The Wheelsucker Goes Mountain Biking at Rosaryville State Park

The Wheelsucker is not a mountain biker. Sure, he has a mountain bike – a 2007 Motobecane 26” hardtail - but he has only put just over 700 miles on the bike, and not all of those were off road.

But the ABRTers were going mountain biking, and the Wheelsucker noted that it was an incredibly warm and beautiful day, and riding in the woods would be really cool. So off he went to Rosaryville.

It turned out to be just Stu and Iain, though Sue Estes and some friends were also in the parking lot getting ready to roll. After soliciting advice on tire pressure, the Wheelsucker was off, following Stu and Iain. That lasted about twenty seconds. They were pulling away easily while the Wheelsucker was tiring and going faster than his skills allowed him to ride safely. A couple of almost-wipeouts later and they were gone up the trail. The Wheelsucker continued pushing, hoping that “practice makes perfect” and his MTB skills would improve.

Fortunately for the Wheelsucker, Stu and Iain would stop and wait at all the obvious waiting spots. The Wheelsucker would roll up, Stu and Iain would start pedaling again, and twenty seconds later the Wheelsucker would be riding on his own again. Twice the Wheelsucker rolled out ahead of them, but despite his best efforts would quickly realize he was holding them up, and would pull over to let the past.

At one of these stops the Wheelsucker rolled up gasping, and managed to comment that he was terrible on a mountain bike. Stu replied “but you look good”. Once again it is all about the look for the Wheelsucker (in the absence of any talent …).

Riding the trails on his own the Wheelsucker was trying to decide what he should be looking at, further up the trail to see how the next turn looked, or a short distance in front of him to check for prominent roots or ruts. The correct answer appeared to be both, at the same time. At one point the Wheelsucker lost focus and started considering how much of what we know of Socrates’ teachings is actually from Socrates versus what Plato wanted us to think of Socrates’ teaching, and how much of Plato’s writings are actually Socrates’ ideas and how much are actually original ideas from Plato, but nearly wiping out on a tree root convinced the Wheelsucker he needed to refocus more on riding.

After on lap in the “normal” direction and a short break, they rode the loop in the other direction. This added the excitement as the Wheelsucker would see a cyclist coming right at him from behind the tree that the Wheelsucker was trying to set up to turn at.

In discussion afterwards Sue consoled the Wheelsucker telling him that his challenge was not running tubeless tires at low pressure and needing a more aggressive tread on his tires. Despite Sue’s assurances, the Wheelsucker knows the problem is that he doesn’t know what he is doing. Or as he told Stu, it was a software problem.

The Wheelsucker Does the Baltimore Halloween Critical Mass Ride

What a BLAST!!!!

Getting tired of "going crosseyed and blowing snot bubbles" trying to hold Ace’s wheel when he goes hard for the FIFTH TIME!!? Think you have done the Davidsonville ride routes a few times too many? Do you find yourself looking up and thinking that Steve Owens has been on the front pulling too long? Tired of being dropped on the South Polling House stairstep EVERY RIDE!?

Maybe its time to try something a little different. Take a walk on the wild side; try a Critical Mass ride.

It turns out that the Wheelsucker, for all his earnest appearance, is a wee tiny bit of a closet revolutionary. Not enough to actually get out there and DO something revolutionary, but just enough to look at some situations and think perhaps someone else should start the revolution and fix the situation, while the Wheelsucker quietly cheers from the sidelines.

Having heard about Critical Mass rides, the Wheelsucker had always wanted to do one. They are held in major European and North American cities, typically the last Friday evening of the month. After being frustrated the last two months by being tied up at work on a Friday evening and unable to leave in time to get to Baltimore, this time the Wheelsucker abandoned his co-workers at 5:10pm and raced to Baltimore.

The Baltimore Critical Mass ride, as documented on Meet Up and Facebook, meets at the Washington Monument on North Charles Street. After wasting twenty minutes looking for a parking spot, the Wheelsucker found one, put his fixie together and changed into cycling clothes. Having been warned by cycling friends and team mates (Thanks, Tom!!) that hipsters don’t like lycra-clad racers the Wheelsucker was NOT WEARING TEAM KIT!. He wasn’t even wearing any visible Lycra. He did have cycling shorts on underneath his canvas cargo shorts, which he thought would improve his street cred, but which stood out like a sore thumb; more on this later.

This was the Halloween Critical Mass ride, and riders were encouraged to wear Halloween costumes. The Wheelsucker was not organized enough to come up with a costume and his priority was being seen by drivers, so he wore light colors, a reflective chest strap, mounted lots of lights on his bike, and used a white helmet.



Not knowing Baltimore, the Wheelsucker had to find his way back to the Washington Monument on his bike, but once there joined a group that quickly grew from five riders to over one hundred. The Wheelsucker wasn’t exactly counting, but it was a large group. The Wheelsucker noted that NO ONE was wearing team kit and in fact NO ONE was wearing lycra; most but not all wore helmets. And there were some GREAT costumes. The Wheelsucker’s favorite was a stretchy (read skin tight) reflective silver pair of pants worn by a fetching young lady. She also had a small winged dragon on her right shoulder.

As for the bikes: There were some race bikes, and variations on not-quite-race-geometry road bikes, but there were also pieced together fixies, city bikes, mountain bikes, hybrids, folding bikes, perhaps the only common element being they all had two wheels and handlebars. Brakes were optional, but brakeless fixies were a small minority. After a long cold wait the route for the night was announced.

Not knowing Baltimore, the Wheelsucker was familiar with the destination names, but had no idea where they actually were.

A Critical Mass is not a race. It is not even a hard group ride. This Critical Mass group was not interested in risky riding, but was simply riding at an easy pace on some nice routes in Baltimore. Keeping the group together was a priority. A large group of cyclists riding easy spreads out to about a long city block, so occasionally a green light changes to amber and then red before the entire group has passed. A couple of riders going through the intersection as the light changes simply double back and casually stop in the middle of the intersection such that they block car traffic from entering the intersection from either side even though they have the green light. The rest of the group pedals through, waving and thanking the drivers (and the blockers) for letting them through, and as soon as the group is through the intersection, the blockers follow, and cars are free to flow through.



The Wheelsucker considers that this is technically illegal, but laws aside there are situations on group rides where it is best to consider a group of riders as if it was one entity rather than 100+ individual vehicles, even if local laws are not wise enough to reflect this. Perhaps this will eventually be corrected, but much like the city of Annapolis needing to actually connect the short lengths of “cycling paths to nowhere” such that one could actually ride somewhere in Annapolis on a bike path, the Wheelsucker is not expecting this during his lifetime.

Perhaps the more important question would be how much of a disruption this was to the drivers of the cars forced to wait for 15 seconds at a green light? Well, most people were clapping and cheering as the group rode by, and when we did hear car horns they were typically short tapping blasts that suggested support rather than frustration and anger. How one interprets the meaning of car horns depends in part on whether one is an optimist or a pessimist. And if you were a car driver so annoyed by being delayed for fifteen seconds after your light turned green, TFB (you see, the Wheelsucker is trying to adopt the Critical Mass partly hipster-driven culture).

The Wheelsucker rides almost exclusively on roads. As mentioned above there are no useful – to the Wheelsucker -- bike paths in the Annapolis area; even the B&A trail has a ridiculous speed limit and far too many intersections. So he rides on roads with a healthy paranoia; paranoia fueled by the knowledge that while the majority of car drivers are not actually out to get cyclists (unfortunately a very small number actually are), a significant percentage are not paying sufficient attention (texting, updating facebook and chatting on the phone being more important to them than driving) to assure a cyclist's safety.

The really cool thing about the Critical Mass ride was that the Wheelsucker felt quite safe from cars. The group was so large, and there were so many bike lights (many flashing), that a driver would have had to have been literally blind to not see the cyclists. And the drivers were cool. While the Wheelsucker always tried to pay attention; after all there were about 100 other cyclists to avoid, many sections of Baltimore street were cobbled, and there were the usual major city downtown road hazards to avoid, the ride felt very safe and low stress. Bystanders outside bars and restaurants were frequently cheering the Critical Mass group, with the riders cheering back. The only other times the Wheelsucker has EVER been cheered on a bike, was during a futile late race attack that saw him off the front by himself in a ToWC crit, and once while climbing the Sierra Nevada in southern Spain, with snowbanks on either side of the road. Perhaps the cheering Spanish car drivers saw this as something along the lines of Don Quixote?



While some of the group fit the hipster stereotype, many did not. While no one was “organizing” anything – it was group anarchy – one of the people who posted the start location and time on Meetup was a female bike shop owner who was clearly past 39 years old. She was riding a nice road bike and dressed in Dorothy from Wizard of Oz costume. There were several Captain America/super hero variations, a few bats, a fox, a number of zombies, a helmet decorated to be a skull, and more.

The Wheelsucker continues to be amazed at what an experienced rider can do on a fixie without brakes, including some fun skid turns, track stands, and complete control of the bike in the group. Many – perhaps most – of the group actually used their bikes for transportation all or most of the time, not just for training and recreational racing as the Wheelsucker and most of his team mates do. It occurred to the Wheelsucker that this “parallel universe” of cycling was probably just as credible – maybe more so – than his own.



After riding to several locations including Fells Point, and the downtown “Occupy Baltimore” protest, the group ended up at Baltimore Bicycle Works for the “Alley Cat” race. Right next to major railway tracks and under a bridge, this has the authentic “gritty urban” vibe. The Wheelsucker was confident there were no 1%ers anywhere near the venue.



The Alleycat race was a race to various locations in downtown Baltimore. The racer picked which order they wanted to get to each location in, and had to get their sheet initialed showing they were at that location. While racers were exhorted to ride safely, the Wheelsucker suspected that the approach to winning this race was to know Baltimore like the back of one’s hand, and to ride fearlessly with complete disregard for red lights and car traffic. Not knowing Baltimore and simply unable (perhaps when the Wheelsucker was in his late teens or early twenties) to ride fearlessly, the Wheelsucker declined to participate in the race. But he did video the “le mans” start.





