself straining at times even in the middle of the pack and – consistent with plan B – was careful to get off the front soon whenever he found himself there, and not put himself in a position where he would have trouble responding to a move.

After a generally slow rollout, the pace increased after 214. Part way to Harwood Hill Rick Paukstitus rode up to the Wheelsucker and told him that the plan was for the Wheelsucker to set up "Cancellera²" for the climb; but the Wheelsucker was determined to NOT do this. But as Harwood Hill approached, Mike Faber swung off leaving the Wheelsucker on the front. The Wheelsucker was whining pitifully at having to lead up Harwood Hill, as this was inconsistent with Plan B. But the Wheelsucker pushed hard and led all the way up, trying to keep the pace high enough to discourage attacks, but within his limits so he could respond.

But Nick was having none of it!

The Wheelsucker was still leading at the short flat section before the last bit of climb and accelerated hard on it. But Nick came flying by on the left, followed closely by the Saxo kid and Jeff. The Wheelsucker considered his options in a fraction of a second. He could dig very deep, jump as hard as he could, and try to go with them. There was a chance this would work, but the Wheelsucker had already pulled all the way up the climb and did not have a lot of confidence in that. And it would be a costly effort whether it worked or not. So the Wheelsucker gambled on this not being a serious attack and let it go. Shrewdly (and lazily) he decided to let someone else close the gap.

Steve Owens was riding his TT bike, and was next on the front when the Wheelsucker pulled off at the top. Rick was riding second wheel; the Wheelsucker took third as there was a bit of a gap to the next rider. And Steve closed the gap as the leading three eased up.

There are four climbs (and one false flat) that can hurt the Wheelsucker on the ride route, and he had survived the first climb thanks to wheelsucking behind Steve and Rick.

The Wheelsucker was on the front again when Steve pulled off after turning off the route 2 shoulder onto Polling House. The Wheelsucker pulled to the left turn to South Polling House and swung off. No one wanted to lead downhill into the stair step climb, but eventually a line formed and the Wheelsucker swung into fifth wheel, behind Jeff Chun.

Nick attacked from the bottom of the stair step climb. The Saxo kid went after him with white jersey/tri guy guy on his wheel, then Jeff, then the Wheelsucker, then the others. Nick was going hard and opened the gap. The Saxo kid got out of the saddle and was pumping the pedals like mad trying to close it.

White jersey/tri guy initially held on to the Saxo kid's wheel, but then had to stand up. It was like a parachute opened and he was yanked backwards out of line³. Then the Saxo kid pulled over to the left and eased up. Jeff kept going steady hard, with the Wheelsucker trying to stay glued to his rear wheel. Nick was still going, but seemed to be tiring (or maybe just bored) and the gap was shrinking a bit.

The Wheelsucker very briefly considered coming around Jeff and going after Nick, but decided there was no good reason to do that. Somehow he knew Nick was not going to try to go by himself this early in the ride and would ease up. And the Wheelsucker knew making the effort would be costly. So the Wheelsucker followed Jeff, and Jeff closed the gap to Nick's wheel very early on Bayard.

Then Nick pulled off, and soon after Jeff pulled off and then the Wheelsucker (still hyperventilating) took a short pull and pulled off. And as the Wheelsucker drifted back he looked over his shoulder for the back of the line, and was surprised to see it coming up so quickly BECAUSE THE PELOTON HAD SHRUNK!

The Wheelsucker tucked in at the back and the smaller group continued up Bayard. Just before the right turn onto Polling House the Wheelsucker was rotating back again and Jeff tried to let him in, in front of him. The Wheelsucker declined and told Jeff there was no way a Wheelsucker is going to take a pull and let Jeff skip his, so Jeff pulled up and the Wheelsucker pulled in behind him⁴. Down the hill, up the other side, around the sweeping right and past the golf course onto the false flat the group went. Much too soon the Wheelsucker was on the front again, when Nick pulled off.

The Wheelsucker took another short pull, being careful to have enough reserve to cover an attack and get on at the back, and once again he was surprised at how few riders were left in line; it was down to five; Jeff and the Saxo kid in white – both strong riders – were gone.

WTF, FURTHER SHRINKAGE!

Of course this meant the Wheelsucker rotated to the front that much sooner, and the next time he pulled and rotated back, the peloton has shrunk further, to just three. The ride was hard and the Wheelsucker was certainly straining at times, but the Wheelsucker did not think the ride was THAT hard to shrink the peloton to three.

