But at the left turn onto Rossback, there were Ace, Iain Banks and another rider waiting for the group.
"We’re F*#$'d", thought the Wheelsucker, and yelled "Plan F" (meaning there are several really strong riders, we are F*#$'d ) to Rick Paukstitus.
The group apparently slowed as the three joined in, but Steve Owens kept rolling and opened a gap. The Wheelsucker was at the front watching Steve go up the road and was not looking behind him to see who was ready to go.
This presented a dilemma to the Wheelsucker. After being dropped at the top of Harwood Hill last Tuesday, the Wheelsucker wanted to sit in and conserve as much as he could, so as to make the break if it went on Harwood Hill. For some reason, the Wheelsucker is less vulnerable on the South Polling House stairstep, but Harwood Hill and the bump at the end of the golf course false flat on Polling House, are really hard for him. But sitting in meant giving up an opportunity to go in a break and perhaps get enough of a gap that he could go easy up Harwood Hill and be caught rather later, or maybe even not be caught.
The Wheelsucker considered the matter as long as he could, which was actually not long at all, because the group was sitting up and Steve was rolling away.
The Wheelsucker finally decided to go, and went to Wheelsucker-pursuit-mode and closed the short gap to Steve with a hard effort; Rick and Mark Lahuec followed. But no one else did.
Once together the four were going steady-hard, with Steve taking long pulls. Each rider pulling off the front would take a look behind, expecting to see the chase group coming.
But each time no chase group was in sight.
The Wheelsucker was thinking they needed to jump the light at 214, but they were very lucky to catch the green and roll straight through.
They were going for it!
With no chase in sight and having caught the green light, the Wheelsucker thought they had a good chance of making it past Harwood Hill before being caught (though the Wheelsucker has been caught between 214 and Harwood Hill several times!).
The pace was steady on the climb out of the dip. The break passed a non ABRT rider shortly before Harwood Hill. The next time someone looked back, they saw a rider (and a car trying to pass) and announced that the group has caught back on. But that was just the single rider, not the chase.
The pace was steady hard up Harwood Hill The Wheelsucker strained to hold third wheel off the top, and barely managed it. The non ABRTer was gone. The pace was fine from there; steady hard but manageable for the Wheelsucker, up the South Polling House stairstep climb and down Bayard.
But the Wheelsucker pulled up to the golf course false flat and pulled off shortly before the short bump, and was promptly gapped; but he pleaded with the others to wait for him, claiming they needed him.
LAME!
The second time up the stairstep climb, there was still no chase in sight.
While on Bayard for the second time, Rick suggested the break wait for the chase so the chasing riders could see the break up the road. The idea was apparently to make this fully competitive and deny them the ability to claim they had no knowledge the break was off the front. The Wheelsucker did not want to give up anything and risk being caught when Ace and Iain realized they were close to catching up.
Steve continued to take long steady pulls. The Wheelsucker's average power was dropping (the group was slowing a bit), but he continued to take shorter harder pulls. Mark was taking long steady pulls, particularly on the climbs, and Rick's pulls were getting longer.
Then at the 214 intersection, the break caught the green light AGAIN!!!
The finish line was eight minutes away. The Wheelsucker figured he has a good shot at out-sprinting Mark and Steve but Rick has a very good jump and would be tough to beat. Everyone was still taking their pulls. The Wheelsucker took a hard pull somewhere in there, getting the group going fast, and then pulled off. His next rotation on the front was down and up the last dip; he pulled off early on the last flat, leaving Steve on the front.
But Steve didn't want to lead out either, so he pulled off soon, leaving Mark on the front, Rick second, the Wheelsucker third and Steve now in fourth.
The Wheelsucker was determined to hold Rick's wheel, go when he went, let Rick make the effort, and then come around him.
Going up the false flat to the finish Mark was still going strong. And then Steve launched left from the back! The Wheelsucker did not want to go next letting Rick take his wheel, so he hesitated to let Rick jump first.
But Rick didn't jump!!
The Wheelsucker considers what to do for a few crucial moments, and then launched after Steve, going as hard as an aging Wheelsucker can go. Mark and Rick never sprinted. Steve had a gap. The Wheelsucker was slowly closing the gap down, but not as fast as the finish line was coming up.
Steve crossed first to take the win. The Wheelsucker was second.
The short cutters already in the P&R reported that the main group had split up on Harwood Hill and that while the main group was together, Iain (who was in a second chase) was riding easy (he was apparently tired from an earlier run), and that Ace (in the first chase) did not chase the break. A small group who also did the full route rolled in some time after the break riders did.
The Wheelsucker has a very healthy respect for Ace and Iain and thinks that if they had chased hard, they would have been doing all the work in the chase, as others would be just hanging on at that pace, so it would have been interesting to see if two very strong riders could chase down four solid riders.
But in the words of Pete Penzell (said on an earlier occasion the Wheelsucker had gone in an early break and stayed away), "A win is a win!" Though the win went to Super Steve Owens (by day a mild mannered government statistician, by evening a strong and tenacious I-can-pull-forever bicycle racer. In the absence of any more payphone booths, all he needs is his unassuming sedan to change into his superhero clothing).
Shortly after the Tuesday ride was over there were shocking accusations on Facebook about attacking during the neutral rollout. Astute readers may recall that the Wheelsucker was pulled back to the field by a motoref in the Sunday 50+ race at Battenkill, when he INADVERTANTLY pushed the pace before the pace car had crossed the imaginary line marking the end of the neutral rollout zone.
The Wheelsucker's response is to query,
"What neutral rollout? Where is there a rule about a neutral rollout? Yes per the ABRT BoD, the short section of route 2 shoulder is neutralized, but nothing has been written about a neutral rollout on Rossback road."
Further, the Wheelsucker would point out that there have been other "attacks" early on Rossback on previous "training rides", and that in this case, it was not even the Wheelsucker attacking. Rather it was the Wheelsucker reluctantly deciding to go after Steve Owens, who was riding off the front of the group.
Wheelsucker Data
(from where the Wheelsucker started chasing Steve, to the finish line):
Distance: 31.21 miles
Time: 1:17:59
Power: 230 watts average, 857 watts maximum (chasing Steve at sprint)
Heart Rate: 147 bpm average, 162 bpm maximum
Cadence: 92 rpm average
Average Speed: 24.01 mph
- Posted using BlogPress from the Wheelsucker's iPhone
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1 comment:
That ride was a good solid one for the four off the front. I think the comments alluding to the Rossback breaks have been to the unwritten rule of attacking before Governor Bridge Road. It seems to have been forgotten in the last few years and more than a few are guilty. Rossback essentially allows people to warm-up and be social before the hammer hits.
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