Hanging out at Baltimore Bicycle Works waiting for the race to start was an opportunity to meet some of the riders and chat, and to admire some of the bicycles. One rider was riding a magnificent Jamis carbon and aluminum track bike with American Classic track wheels. Being a true track bike it had shaped and streamlined frame tubes, track handlebars and the seat tube curving around part of the rear wheel. While I was admiring the bike the owner proudly told me he did not own a car, so this was his transportation. And it sounded like he had ridden fixie-without-brakes, in the downtowns of big cities, in the dark, enough to be comfortable doing it. Or maybe his being a twenty-something had something to do with it.

The Wheelsucker is not twenty-something. No one was checking ID (and how well can you judge someone’s age in the dark, while they are wearing a Halloween costume?), but the Wheelsucker suspected he was one of the oldest riders there. While many seemed to be early twenties, clearly some were thirties and forties, and a few were older.

But he was finally spotted when he ventured inside Baltimore Bicycle Works to warm up briefly while waiting for the race to start. Apparently the Wheelsucker’s clothing: cargo shorts hiding his black lycra shorts, a partly clear partly white rain jacket, and highly reflective straps on his chest made someone else inside the store think that the Wheelsucker’s costume was based on the Beastie Boys, so he asked the Wheelsucker if that was the costume, but then taking a closer look at the Wheelsucker he realized the Wheelsucker was old enough to not have grown up with the Beastie Boys. Indeed, the Wheelsucker has heard of the Beastie Boys (from a much younger person he used to sail with), but has no idea what their music is like, or more important, how they dress. He was advised to describe his “costume” as Beastie Boys if anyone asked :-)

Fortunately the Wheelsucker had taken his team mates advice and was not wearing ANY team kit (the ABRT sticker on the top tube of the bike would have been spotted under close examination), and the cargo shorts effectively hid his black Lycra shorts, while the rain jacket and a Patagonia heavyweight zip top hid his black Lycra jersey. But if the “hipsters” held any disdain for a racer trying to be hip – the Wheelsucker has been told that the two groups despise each other -- they hid it well, and the Wheelsucker felt quite welcomed. The Wheelsucker will be back, and encourages his team mates to try the Baltimore Critical Mass ride.

Perhaps you should leave the team kit at home.

More images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/extrudedaluminiu/sets/72157627881248311/

Video: Marc Hartley's video

Alleycat Race Results: http://baltimorevelo.com/2011/10/halloweenscape-alleycat-results-and-photos/

TAKE BACK THE STREETS !!!!

Baltimore Critical Mass Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/106747452707771/

Meetup Biking in Bmore page: http://www.meetup.com/Biking-in-Bmore/

The Wheelsucker Picks the Wrong (or Maybe it was the Right) Rock Creek Park Ride

There are two Saturday Rock Creek Park rides:

The 7:00am ride starts from Beach Drive and East West Highway, uses Clara Barton Parkway (very fast), has a very hard fast climb on McArthur, but the majority of the riders that cannot hang with the rock stars on this climb (and two more) bypass a climb and wait at a regroup point. There is a sprint point and the ride normally eases up from there.

The 10:00am (ish) starts at a gate well south on Beach Drive, but rolls by Beach Drive and East West Highway at roughly 10:15am. It works its way north out of Rock Creek park and eventually out Tuckerman and a few more “in town” roads at a steady pace and then becomes a full on drop-your-buddies-or-just-hang-on-as-long-as-you-can race after a right turn onto a less travelled road, which has some rollers where the ride blows up.

Yes Virginia, you can ride both.

The Wheelsucker has done the 7:00am a couple of times and enjoyed it. He has also done the 10:00am a few times, but only hung with the lead group once. But the Wheelsucker was looking for some intensity and a shorter ride, so decided on the 10:00am Rock Creek instead of Davidsonville.

He parked at the soccer fields at Beach Drive and East West Highway, and rode the route backwards until he saw a likely group or riders coming north on Beach Drive. But it was a smaller group of just over twenty riders. And instead of the crowd of Battley Harley riders, Haymarket riders and DC Velo riders the Wheelsucker was familiar with, there were just two guys wearing Haymarket shorts and Battley/Harley jerseys (does anyone think these teams are REALLY separate?). The Wheelsucker did a quick U-turn and sprinted on to the back of the train and then worked his way into the group where he could hide. Since he saw that the group was rather smaller with the prominent MABRA strong men who usually do this ride conspicuous by their absence, the Wheelsucker asked to make sure it was the correct ride and group. And it was; just without the usual strong men. Apparently a number were at the Wilmington Grand Prix and a lot of others had done the 7:00am ride.

The Wheelsucker knows that the ride doesn’t actually “go” until the right turn onto a low traffic road. But being paranoid the Wheelsucker is never certain, and was careful to stay near the front and close gaps before they grow too large – anything over about 2 bikelengths – for the Wheelsucker to close himself. But this means that the Wheelsucker sooner or later ends up taking a pull.

Since he was riding near the front, the Wheelsucker never actually saw anyone go OTB. It was more that the group became smaller over time. And riders the Wheelsucker remembered riding with earlier, were no longer with the group.

The two Haymarket/Battley Harley riders were apparently plotting how they were going to shatter the group, so the Wheelsucker was careful to not take too many pulls, or pull too hard, and tried to stay on or near one of their wheels. There were moments the Wheelsucker had to dig to stay on a wheel, but he made it past the fearsome rollers, still with the group. And as the ride continued the Wheelsucker slowly started to believe that he might make it to the finish with the lead group. The two Haymarket/Battley Harley riders were taking good solid pulls, and a few other riders including the Wheelsucker were also taking pulls, but no one was looking super strong. And then the two Haymarket/Battley Harley riders called it a day and pulled off. The group was down to about six or seven and the Wheelsucker suspected he was one of the strongest three riders left. Growing less worried about being suddenly dropped, the Wheelsucker started taking longer pulls and then found himself pulling through on the climbs and leading to the top. So the Wheelsucker tried driving the pace almost as hard as an aging Wheelsucker can go at the top of a climb 1:30 or so into a ride. But when he sneaked a peak behind him they were on his wheel. Maybe he shook someone loose, but the stronger guys were right there.
The ride down Tuckerman Lane is always fun. The Wheelsucker jumped and drove hard in the right lane, but was passed by someone who sprinted for the back of an SUV and took the two most of the way down Tuckerman. That’s a move the Wheelsucker is not yet ready to try.

Once back in Rock Creek park, the Wheelsucker was feeling good (and cocky) and got really low and aero and took a decent 300+ watt pull, but as he eased up for a red light the rider behind him (the remains of the group were all still there) told him they usually eased up in Rock Creek park. So a chastened Wheelsucker eased up and rode easy back to East West Highway and his car.

So the question remains, was this surprisingly easy Rock Creek park 10:00am ride the right ride, or should the Wheelsucker have done the 7:00am?

Wheelsucker Data:
Distance: 43.12 miles
Time: 2:04
Speed: 20.91 average, 42.59 maximum
Power: 196 watts average, 826 maximum, 267 normalized
Cadence: 92 rpm average
Best 5 second power: 699 watts
Best 30 second power: 582 watts
Best 5 minute power: 283 watts

Tuesday April 12 Training RideThe Wheelsucker Report

The Wheelsucker REALLY looks forward to the Tuesday Evening World Championship, oops, he means Tuesday Evening Training Ride. So when the weather forecast and radar image was rain and more rain, he was reluctant to blow off the ride.

So the Wheelsucker arrived at the ABRT Ride Staging Area (known to non cyclists as the Davidsonville Park & Ride), and to his surprise, found another ABRTer -- Mike Faber -- there. It was not raining hard at that moment, but upwind the clouds were ominous. Mike and the Wheelsucker had just about convinced themselves that heavy rain was imminent, and they should go home and ride the indoor trainer, when Steve Owens drove in. With a combination of optimism and fatalism the three convinced each other to ride, and rolled out soon afterwards.

With only three riders this became a no-drop, long steady pulls, ride that resembled a three-rider team time trial. While there was some light drizzle from time to time and the roads were wet, the really hard rain held off until after the ride. The three opted to skip the loop portion of the Tuesday/Thursday ride route.

The Wheelsucker took the last long hard pull, Steve Owens launched the sprint from just after the bottom of the last dip and Jim Faber chased him down and passed him to take the sprint.

Where we you?

Wheelsucker Data (from accelerating after turning onto Rossback to sitting up at the sprint when Steve launched):

ride time: 1:11:15
average power: 241 watts
normalized power: 274 watts
average speed 21.97 (on a windy wet rainy day)

The Wheelsucker at the last few Tuesday/Thursday Rides

The daylight savings time season is over and the Tuesday/Thursday rides are gone for another year. But the wheelsucker has good memories from some of the last rides.

On one ride Steve Owens rolled off the front on the downhill immediately after turning left onto Rossback. Liking the early breakaway, the wheelsucker went after him motioning to Brian to grab a wheel. The wheelsucker went straight to the front and took a long and hard (for the wheelsucker) pull. Steve and Brian were both committed, and the three quickly opened a gap. They were well clear at the 214 light and prepared to jump across, but car after car on 214 made this impossible, and eventually the light turned green. They sped across, but the peloton made it across on the same green, and the break was reeled in by the left turn. The wheelsucker needed the rest of the ride to recover. The wheelsucker has vivid memories of Michelle the Merciless getting on the front on her TT/tri bike and setting a pace that had everyone else -- or at least the wheelsucker -- suffering.

On a later ride the wheelsucker was following Ace’s wheel on the two bumps before the left onto Harwood Hill, when Ace pulled off. The wheelsucker (who had been redlined to stay on Ace’s wheel) continued, went into an aero tuck on the downhill and opened the gap. Liking the solo attack and wheelsucker ramped it up on Harwood Hill and the last he saw of a chase was Tom Aga turning left onto Harwood Hill, well behind. The wheelsucker went at low threshold for the rest of the ride, kept checking his six, and never saw a chase. Days later he learned that the peloton had taken the first shortcut, turning off of route 2 onto Polling House. No wonder they never caught him!

