The group did not have Ace or Eric, but did have: Mike Wagner, Pat Hogan, Spencer, Michel, Rick, Alex, Brian Whitesell, Tom Aga, Mark Lahuec, Bob Walters, Spencer Seibert, Nick Caddenhead, and others.
There was a noticeably high pace from rollout.
Soon enough there were casualties and attrition. The pace was hard enough that Wheelsucker worried about being a casualty himself. He was taking short pulls, grabbing on at the back, and trying to stay at the back. The Wheelsucker even complained to Mike W. about the pace when Mike was rotating back.
Brian Whitesell attacked near the top of Ed Prout Rd and made the left turn onto 408 without traffic. The group waited for traffic to clear, giving Brian a larger gap, though he was soft pedaling.
The Wheelsucker rolled through, put his head down, and closed the gap to Brian and invited Brian to go. But the group was attentive and by the time Brian was on the Wheelsucker’s wheel, the group was within a few bikelengths, so the two eased up. And Pat Hogan went hard up the next climb towing the group, leaving the Wheelsucker gasping for air.
Bob Walters took a long pull down the 258 shoulder, pulling off just after turning onto McKendree, Nick Caddenhead took over while the group eased for some reason. At the top of the first little climb on McKendree, Nick, the Wheelsucker and Mark Lahuec had a small gap. Mark and the Wheelsucker kept going hard and got a larger gap. They kept going. They stayed away most of the way to the rest stop, but were caught by a small chase on Old Solomons Island Road, very shortly before the rest stop.
Pat made a point of sprinting by the Wheelsucker and giving him a look.
The pace was moderate through North Beach and Herrington Harbor, though Alex short cut from the Herrington Harbor climb, riding the route 2 shoulder back. Pat drove the pace on the Fairhaven Road descent, pulling off for Tom Aga near the bottom.
Michel had shifting issues on Town Point Road, which resulted in him being stuck in one gear for the rest of the ride. Michel wanted a gap for the wall, so drove hard up Leitch Road, with the Wheelsucker going with him. But the group was only just behind at the top. The Wheelsucker wanted a head start for the wall just as much as Michel did, so drove hard after the sharp right turn onto Franklin Gibson, with Michel close behind. They had head start they wanted at the bottom of the wall and were still clear at the top.
They soft pedaled until caught by Pat, and hooked onto his wheel. Then Mike Wagner rolled by, and the Wheelsucker and Pat went with him. They had a small gap (and with Mike and Pat much of the horsepower in the group), but were caught waiting for traffic to clear at the Deale Road/256 intersection.
The Wheelsucker tried to drive the pace on the shallow climb after crossing Bay Front Road/258, but his efforts did not strain anyone.
It was all together to Sudley Road where the rollers start climbing. Pat was continuing to jump clear on bumps whenever he felt like it, but was sitting up after opening small gaps. Pat went again after Mike Wagner had been on the front taking a long pull. The Wheelsucker went after Pat and the two got clear. They were going hard, but so was the chase, and they were brought back a short while later.
The group stayed together to the 255 intersection and most stopped for traffic to clear, though Michel made it across.
Once clear the Wheelsucker went medium-hard to catch up to. Pat Hogan came after the Wheelsucker. The Wheelsucker put his forearms on the bar tops to get as aero as possible and drove the pace with Pat following. They were clear at the turn onto the route 2 shoulder, and going hard. They caught the left turn signal to turn onto Harwood Road. Both were working hard and the chase was not in site. The Wheelsucker was taking long and hard (for the Wheelsucker) pulls. He was leaving very little or nothing in reserve and was barely getting Pat’s wheel when he pulled off. And Pat was jumping past him on each and every short bump, which was annoying the Wheelsucker.
Climbing out of the dip they caught Alex (who had short cut) and encouraged him to make it to the top and hang on. The three caught a green light at the 214 intersection. No chase was in site.
The Wheelsucker continued his long hard (for the Wheelsucker) pulls, and Pat continued to go harder on short bumps, gapping the Wheelsucker. The Wheelsucker or Alex would close the gap, and typically Pat was easing up to wait.
But the Wheelsucker was trying to figure out how to beat a sprinter at the sprint. He was annoyed with Pat’s jumps, the Wheelsucker stopped pulling and tried to glue himself to Pat’s wheel. And Pat just slowed up.
Finally Alex went up the road, leaving Pat riding slowly and the Wheelsucker following. The two crawled up the road. Pat jumped a couple of times, but the Wheelsucker went with him both times. Both were looking behind to see if the chase was getting close, but the road was clear.
Pat tried to reason with the Wheelsucker, telling him that his [Pat’s] winning the sprint was inevitable, but the Wheelsucker was determined to try. Finally they went down the last dip and started the shallow climb to the finish. Pat launched his sprint and the Wheelsucker want after him as hard as an aging Wheelsucker could go, but the gap to Pat’s wheel slowly opened. They went by Alex at a high rate of speed, but Pat had been correct, the result was inevitable and Pat was several bike lengths clear at the finish line.
While soft pedaling back up to the P&R, the Wheelsucker noticed a small chase behind them.
Wheelsucker Data
(the Wheelsucker's bike computer was not turned on when he checked it in North Beach, so he is probably missing data from the rest stop to North Beach)
Average power: 199 watts average, max 963 watts (at sprint)
HR: 133 bpm average, 161 max
21.99 mph
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