It was VERY easy for the Wheelsucker to decide he was tired, and make a serious effort to sit in and not work hard.
There had been some discussion earlier of splitting the group into two or three teams, but when this was brought up in the P&R, there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm, and it was dropped. However it informally became ABRT versus "everyone else", though not everyone in other-than-ABRT kit worked together, rather the “everyone else” team was pretty much Todd Bickling and Jeff Chun of Bike Doctor, and Eric Boone of Kelly Benefits. Though that is some talent, they were seriously outnumbered and outgunned by ABRT, who probably had 25+ of the 30+ riders who rolled out, including Ace, Denzil, Pat, Mike Faber and other strong riders.
Despite his coach’s instructions to sit in, the Wheelsucker somehow found himself on the front at the left turn onto Rossback, and took a couple of mostly easy pulls on the way to 214. Shortly before 214 the Wheelsucker was riding third wheel behind Rick Paukstitus. The leader pulled off and Rick and the Wheelsucker coasted into the red light and stopped. Rick then did exactly what the Wheelsucker had planned to do himself. Rick claimed that he had pulled all the way from the start and was going to sit in. The Wheelsucker, who would have been in line to pull after Rick pulled off, soft pedaled his way to the back of the group as they crossed 214. Ace and Eric Boone were already there (and he was even behind Rick), so he tucked in.
The Wheelsucker really was sore and tired, and even sitting in at the back he had to make some uncomfortable efforts to stay on. Ace moved up a bit shortly before Harwood Hill. The Wheelsucker wanted to avoid going hard on Harwood and was determined to do no work in chasing anything that got off the front there. He moved up a little as well, planning on drifting back on the climb and still being able to tag on at the back of the large train.
And it worked!
The Wheelsucker still had to go harder than he wanted to up Harwood Hill, but he was not quite at the back at the top. And when chasing needed to be done, someone else, well in front of the Wheelsucker, was doing the work.
The Wheelsucker made it up the South Polling House stairstep climb the same way; moving up shortly before the climb, going hard – hard for an old, tired, and sore Wheelsucker – and getting to the top near the back of the train, but still in contact. Of course the risk was that the elastic would break somewhere in front of the Wheelsucker, but he was mentally prepared to accept that and just ride easy with a second group, if it came to that.
There WERE attacks, and riders did get clear at times, and there WAS chasing, but this was all happening well in front of the Wheelsucker, and he merely made hard efforts to stay on at the back, when he needed to.
But by the time the group reached the right turn from Bayard onto Polling House the Wheelsucker was starting to feel better. And in contrast he could see effort, pain and suffering on the faces of some of the other riders near him. The "everyone else" team had a breakaway going as the group rode past the golf course; Todd was up the road, alone. The Wheelsucker had stopped trying to stay at the back and shortly after the golf course false flat and bump, the Wheelsucker rotated to the front when Ian Palmer finally pulled off after a long pull. He was feeling fresh. And he wanted Todd back NOW, so he went to full Wheelsucker chase power (seeing 300-380 watts). Todd had been gone awhile, and was fading, and the Wheelsucker was closing the gap FAST. After a short hard pull he decided to let someone else finish the job, and flicked his elbow as he pulled off. But there were gaps behind him, and the only rider actually there … was Ian Palmer. So Ian got on the front AGAIN, while the Wheelsucker considered that most of the riders near him were actually looking fairly tired. Hmn. Ian took another longish pull before pulling off and letting the Wheelsucker finish the job with another short hard pull. Todd had been out in front alone long enough that he was probably relieved to be caught.
There was another three rider attack (including Eric Boone) on the stairstep climb the second time around. They were still away part way down Bayard, and the Wheelsucker put in a hard pull to close the distance when it was his turn at the front. He pulled off at the top of the last high point on Bayard, and had a trouble getting on the back of the train as it accelerated on the descent. His pull had again opened gaps in the group and he missed the first couple of parts, and then had to chase REALLY hard to get on the back of the third or fourth part, while all the gaps in front of him were being closed by the desperate riders behind each gap.
And there were riders following him, relying on him to close the gap.
He was still two or three bike lengths away from the back of the fast train part way down Bayard, and was rapidly running out of matchsticks. Steve Owens was coming back after a hard pull and saw the gap. Steve hesitated for a moment; he probably thought the Wheelsucker was about to close that gap and that Steve should drift further back. But the Wheelsucker had given his all to close it and it was stuck at two to three bike lengths, and that gap was going to start opening in another second or two… So Steve reluctantly went into the gap and had to work hard to catch back on, but a desperate Wheelsucker latched onto Steve’s back wheel and gave thanks; he was back on. This was the hardest the Wheelsucker had to go the entire ride. The break was caught at the turn onto Sands Road.
Part way up Sands Road the Wheelsucker realized he had not seen Ace in awhile; perhaps he had sat up? But it turned out he was behind the Wheelsucker the entire time, apparently doing no work. A couple of times on Sands he rolled by laughing, holding up three fingers for "all zone 3". If a gap HAD opened in front of him, he certainly could have crossed it. So he was not doing any attacking or work and letting others close the gaps.
Someone else attacked on Ace's favorite second bump on Sands point, but the Wheelsucker was expecting this, and grabbed a wheel well back and made the move. But most of the group made the move, so whoever was at the front trying to get away or split the group gave up, and then even the riders who were being dropped were able to chase back on.
There was still had a decent sized group sprinting across 214 on the last of the green light.
Pat Hogan jumped hard on his own. The Wheelsucker moved onto Todd Bickling's wheel in case he chased. Jeff Chun took a solid pull (excellent, that should tire a sprinter out) and then Steve Owens pulled hard, while up the road Pat started to fade and come back.
The group caught Pat at about the ballpark. Shortly after that Steve pulled off leaving Todd on the front. The Wheelsucker had been following Todd closely and had been expecting him to attack for awhile. Todd went very hard, and the Wheelsucker sprinted as hard as he could but was still gapped initially.
But down the penultimate descent (just after the ball park) the Wheelsucker closed Todd down. When Todd realized the Wheelsucker (and the rest of the group) were on him, he gave up. With Todd neutralized and soft pedaling, and Jeff Chun probably a little tired from pulling, the Wheelsucker sat up with Todd and let the guys who wanted to sprint go for it.
The Wheelsucker was far enough back he has no idea who won the sprint, but the report is that Big "D" took the sprint and Jeff took 2nd... after a good lead out. ;-)
Overall it was a good ride for the Wheelsucker. He suffered early on at the back, but eventually warmed up and felt better. He made a few short harder efforts, and helped to neutralize one of the "everyone else" riders before the sprint; a good evening’s work. And he felt really good at the end.
Wheelsucker Data (214 to sitting up near the sprint):
Time: 1:05:14
Distance: 26.48 miles
Power: 218/922 watts (that max was jumping after Todd)
Heart: 139/165 bpm
Cadence: 85 rpm
Speed: 24.35 mph <=== not a slow ride!
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