The wheelsucker is currently enjoying his "off season" but has started training for the Spain trip. The key to doing well on the Spain trip is having trained for the Spanish Tempranillo wine. The wheelsucker has increased his training load to get a solid base, and will work on “wine intensity” closer to the Spain trip. In addition the wheelsucker is doing high reps/low weight workouts at the gym, in preparation for more weight and plyometrics, closer to racing season.

Tuesday August 24th Training RideThe Wheelsucker Report

Having raced Church Creek on Saturday and starting three races (and only finishing one) at Dawg Days on Sunday, the wheelsucker was a little tired. Taking Monday off the bike had helped, but he still was not feeling fully recovered for the Tuesday Training Ride. This should not have been a problem, as per his coach the wheelsucker could simply sit and avoid working too hard.

So the wheelsucker rolled out at the back of the group, riding tailgun (and yelling "CAR BACK!" and "SINGLE UP!" at appropriate moments) all the way to the route 214.

Either the wheelsucker really was tired, or he was feeling the accordion effect at the back of the group, but the wheelsucker found himself having to drill it to stay on.

Hoping to reduce this effect and concerned about attacks at the front that were too far away for him to get to, the wheelsucker moved up as the group crossed 214 to a position closer to the front.

After weeks of skipping the Queene Anne Bridge Road part of the ride, the group took the left turn up the hill. At the right turn onto Wayson road the group started to break up; not so much from attacks, as from some riders simply not paying attention and not closing gaps. A small group got a gap of a few bike lengths. Michel Wedel decided to close it, and the wheelsucker took the tow up. A hard charging Michel got them to the lead group just as they started up the first of the two bumps. For some reason the wheelsucker thought something might go on the bumps. Michel had been closing at a fast rate, so the wheelsucker had speed and momentum on his side. Coming around Michel he went to nearly full wheelsucker power, charged up the bump and grabbed a wheel to go down the other side and up the next bump. At the top of the second bump it was down to four riders and a big gap.

Big Kyle Pitman (recently of Team 4Mil in the RAAM) started taking long steady monstor pulls, with the other three: the wheelsucker, Steve Owens and a non ABRTer, taking shorter pulls. Going up Harwood Hill no chase could be seen. The four rolled on and each time the wheelsucker checked behind the road was clear. The pace was fast but steady, and not too hard for the wheelsucker, provided he pulled off the front soon enough and went back to wheelsucking.

The four were still clear with no chase in site at the left turn from Sands onto Patuxent River/Harwood. On the climb out of the dip where it floods, the non ABRTer popped. There was a very brief discussion about sitting up and waiting, but the gap to him was significant and surely there was an aggressive chase behind being driven by Ace, Denzil, Stu and others, so the remaining three pressed on. A quick check for clear traffic at 214, and they were across. Kyle was careful to ensure Steve and the wheelsucker were on his wheel before slowly accelerating. When not hyperventilating, the wheelsucker encouraged Kyle to greater efforts by telling him it was only 2,000 miles to go.

The wheelsucker continued taking short-but-hard pulls and pulling off, while Steve Owens would take longer pulls, while Kyle looked like he could pull at a good pace forever and was doing most of the work.

Coming into the sprint the wheelsucker pulled off to maneuver Steve into the lead, and tucked in behind Kyle. Steve pulled most of the flat, down the hill and up the false flat towards the finish line. The wheelsucker waited and waited and finally launched as hard as an aging-wheelsucker-who-has-been-working-in-a-break-for-over-an-hour can launch. Kyle looked over, smiled, and slowly accelerated to pull even and then pull slightly ahead. The wheelsucker changed up to a bigger gear and pushed even harder, but Kyle easily matched the move and slowly pulled ahead to take the win. The wheelsucker crossed second, Steve did not sprint.

The leaders of the chase came up the hill to the Park & Ride a couple of minutes later. While rain had been threatening all afternoon, it held off until just after the group returned to the Park & Ride.

Wheelsucker data (from 214 back to the finish line)
Average Power: 238 watts (max 857 watts)
Average Cadence: 96 rpm
Average Speed: 24.5 mph

So much for sitting in and taking it easy.

The Wheelsucker Hangs On at the Glenelg Ride

Having made it almost to the finish with the lead group (actually, does anyone know where the OFFICIAL sprint line is for the Glenelg ride?) the last time he rode it, the wheelsucker decided to do this ride with his super bling Edge Composite 68mm wheels instead of his lighter AC350s, and using the merely very light CAAD9 instead of the ridiculously light SuperSix, just to see if he could still hang. Just in case this was too much additional weight to get up the climbs, the wheelsucker kept his ultra light skewers on, and wore his lightest helmet.

The more or less usual group rolled out, though this time the wheelsucker left work earlier and arrived earlier, and was ready and even warmed up at rollout, instead of chasing desperately to catch on before the pace ramped up.

The wheelsucker admits to some curiosity about when, where and how the group shrinks, but he is not looking back counting riders, but rather focused with grim determination on the wheel in front of him. But each time the wheelsucker did look back the group was a bit smaller.

Five or six strong riders drove the pace early, in a rotating paceline. Determined to keep something in the tank, the wheelsucker rode behind this group, letting each rider in turn rotate in ahead of him. The wheelsucker felt like each rider gave him a “you lazy bxxxxxd” look as they moved over to the back of the rotating group, but the wheelsucker rationalized that everyone behind him was skipping pulls too.

The hardest part of the ride for the wheelsucker is a double climb combination. The wheelsucker normally goes to his limit on the first, is gapped slightly, chases the last wheel in desperation, gets back on while flying on the downhill section and is then gapped again on the second climb and chasing the last wheel desperately to catch back on and sit in, and recover. But this time either the pace was not quite so high, or the wheelsucker was feeling uncharacteristically strong. Part way up the first climb coach Birner was on the front with a slight gap. Not feeling pressured, the wheelsucker closed the gap and then thought he could go harder. Calling down to the engine room for more revs and power, the wheelsucker spun into a sort of attack, pulling out in front of the other riders on the climb. Of course this started out feeling easy, but things quickly deteriorated. By the top of the climb the wheelsucker’s power and revs were down, his legs were burning and he was gasping for air. And the best climber on the ride – a rider who can gap the field on the climbs and stay away from a Ramon-led chase for miles – was on his wheel. But this worked well, as the wheelsucker let him by, and wheelsucked on the downhill, keeping a gap to the next riders; a gap that proved very useful as the wheelsucker was caught on the last climb, and then managed to grab Ramon’s wheel and hold on to the top. But the group had shrunk on the first climb and was down to less than eight riders. This lead group stayed together on the very fast paceline section through the downhill S curves.

Then there were a few more attacks or at least gaps opened on sharper turns or short climbs. The wheelsucker was riding at the back trying to recover and when the pace suddenly picked up the rider in front let a gap open. That rider sped up but could not close the gap. In mounting panic the wheelsucker waited for a few more seconds, but the gap was opening, and then the wheelsucker came around the rider in front of him and to his surprise crossed the gap and tagged onto the back. That was another rider or two gone from the lead group, but the wheelsucker was still there.

Mike Birner dropped off at some point. Mike is backing off the intensity for awhile in preparation for cross season. A little while later Ramon split off from the group of six or seven, saying he wanted to get some extra miles in. Between gasps for air the wheelsucker managed to retort, "So what are you saying Ramon? This ride is too easy for you?" Ramon politely disagreed.

The lead group was down to five riders for the last part of the ride. At one point super-climber and another rider rolled off the front. The wheelsucker was at the back (usually an excellent place to look for the wheelsucker) thinking that three should bring back two, but the rider at the front of the second group was working hard, but the gap was opening. Finally the wheelsucker blinked and came around and going at his maximum gap crossing power started across the gap. To his surprise he was crossing, but part way there realized one rider had followed him. The wheelsucker made it over and caught on at the back, but had little left. But the lead group was down to four, and the wheelsucker was still part of it. Then the rider who had taken a tow behind the wheelsucker as he bridged, launched. The wheelsucker did not have the willpower to go after him, but one of the riders in front did, and those two were leading by 5-10 bike lengths at a left turn to an uphill sprint. The wheelsucker ramped it up and tried to come around super-climber who was in third on the sprint, but he was betrayed by his aging wheelsucker lungs, legs and brain, and the power started to drop off, and super-climber went by him, and the wheelsucker was fourth of four. But there were a lot of riders riding alone or in small groups, behind the wheelsucker.

Riding (The Last Kilometer) With a RAAM Team

ABRT members were part of two Race Across America (RAAM) teams this year. Several ABRTers were part of the eight rider Team4Mil, while Jeff Gelfand was a member of the four rider doc2doc team (along with Rich Hardart, Garth Smith, and Bill Vickers).

Unfortunately Team4Mil’s RAAM ended abruptly with an RV crash that left them without an RV and with several shaken up (no serious injuries) riders and support team members.

Team doc2doc was more fortunate and arrived in Annapolis shortly after midnight on the 19th of June, just a few minutes behind an eight rider team they had been passing and losing and re-passing all the way across the country.

The wheelsucker had been following both Team4Mil and Team doc2doc on the web and via e-mail, along with other ABRTers was watching doc2doc’s progress closely as they neared Annapolis. With help from Kerri Robbins, team doc2doc’s ETA at the last couple of timed checkpoints was understood. They were expected at the Shell Station on Bestgate road around midnight.

The wheelsucker set his alarm, and when awakened by it, rode out to meet them. Hammering through Annapolis around midnight was fun. Obviously the wheelsucker put lights on his bike (and not so obviously he wore a reflective vest) so he would be seen by the few car drivers on the streets. The evening coolness and quiet was wonderful.

