Tuesday March 27th Training RideThe Wheelsucker Report

It was with some apprehension that the Wheelsucker drove into ABRT Ride Headquarters (known to non cyclists as the Davidsonville Park & Ride) for his first Tuesday Evening World Championship (also known as the Tuesday evening training ride) of the season.

The Wheelsucker had a longish off season and then rode Powercranks for a few weeks, and was late starting into his longer ride and threshold training. He has been playing “catch up” since then, with his ability to ride at threshold slowly improving. But he has had no workouts focused on shorter term power and was worried about being able to surge with the group. In the meantime, reports from the first few Tuesday and Thursday rides have mentioned the pace being high from rollout, strong riders like ex pro Pete Penzell, ABRT elite team TT star Eric Boone and ABRT elite team sprint star “Stevie Wonder” Wahl showing up, and the field being scattered all over Anne Arundel county after a few attacks.

The Wheelsucker’s apprehension was not diminished by the largish group in the Park & Ride, which included Stevie Wonder and Boone. There was no Pete Penzell, but then Ace rolled in.

Eric was smiling broadly. This could be bad, thought the Wheelsucker.

The rollout was slow initially, and the group was split at the left turn onto Rossback with the back half waiting for a car to clear the intersection.
Fresh from a strong time trial this past weekend, Steve Owens got on the front and got the group going at a fast but-sustainable-by-the-Wheelsucker pace. The Wheelsucker did not want to be near the back, so had moved up into about 10th place behind someone who looked big enough to punch a hole in the wind. Then a smiling Eric Boone pulled out of line somewhere behind the Wheelsucker. Eric rolled by the field to the front and accelerated. Steve O. accelerated to hold his wheel.

And so it began.

It was very soon apparent that this was not a fast but-sustainable-by-the-Wheelsucker pace; it was rather above that. Eric pulled most of the way to 214. And riders behind Eric and in front of the Wheelsucker started pulling out of line looking for a place to hide further back. A couple of other riders took short pulls before they too drifted back looking for a better hiding place.

With the attrition in front of him the Wheelsucker was getting dangerously close to the front by the time the group stopped briefly to wait for the green light at 214. When the light turned green and Stevie Wonder went to the front and started to go, the Wheelsucker took the opportunity to drift further back. But the group was very quickly in single file due to the pace and the Wheelsucker decided he needed to be hiding, and found a gap just behind Mike Faber, closer to the front than he really wanted to be. But Mike was making a big hole in the wind and the Wheelsucker hung on.

The pace was still high on the false flat after the Sands road intersection, and the Wheelsucker was worryied about Harwood Hill. But the pace stayed fast-but-steady and there we no hard attacks on Harwood. A desperate Wheelsucker made it up about 8th or 10th with a small gap to the wheel in front, which he graciously let Patrick Hogan and another rider close, tagging on behind them.

But eventually the inevitable happened, and the Wheelsucker was on the front well before the right onto the route 2 shoulder.

Darn!

The Wheelsucker took a medium-length (for the Wheelsucker) pull, trying to go steady and not burn too many matchsticks. His coach tells him he should be pulling at threshold, but the Wheelsucker believes that Wheelsucker threshold results in a speed not high enough to keep those behind him satisfied, so he tries to pull at Wheelsucker VO2Max power levels, even though that is probably only zone 2 for the stronger riders. It was a short pull, though it seemed almost interminable to the Wheelsucker. He finally pulled off and was complemented by Ace for a steady pull. But the group was still large and it was a loooong way to the back of the line. The Wheelsucker did not have much left when he got to the back, and it was desperate times getting on at the back and staying on there. The Wheelsucker was still at or near the back as the group turned onto and then off route 2, and then took the left on South Polling House. Every time he glanced up to see what was happening at the front he would see Stevie Wonder or Eric Boone standing to drive the pace even harder on a small bump.

The Wheelsucker dreads the South Polling house stair step. If the Harwood Road Race is ever approved by the Anne Arundel county police, that stair step is one of two places the race would probably be decided. The three steps are nearly perfectly designed for stronger riders to rid themselves of a desperately-clinging-on-at-the-back Wheelsucker.

Despite the fairly long time he had had to recover at the back, the Wheelsucker was still hyperventilating, trying to get enough oxygen into himself to power up the stairstep. The group hit the bottom of the first climb at the sweeping left and sure enough Ace pulled to the left and ramped it up. The Wheelsucker knew that if he made the effort to go with Ace he would blow up in seconds, so let him go, but pulled a little to the left and followed some faster wheels as riders on the right struggled and slowed.

