Knowing that Bobby Phillips was looking for support from the team to help put the event on, the wheelsucker arrived early, and got to both watch the earliest races and warm up well (Bobby told the Wheelsucker that he would be put to work AFTER his races). It was very cool to watch the younger juniors race a few laps, under the watchful eyes of their parents. While watching two young brothers in action near the back of the strung out group, I asked their father if they knew about "grabbing a wheel", he replied that he wanted them far away from anyone else's rear wheel, so he was not encouraging them to draft.
In the older junior’s race, Tom MacKay was being marked by most of the field. Aaron Canale was able to ride off the front and ended up 4th, while Tom ended up 6th in a tough race.
Sue Estes wrote a much better report on the junior races:
Some of you may have missed the early events of the day; the juniors were particularly exciting to watch. We had a crop of 3 brand new boys racing in Latitude jerseys (Ethan and Thomas in the 10-14 category, and Nick in the 15-18 category). There were only two bikes to share amongst the 3 boys (talk about a transition area between their races!?). Poor Tomas took a tumble before his race even began that required a trip to my first aid kit. But the new kids put forth a superb effort in their first race and I hope the ambiance was rewarding enough for them to want to come back next season and do it again. Those boys have *major* potential.
James, Tom, and Aaron lined up together for the second race of the day. James looked great and rode smooth and steady on his new bike- he has a great poker face out there, btw! Aaron and Tom put together some great tactics that forced the much larger NCVC squad into the react-and-respond role. Aaron blasted away from the field into an early breakaway that stuck! Only a few of the other juniors were able make the bridge and join him eventually. Aaron did the majority of the work, however, and this took its toll. He proceeded to take more hard pulls for the final few laps that certainly sapped his legs for the sprint- but his efforts also ensured that his group kept that gap on the rest of the field. He raced an AWESOME race!
Special thanks to Dennis for leaving home at the crack of dawn to help me set up the tent, chairs, and trainers, and also to help with helmet distribution and cheer on our juniors. Oh yeah... thanks to Stu for racing to the Park n Ride on Thursday night to get the tent to me in the first place; it was much needed on such a hot day-even at 8am! Also, a shout out to Jerry for loaning the boys his trainer and to Doug M. for helping Jesse's kids with those spare bike parts. Pics will be posted soon (probably tonight), but I was having some camera troubles- so not sure how they'll come out.
ALSO, not to forget! A HUGE thank you to Bobby Phillips for putting on such a favorite MABRA event year after year!
Cheers to all for your great efforts, volunteering, and results- so proud to be on this team!
Sue also took some great photos, posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/7226860@N06/sets.
President Shapter posted images at http://web.mac.com/dshapter/iWeb/mac%20site/Turkey%20Day.html.
And "TrackSean" posted images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/7243760@N04/sets/72157607346461651/.
Jim Wilson is working on his; they are posted at http://images.jamesrwilson.com/p90514298/
The cat 5 race was next. ABRT had a large and strong team which included some riders with limited racing experience, but who were strong on the Tuesday/Thursday training rides. The squad came up with a plan, worked hard to implement the plan (which was to have Stu Waring go off the front and time trial away, while the rest of the team blocked). Stu ended up going off the front half a lap before he wanted to, as when following a team mate's wheel he found himself off the front. Stu went hard, but was caught soon after. He went again at the base of the hill (where he had planned to go), but had not given himself enough time to rest, was caught, and lost touch with the leaders. While the race did not go Stu's way, the squad still had cards to play. At the sprint, an arguably still-hung-over (long story, ask Ty or Amanda) Ty Wu was 5th, with another couple of Latitude riders in the top 15. We have some cat 5 riders with real potential! Check out the race video.
The wheelsucker missed seeing most of the cat 5 race as he was riding laps on the reverse course, warming up easily, while trying not to expend too much of his limited strength. It was fun cheering the squad each time we met on the course.
Next up was a combined 50+, 60+ and 70+ field, (the has beens, old bastards and near dead, as the Wheelsucker muttered at the start line) racing together, scored separately, in a short twelve lap race. The wheelsucker's concerns over BAR points were alleviated when he could not see Paul Mittelstadt, or the other usual DC Velo riders, at the start line. The wheelsucker and Mittelstadt are in a close battle for BAR points, and Mittelstadt being a no show made the Wheelsucker's goals more straightforward.