He arrived at the Shell Station on Bestgate Road, (this is the last timed checkpoint and the time to the finish at Annapolis City Dock is not included in the overall time), as the support crew and not-riding-current-shift members of an eight man team that was only slightly ahead of doc2doc arrived and waited for their riding team mates to arrive. Then all eight riders left the Shell station on their bikes, escorted by a RAAM vehicle. Then the doc2doc team support crew and not-riding-current-shift members started to roll in. Everyone was so WIRED to be there at the finish that it initially masked the fatigue, but the fatigue became more evident to the wheelsucker has he watched and spoke with some of them. Support team members appeared even more wired than the riders, particularly two who appeared to have ridden most of thew way across on a Vespa. Then the riders rolled in at a fast pace. There was a short delay to give the eight man team time to get to City Dock and do their ceremonial finish. Doc2doc team member Garth Smith switched to a different bike for the ride to City Dock, using a vintage Colnago given to him by his late brother, which is what started him cycling. There is more about this on the team doc2doc website.

Team doc2doc was joined for the ride to City Dock by ABRTers Kerri Robbins, Ashley Halsey and the wheelsucker. The seven riders followed the official RAAM vehicle down Bestgate road, onto Rowe Boulevard, around Church Circle, down Duke of Gloucester and left to the downtown traffic circle and City Dock. The wheelsucker was trying to convince Ashley to sprint around the RAAM team at the finish, saying he would give him a leadout. But Kerri, Ashley and the wheelsucker pulled off just before the official finish line, letting the four members of doc2doc ride through together.

It was a privilege to meet the team and ride the last short distance with them. The wheelsucker offers his congratulations (and his awe) to the riders on their accomplishment.

The Tuesday Glenelg High School "Training" RideThe Wheelsucker Report

The wheelsucker keeps hoping to get better, and works with a coach in an effort to get the most benefit from his training time. Coach Mike Birner lives just south of route 70, near Glenelg High School, which is where a Tuesday afternoon/evening training ride starts and ends. Though it takes the wheelsucker awhile to drive out there from Annapolis, he gets to ride with his coach (and hopes the coach is watching from time to time and can make some constructive suggestions), and the route is 'hillier' than the Davidsonville rides, and has different strong riders, so is more challenging for the wheelsucker than the Davidsonville rides. Apart from Mike Birner, Ramon Benitez shows up, as well as several other strong riders whose names the wheelsucker cannot remember.

This past Tuesday afternoon traffic on route 32 was terrible, so the wheelsucker rolled into the back parking lot of Glenelg HS after 5:55, and the ride leaves at 6:00… Despite frantically changing and pumping up tires in what had to be a new personal best time, the wheelsucker missed the rollout, and chased frantically to get back on before the pace started to pick up. He barely made it, huffing and puffing.

A group of over 40 rolls out, but the rolling terrain and aggressive climbing by the stronger riders reduces the group all the way through the approximately 1:35 of riding. There are some places on the route where -- for reasons unkown to the wheelsucker but still very appreciated -- the pace slows for awhile, letting a few recently dropped riders back on. The wheelsucker is curious to know how and when the group shrinks, but the wheelsucker is usually fixating on the wheels in front of him and going around riders that are gapped by more than a few inches (so he doesn’t have to close gaps measured in bike lengths rather than inches), so is not actually looking back to see who is going OTB on a climb.

But the wheelsucker does recall struggling near the top of two of the longer climbs and glancing behind to see if there was another wheel to follow if he lost the one he was on at the moment, and seeing NO ONE behind him on one of the climbs, and just Chris Harshman behind him on the other. So the lead group was down to twelve riders or less by this time.

The last time the wheelsucker did this ride a few weeks ago he knew very few of the riders and being unsure who was strong enough to not be gapped (and therefore a good rider to follow), the wheelsucker found himself riding near the front, but trying to avoid taking pulls, always difficult to pull off elegantly.

This time the wheelsucker knew the route better and decided to follow either Chris or Mike when he could. This worked well, though Chris liked to work the front and took several hard pulls early, while Mike was behind the wheelsucker for the first half of the ride and only started to 'show' near the front on some of the climbs when gaps started to open. The wheelsucker did end up rotating to the front a couple of times in the first half, but took a token pull and pulled off, saving his energy for the climbs.

At one point fairly early Ramon and two other riders went off the front on a climb and opened a gap. The wheelsucker went around the riders being gapped and ended up on the wheel of the fourth place rider only to realize that that rider wasn't going to close the gap. Thinking this might be the break of the day, the wheelsucker went to maximum wheelsucker climbing power and pulled around, expending enormous (for the wheelsucker) energy, but could not make it all the way across and then realized the lead group was going to stop at a stop sign anyway, so he sat up. Everyone else had known about the stop sign and avoided wasting the energy!

After making it over the two hardest climbs on the back of the lead group, the wheelsucker started to feel good. He was still finding ways to avoid taking long hard pulls at the front, was feeling a little more rested and the lead group was down to about 11 riders. After a nice fast flat curving section the ride was almost over. Mike had dropped off to ride home, and Chris had sat up. There was not much further to go. One rider was off the front and the wheelsucker started to follow Ramon's wheel, expecting Ramon to jump and go after him. This worked for awhile (though Ramon never actually seriously chased), but following Ramon's wheel closely requires more watts and more surging that the wheelsucker can sustain and the wheelsucker found himself drifting back in the group on a climb and then to his horror a gap opened two riders in front of him. They did not close it. The wheelsucker tried to, but was mostly blown and the gap opened. He quickly dropped the two other gapped riders and chased hard (for an aging wheelsucker), particularly when he saw another lone rider gapped ahead of him, but despite the wheelsucker's best efforts he was slowly losing ground to a group of four riders chasing the lone leader, while only slowly gaining on the single rider in between him and the chase of four. The gap was not large and everyone was in sight when the last climb/sprint came and everyone sat up and soft pedaled back to the high school. So the wheelsucker hung in for about 7th place, except this is a training ride, not a race, remember? ;-)

Monday May 11th Bike Doctor Annapolis RideThe Wheelsucker Report

Badly needing a "feel good" day after crashing on the Thursday training ride and then skipping the Fort Ritchie crit and the Deep Blue TT due to a combination of:
a) not feeling up to racing seriously after the crash
b) having committed to sailing Saturday and having that move to Sunday
c) Ridiculously windy conditions both days for crash victims to race in

The wheelsucker pointed out to his coach that not having raced either weekend day probably meant he did not need a day off the bike recovery day on Monday, and decided to do the Monday Bike Doctor ride.

The few times the wheelsucker has done this ride it has been a "no drop" ride with several regroup points and few riders strong enough to unmask the wheelsucker as the not-all-that-strong poseur he actually is. But just in case, the wheelsucker brought his ultra light Hi-Mod SuperSix with his magnesium American Classic AC300 wheels, no Powertap and only one bottle cage and bottle.

Not this time!

It occurred to the wheelsucker – as he rolled around the parking lot warming up – that with Ace McDermott, Stu Waring, marine Kyle Pittman, Patrick Hogan, Chris Adair, Bryan and a few other clearly strong riders there, an injured-and-trying-to-recover wheelsucker might have to work harder than he wanted to. But the wheelsucker calmed himself down thinking that it was a no drop ride, there were others clearly not as strong as the wheelsucker, and he could sit in at the back, do as little work as possible, use the regroup points to get back with the leaders, and if he felt really good, ramp it up once or twice. "Sounds like a plan!" thought the wheelsucker to himself. And he did roll out at the back and didn't worry as the group splintered on the route 450 climb to the right on Crownsville road.

Chris Adair and another strong rider were also sitting in at the back, but when they started to move up, the wheelsucker stayed on their wheels, doing as little work as possible, but gratefully taking the pull up to the next group. Shortly after the left turn onto Chesterfield road, the wheelsucker closed the last little gap himself to the lead group and hung on remora-like down the hill and up the two climbs to the right turn onto St. Stephen's Church Road. The wheelsucker did ramp it up a bit on the climbs, but aiming to keep within range rather than win the climb, somehow made it onto St. Stephen's within the leading group of three.

There was a short rest in a driveway, cut short when the next group of about seven riders rolled by without stopping. "So much for not dropping the pretty women and a no drop ride", thought the wheelsucker as he carefully tagged on the back of a group of three that chased back on to the other group of seven that had not stopped. Ace was driving the pace with help from Stu, but the wheelsucker was following a decent rider who was following Chris Adair, and with no one rotating through (Ace and Stu were taking LOOONG pulls), the wheelsucker figured Chris would close any gaps that opened in front of him, and all the wheelsucker had to do was stay within range of Chris' rear wheel. AND IT WORKED!!!

Part way down St. Stephen's Church Road there was a small rise, and the wheelsucker suspected that the rider in front of him (wearing a Snow Valley jersey and apparently not a current racer) might pop, and carefully went around him to be directly on Chris' wheel. The Snow Valley rider did make it up that roller behind the wheelsucker, but was gone a couple of rollers later. With the exception of Patrick Hogan who was wearing a Discovery Channel jersey, the lead group looked like an ABRT Team Trial Time effort (there were no non-ABRTers left). And then after hammering up another roller Patrick pulled out and waved those behind him past, and sat up. The group continued to the right on Severn Chapel, with the wheelsucker still on the back, not having taken a single pull.

And then it happened… Ace and Stu decided someone else should pull and the group started rotating. Much too soon Chris was on the front with the wheelsucker on his wheel. Chris pulled to the Waterbury Road climb and started to tire. He pulled off and the wheelsucker sort of pulled through but not going superfast, so the group bunched and others took the lead, allowing the wheelsucker to get back to wheelsucking at the back. The Waterbury Road climb starts a little steep, and then goes to a false flat that goes and goes, and the key is to keep accelerating on the false flat. Ace was doing just that on the front, with riders tiring trying to hang on, and gaps opening.

The left onto Baltimore Hill Road (rather than going another hundred feet and turning left on General’s Highway) was a recent change in the route, and that caused Kyle Pittman to sit up and wait, so at the left it was Ace leading, the wheelsucker in second trying to find an easy way to close the gap, and Bryan, and that was it! Ace declined to slow down much, but the three regrouped after the traffic light at General's Highway (which was green for them and almost certainly turned red before anyone else got there) and hammered down Sunrise Beach Road.

