So the Wheelsucker registered for 55+ at the Jefferson Cup (aka Jeff Cup) race just outside Charlottesville, VA.
But 55+ at Jeff Cup was not quite as simple as being the last guy still racing a bike. At this race 45+ and 55+ race together, scored separately. So the Wheelsucker was STILL trying to ride with strong 45+ racers. The race was 5 laps, with each lap being 9.5 or 10 miles, depending on who you asked. The start was at 9:00am and it was rather cool -- ~ 44 F -- though the forecast was for 56 F by noon, rather warmer. The forecast also called for more wind by noon, though there was not much at 9:00am.
After agonizing over what clothing to wear and what wheels to use, the Wheelsucker went with short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, no knee warmers, Lycra shoe covers and a very lightweight head covering inside his helmet. And he was freezing at rollout and while waiting for the start.
There were 32 riders pre-registered for 45+, including Roger Friend and Bob Garwood, two very fast TTers, and Super Dave Osborne. 16 riders were pre-registered for 55+ including BAR Champion Dennis Crocket and past VA RR champion Bernie Sanders.
After pre-riding the course Saturday and discussing tactics with several team mates and Scott Giles, one idea was to go off the front early, either alone or with someone, figuring on being caught by a lead group of strong mostly 45+ riders, and tagging on. The wheelsucker thought about whom he needed to watch and go with, and looking at the entry list he figured on Roger Friend and Bob Garwood. He also thought that much like the Morgantown RR, all or most of the 55+ riders would sit on and let the strongest 45+ riders dictate the race.
Despite asking, the Wheelsucker was not able to determine who Bob Garwood was, but did figure out who Roger Friend was, and made a point of watching him and staying near him, moving up very shortly after the start to be close to him. While the Wheelsucker knew a few of the riders in the combined field, he did not know most of them. There were about three riders wearing BAR Championship jerseys.
The field went out at a fast pace that quickly convinced the Wheelsucker that he was not getting off the front on his own for more than a few seconds. But he was able to stay close to Roger Friend. There were lots of attacks in the first two laps but all were being brought back quickly, and no one got much distance. The Wheelsucker suspected nothing was going early, while everyone felt like chasing and was thinking about more serious activity with three, two or one laps to go. Dennis Crockett (55+) was quite active at the front. The Wheelsucker was not sure if he was trying to shrink the field through attrition, or get away from the field. But the Wheelsucker was watching Roger Friend, closing the occasional gap, and trying to follow wheels while others closed down small gaps.
Shortly after rolling through the start/finish line to start the third lap, three riders attacked, including Crocket. This was nothing new, it had been going on all race so far. The Wheelsucker was waiting for someone else to close it down rather than make the big effort himself, just before the right turn onto the longest climb of the loop. The three started the climb with a small gap that should have been easy to shut down. The Wheelsucker was near the front of the pack watching Roger Friend and the rest of the field and expecting an acceleration. He was also trying to stay a little sheltered as the climb was into a headwind. Part way up the climb Roger made a minor acceleration, something that should have been easy to match. But those nearest Roger did not, and these riders had the Wheelsucker pinned against the left shoulder. The Wheelsucker was going hard up the climb, but still had reserve, and thought he could go with Friend, but he was blocked by other riders.
Friend slowly rode away and crossed most of the gap to the leading three, catching on either at the top or very early on the descent. And since no one had made the effort to go with him, the gap was larger at the top. Surely the pack would chase thought the Wheelsucker. The Wheelsucker was not excited about chasing himself, as chasing on descents into a headwind can be a lot of work. And no one chased really hard, and the gap was opened enough that the Wheelsucker knew he could not get across on one really hard bridge effort.
The group did chase, but only a few of the riders were contributing. A paceline would start – often at the Wheelsucker’s encouragement, and with the Wheelsucker pulling through to get it going – but it would stop after a few riders had pulled through. And all the riders sitting on discouraged the Wheelsucker and the other riders working, from continuing.
Awhile later, while recovering from an effort, the Wheelsucker watched Dave Osborne and 2-3 more jump clear of the main field. Being blown the Wheelsucker was planning on catching a wheel and being part of the chase. But there was no serious chase, the Wheelsucker was not able to get on, and the second group got up the road and eventually made it across to the lead group of four, for a total break of seven or eight. But even with seven or eight riders, the break never got that far away, holding at 30-50 seconds, and less at the finish. The Wheelsucker could not figure out – and still does not know – why every time he made an effort or tried to jump clear the entire field would be on his wheel, while the two groups were left to go, with no one chasing.