Nick was driving the break, Steve Owens was taking long pulls on his TT bike, and the Wheelsucker was taking short hard pulls and hanging on most of the time.

The Wheelsucker was semi-parnaoid that Nick was going to jump hard and ride away. So the Wheelsucker tried to be continuously ready for an attack. The Wheelsucker led for the first part of the stair step, but pulled over and back so he could watch Nick. But Nick was being well behaved. Steve led up the rest of the climb and got the group going on Bayard. The riders rotated frequently, though Nick and Steve were pulling longer than the paranoid Wheelsucker. Finally Steve announced he was dropping off after a long pull on Sands. He seemed fresh and strong but later said he wanted to work on TT intervals. Incredibly the peloton had shrunk to two riders. The Wheelsucker suspected everyone else was in scattered ones and twos behind them.

And the Wheelsucker knew that Nick could attack him at any time.

But Nick behaved himself, the Wheelsucker continued his not-too-long-but-hard pulls, and the there was no chase in site. When he was on the front on a climb, the Wheelsucker tried to go hard enough that Nick was not tempted to jump, but not so hard that the Wheelsucker did not have some reserve.

And Nick did not jump him at the top of the Sands as the Wheelsucker led up the climb to the left turn onto Harwood/Patuxent River.

The Wheelsucker was on the front again for the climb out of the dip. This is the last hard climb on the route and the Wheelsucker wished he had eyes in the back of his head. But even if he did, he knew that Nick could attack and drop him even if the Wheelsucker saw the move start. But Nick did not jump past him (later in the P&R Nick said he was considering it, but decided not to when the Wheelsucker held 18 mph all the way up the climb).

There was a short pause for the 214 light.

The Wheelsucker's next idea was that Nick would drop off before the finish and turn for home, but no such luck; Nick was going the distance. The two traded pulls. The Wheelsucker was watching his average power for the ride continue to increase and was considering various tactics for beating Nick, and rejecting them one after another as impossible, or highly improbable. While the Wheelsucker was considering the matter, the finish line was approaching. Nick pulled off on the last flat and the Wheelsucker decided to lead out. He accelerated down the last dip and then gradually increased the power from the bottom of the dip, trying to continue to accelerate. The line approached far too slowly. The Wheelsucker's calves were twitching, signaling imminent cramping. The Wheelsucker was pedaling with everything he has left, which was not much. Then, not far from the finish, Nick came by on the Wheelsucker's left. The Wheelsucker had nothing left and coasted to the line, with Nick crossing comfortably ahead.

Second out of two, but a good ride for the Wheelsucker.

Wheelsucker Data (from rollout to finishline):
1:21:57
32.53 miles
1106 Kj
954 feet elevation
225 watts average/842 watts max, 268 watts normalized
139 bpm average, 159 bpm max
89 rpm average, 121 max
87 degrees F average

The Wheelsucker's first 13 minutes from rollout had him averaging only 134 watts, but then the pace picked up ...
The Wheelsucker's CP2minutes was 355 watts set climbing Harwood Hill.
All short term power maximums -- CP2seconds through CP60seconds -- were set chasing Nick and holding Jeff's wheel on the first South Polling House stairstep. CP5 and CP6 (298 watts) appear to be end a little bit of Bayard, the right turn onto Polling House and the false flats on Polling House. His CP20minutes (260 watts) and CP30minutes (261 watts) were the last twenty minutes and the last thirty minutes, respectively, of the ride.

So what caused the shrinking peloton? It turned out Jeff was sick, others were focused on racing Greenbelt on Wednesday⁵, others were affected by the heat, and some went too hard chasing Nick, and did not have enough left to stay on.

Notes:
1. The Wheelsucker's "Plan A" is for when no super strong "A" riders show up. The Wheelsucker can ride harder -- pretending to be a strong rider himself -- confident that he is not liable to being attacked and dropped. In other words he does not need to be so focused on conserving and having a big reserve.

2. This was Rick's nickname for Nick Vita.

3. The Wheelsucker does ride a TT bike from time to time and is very slow each time he stands up on the pedals. The Wheelsucker does not know how Steve Owens and Iain Banks make it up the climbs on their TT bikes.