All good things come to an end, and Ace pulled off, and the wheelsucker was obliged to take a pull, leading the other two through the right turn onto Old Herald Harbor Road. But the wheelsucker was careful to make it a short-and-not-very-fast-pull, and quickly flicked his elbow to let Bryan have a go. And Bryan certainly "had a go", going hard and fast and long, while the wheelsucker sat in and recovered. The problem for Bryan was that there is a climb on Old Herald Harbor, and when Bryan pulled off just before the start, Ace and the wheelsucker were ready to climb, and Bryan was red-lined. Bryan popped but an uncharacteristically merciful Ace sat up and suggested the wheelsucker do the same. Knowing that failing to follow an Ace suggestion would probably result in no mercy from Ace later, the wheelsucker took the hint and they soft pedaled up the first climb, allowing Bryan to catch back on. But Bryan seemed determined to get a hard workout, and was back on the front soon enough – probably aided by the wheelsucker pulling off very quickly when it was his turn – just in time to tire before the last climb on Old Herald Harbor. Ten feet before the summit, Bryan gasped that he was done and the others should continue. The wheelsucker told him he had eight feet to go to the top, and Bryan hung on and caught back on at the right turn onto River Road. There is one smaller roller early on, and then River Road is a gentle downhill to water level, and then slowly climbs up, and transitions to false flat and then gets steeper, before a hard right swing into a short wall to the right turn on Old General’s Highway. Ace drove the pace most of the way down, and then pulled off in favor of the wheelsucker. The wheelsucker knew he had to get off the front and recover well before the wall, so took another wussy not-very-fast-not-very-hard-and-not-very-long pull before rotating to the back and then recovering while watching Bryan commit cycling suicide by driving the pace up the false flat. Watching this in amazement the wheelsucker was finally compelled to tell Bryan to pull off and save himself, but it was too late for Bryan. Ace took the lead just about where the false flat starts to steepen. The wheelsucker had recovered, had shifted his gears, and was ready to hang on like grim death, while Bryan had no chance, and popped before the right turn. Ace "Cancellera" McDermott took the turn in a relatively high gear and without getting out of the saddle or even visibly straining, ground it out at a slow cadence. Behind him the wheelsucker would push a gear until he couldn't push it anymore, then shift down one gear and repeat. And slowly but inexorably the gap started to open. Ace continued to climb at a good pace, while the wheelsucker was spinning faster and faster, in a lower and then lower gear trying to accelerate up the climb. Ace had a nice gap at the top and simply kept the power on as he turned onto Old General's Highway, turning a small gap into a huge one as a blown wheelsucker caught his breath and rolled after him. The wheelsucker was resigned to waiting for Bryan while Ace rolled away on his own, but traffic forced Ace to wait at the left turn onto Honeysuckle, and he then waited for Bryan. When they reformed, the wheelsucker was careful to make sure he was on the back, and so was rested enough to make it up the short climbs on Honeysuckle to the left turn on Crownsville Road. And of course, Ace was leading. Once on Crownsville, Ace pulled off and the wheelsucker, thinking the ride was almost done, the road was flat, and Bryan was tired, took a longer, faster, harder pull (for the wheelsucker) and was rewarded for his efforts by very nearly not making it back on when he pulled off shortly before the left turn back onto 450/Defense Highway. Fortunately Ace was in a benevolent mood and did not push the pace on the climb out on 450 and announced at the left onto Housley Road that he was spinning in his small change ring the rest of the way. The wheelsucker sighed gratefully to himself and he and Bryan rode easily with Ace the rest of the way back to the parking lot. The rest of the group rode in later, mostly in small groups.

All in all a good ride for the wheelsucker. And it turns out Ace was going easy, as he was thinking of the Tuesday ride and racing Greenbelt on Wednesday.

Monday Bike Doctor RideThe Wheelsucker Report

After being taken out by crashes in two of the three races he had done so far this year, the wheelsucker was tired of being beaten up in racing. He was also tired of the struggle to make the winning break on the Tuesday ride. The solution was to find an easier ride …

The Monday Bike Doctor Annapolis ride is a "no drop" ride in the Crownsville area; there a few short climbs, and it is generally "rollier" than the Tuesday/Thursday route, with fewer strong riders and a much wider range in skills, abilities and speeds; best of all, the ride regroups at several locations to let everyone catch on.

The wheelsucker arrived at Bike Doctor Annapolis early, got the bike ready, and got his game face on while carefully checking out the competition. There were several younger guys wearing team jerseys the wheelsucker had not seen before. Several of these riders drove the pace early, while the wheelsucker reverted to sitting in and using his "don’t drop the pretty women" line. The wheelsucker was careful to ride at least 5th or 6th wheel, letting others do the work. But the wheelsucker did move closer to the front on the climbs to be sure he was there if anything happened, but nothing did happen, and the wheelsucker was careful to not win those climbs and to save his match sticks for later.

After the first regroup point, Stu Waring rolled off the front on his TT bike. The wheelsucker was well back, wheelsucking. Michelle Faurot was riding just a few riders back from the front and saw the gap opening. She went to a strong uphill sprint to try to close the gap. The wheelsucker saw this playing out, waited for the top of the short hill and then went to maximum sustainable wheelsucker power and slowly started to accelerate. Just about the time Michelle was running out of steam the wheelsucker rolled by. With careful pacing the wheelsucker made it across the not-yet-too-large gap to Stu's wheel, leaving everyone else. And then the wheelsucker sat on Stu's wheel, and sat, and sat. And then Stu pulled off! After a brief discussion initiated by the wheelsucker asking why he should pull at all, the wheelsucker shrugged and pulled through, taking a not-very-hard pull. Stu merely waited until the next short roller, came around the wheelsucker and ramped up the power. The wheelsucker thinks he could have gone with Stu, but was also thinking this was supposed to be a 45 minute z1 recovery ride per his coach, and perhaps going to max wheel sucker power to stay with Stu on the climb, early in the ride, was not really necessary. At least that is the wheelsucker's story, and he is sticking to it!

The wheelsucker sat up and went easy up the hill while Stu sprinted away down the road. Continuing at a good-but-not-hard pace the wheelsucker was slowly caught by the main field led by Chris "Jens Voight" Adair.

The group reformed after going down the hill, through the stop sign and through the right turn. Stu had sat up to wait for everyone else. And then the young guns ramped it up at the front. The group was quickly in single file with the wheelsucker tucked in well back, doing almost no work. And then a gap opened two or three riders in front of the wheelsucker. Still being quite fresh, the wheelsucker went to full sustainable wheelsucker power and to his amazement and satisfaction, powered by the two or three riders in front of him and quickly started to close the gap. But he did not have to go all the way, because Chris "Jens Voight" Adair was also crossing the same gap, and the wheelsucker only had to get to Chris' wheel, not close the entire gap himself. This worked remarkably well, and the wheelsucker was only slightly winded when he found himself safely on the back of the lead group of five riders or so.

After a sweeping right the lead group was at one of the wheelsucker's favorite places on the route; a short steeper section, then a longer medium steepness section and then a false flat to where the road ends in a T on Crownsville Road. The young guns drove the pace early, but the wheelsucker was careful to be close, and as the young guns eased up on the medium steepness portion, the wheelsucker kept going. Not as fast as he could of course, just fast enough to be in the lead by a wheel, and able to go if he needed to. But no one went, and the wheelsucker slowly ramped up the power doing just enough to keep his one wheel lead, and then gratefully made it to the stop sign, first.

After another long wait for the tail enders, the group turned right on Crownsville road heading back to General's Highway. The leaders rolled out first, while the wheelsucker waited for the last two riders. The leaders accelerated a bit. This opened a gap and all of a sudden it appears that some serious chasing would be necessary, but Chris "Jens Voight" was just ahead and the wheelsucker carefully rolled up to his wheel and then, when Chris stood to accelerate, the wheelsucker carefully held his wheel and took the fast tow up to the leaders. There was another long wait at the traffic light where the group turns left onto General's Highway. Soon after the green light the group was strung out in single file and once again the wheelsucker was sitting near the back doing no work, but a gap opened two riders in front of him. The wheelsucker asked the rider in front of him if he was going to go around and close the gap. The wheelsucker did not hear a reply. Reluctantly he called down to the engine room for maximum sustainable wheelsucker power, checked there was a gap in traffic, pulled out across the white shoulder line, and ramped up the speed. He quickly rolled past the gapped rider, encouraging her to grab a wheel. In no time at all, without working very hard, the wheelsucker was safely back on a wheel at the back of the lead group. Just in case the wheelsucker was tired, there was another rest at a red light, and then the group rolled up the General's Highway shoulder towards Honeysuckle. By now the wheelsucker was warmed up and feeling strong, and sensing fatigue in others. Still on the General's Highway shoulder he closed a small gap to a lone rider ahead, and when that rider pulled off, the wheelsucker took a decent pull, which shattered the group again. At the right turn onto Honeysuckle the wheelsucker sat up to rest and Chris Adair hammered down the road and up the climb. The relatively fresh wheelsucker ramped up the speed in pursuit, stood up for the climb and easily chased Chris down, but carefully sat up and slowed just before passing Chris. The other strong riders caught up, and the remains of the group hammered back to General's Highway, with the wheelsucker once again doing no work, at the back.

Then there was a right turn onto General’s Highway and some fast pulls back towards the Bike Doctor Annapolis store. Having done almost no work in the ride except for two or three short efforts, the wheelsucker was feeling good, and when he got to the front, he layed it down pushing at 300 to 400+ watts for a solid pull. When he flicked his elbow and pulled off shortly before the Ram's Head Roadhouse, no one left in the lead group would pull through, and other riders looked at each other for a few seconds while the wheelsucker soft pedaled on the front. Eventually Stu Waring on the TT bike came through and took a pull.

It was an easy ride back to the Annapolis Bike Doctor, and the wheelsucker took it easy and marveled at how much fun it was to be one of the stronger guys on a training ride.