The Baltimore Bullet (aka Bobby Phillips) was too busy running Turkey Day to race the 60+, but this race had a neutral lap, led by the man himself. Several riders jumped around the lead pack to ride next to Bobby during the neutral lap. Bobby pulled off about 4/5 of the way around, and one rider took off immediately, while the rest of the pack waited until they rolled across the start/finish line, as instructed. The early jumper was reeled in quickly enough, and soon went OTB. The race was basically a series of attacks, as single riders or small groups tried to open a gap. Most prominent amongst the "jumpers" was Mark Sommers, but Art Brown and the wheelsucker were getting into most of the breaks, and were never in a position of having to close a gap by themselves. But despite not having to chase hard, the wheelsucker was tiring... With about five laps to go, the repeated attacks had slimmed down the field to a lead group of about nine riders. On the hill, Mark Sommers countered as a brief attack was brought back, and jumped on the right side. At the same moment Phil Hepburn jumped on the left. The wheelsucker was riding second or third wheel and was well positioned when he saw the attacks and heard Art Brown's yells of encouragement, "Get on it! Get on it!!!". The Wheelsucker gave it what little he had left and chased after Sommers and Hepburn. They were flying, and it took the Wheelsucker a little distance (to the top of the hill and around the curve) and time to get to them, but he made it.
The wheelsucker learned afterwards that most of the rest of the lead group were keying on Art, who immediately sat up to help the Wheelsucker get up to Sommers and Hepburn by himself, while strong rider Tom Bain was blocked by a DC Velo 60+ rider who was helping Mark Sommers out.The wheelsucker was so blown by his effort to catch on with Sommers and Hepburn that he was skipping pulls. Then in a Faustian bargain, he told them he would not sprint, just please don't drop him. The Wheelsucker was so done in, that he figured at 3rd would be great, while being dropped and falling back to the chase group would mean sprinting with them, and finishing further back. Hepburn is a strong sprinter and good on the flat, while Sommers is a machine who has lapped the 50+ field in crits this year. They powered the break, towing the wheelsucker, well clear of the chase. Once the Wheelsucker had recovered, he took a few Wheelsucker-style short fast pulls, stayed paranoid about being dropped and tried to remember to check the lap counter each time past the finish line. With most of the oxygen he was breathing being routed directly to his legs, the wheelsucker's oxygen-starved brain was having trouble processing key information. Apart from working too hard, he was having trouble remembering how many laps to go, despite reading the placard on each lap. But as the laps counted down, the wheelsucker’s mantra was "gotta hang on for third... gotta hang on for third... gotta hang on for third..." A couple of times the wheelsucker risked a quick glance back, and could not see a chase close behind. With two laps to go, things were looking good. With one lap to go, and no chase close behind, the Wheelsucker started to let himself believe.
Recalling his promise to not sprint, the Wheelsucker said he would do leadout, but this really turned into just taking the last pull into the last turn, as the Wheelsucker did not have enough left to actually accelerate. Mark Sommers slid by at the turn. The wheelsucker expected Mark and Phil to sprint for the finish, with the wheelsucker trying to grab a wheel and coast in just behind, or at least roll across before the chase got near. But neither Mark nor Phil went. The wheelsucker even waved Phil by him, but Phil refused, and the three rolled across nose to tail, with Mark taking the win, the wheelsucker taking second (his best mass start race finish yet) and Phil Hepburn 3rd. Behind them the legendary Art Brown took the pack sprint for 4th. For the entire race the wheelsucker could hear his teammates cheering him on, even though he was so focused, he never looked up to see who was yelling his name.After a few cooldown laps discussing the race with Art, the wheelsucker gratefully got off his bike and rested. Even while cooling down, the wheelsucker was being congratulated by Latitude teammates. One would think he had won the race, instead of making a bargain to not be dropped out of the break!
The next race was the women's cat 4. The Wheelsucker was warming up and receiving instructions from the Doetsch, so did not see any of this race. He did hear from the amazing Amanda Wu while she was cooling down that she was 6th. WAY TO GO, AMANDA!! The wheelsucker later learned that Amanda had been powering the break to keep it away, and so was tired out for the sprint finish.
The 40+ was a large field. The wheelsucker had been given a very specific task -- to mark a particular Immediate Mortgage rider -- along with specifics like, "Don't take ANY pulls with him, unless you are more than one block clear." The pace started off civilized, with Latitude in a paceline at the front controlling the race. That lasted about 3/4 of a lap before the attacks started. Trying to do just one thing, stay on a particular rear wheel, suited the wheelsucker's tired and oxygen deprived brain. But even that task was hard to do in the middle of the pack. The wheelsucker found himself straining to accelerate with his target, and was working hard to stay on his wheel when the target was in the pack. Occasionally Ramon would show up and push the wheelsucker off the target's wheel, or simply the press of the pack would do it. The target would get away, and the wheelsucker would have to wait for a chance to get to one side of the pack, power past a few riders, and tuck in ahead or alongside the target and then drift back to his wheel. This went on lap after lap, with the target and the remora-like wheelsucker sometimes near the front, and sometimes buried mid pack. Two or three times the target got clear and jumped with the wheelsucker unable to get to him. During the first, the target made it up to a chase group that was trying to catch the leaders, but the pack reeled the chase in, and the wheelsucker reattached to his target. The second was with one or two laps to go, the wheelsucker was pushed off his target's wheel by the crowd, the target jumped, and the wheelsucker was blocked. The target got clear, and a knackered wheelsucker could not get to him, but tried to convince himself that the target could not possibly get up to the break with so little distance left in the race. The wheelsucker soft pedaled the last lap rather than struggle for a 15-20 placing. Later it turned out that the target had made it up to the break earlier in the race, but Doetsch and Mike King had dropped him. The target's efforts on the last lap or two got him near enough to the front of the pack that he was able to sprint for a decent pack finish, but the two man break was well clear and The Doetsch won the sprint to take the win.