4. The Wheelsucker later learned that Jeff was not feeling well, and now regrets his comments about Jeff being younger and stronger and trying to skip pulls.

5. Several of those on the Tuesday world championship ride were also planning to do the Wednesday Greenbelt ride. Nick Vita was second in that: http://www.route1velo.com/GreenbeltResults.asp

Tuesday July 17th Training RideThe Wheelsucker Report:The Wheelsucker Attacks and Drops a Rider, Himself!

It was hot!

The Wheelsucker arrived at the Park & Ride a little early and warmed up at an easy pace behind the P&R for two laps. Despite some experience riding – and even racing – in high heat earlier this season in Dallas TX, the Wheelsucker was noticing the heat, noticing the soreness in his legs, and was not feeling like putting down 400+ watts. He tried a couple of short harder efforts and quickly "ran out of gas" both times. Based on past experience where a long warm up helped, the Wheelsucker continued to warm up easy, hoping his legs and lungs would “come around” and he would have something for the training ride.

Once back at the P&R, a small group assembled. None of the "A" riders like Ace, Eric Boone, Mike Hefner of Patrick Hogan were there, but youth star Aaron Canale was there (wearing his school kit), Bob of Guy’s Racing visiting from the Philadelphia area, Jeff Chun (Bike Doctor), Tom Aga, Rick Paukstitus, Mike Faber, Aiden Palmer and a couple more.

The Wheelsucker got to the front for the left turn onto Rossback and pushed the pace a bit, before pulling over and letting Aiden and Aaron “have a go” (ahhh, the energy of youth …).

After his initial effort to get the group going, the Wheelsucker mostly sat in trying to be ready for Harwood Hill. The Wheelsucker went steady/hard on the second half of the climb, and was first at the top, but when he looked back his efforts had not gapped anyone. So the Wheelsucker sat in and recovered and waited for the South Polling House stairstep climb.

The riders leading at the foot of the stairstep went steady, so the Wheelsucker pulled around and drove the pace up the climb. About two thirds of the way up, the Wheelsucker sneaked a glance back and was disappointed to see everyone on his wheel, and apparently no one in difficulty except himself!

The Wheelsucker pulled off and let someone else "have a go."

But while no one was being gapped by the Wheelsucker's efforts, there was some attrition due to the heat and relatively high pace; one or two riders dropped off on Bayard.

At the last dip and climb on Bayard before the descent and sweeping right onto Polling House, the Wheelsucker maneuvered himself to the back and jumped hard off the back, on the descent. Pedaling as hard as an aging Wheelsucker can pedal (seriously, not that far off his all time high one second power spike), the Wheelsucker flew by the group, and opened a small gap as he sprinted up the other side.

Except it didn't work.

Aaron was on the front taking long steady pulls and to the Wheelsucker's disappointment, Aaron fairly easily accelerated and closed the gap to the Wheelsucker. By the top of the short climb, the Wheelsucker was spent and demoralized, while Aaron had closed the gap to his wheel, and the rest of the group was only a couple of bike lengths behind. So the Wheelsucker sat in to lick his wounds and recover.

There was some more attrition shortly after the Polling House false flat (by the golf course) and the rest of Polling House (which trends up with a few bumps). Most riders were taking short pulls to avoid going into the red, the major exception seemed to be Aaron, who seemed comfortable riding steady on the front. The Wheelsucker decided he had been burning matchsticks with no apparent benefit, so while he would try to accelerate the group to a faster pace while he was on the front, he was careful to stay within his limits and pull off while he still had enough reserve to get on at the back.

But the heat and steady pace were taking a toll; some riders were running out of water, or were overheating, and the attrition continued. On the second South Polling House stairstep climb, Jeff Chun went early and opened a gap. Aaron was on the front (again) taking a longer steady pull. The Wheelsucker pulled left out of line wanting to be free to go when someone started chasing Jeff, but no one went after him. Two thirds of the way up the climb the Wheelsucker decided to “have a go” himself, and easily accelerated and started closing the gap to Jeff.

And no one came with him!

Jeff led at the top and making the right turn onto Bayard, but the Wheelsucker was closing fast; he rolled by and made sure Jeff was on his wheel. For a moment the Wheelsucker forgot the heat, forgot that his earlier efforts had come to naught, and considered that he and Jeff had a gap and no one was pulling really hard. Caught up in the moment, the Wheelsucker spun harder on the pedals, trying to open the gap and get away with Jeff.