Thursday March 18 Training RideThe Wheelsucker Report

There is nothing like the first nice warm sunny day coinciding with the first official Tuesday/Thursday ride to bring everyone out of the woodwork ... A large group gathered in the Park & Ride for the first evening training ride of the season. It was sunny and almost 70 degrees, so most were wearing shorts and short sleeved jerseys, though a few long sleeved jerseys and arm warmers were being worn by those who could not quite believe the weather.

The wheelsucker was committed to doing his scheduled workout, a single twenty minute interval at 80-90% of his threshold power, so rolled out with the group, riding at or near the back. Either the wheelsucker is out of shape, or he has not recovered from the Spain training camp, or the group was not really doing a warmup; the wheelsucker was going 500+ watts one minute to close a gap in front of him, and on the brakes the next, to avoid running into the back of the riders ahead of him.

Shortly after crossing 214, the group took the normal left turn from Patuxent River Road onto Queen Anne Bridge, but the wheelsucker continued on and started his interval at the bottom, then climbing up the hill and taking the right turn onto Sands. So while the wheelsucker was riding twenty minutes at a nice steady and easy pace, the rest of the group was hammering up the road on the normal route.

The wheelsucker's interval ended after he turned left on Bayard and passed the Polling House turn where the ride rejoins Bayard. He turned around and waited for the group. The first riders to go by were dropped riders who had short-cutted; the wheelsucker let them go. The next to roll by were Stu and Matt on their TT bikes; they had rolled out late and presumably short-cutted as well. The wheelsucker rolled slowly and easily along the ride route, waiting to be caught by the front of the group. And then, looking back, he saw a non-ABRT uniform on a rider working hard. It was Lance Lacy in his Hayfever uniform. Lance rolled by panting, "I've been off the front since route 2!" Not far behind Lance the wheelsucker could see an ABRT chase of 5-6 riders. He joined those (at the back), and once everyone else had rotated off, found himself on the front of the chase. This is normally a worrisome situation for the wheelsucker; people are expected to pull when on the front. But the wheelsucker had not gone hard yet and was very fresh, while everyone else was on the rivet from the chase. The wheelsucker slowly ramped up the pace and took a long 300+ watt pull that brought the chase most of the way up to Lance. Thinking that someone else would like the glory of reeling in Lance -- and not wanting to over tire himself -- the wheelsucker pulled off and let the next rider in line, Alex Pline, take over. It took Alex awhile to pull the group up to Lance, and Alex was standing up and going as hard as he could by the time he passed Lance, and pulled off. Lance simply grabbed the wheel of a rider rotating back and hung on. The group slowed slightly now that Lance had been caught, and then a few moments later, Lance went again. The wheelsucker was still very fresh, and several of the other ABRT riders were still strong, so they quickly chased Lance down, but Alex had pulled a little too long and was gapped and dropped.

The ABRTers were content to let Lance drive the pace, but as he dropped down into the dip before the climb to the left turn back onto Patuxent River, the wheelsucker looked back at Denzil and asked him how he felt. Denzil replied that he was good, so the wheelsucker told him he was going coming out of the dip. Lance was still driving the pace at the bottom and starting up the climb, but the wheelsucker pulled out, went to full wheeslucker power, stood up and sprinted (well, a sprint for the wheelsucker) up the short climb. This is normally a part of the route that Lance can easily hammer up (Lance has gapped the wheelsucker many times here), but Lance had ridden 80+ miles by this point in the day, and the wheelsucker had been going hard for all of four minutes, so the wheelsucker opened a small gap. Unfortunately there was no Denzil or anyone else on his wheel.

Now the wheelsucker may have been feeling good, but he was not feeling so good that he thought he could ride away from Lance and four to five ABRT riders including Steve O., Denzil and Ty. But looking up the road a short distance the wheelsucker saw two short cutters, Hef1 and a new junior member, and he yelled at them to jump. Shortly after making the left onto Patuxent River road the wheelsucker caught on with these two and wheelsucked while catching his breath. Hef1 was driving the pace, but it was not quite fast enough to hold off Lance and the chase pack. The wheelsucker reluctantly pulled through and set the pace, but he felt compelled to go easy enough that he would make it up the next climb, and that was not fast enough; Lance and the chase caught the wheelsucker, Hef1 and the junior just before the dip.

So the wheelsucker found himself on the front, climbing a hill, with strong riders behind him. Sure enough Lance jumped 2/3 of the way up, with Steve Owens going after him "with grim determination". The wheelsucker was still relatively fresh -- he had been going hard for all of six minutes total at this point -- so was able to ramp it up, catch onto Steve's wheel, and roll around Steve onto Lance's wheel when Lance gapped Steve at the top of the climb. Lance was sitting up as he was turning right on 214, so the wheelsucker gratefully sat up and the group merged again at the 214 traffic light. At this point, with Lance gone, it could have been an easy ride to the finish, but just up the road were the two TT bike riders. The chase crossed 214, took a good drink from their water bottles and got back into pursuit mode. Again the wheelsucker pulled them part way there, but got off the front before tiring. The group reformed with Stu and Nat at the front, Hef1, Ty, Denzil, Steve and the wheelsucker (the junior did not make it across 214 with this group, but joined up with Alex). Stu and Matt were able to go quite fast on their TT bikes, and there was some work to be done closing small gaps. The wheelsucker managed to avoid most of this work, letting Hef1 handle it until he popped, and then letting Ty have a go until Ty hit a pothole hard and pulled out of line. By now the group was on the short flat before the last dip and the sprint. Stu led to the bottom and pulled off for Matt. The wheelsucker was on Matt's wheel, perfectly positioned to ride hard, hold his wheel until the last few meters and then try to come around him, but the wheelsucker's legs were reporting ongoing Spain fatigue so when Matt launched into his sprint, the wheelsucker sat up and soft pedalled for the line, still crossing second.

Single riders and small groups of riders were rolling into the Park & Ride for some time after the lead group arrived. It was still warm and sunny and everyone was so pleased to be back on their bikes doing a group ride, that many hung out in the Park & Ride chatting with friends, until after dark.

Team Training Ride, Views From the Front and Back: Wheelsuckers in Agony

This report comes to you as a combo report from THE Wheelsucker, who is always desperate to be at the front and the fixie wheelsucker who was just trying to survive on the wrong bike.

The Saturday after the party was a please-come-if-you-can team ride with the entire group riding together for awhile, and then splitting into 20, 30 and 60 mile rides, the latter with "no-dropping-anyone-who-does-not-know-the-route" and "take-no-prisoners" variants. The twist for the 60 mile riders was that the normal Saturday ride route was ridden backwards.

The whole group, probably 40 riders or so, rolled out of the parking lot at a nice leisurely pace for all abilities. The group was a little smaller than expected because of a little overnight snow that left the roads clear but very wet. This factor led to Alex Pline, the fixie wheelsucker, riding his fixie because he has a brand new drive train on his road bike and didn't want to muss it up. The first split was at the corner of Waysons Road and Harwood Road, just before Harwood Hill where the 20 mile group looped around back to the park and ride. The 30/60 mile groups continued at a civilized pace for a little while longer but shortly after turning onto route 2 the 30 mile group split off on Polling House lead by Doug Shapter, who, contrary to popular belief, has not forgotten how to ride his bike.

The 60 mile group turned onto Owensville Sudley Road and stopped for what Paul Sherwin calls a natural break, which allowed a few riders to get up the road. The chase back was interesting as the pace heated up over the rollers and eventually going hard by the dump. Both wheelsuckers were carefully sucking Ace's wheel but being ridden off it as Ace pushed up a short hill to close with the leaders. There were several WOOSHING sounds as other riders went down what it typically a long slog uphill to the dump, but the wheelsucker made it up to the lead group somehow, as did most others. However, the fixie wheelsucker tried desperately to suck wheels at a very high cadence after experiencing a LOT of whooshing sounds thinking it's awfully early in the day to be riding alone. But he did manage to catch back on at the stop sign at 258, even though he realized he would be left for dead over the impending wall with his 76 gear inch rig.

Most riders knew the wall was coming and everyone was getting ready. The wheelsucker was sitting in, wheelsucking near the front as the group flew down the wall we climb on a normal Saturday ride and then started up the other side. The wheelsucker went to full wheelsucker power to hold wheels on the climb. Full wheelsucker power wasn't enough. It wasn't even close to enough. The group splintered, with the strongest in a lead group, Aaron dangling behind, the wheelsucker dangling further behind him, Tom Aga just behind the wheelsucker and the fixie wheelsucker flailing with a few riders complaining they were stuck behind the fixie. In this direction the climbing does not stop once the wall part is done; there is a false flat all the way to the sharp left turn on Leitch Road to go downhill by the horse farm. The wheelsucker could see Aaron disappearing up the road but hoped to keep it close enough that he could catch on the descent. Part way to the turn Tom Aga came around him and accelerated up the road and the wheelsucker could not stay on his wheel. Aaron and Tom made it up to the lead group, but the wheelsucker did not. After what seemed like an interminable chase down Leitch Road and onto Town Point Road, the wheelsucker had to sit up, and almost immediately there were more whooshing sounds as riders went by, before the wheelsucker recovered enough to grab a wheel. The fixie wheelsucker, if you could call him that because there were no more wheels to suck, resigned himself to accept the consequences of his choice to ride a fixie and ride as hard as he could hoping to find the group at the Dash-In before they left again, knowing the trip back north would be very hard alone into the wind.

There is a bit of a downhill as the route descends on Fairhaven to the water (small pond on right side this direction), followed by the climb up Fairhaven to the left on Friendship Road. The group the wheelsucker had tagged onto ramped it up for the climb. The wheelsucker took one look at his power meter and knew he could not hold close to that power all the way up, so continued at his sustainable pace while the others climbed away. But the wheelsucker's pacing wasn't bad and several of them came back quickly enough when they faded. At the end of Friendship Road, the wheelsucker was with a group of four. They shared pulls and the chase froup hammered into Herrington Harbor where they saw the reformed lead group stopped in a parking lot adjusting Nat Thompson's bike. SAVED thought the wheelsucker. The fixie wheelsucker, went as fast as possible up the climb and down the hill. To his surprise the group was still there. The ride from there to the normal rest stop was reasonably paced, though the wheelsucker needed a red light at the top of the second climb on 260 to catch back on. The fixie wheelsucker, made the best of still being in the group and tried to rest as much as possible, staying somewhat comfortably in the group and trying to keep his speed comparable (not always easy on rolling terrain), so as not to piss off his geared brethren.

