A quick check of "whose registered" after registration closed revealed a list of mostly unknown-to-the-Wheelsucker racers, except for Ted, and the DC Velo pair of Paul Mittelstadt and Ad Bax. This check also reminded the Wheelsucker that his 55+ start was at 8:15am. And Googlemaps told him it was at least a two hour drive to get there.
The Wheelsucker hates feeling rushed, so set his alarm for 4:00am, packed the car the evening before, and was on the road at 4:40am.
He arrived early, to find an open field half full of cars. The route was three laps of a rolling 13 mile loop for a total of forty miles. He was able to pre-ride the last couple of miles of the loop, which included the half mile climb to the start-finish line.
The Wheelsucker decided to sit in early (the Wheelsucker can almost always rationalize a plan that includes "sit in") to see the rest of the route and then decide what to do. There were a few surges, but nothing serious during the first loop. It was Coppi-like, rolling and almost never flat, with some short harder climbs, but that ½ mile climb to the start/finish line was long and parts were steep and had one thinking about the small chain ring.
At about the end of the first lap a lone rider went off the front. The Wheelsucker felt his best plan was to let PA riders do the work since this was the PA Championship road race, and only PA riders were eligible for the championship. And it was a PA rider off the front.
A little later Paul Mittelstadt somehow got off the front alone – Paul is a MASTER at rolling off the front of a group without anyone noticing and chasing him – and bridged to the other rider. The field did not chase aggressively. Then the PA rider faded and came back, but Paul kept going and he was holding the gap.
Part way through the second lap it occurred to the Wheelsucker that a break with another MABRA rider, which was not a threat to the PA championship as neither was eligible, might be the ideal circumstance. So the Wheelsucker tried to get off the front of the field and chase.
But every time he jumped someone would have his wheel, another rider would be a bike length behind, and a bike length behind that rider would be the rest of the peloton. The very LAST thing the Wheelsucker wanted to do was pull the peloton up to Paul, so each time the Wheelsucker sat up and fell back into the peloton to wait and try again.
He tried several more times and then had a short conversation with Ted. At this point Paul had been away for a while; the small gap was holding. Ted and the Wheelsucker agreed that Paul must be tiring and would be brought back at some point.
But having Paul dangling out there in front was still tempting the Wheelsucker; after all his only chance in the race was a breakaway, and there was a decent possibility. So somewhere around 2/3 or 3/4 of the way through the second lap the Wheelsucker jumped again, on a short climb, and this time the field let him go.
It took some time and some effort to bridge to Paul, but the Wheelsucker made it to Paul's wheel on the 1/2 mile climb. Paul may have been tiring, but he gapped the Wheelsucker slightly on a steeper section of that climb, and the Wheelsucker was on the rivet to close the 2-3 bikelength gap to Paul at the top. And a third rider had come across as well, though apparently he did it all on the climb.
The pack was not far behind, though distance was a little deceptive as they were lower on the climb on the steep section. The three riders in the break took short hard pulls. The Wheelsucker's efforts were hard enough that he was only barely making it on at the back. And while there were no hard climbs, even the small rollers were a hard effort when one was already redlined.
The third rider was a PA rider and the rest of the peloton apparently decided that a three rider break with a PA rider in it was a much more serious threat than a single non PA rider. Ted and Ad would have been doing what they could to block, but some riders in that peloton wanted the break back NOW.
After a desperate effort the three were caught by the peloton. The Wheelsucker eased up and found a wheel near the front. But he was so blown that he did not set up for the next turn, and was going straight as the peloton turned right.
Oops!
He managed to slow and make the turn, but was now at the back of the peloton, and had to work his way back up to near the front.
This was the last lap; there were more attacks and chases. The Wheelsucker wanted to go with one of these moves, but was trying to recover and have something left, so was never the second or third rider in the move, but was following wheels further back. And despite the attacks and surges, nothing got away.
2/3 of the way through the lap Ted put in a hard dig. He did not get way but drove the pace hard for some time, stringing the field out.
As the lap was close to ending, the Wheelsucker moved up to be near the front for the last turn and the climb to the finish; he was about fourth wheel at the turn.
And then it was game on for the climb to the finish. The Wheelsucker made the initial effort to accelerate but had nothing left and was quickly gapped. Ahead of him the field strung out as the elastic broke in multiple places. Within a few seconds riders were scattered all over the final climb, with the strongest well up the road, contesting the win. The top of the climb was within 200 meters of the finish, but it was a slightly downhill sprint to the line.
The Wheelsucker was well out of it back on the climb, but later learned that Ad Bax had a great leadout from a stocky black rider who the Wheelsucker remembered for his attacks and chases in the peloton. Ad was perfectly positioned to come around this rider for the finish, but the rider was too strong and he won with Ad second and Paul third. Apparently the race winner is an ex Olympian. A very impressive ride by Ad and Paul, particularly considering Paul had done a lot of work being away for about 1/3 of the race.
Ted rolled across 14th, a few places in front of the Wheelsucker who was 19th ; a few more riders were scattered behind.
The Wheelsucker hung out at the race with Sue and Amanda watching the P/1/2 race roll by on each lap. Initially there was a decent break off the front but on a later lap Dominique Rollin -- yes, THAT Dominique Rollin -- rolled through the start/finish line at a high rate of speed with about six riders holding on for grim death and the rest of the P/1/2 field coming off in small groups. Rollin must have attacked on the climb and just shredded the field. The Wheelsucker later learned that Rollin won the race.
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