Thursday October 30th Training Ride: The Wheelsucker Report or "We're Not Sprinting!"

This was it, the last weeknight training ride of the year. With the Daylight Savings Time clock change coming this weekend, there would not be enough daylight to ride any more. Actually even without the DST change, there was not enough light to finish the ride.

The wheelsucker kept on going on Patuxent Parkway when the others split off left, as he wanted to do his 2x20 @ 80-90% of LT workout, and would have been going too hard if on the front, and way too easy if sitting in.

By happenstance and some careful timing by the wheelsucker, just after he crossed 214 on his way back, part way through is second 20 minute interval, he saw a target -- the other riders -- some distance up the road. It was dark enough that the wheelsucker's aging eyes could not read the power numbers on his computer clearly. He was supposed to be averaging about 250 watts, but with a target up the road, a
"7" looked a lot like a "1", and the wheelsucker was probably seeing 27n, deciding it was 21n, and pushing harder. It took him all the way from 214 to the last level before the sprint to catch the group, though the chase was a little quicker once the 20 minute interval ended and the wheelsucker gave up all pretences of keeping his wattage in the target range and PUT THE HAMMER DOWN! (well, put the hammer down for the wheelsucker), and rolled up to the tail end of the group, huffing, puffing, hyper ventilating and wheezing, just as they were setting up for the sprint. But then a strange thing happened; no one seemed to be sprinting. The wheelsucker rolled up to Stu, who told him no one was sprinting. This was a little hard for the wheelsucker to believe, so he rolled past Stu and Steve, and accelerated to catch Ace who was in front a few bike lengths ahead. The wheelsucker pulled up next to Ace and asked him what was going on. Ace replied with "GO! He's jumping!", as Steve Owens (who it turns out WAS sprinting after all) whizzed by at speed. Gosh!, said the wheelsucker (well, not really, but this is a family blog so we'll leave it as "gosh") as the gap to Steve opened. But then the wheelsucker launched into the signature wheelsucker sprint, and went after Steve. But Steve was at speed and had a gap, and the wheelsucker could not get to him, and in the meantime someone else who was not going to sprint, was in fact sprinting. In the fading dusk light, the wheelsucker's eyesight was not good enough to distinguish who was second between him and the other person "not sprinting", but Steve was clearly first.

"Gosh!, so much for not sprinting", thought the wheelsucker, considering that it would be months until Tuesday/Thursday training rides started again, and provided a chance for revenge.