First the event has a Facebook page, and they invite everyone they know, and everyone who has been on any of their previous rides. Then they tell all those people to invite others. Then a lot of people start posting about the ride.
The Wheelsucker knew from doing previous Memorial Day and Labor Day rides that this would be fun, it would be hard, it would be fast, and it would all be on video with really good narration, courtesy of Tiny in the back of the SUV leading the parade.
Did someone say ride? How about race? Certainly some of the riders and teams work these rides like races. While it rolls out nice and easy, this is NOT a "no drop" shop ride.
And then the trash talking started on the FB page.
The one that did it for the Wheelsucker was someone claiming that ABRT had been overheard planning to bring fried chicken legs, dropped biscuits and very hot tea.
Over the last few years/rides Artemis always has a large turnout; so does ABRT. More recently V Day has been showing up in force, and then there are a lot of other riders, both racers and non-racers. For this ride ABRT had a very good turnout with Chris Kick, Mike Faber, Sebastien Byers, Stu Waring, Ali Meller, Tom Aga, Patrick Hogan, Alex Pline, Rick Paukstitus and of course the Wheelsucker. And Artemis and V Day were well represented. While Ace usually does this ride – and rides to win it – he was not there at rollout and did not show up outside the park either, as he has been known to do.
The route was the reverse of the Memorial Day route, so lots of lights and stop signs on the way to the first rest stop, and fast from then on to a second rest stop, and fast from there to the finish.
Things did not start well for the Wheelsucker, as his front wheel went “pop” followed by a slow hiss as it went flat. The group was on the verge of rolling out, so rather than fix it, the Wheelsucker grabbed another front wheel he had brought with him, pumped up the tire and mounted the wheel, just in time to roll out with the group.
It was a large crowd at rollout, pedaling slowly south to the first turn; a group of racers and non-racers.
Once out of the park on the road, the Wheelsucker immediately moved up to the front. Well, not QUITE the front, but just a rider or two back where he could cover any moves. C Kick was there as well.
The pace picked up and the group shrunk. With the casual riders off the back, it was down to the racers and would-be racers.
Move, chase and counter move.
Every move that tried to go had C or the Wheelsucker glued on at the back. The Wheelsucker went once himself, but there are so many red lights and stop signs that it is really hard to get away here, and his short solo effort ended coasting into a red light.
But the last few miles have no stop lights or stop signs; the pace cranked up and the attacks were more serious. But no one was going anywhere without ABRT covering the move. And ABRT riders attacked as well, with Saba in particular attacking repeatedly.
Then Mike Faber went. Like the other attackers he was trying to catch the draft of the SUV lead vehicle. With the back lid up so Tiny could video the ride, there was an excellent draft. The SUV would make it hard to hold on, but Mike was VERY determined, and he stayed on. Lots of riders tried to jump clear and bridge, but everyone going anywhere had an ABRTer glued to their rear wheel. Mike probably thought the rest stop was coming up, but he had to work for a long time to stay off the front of the group and in the SUV draft; but he did it, getting the solo win.
The Wheelsucker did not see who actually won the field sprint, but Saba was in there.
After cooling down, drinking water and more pleasant trash talk, riders were ready to go. But there was a long wait for stragglers who have taken a wrong turn. Some of the key riders turned around and went back looking for them.
But the wait was so long that someone decided the ABRT train would leave on its own. Saba, Mark Frazer and the Wheelsucker missed the discussion, but saw the ABRT train disappear up the road. Nothing was happening, so they decide to chase them. The three took off after the ABRT train in a paceline, except – sigh – Mark is a sprinter so cannot pull for long...
The three caught the ABRT-plus-Rick Tucker-and-Jesse Falsone group, at the left turn onto Croome Road.
The Wheelsucker had been pulling hard during the chase, so was happy to sit in for awhile while the group rode on at a steady pace. They caught and dropped three riders who had rolled out ahead of them, and then Jesse popped.
The Wheelsucker was starting to feel better when there was another "pop" noise followed by a steady hiss, and the Wheelsucker's rear tire went flat.
The ABRT group stopped. The Wheelsucker was working fast to not hold up his teammates for long. He checked his tire for anything sharp stuck in it, but found nothing. He stuck his spare tube in, re-seated the tire, filled the tube with a CO2 cartridge and remounted the tire and then wheel. Off they went. Six minutes later the tire was going flat again. This time the Wheelsucker told the others not to wait, but he took a spare tube from Stu.
This time he checked the tire more carefully and found two tire cuts, one large enough for the tube to poke through. He booted the tire, reassembled everything and took off up the road by himself.
There was a chase close behind him. Despite his best efforts he was caught by Super Dave and 1-2 others. He continued with them. Then Chris Kick was waiting at the side of the road next to a convenience store and joined the small group. Another 2-3 riders bridged up.
They rolled into the second rest stop, already occupied by ABRT.
After another beverage and rest break, the group was ready to roll out. Rick Paukstitus noticed something on the Wheelsucker's rear tire. It was the tube (borrowed from Stu) and the boot bulging through the tire! A frustrated Wheelsucker redid his work, using a larger and stiffer boot and pumping the tire up to a lower pressure.
The group rolled out.
Once again it was a few ABRTers patrolling the front. There were attacks, chases, and counter moves.
Wheelsucker followed a big strong Artemis rider on the one hard climb. The Artemis rider went hard, getting clear of the group, but a desperate Wheelsucker dug deep and hung on. Wow that hurt! The other rider looked back, saw he was marked, and sat up; the Wheelsucker – who was about to be gapped – gratefully eased up as well. The climb continued and the shrinking lead group rolled by, with the Wheelsucker again digging deep to hold on at the back. Rick P. won the KOM at the top.
There were more attacks, chases and counter moves. Then Patrick Hogan jumped hard and got up the road to the lead vehicle with Rick Tucker. Artemis and V Day riders continued to try to get to them, but no one was going ANYWHERE without an ABRT shadow.
The Wheelsucker does not recall how it happened – he must have been blown from chasing – but somehow Super Dave made it across on his own, joining Hogan and Tucker. The gap opened; the lead three were gone up the road.
The reduced-in-size chase rolled up to the last turn, a sweeping right. The Wheelsucker rolled off the front just before the turn, saw he had a gap, and went hard. Mike Faber cames across to him and said, "go!", but the Wheelsucker didn't have any "go" left.
Faber pulled hard with the Wheelsucker following, but Saba and several other riders including Mark Frazer came across. Saba launched coming out of the traffic circle; the Wheelsucker followed wheels, hoping to come around at the line.
But where exactly was the line?
The Wheelsucker thinks Saba got the sprint in that chase group. And later it was confirmed that Hogan beat Super Dave in the sprint between the lead three.
The end of the ride did nothing to slow down the trash talk, which continued on the FB page for several days after the ride.
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