And somehow the Wheelsucker made it to the third step on the back of a lead group that had just closed down the 2-3 bike lengths that Ace and the rider on his wheel had opened. And most of the rest of the group was still there, just behind.
It was gruppo compatto on Bayard. Having finished the climbs not at the back, the Wheelsucker was now in the rotating group near the front. As riders rotated off the front and came back the Wheelsucker found himself getting dangerously close to the front. He graciously opened gaps in front of him and invited riders to jump in now, rather than hang out in the wind for longer to get further back.

Ace was rotating back just before the right turn onto Polling House and the Wheelsucker opened the gap and followed Ace through the turn. But Ace was not interested in closing the gap and eased up and looked back. A chagrined Wheelsucker dug deep (for the Wheelsucker) and closed the gap. Several riders were rotating back very early on Polling House and all of a sudden the Wheelsucker was riding second wheel down the first dip (which used to be the Polling House climb just after the fat man’s sprint when ABRT rode this section in the other direction). The leader pulled off at the right turn, and the Wheelsucker found himself on the front on the false flat going by the golf course (used to be the fat man’s sprint).

This is the second place on the Harwood road race loop that is an ideal attack point as stronger riders can drive the pace on the false flat and then sprint up the short bump at the end, shedding themselves of redlined Wheelsucker’s who don’t have the watts to accelerate on the bump after straining up the false flat.

The Wheelsucker was sure he was a “goner” if he pulled off on the false flat, so hung on to the top of the bump and then pulled off. He was rewarded with another compliment for his pull, this time from Stu Waring. But it was still a large group and it took a looooong time for the Wheelsucker to drift back to the back of the line and it was desperate getting on and staying on at the back. This section of Polling House has a few bumps and trends upwards (which is partly why the false flat and bump would be such a good place to make a hard move). The Wheelsucker caught on at the back on a brief downhill section, but was redlined to stay on.

And then the surges started. Gaps opened a rider or two in front of the Wheelsucker. The Wheelsucker knew he didn’t have enough to sprint around and get on the back of the lead group. But others did, and the Wheelsucker found wheels and took the tow up to the lead group, making it on shortly before the right turn back onto South Polling House.

So far so good, but how was an exhausted Wheelsucker going to make it up the stair step climb with the lead group a SECOND time? He sat on at the back of what was a distinctly smaller group, hyperventilated to get some oxygen and pondered his fate. Would Ace go on the second step and be chased by the other strong riders? Would the strong riders go from the bottom all the way?

But somehow after another desperate effort the Wheelsucker made it to the top, and then to the right turn onto Bayard, with the shrinking lead group. At the front strong riders were still standing and sprinting on short climbs trying to shed pretenders like the Wheelsucker. At one point the lead group was down to six riders, but two more made it back on very shortly afterwards. The group was probably: Ace, Boone, Stevie Wonder, Stu, Matt, Mickey, Patrick “Hulk” Hogan, and the Wheelsucker. The Wheelsucker was in over his head!

Bayard is mostly flat from the route 2 circle to the South Polling House intersection; there is one bump 2/3 of the way to the intersection. But from the South Polling House intersection to the Sands turn Bayard is short rollers. And the biggest roller is the last one. The descent off of that roller sets the rider up for the turn onto South Polling House – if there is another loop – or for the fast slightly downhill section to the right turn onto Sands. And that last roller is preceded by a descent.

The Wheelsucker knows very well where he is most vulnerable, and he knew he was most vulnerable on that last roller. He was riding last in what remained of the group, trying to stay locked on Stu’s wheel. The group accelerated on the descent and then it happened. Some younger stronger rider at the front started a surge and everyone responded. Everyone expect the Wheelsucker. Oh, the Wheelsucker TRIED to respond. He powered up at last roller with everything an aging Wheelsucker-who-has-been-redlined-for-quite-some-time has left. But it wasn’t enough. The gap to Stu’s rear wheel opened. The gap at the top was only about two bike lengths. Gasping for air the Wheelsucker got low and aero for the descent and pedaled as hard as he could. But the gap to Stu’s wheel opened!

The gap was 4-5 bike lengths as the group flew past the South Pollinghouse turn. The Wheelsucker was in agony, but still chasing. Somehow he closed down the gap to one bike length. Then Matt rotated off the front and drifted back. Matt looked over and made the wrong decision. Instead of pulling in at the back of the group, Matt went behind the Wheelsucker. Great, thought the Wheelsucker, not only was the Wheelsucker screwed, but Matt was going to be collateral damage! The Wheelsucker continued to pedal as hard as he could (which was not much at this point). And then he decided Matt needed to get to the wheel ahead while the gap was still small, and the Wheelsucker pulled out of line and waved Matt through. And just about when Matt caught on, a gap opened a couple of riders in front of Matt, on the small rise close to the Sands road turn. Then Ace came off the front and rotated back. Ace saw the back half of the group disintegrating and drifted back to the Wheelsucker, gesturing to the Wheelsucker to grab Ace’s wheel. The Wheelsucker made it on and Ace accelerated, frequently checking that the Wheelsucker was still there; he was.