The easy pace continued after the rest stop, while Tom Aga easily rolled off the front and up the road. The wheelsucker, carefully staying within his capabilities, went after him and Tom waited at the route 2 traffic circle. The two had a short period off the front, riding into the wind on Sandsbury Rd, but then the rest of the peleton showed up, and then there was another WOOSHING sound as a break of three or four went by on the Wilson Rd downhill. The wheelsucker tried to go after them, but didn't make it on, and faded on the climb out. Then there were more WHOOSHING sounds as riders working to bridge up to the break went by. The wheelsucker was spent and wasn't able to grab a wheel for awhile, but did catch on with Mike Wagner, Tom Aga and Mike Schneider. They traded pulls, working hard, but relying on Mike to take the longest pulls. The fixie wheelsucker figured he would loose all wheelsucking opportunities on the upcoming climb on Wilson Road, but nonetheless hoped that being up front on the downhill and executing "the fade" up the hill would be enough to still have some company when all was said and done. No such luck and he was resigned to fighting the headwind for the last 20 miles alone.

The lead group slowed on 408 and were within close range when they turned right for the downhill on Ed Prout. The wheelsucker pulled the chase the last short distance to close on the downhill, worked his way inside the group and tried to hide and recover. But it wasn't long on Sands before the pace ramped up and the wheelsucker was spat out the back again. Soon enough the same four riders reformed a chase group and managed to keep it close enough that the 214 light entered play, though the wheelsucker's chase group splintered on the climb out of the flooding area with Mike trying to catch the lead group on his own.

Meanwhile at the back, the fixie wheelsucker caught a glipse of a few riders very far up the road on McKendrie and thought there may be some hope. He kept as much power on as possible and little by little started to close the gap until finally on one of the rollers on 408 made the final bridge to a group of four who were all working together. This was welcome relief and after sitting in to recover, worked with that group up to the end.

Back to the lead group -- with Mike -- waiting at the 214 light. As the chase came within range the light changed to green. As you may know the 214 light does not stay green in the Patuxent Parkway direction for long! The wheelsucker called down to the engine room for maximum power and sprinted for the light; he was at maximum wheelsucker speed when the light changed to amber, but he and Mike Schneider made it across, abandoning Tom Aga who stopped for the light. Mike and the wheelsucker sprinted up to the back of the lead group and tried to hide. Sitting at the back and not taking any pulls allowed the wheelsucker to recover enough that he could make it up the few short climbs on the way to the finish line without being dropped. He was still with the group, riding right at the back, as they went down the penultimate dip. Now the wheelsucker knew that most of the riders in the lead group were going to outsprint him, so the wheelsucker went for his favorite (actually his only) move, pulled out of line part way down the dip, dove left for the yellow lines, and went to full wheelsucker power. Hammering up the hill as hard as he could (which wasn't much as the wheelsucker was basically knackered at this point), the wheelsucker opened a gap. Since most riders were positioning for the sprint, were not taking the wheelsucker seriously, or were not even bothering, only one rider came after the Wheelsucker. Will, having taken the short cut at Boyds turn to rejoin the group at the end, powered up the climb out of the dip and was quickly onto the wheelsucker's wheel. The wheelsucker had nothing left and slowed up letting Will by and then sucked his wheel all the way across the flat and then down the final dip. Amazingly they still had a gap as they started the false flat rise to the finish line. Will pulled hard and then pulled off. The wheelsucker was too tired to actually sprint, but went to what he could hold to the line – perhaps 400 watts – and went for it. He sneaked one glance shortly after going by Will and still had the gap. Then, within meters of the finish line there were two WOOSHING sounds as Ace and Stevie Wonder went flying by. The wheelsucker rolled across third as no one else was still sprinting.
 
The aging wheelsucker wonders what his difficulty with this ride means for his hopes of being able to race 123 races. There are 50+ racers who race race 123 and be a factor in them; Art Brown can do it, so can Mark Sommers. So far the wheelsucker cannot. At the back, the fixie wheelsucker was told that riding a fixie on the Team Ride Saturday was a "bold" move, but he thinks the more appropriate word would be "stupid".

Roller Racing: Round Two

With snow still on the ground, and a forecast for more this weekend, and too much time on the indoor trainer and rollers recently, the wheelsucker needed a good excuse to ride. And a RACE was a great excuse! So off to week two of Roller Racing at Bobby Phillips place!

The group was two riders larger this week, but the format (races are very short) allows for a large group of people to race in one evening.

For some reason the five lap races are done first; that is very hard. Then the 2.5 lap races are done; these are hard but doable. Then the 10 lap races are done after everyone is tired. The wheelsucker found himself having difficulty standing, and having to sit down and hyperventilate, after efforts of about 1:09 and 00:29; that is one minute and nine seconds (which seemed an eternity at the time) and twenty-nine seconds.

Everyone says it is not about who beats whom, but about improving week to week. Who are they kidding? The wheelsucker – at least – checks his times against those of the others.

In addition to thanking Bobby for holding the wheelsucker’s bike on the rollers so that the wheelsucker did not ride off them in his efforts, the wheelsucker would like to thank Dave Bradshaw for arranging the spectacular bang-and-hiss flat on his bike, just as Stu Waring was getting rolling on Stu’s ten lap run. This was enough to put Stu off his game and opened the door for the wheelsucker to set a strong ten lap time. The wheelsucker owes Dave a leadout for this.

This is a lot of fun, absolutely no skill or prior experience is required. You can ride road bikes, road bikes with aero wheels, or fixies/track bikes. You could probably ride a child’s bike with training wheels if that was all you could handle. If one owns a set of rollers, bring them over to warm up on. Bobby makes it all work.

Speaking of Bobby Phillips; the man is unbeatable at roller racing by mere mortals; he makes a ridiculously high cadence look easy. Riding the rollers with no hands? Easy! Changing shirts while riding with no hands? No problem.

Bobby is inviting everyone back for more next week, and reports: Good turn out of 6 riders. See you guys next week at 7 PM. Steve O. and Ace.

The Wheelsucker Goes Roller Racing

As the wheelsucker reported last year http://abrtcycling.blogspot.com/2009/02/roller-racing-wheelsucker-branches-out.html, part of his winter 'training' is roller racing at Bobby Phillips' place. The 2010 roller racing season started last night, chez Phillips.

Bobby makes it clear than ANYBODY – and he means ANYBODY – can show up and do roller racing. You do not need ANY prior experience on rollers. Actually, you don’t need to be able to ride a two wheel bicycle by yourself. You do not need a track bike or fixed gear bike. You may wish to bring a bike and cycling shorts, but I suppose even those are optional. Bobby will make it happen, regardless of your experience and skill level. With most roller racers Bobby holds the bike at the seatpost and head tube and makes sure they stay on the rollers.

The wheelsucker fancies himself a little more experienced a year after he first tried roller racing. He now has his own rollers and can ride for 30+ minutes (going easy) at a time without riding off them. But he does ride in a hallway with walls on either side, and does have to fend off either wall from time to time. And reaching for a water bottle or trying to wipe sweat off his face is more than his current roller riding ability allows. Riding without ever getting out of the saddle and without wiping one's forehead is harder than actually riding rollers, and what actually limits how long he can ride the rollers.

The wheelsucker had his fixed gear bike set up to race on the track and did that twice, so now fancies himself a track rider. So this year, instead of roller racing on a road bike, the wheelsucker is riding his fixed gear/track bike.

As per Bobby, if one is riding a road bike roller racing, one uses the 53x15. If riding a fixed gear or track bike, one uses a 50x14; the gear inches are almost the same.

So imagine the wheelsucker warming up on his fixed gear on the rollers. He can ride the rollers at a medium pace and he looks fine, but when he goes as hard as an aging wheelsucker can, his ability to steer the bike is compromised; and compromised enough that he probably won't stay on the rollers for long. Fortunately this problem is not the wheelsucker’s alone; other riders have similar issues; hence Bobby holding the headtube and seatpost.

Last night riders did not go head to head (which the double rollers setup allows) but just raced for time. The wheelsucker’s first run was for one mile, which is five laps (five circuits of the dial). Having warmed up for slightly over two minutes and fifty seconds, the wheelsucker thought he was ready. The timer counted 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... GO! and the wheelsucker launched, getting from stopped to a cadence of 181 (He is NOT making this up!) in seven seconds. Unfortunately that was the peak cadence and speed for the entire one mile run. If one were to look at the graph from the wheelsucker's Powertap, cadence and speed decline steadily except for one last lame burst for the last three seconds. Minimum cadence after the initial acceleration was 143; average for the race was 121 (this is from a standing start). One would think that racing for approximately one and a half minutes could not be that hard; one would be wrong!

There were only four riders Monday evening: Bobby, his friend Carl, Stu Waring and the wheelsucker, and the races are over quickly. Bobby’s setup can accommodate many more riders. The wheelsucker hopes to see more ABRTers next Monday evening.

A Tale of Two Ellicott City Fixie Rides

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times … it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …"

Two Ellicott City fixie rides on successive days were very similar in some respects for the wheelsucker and very different in others. 

Saturday:
Just two riders started; Jay Murphy and the wheelsucker. The first good climb and longest of the ride is up Bonnie Branch. Jay opened a gap at the bottom of the climb, and the wheelsucker was immediately gapped, and could not close it despite going as hard as he could. The wheelsucker was sneaking peaks at his HR on the computer and calculating how far from his max HR he was, to distract himself from the pain. The HR varied slightly with the steepness of the climb, but gradually rose. Fifteen beats from max, then twelve, then near the top, seven. The wheelsucker could see Jay and was within easy site range at the top, but Jay had to wait for him. This was the pattern for the rest of the ride, Jay continued to push the pace on the climbs to ensure he got a workout, and the wheelsucker was gapped on every climb over a few seconds, was maxed out at the top of every climb, and would have to chase, while Jay would slow up and wait. Jay reported feeling stronger than he had a week or two earlier after some good workouts; the wheelsucker quietly lamented Jay’s form to himself.