But his best effort accomplished nothing, and Aaron pulled the remains of the group up to Jeff's wheel very quickly. So the Wheelsucker pulled off to recover at the back and reconsider his strategy.

The Wheelsucker was suffering. There were few attacks, and most of the riders were content to take a short pull and then move over. The pace was generally steady, and most of the time easy enough that the Wheelsucker could recover a bit at the back. But everyone seemed to be under stress and suffering, except perhaps Aaron.

The Wheelsucker was going through his fluids at an alarming rate. The one bottle of sport beverage was almost empty and the remaining contents were hot. His smaller bottle still had some water, but the Wheelsucker had to decide whether to pour a scant few drops on his head to help cool him down, or to drink those few drops. And either way there were not enough drops to get him to the finish.

The Wheelsucker remembers following Aidan Palmer’s wheel several times. Aidan was also working hard, was slowly turning red due to his efforts and his junior gears were forcing him to spin at a high cadence on the flats and downhills. But despite working hard Aidan was taking his pulls, and making it on the back each time. Somewhere on Sands or after the left turn onto Harwood/Patuxent River Road there was some more attrition due to mechanicals and the heat, and then the group was down to five riders.

The climb out of the dip where the Patuxent River sometimes floods Patuxent River Road was the last noticeable climb on the route.

The Wheelsucker decided that he had been going well on the climbs so far – quickly forgetting that his efforts on each earlier climb had accomplished exactly nothing – and drove the pace from the bottom. The Wheelsucker went at his hardest sustainable pace up the climb, hoping he could shake loose a rider or two.

And this time it worked! When the group accelerated off the top one rider had nothing left to accelerate with and was gapped. Except that rider was the Wheelsucker! Oops!

The other four opened the gap, with the Wheelsucker unable to respond. The gap opened! But the Wheelsucker had one more card up his sleeve!

The lead four were approaching the 214 intersection. When the Wheelsucker came around the last turn, desperately pursuing but seeing the gap open, the light was green. But as they approached the intersection it turned to amber and then to red. The Wheelsucker believes he willed this to happen. The Wheelsucker sheepishly caught back on and recovered while they all waited for the light to change. He told the others he had pressed a hidden button on his handlebars to get the light to turn on them.

The Wheelsucker considered what to do next. Everyone was clearly spent (except perhaps Aaron); Jeff told the Wheelsucker he was not going to sprint and offered to lead the Wheelsucker out. Bob from Guy's Racing was taking short pulls. With all or most suffering it should have been a good time for an attack by the Wheelsucker, but he doubted he had another attack in him. He was out of fluids, his calves were cramping, he was very hot; of course, so were the other four riders!

With little strength and no determination left, the Wheelsucker let it come down to the sprint.

Aaron was on the front yet again. The Wheelsucker was last in line, following Jeff. The Wheelsucker considered going early climbing out of the penultimate dip. He knew he could surprise the others by jumping at the bottom and sprinting up the climb. He knew they were tired and would not want to chase, but he also knew he did not have enough left to keep the pace high on the flat and down the last dip and then sprint for the line. So he waited.

Aaron finally pulled off and pulled back in behind the Wheelsucker. The Wheelsucker's last request to Jeff was to "go late." The small group went down the last dip and started to climb up the false flat to the finish. Jeff accelerated slowly so the Wheelsucker was able to go with him. They easily passed the two riders in front of them -- one of whom had taken a long last pull –– but even as Jeff accelerated the Wheelsucker found himself struggling to stay on his wheel, and then Aaron came off his wheel to the left and accelerated. The Wheelsucker had nothing except calf cramps and simply could not pedal any harder.

And Aaron "I cannot sprint" Canale powered up level with Jeff. Realizing what was happening Jeff kept going for the line, and the two reached it nearly even. A spent Wheelsucker crossed well behind, ahead of the two riders who did not sprint at all.

Later, back in the P&R, the Wheelsucker noticed his inner tube starting to bulge out of a tire cut

and considered that he was rather lucky not to be standing on the side of the road with a flat, 15 miles from his car.

Wheelsucker Data:
From rollout at P&R to the finish line
1:23:08
32.58 miles
200 watts average power, 958 watts max
139 bpm average, 163 max
85 rpm average cadence
23.54 mph average speed
temperature 92-107 degrees F!!!!!