The Wheelsucker was pulled past the fading riders to the back of the lead group of four, just as the group reached the Sands road right turn, where the leaders saw a car approaching from the left. “CAR LEFT!!” was the cry and everyone slowed. Cross-eyed and blowing snot bubbles, the Wheelsucker was almost too tired to be grateful for the respite. As the slowed group took the turn Sizzler and Russ showed up going the other way on Sands. Ace told the group to ease up and let them make the U-turn and get on.

The Wheelsucker was sucking in breaths trying to get out of oxygen debt.
The group, now up to ten riders, accelerated. The Wheelsucker hung on. He was desperately focused on the wheel in front of him, but did note that Ace was gesturing to Eric. So the Wheelsucker knew something was going to happen; he tried to prepare himself to respond to the attack.

And then on Ace’s favorite second bump attack point, Ace launched. The Wheelsucker was somewhere in the middle of the group, behind Ace, and saw this go. Sizzler was apparently fresh and took off after Ace.

And the Wheelsucker made a fatal mistake; he went after them.

In retrospect the Wheelsucker wonders what on earth he was thinking. The group had nine riders to chase Ace. Sizzler and Russ were probably fresh, but Sizzler was not going to be able to help Ace in a two man break, and riders like Boone, Stevie Wonder Wahl, Matt and Patrick were not going to watch Ace ride up the road without chasing. All the Wheelsucker needed to do was catch on the back when the chase started.

But the Wheelsucker was well past rational thought and sprinted after Sizzler’s wheel. And to his surprise, he made it on after a very hard short effort. But so did almost everyone else! And the next thing the Wheelsucker realized, was that he was DONE! He had just burned his last matchsticks and there was nothing left to stay with the group. The gap opened, the Wheelsucker could not hold the wheel in front, and he was dropped. Sizzler was one to two bike lengths behind him, with a third rider – who turned out to be Mickey -- another two bike lengths back. A gasping Wheelsucker eased up to let them catch on his wheel.

Mickey was probably the strongest and took the longest pulls. The Wheelsucker told the others that if they could not catch the leaders at the 214 light, they needed to stay together to chase, and to stay ahead of anyone close behind. The lead group was not far ahead. The three chased hard at a steady pace. It was a relief for the Wheelsucker to not have to deal with surges. He was able to take his pulls in his most aero position, with his forearms resting on the bar tops.

The lead group was still viewable, within range, on any straighter sections of road. There was a chance of catching them at the light. But as the three approached the light it was green, and the lead group had rolled through. And the light turned red as they got closer. There was too much traffic on 214 to jump across, and the three had to wait for the green light. But their chase continued with Mickey taking the longest pulls, and the Wheelsucker taking his short-to-medium pulls, as aero as possible, trying to keep the pace up. And somehow the lead group was still not far ahead. Amazingly it seemed like the gap was shrinking!

The next time the Wheelsucker was on the front he went even harder, trying to close the gap some more. The pulls were getting shorter. And then the Wheelsucker went a little too hard and gapped Mickey and Sizzler. He soft pedaled to let them back on, and then continued and then pulled off.

The next time he got to the front was going down into the penultimate dip, and a gap opened again. The Wheelsucker looked back and saw Sizzler coasting up the short bump and Mickey a little closer, looking at Sizzler. The Wheelsucker heard a cry of “FLAT!” from Sizzler, but decided that Sizzler was close enough to the finish to deal with it. Mickey was less selfish and turned back. The Wheelsucker coasted down the last dip and went to full-remaining-Wheelsucker power for the false flat to the finish, and at what seemed like the appropriate point he stood up and tried to sprint. And nothing happened! The Wheelsucker was so tired he had to sit down and spin half way to the finish line. The lead group – which it later turned out had sat up shortly after crossing 214 – was just a little ahead, and the Wheelsucker caught them. Mickey and another rider from behind rescued Sizzler.

Several short cutters were already in the Park & Ride, with some already driving out.

Wheelsucker data (from when the group first accelerated on Rossback to the finish):
Time: 1:18:54
Distance: 32.01 miles
Power: 233 watts average, 884 watts max
Cadence: 89 rpm average
Heart Rate: 150 bpm average
Speed: 24.35 mph