Jay cut off part of the airport loop, so they returned to Ellicott City earlier than normal and then went up several steep climbs in Ellicott City. You thought Ilchester was bad? How about riding up a salt covered road so steep one needed to stand, but could not, because the back wheel would break loose when one did, or an unpaved two rut laneway that went through a mud pool at a low spot. The wheelsucker finally called "uncle" due to right ankle pain, when they dropped into Ellicott City at the bottom of a descent. The truth is he was exhausted, and nearly cross eyed on the climbs, and despaired of being able to stay with Jay. The wheelsucker went home, sat in a hot bathtub for awhile, and then went to bed to rest. The rest of the day was nearly a total loss, as he tried to recover

Sunday:
Six riders rolled out, but one dropped out very early after a flat. That left Mike Birner, Chris Harshman, Marc Frazer, Eric and the wheelsucker. Eric was riding a road bike, which is OK with this ride's rules as long as the large chain ring is not used. Even being able to coast on the fast downhills instead of spinning as fast as one dared looked great to the wheelsucker.

Mike was leading at the start of the Bonnie Branch climb but pulled off and the wheelsucker pulled through. Having done the same climb the day before, the wheelsucker was confident he could hold 158 bpm for at least part of the climb and was also expecting to tire quickly after the hard ride the day before, so kept rolling while he could. After a minute or two the wheelsucker started to wonder if he was killing himself towing the rest up the climb, so he sneaked a peak under his arm, and didn't see a front wheel. Now Bonnie Branch has some nice curves, and when the wheelsucker looked back more carefully, there was no one in site. Winning a climb that no one else contests may be a bit lame, but the wheelsucker will take whatever crumbs he can, so kept going hard. There is a road coming into Bonnie Branch from the left just before the very top, and when the wheelsucker turned the last corner, saw that road and saw no one behind him he stood and gave it all he had left, winning the climb (over a group that probably wasn't contesting it) by 20 seconds (yes, the wheelsucker timed it). The wheelsucker will take what he can get. Average and max HR were a beat or two below that on the same climb Saturday.

The rest of the ride was good for the wheelsucker, the pace on the climbs was slightly easier, and the wheelsucker could usually hold a wheel, or failing that quickly chase down after the top, confident that he was not the last rider at the top of the climb, going off the back. The wheelsucker finished the ride feeling good, with better hopes for the coming season than on Saturday.

The 38x15 gear was working well both days, allowing the wheelsucker to stay with the others on the fast downhills. The light rain on Sunday kept the roads and riders wet, and increased the wheelsucker's concerns on the downhills. On one occasion Mike and Chris contested a downhill sprint and went by the wheelsucker like he was standing still. Mike's high cadence for the day was an incredible 194 set on the long downhill back into Ellicott City on Frederick road. The wheelsucker recalls braking on this descent (and on many other descents) as he was uncomfortable spinning any faster on the wet curved road.

The wheelsucker’s guidelines for surviving the Ellicott City Sunday (and occasionally Saturday) fixie ride:

Do whatever you have to get rid of Jay; Jay was flying out of town for the week so could not ride Sunday. Jay's good days will make one suffer!

Don't believe Mike Birner when tells you a 39x16 will work. Unless you have an amazing ability to spin, you won't be able to hold experienced fixie riders on the downhills with a lower gear, especially when they can spin rather higher than you can. The gear you want is 38x15, or whatever is nearly identical in gear inches. It might interesting to try a slightly higher gear to make the downhills easier, and trying to hang on the uphills with the bigger gear.

Conserve energy and wheelsuck as much as possible (of course this comes naturally to the wheelsucker).

Ensure someone a little weaker than you is doing the ride. Some heavier riders who struggle on the climbs or some pretty women in Lycra (remember: don't drop the pretty women!) who may not be quite as strong as Jay and Mike will cause the group to wait at the top of the climbs, or at the bottom of fast descents, and one can catch one's breath while waiting for them, quietly grateful that one is not off the back oneself.

Wheelsucker Data (the Saturday ride was longer and had more very steep climbs in Ellicott City at the end):

Saturday:
average/max
HR 141/166 bpm
Cadence 78/169 rpm
Speed 15.4/33.5 mph
2:22:59 elapsed time
36.81 miles

Sunday:
average/max
HR 135/164 bpm
Cadence 84/165 rpm (the Powertap only recorded cadence for the first part of the ride, average and maximum cadence calculated from average and maximum speed)
Speed 16.7/32.9 mph
2:03:38 elapsed time
34.61 miles

Don't Drop The Pretty Women! (or the wheelsucker!)

Several ABRT riders who occasionally have trouble holding the group pace on a fast ride have come up with tactics to slow the ride down. Alex Pline used to feel vulnerable on a somewhat long climb like where the Saturday ride goes past the horse farm, shortly before the wall. He would ease his way up to the front and set a pace that he could manage, trying to get everyone to follow him rather than come around him. A senior ABRTer is well known for calling for a pee break just before another long shallow climb on the Saturday ride, slowing the group pace (though in fairness to him, the wheelsucker and several other riders usually take advantage of the opportunity). The wheelsucker is reluctant to admit to others (or himself) that he is having trouble hanging with the big dogs, so is working on a slightly different approach. He shouts out, "Don't drop the pretty women!", trying to convince the leaders of the group that they need to slow down or risk dropping some of the female riders. In most cases the pretty women are doing just fine thank you, and it is the wheelsucker who badly needs the leaders to slow down, but perhaps the riders driving the pace don't know this, or so hopes the wheelsucker.

This has worked for the wheelsucker several times recently. The most recent being the Monday (Martin Luther King Day) ride where the group did the Saturday ride route backwards.

The strong riders trying to drive the pace were Ace, Stu, Denzel and Tom Aga; there were several mid level riders some of whom could have stayed on if they were careful. There was also a strong female rider, Christine, who was new to group rides.

Once across route 2 onto the rollers (the same rollers were attacks sometimes succeed on the Saturday ride, but going the other way), Ace and the boys started ramping it up. The wheelsucker was game for the first few and carefully wheelsucked to stay with the lead group, and had even "showed off" a little earlier by going off the front a couple of times. But the wheelsucker quickly decided that doing 60 miles at the pace Ace, Stu, Tom and Denzel seemed to want to go, was not going to be fun. And it may not even have been possible for an aging, out-of-shape, in-off-season-form, sore-from-Saturday wheelsucker (the wheelsucker has run out of excuses here, but promises to work on that and come back and edit this posting to add any additional good ones he can come up with) to hang with the big dogs. So the wheelsucker looked around and noticed that Michelle, her boyfriend, and their friend Christine were slightly OTB, and immediately used the "Don’t drop the pretty women" ploy. It worked several times, and the wheelsucker dropped back to check on the others and help tow tail enders back up to the group. But the group split for good doing the wall backwards, and the wheelsucker decided he was going to have a nicer ride if he hung back with the slower group (and refuses to even discuss the possibility that he could not have stayed with the leaders if he had wanted to).

Now Michelle and her boyfriend are more than strong enough to stay with the main group and chase down a few attacks (Michelle does all of Tuesday/Thursday and Saturday rides), but they were not going to drop Christine in south county by herself, so they took it easy. And the wheelsucker, Alex Pline and Dave from Bike Doctor Annapolis joined them, with Alex and the wheelsucker trying to take steady pulls that kept the group together, at a good pace. Christine was not comfortable wheelsucking, and was hanging way back, so was doing more work than she needed to.

The two groups rejoined at the rest stop, but quickly split again. Alex tried to bridge up to the lead pack, and came within a few bike lengths but couldn’t make it. He came back to the leisurely ride group. The wheelsucker had decided that not dropping the pretty women could be a mantra, and did not even try to go with the big dogs.

It was actually a very nice ride, thought the wheelsucker. A steady sub 20mph pace in the late afternoon, with the sun setting and long shadows of cyclists in a paceline off to one side or the other. Christine did the third longest ride in her life and was still going strong when she, Michelle and Michelle’s boyfriend turned off to go home, shortly before 214.

That left Alex Pline, Dave from Bike Doctor Annapolis, and the wheelsucker as the chase group. The wheelsucker decided he might just be the strongest of the three, as it was Dave’s first long ride of the season, and Alex was tired from his bridge attempt. So the wheelsucker upped the pace to test his theory, only to be attacked by Alex on a short climb. The wheelsucker and Dave chased down Alex, the wheelsucker caught his breath, and then got back on the front driving the pace, hoping Alex and Dave would tire before he did. Shortly before the finish Dave sat up, but the wheelsucker was unable to shake Alex. So the sneaky wheelsucker went to plan B, and sucked Alex’s wheel. Alex slowed down to an easy pace to recover and then slowed down to a very slow pace [Alex:to see if the Wheelsucker would take the lead, which was silly because he is, well, the Wheelsucker], and the wheelsucker waited, and waited, and waited. And then, going down the last dip before the uphill sprint, the wheelsucker BRAKED to open a gap, waited some more and then jumped Alex HARD! Well, as hard as an aging, out-of-shape, in-off-season-form, sore-from-Saturday wheelsucker can jump a knackered-from-extended-bridge-attempt rider. The wheelsucker stood up, sprinted to close the gap, and sheered to the left at the last moment, going by Alex just after the bottom of the dip in what looked like a full on serious sprint. AND IT WORKED!!!!!!! Alex looked over and decided not to contest the sprint. The wheelsucker kept going, standing, opening up a big gap on Alex, who was soft pedaling [Alex: I had only one effort left, the aforementioned attack], and then tiring and feeling a little foolish, the Wheelsucker soft pedaled for the line.