The Wheelsucker was -- and is -- in awe of how strong the really strong guys like Doetsch, Ace and Ramon are.
Though the wheelsucker was almost completely focused on the target's rear wheel, other Latitude team members drifted into his narrow field of vision during the race. Steve Owens, Andreas Gutzeit and Doug Milliken were all working hard in the race, though the wheelsucker had no idea what their missions were.
After another few cooldown laps and a quick discussion with the wheelsucker's bike engineer/mechanic/mentor about the creaking noises the bike was making when the wheelsucker pushed hard (hard for the wheelsucker) on the pedals, the wheelsucker staggered back to his car, and changed out of his drenched uniform. The rest of the afternoon went by in a hot daze. The area under the two team tents were a little Oasis of shade and relative coolness; it was great hanging out with the team and cheering team mates on and watching close sprints. Writing of sprints, check out this video of the cat 4 finish, and try to figure out which rider is Fabrizio. The wheelsucker had to leave before the 1,2,3 race, but heard afterwards that Doug Milliken finished the race with the pack. AWESOME JOB DOUG!
So a great day of racing for ABRT, and an awesome job of putting an event on by Bobby Phillips. Since the Wheelsucker finished "in the turkeys", he collected a still-frozen-in-the-center turkey and a bag of schwag from event sponsors. Bobby, thanks VERY much for putting this event on each year.
Results on Bikereg.com
ABRT Finishes: Keep in mind that many riders were riding in support of team mates rather than working to get the best finish they could. Congratulations to all the Latitude riders who raced!
Pro 1-2-3:
29 20 DOUG MILLIKEN LATITUDE/ABRT
Cat 3-4 Men:
3 322 MIKE HEFNER LATITUDE/ABRT
11 303 DAVE BRADSHAW ABRT/LATITUDE
18 334 LUKE MYSKO ABRT
20 318 ANDREAS GUTZEIT ABRT - LATITUDE
Cat 4 Men:
7 443 FABRIZIO ROMAN LATITUDE/ABRT
19 413 AARON CANALE TEAM LATITUDE/ABRT
Cat 5 Men:
5 385 TY WU LATITUDE/ABRT
9 372 KYLE PITMAN ABRT
10 373 ALEX PLINE ABRT
17 336 CHRIS ADAIR ABRT/LATITUDE
25 347 JERRY CHAPMON LATITUDE/ABRT
Cat 4 Women:
6 79 AMANDA WU ANNAPOLIS
Junior 15-18 boys:
4 70 AARON CANALE TEAM LATITUDE/ABRT
7 75 THOMAS MACKAY ABRT/LATITUDE
17 77 BROWN NICK ABRT/LATITUDE
18 80 JAMES RUSH LATITUDE/ABRT
Junior 10-14 Boys:
10 76 ETHAN FALSONE ABRT/LATITUDE
13 75 THOMAS FALSONE ABRT/LATITUDE
30+ Men:
6 7 CHIP HOOVER LATITUDE/ABRT
18 9 STEVE OWENS LATITUDE/ABRT
40+ Men:
1 34 STEVEN DOETSCHMAN LATTITUDE
4 8 ANDREAS GUTZEIT ABRT - LATITUDE
20 50 GUY PERUTTI ABRT
23 35 MATTHEW ALBANESE ABRT
29 19 ALEXANDER MELLER LATITUDE/ABRT
31 22 STEVE OWENS LATITUDE/ABRT
33 20 DOUG MILLIKEN LATITUDE/ABRT
50+ Men:
2 51 ALEXANDER MELLER ABRT/LATITUDE
4 60 ART BROWN LATTITUDE
12 36 TOM AGA ABRT/LATITUDE
16 44 TED HARRIS TEAM LATITUDE/ABRT
60+ Men:
10 26 BEN WILLIAMS ABRT/TEAM LATITUDE
The wheelsucker would like to point out that BAR points go to 12th place in this race, so this was a very good day for a number of Latitude riders, and a great day for the team!
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