The wheelsucker has been told that alcohol is not good for cyclists. Some of the riders on the Tuesday/Thursday claim to not drink at all, or to drink very rarely. While the wheelsucker vehemently denies being an alcoholic (realizing that some people claim denial is a symptom), he is known to enjoy a glass or two of wine, or some dark rum, preferably Goslings Black Seal. At the wheelsucker’s advanced age it seems to be easier to resist this sort of temptation, and the wheelsucker claims he rarely drinks too much. But there are exceptions. Monday night was such an exception, without going into details, the wheelsucker drank more than normal, crashed on a friends couch, and did not sleep well. The next day went fine with assistance from extra shots of espresso in the latte, but sitting in an office working is not quite as demanding as riding the Tuesday Kill or be Killed (KOBK) training ride, so the wheelsucker was worried.
Sure enough, the wheelsucker realized he was struggling as soon as the peleton turned onto Rossback road going DOWNHILL towards the turn where Rossback becomes Patuxent Parkway. Not long after that the wheelsucker started to wonder if he was going to toss his cookies, then he started to wonder if he would feel worse or better if he did. The wheelsucker seriously considered turning around and going home, but it occurred to him that the increase in HR and metabolic rate from the exercise would probably clean out the remaining hangover effects, and tossing his cookies might not be the end of the world.
The wheelsucker struggled on, initially riding at the back and wheelsucking, later taking a few short lame jumps and eventually feeling a little better and even taking some pulls.
It was a small group. The Doetsch turned up, but went off on his own doing monster TT intervals, so Ace was the only strong man on the ride. An AABC’er named Matt (I think) was jumping every now and then. The wheelsucker was not going to accept the one guy on the ride NOT in Latitude colors riding off the front, so had to ramp it up and pull the group back to him. A few riders had been dropped from the group, and we were down to about nine riders, including the amazing Amanda Wu.
Shortly before crossing 214, as we closed in on the finish, Super Sue joined; apparently we had left the Park & Ride just a few minutes before she arrived, so she rode around and then jumped in as we came by.
Matt jumped at least one more time between 214 and the finish, but was reeled in. Then at the bottom of the penultimate (that means the one before the last one) dip, the wheelsucker was riding second wheel behind Steve Owens, and Matt had finished his pull and was trying to hook up at the back of the lead pack. The wheelsucker, recalling doing this move on an earlier Tuesday ride and splitting the pack jumped HARD at the bottom and HAMMERED up the little hill and HARD off the top. OK, for context, that was HARD by wheelsucker standards… to the wheelsucker’s great surprise and disappointment, when he looked back, he could see wheels on his. It turns out he DID shake loose the back of the lead pack, including Matt, but not Ace, Chris, Tom Aga, or even Steve Owens. This group did a few rotations and then, inexplicably, slowed down enough coming into the sprint that Matt CAUGHT BACK ON!!!! Ace was taking a pull and Matt jumped again, the wheelsucker figured Ace would catch him before the finish and stayed glued to Ace’s wheel, with others behind him. Sure enough Ace caught Matt easily enough (Matt was somewhere between dead and dying) and then instead of going by, slowed down to ride his wheel. So the wheelsucker had to slow down, so everyone riding behind the wheelsucker had to slow down. So the entire group, with Matt leading, is now going up the false flat to the finish IN SLOW MOTION. Finally Chris jumped and Ace jumped and the wheelsucker was immediately gapped, but giving it everything he had (too damned little!) but went by Matt who was basically road kill at this point. Ace won the sprint, Chris second, wheelsucker third.
Numbers (the interval is from the Park & Ride all the way back to the finish line)
Average speed 22.97mph, HR 141bpm (max as 170, nearly the aging wheelsucker’s actual max), average power 197 watts.
You are a sailor after all, it is your DUTY to ride, uh I mean sail, hung over.
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