What a great ride! Ace, Keith, Ryan, Matt, Eric and Young Tom were not there, but with Doetsch and Nat "Invincible Nat" Thompson one knew before we left the Park & Ride that it would not be an easy ride. The group was well-behaved at first. The wheelsucker was trying to follow his coach’s workout instructions:
Group ride. Treat parts of this as a race. Ride aggressively. Experiment with race strategies and test yourself.
And after considering that he was riding the world's lightest Cannondale CAAD9, the wheelsucker punched it on the first of the two rollers shortly before Harwood Hill. The "plan" was to ride away on the rollers, rest on the fast downhill and sweeping right, roll through the left turn (assuming no cars were there) and push up Harwood Hill and see if he could still go fast off the top. The plan appeared to be working, as the wheelsucker went up Harwood Hill by himself. But no plan survives contact with the enemy... There was a sudden WHOOSSHHHH and Doetsch HAMMERED up the hill past the wheelsucker, followed a couple of seconds later by a slightly less loud whoosh, as Nat went by in pursuit. The wheelsucker supposes the textbook move at this point would be to jump hard, grab Nat's wheel, take the tow up to Doetsch, and then quietly congratulate himself as Doetsch and Nat pull the wheelsucker well clear and the three ride in a fast break for the rest of the ride. Unfortunately the aging wheelsucker had nothing left to jump for Nat's wheel, burnt a matchstick or two trying to accelerate and staggered to the top of Harwood Hill well behind, and with the pack closing from behind. The wheelsucker sat up and waited for help, then grabbed a wheel and rested. While the peleton did not appear to have riders equal to Doetsch and Nat, it did have Steve "did I bring my A legs" Owens, an aggressive Rick Paukstitus, newly returned to the team cat 3 Dave, Tom Aga, the amazing Amanda Wu, and some other strong riders. It was too early in the ride to give up, and the chase got into a rotating paceline (with the wheelsucker repeatedly yelling for short pulls). The curves meant that Doetsch and Nat were out of site up the road, but once on route 2 they could be seen ahead. With grim determination the chase slowly ground them down. This became a little easier when Doetsch rode clear (maybe even dropped?) Nat on route 2. The wheelsucker took his turns with the other riders in the chase and shortly after the South Polling House turn, the chase caught Nat, and then continued up South Polling House and eventually caught Doetsch. The wheelsucker kept his sigh of relief to himself.
While some riders had been dropped by this point, we still had a large lead pack, with the leading 8-10 taking turns, and the rest hanging on behind. The "groupo compacto" charged up Sands road, with Doetsch and the wheelsucker exchanging insults each time they passed, with one rotating back and the other rotating foward, in the paceline. The wheelsucker started to feel better and then demonstrating his ability to forget what had happened earlier (perhaps due to oxygen debt?) the wheelsucker and his ultra-light CAAD9 could not resist punching it up the wheelsucker's favorite hill, the one after the downhill and sweeping right hand turn, shortly before 214. The wheelsucker got clear again part way up the hill, and was harboring delusions about getting to 214 off the front when there was another WHOOSSHHHH and Doetsch HAMMERED by just before the steep section at the top, doing 30 mph. This was once again followed by a slightly less loud whoosh, as Nat went by in pursuit. The wheelsucker gave it what little he had left, while looking around for help. Steve Owens went by at the top, and caught Nat's wheel, with the wheelsucker hyperventilating on Steve's wheel. These three caught Doetsch (or maybe Doetsch sat up) about the time the remains of the peleton caught the three... so "groupo compacto" once again. But then cat 3 Dave decided to jump, and this time no one went after him. The wheelsucker had time to reflect on the basic unfairness of this, while Dave rolled off the front with no one in pursuit, and Doetsch saying "let him hang out there!".
The wheelsucker’s views on the basic unfairness of Doetsch and Nat chasing the wheelsucker down when he jumped, but letting someone else go, was reinforced when Dave rolled through 214 on a green light, and the chase, led by Doetsch, Steve and the wheelsucker did not make it and had to stop. "Why can't this ever happen to me!", thought the wheelsucker, as Dave rode away up the road, and the "groupo compacto" unclipped at the light. Of course testosterone overruled safety, and Doetsch, the wheelsucker and Steve Owens jumped the light after the first car or two had rolled through and there was a big gap. The wheelsucker never looked back to see what the rest of the group did, but with Doetsch taking monster pulls, the wheelsucker taking his usual short fast pulls, and Steve pushing a big gear, they had what looked like an ABRT 3TTT going. Part way to the finish Dave was in range. Doetsch pulled the three up close, then pulled off and encouraged the wheelsucker to hammer by. The wheelsucker was just as eager to drop Dave as Doetsch was and did his best hammer, but Dave had other ideas and caught on the back. The pace stayed high (or maybe the wheelsucker was just tired out) and the lead four rolled up to the last flat fast. Doetsch pulled off, the wheelsucker did not have enough left to take a pull and soft pedaled and everyone looked at everyone else. Doetsch jumped, Dave went after him with Steve trying for Dave's wheel, and the wheelsucker wondering why he need bother sprinting at all, made a half hearted attempt to stay on Steve's wheel. Dave put out a very impressive sprint and was very close to Doetsch at the line, with Steve a distant third and the wheelsucker (gasping for air and thinking he was too old for this) rolling across fourth, well behind, but well clear of the chase pack.
The wheelsucker’s averages were: 24.51 mph, 218 watts, HR 158 (and a high max HR).
Actually the final sprint was interesting. Not wanting to play games with Doetsch, and Dave I took off too early hoping for the element of surprise. That didn't work, but in the process I set a new 20 second power best.
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