The pack was chasing at times and sitting up and looking for someone else to work at others. It was hard to get the group to chase, really only four or five would do the paceline, and 20 would sit on, so the guys working hard would stop and look for an opportunity to go without the pack.
That combined break of 7-8 riders stayed at 30-45 seconds and the pack never brought it back. The Wheelsucker worked occasionally still hoping to bring it back or keep it close enough to get across somehow, and he also wanted to be able to react if another move went. But his efforts were hard and short and would leave him well back recovering (and vulnerable) after he swung off the front.
On the last lap three guys went on the climb. The Wheelsucker was boxed in (again) on the right, and even forced into the gravel as he was trying to squeeze past someone. But he got back onto pavement without incident or losing more than a couple of feet. He finally got an opening perhaps 2/3 of the way up the climb and the Wheelsucker launched, gapped the field, and closed part of the gap to the three. Hoping to be in a small group that would work and ahead of the main field, he went really hard and caught them early on the descent. The route has several S curves here limiting visibility, so the Wheelsucker could not see the rest of the main field when he looked behind. The Wheelsucker tagged on at the back to recover from his bridging effort. The four were going hard but were caught by the pack further down the descent. Maybe they were all climbers and not hammering hard enough to stay away, and also it being part way into the last lap, perhaps the pack was going to chase everything, particularly downhill. Thinking back, the Wheelsucker wonders if this is a good place on the course to put in a hard effort, because one goes some distance beyond the descent before any bumps that one would be vulnerable on, so one can recover from a hard effort here.
Being a very poor sprinter, the Wheelsucker decided to go early for the finish rather than sit in and try to outsprint the main field. He had tested how far it was from the last turn to the finish while pre-riding the course, and knew it was a little over three minutes at the high end of VO2Max effort. But he knew that a tired Wheelsucker could not jump clear and hold the high end of VO2Max for over 3 minutes.
And it worked! Sort of ...
The Wheelsucker’s 898 watts (fading rapidly after the first second) effort got him clear with a small gap. And the gap was opening!
But the Wheelsucker was going at the end of a race in which he had made several hard efforts, not like the day before when he was well rested for the VO2Max effort. And inside the 1k flag, his legs quit on him on a short slightly steeper section of the false flat. Desperately the Wheelsucker stood and clicked into a bigger gear, trying to keep going. But the power was failing. He still had the gap, but now it was closing. Two riders – one wearing a BAR jersey – caught him. The Wheelsucker tried to grab the second riders’s wheel but could not quite get on. And the two riders were also slowing from their efforts. The pack caught everyone well inside 1k. The Wheelsucker was having trouble hitting 200 watts for a second or two at this point, but tagged on at the back. He had nothing left for a sprint, but tried to launch anyway. Riders were pulling away, but one sat up, and the Wheelsucker managed to coast by him and open a gap just before the line. The Wheelsucker was well back in the combined field, being at the back of the main field, but was 7th out of 10 finishers in 55+. Bob Garwood was not on the combined 45+/55+ results sheet, so presumably had not started.
the Wheelsucker was annoyed about not having closed the gap to the initial 3 rider group, annoyed about being boxed in and missing Roger Friend's bridge and annoyed about missing Osborne's bridge, but he had kept trying to do something, trying to bring the break back, or get off the front with a small group and bridge or at least get away from the rest of the main field. Perhaps he had been trying too hard.
After the race, the Wheelsucker noticed that his front tire, a Michelin Pro Race 3 Light, had an issue that looked like the diagonal threads in one of the plies split apart.
This created a bulge in the tire on one side, and an S-bend in the tread.
This had started out very small -- the Wheelsucker had noticed a small worn spot after neutral rollout and before the start – but was much worse at the finish. The Wheelsucker had felt like his front wheel was being pushed around by wind, but now realized it was the S-bend in the tire. But the tire did not completely fail and the inner tube did not blow out (VERY lucky for the Wheelsucker).
Results on the US Cycling website
Wheelsucker Data
Race Time: 2:09:38
Race Distance: 49.91 miles
Work 1777 Kj
Elevation gain: 3376 feet
Power: 229 watts average, 898 maximum
Average Speed: 23.12 mph
Average cadence: 84
Last mile:
Time: 2:40
Elevation gain: 90 feet
Power: 309 watts average, 989 maximum
Average cadence: 81
Speed: 23.12 mph average
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