Wells Ave B Race, 5/9

So far this season I’ve been sticking to the A races at Wells, but this week my teammate Ian asked if I wanted to rock the B race with him. He said that he thought we’d be able to do some damage if he were paired with a sprinter. The man had a plan, and I couldn’t say no.

That morning was a hurricane. Steady hard wind and the occasional knock you off your bike sort of gusts. My Powertap is currently away for service so I decided to bust out my good race wheels for a change. While I was at it I figured I might as well rock the onesie aka skinsuit and take the super aero approach.

Enough people signed up to run a separate B race which was a big “if” being mother’s day. It was only a 30 man field but that was probably for the better with all the wind. Before the race started the kind BRC gentleman (I should really start learning names) reminded us to race smart and that we were racing for $5 primes and stale bread. Good point but I was semi regretting using my race wheels. Oh well.

Our plan was simple. Take turns chasing moves and find Ian’s wheel for sweet leadouts when primes came up.

Attacks started pretty much from the start. I had planned on waiting until the field softened up some, but by the second lap I found myself countering the first lap move. It was a good effort but too early as it was chased down handily. I got brought back in as the first prime bell rang. Ian was in a move and I was too tired to go for it anyways. A few laps and attacks later, we missed the second prime for the same reason. It’s tough to sprint for primes while you’re also trying get in a break.

We continued to take turns going with moves, but when the third prime came up things worked out for us. Ian had just come back from a move and I was rested. I’m sure he was gassed, but he still found the manpower to set the pace on the front. My plan was to go from the American Flag on the final straightaway (there was a headwind) but a Quad Cycles sprinter (John?) jumped just before that. I moved from Ian’s wheel to his, followed suit for a few pedal strokes before popping around at the line. It was super close and I got it by a bike throw. He may have eased up just a few feet early. A shame for him really because he had a very long and solid sprint.

After the prime, I eased up to an easy tempo until the back straightaway. I checked my review mirror to see where the field was and they were nowhere in sight. For a moment I had visions of being able to solo away but the headwind on the front straight brought me back to my senses. I got caught by a 4-man move at the start of the next lap. This move would be the move of the day.

Obviously in hindsight I should have gone with it. Having just sprinted, then going for a lap, I just wasn’t feeling it. Seems to be this is when the moves tend to go, thinking back to my Rick Newhouse and Turtle Pond races this year. I keep getting in the move that sets up with winning move.

Ian attacked along with another dude right as soon as I came back. They were a good match and were able to successfully bridge up to the 4-man break, making it 6 total. It wasn’t long before they dumped 2 riders and were 4 once again. They had about 20 laps to go at this point which makes for a darn good threshold workout.

Back in the field I did my best to go with any attacks. This is the best seat in the house in my mind, frequent sprinting to sit on moves but not having to pull through. Some of the boys in the field put a lot of heart into the chase, it just wasn’t quite hard enough for long enough. The gap did come down to 10 or 15 seconds at times, but that was it.

As I sat on a few bridge attempts, I started weighing our (NEBC) odds as my chase group charged ahead. I didn’t want to help take 3 other guys up to the break, but maybe 1 other person would be OK. I told a strong CB rider that I would start helping if he could get it close, but that never did happen. I was also hoping that the larger bridge groups would get close enough that I could attack and bridge solo. Didn’t get that opportunity either.

The gap was over 30 seconds with 3 to go and it became apparent that we wouldn’t be seeing the break again today. The Quad Cycles guy that I had sprinted against earlier (John?) starting drilling it in super TT mode on the front. I was sitting 4^th wheel, and we didn’t so much as swap positions once until the last lap. Everyone was content with his strong man pace.

I was all fired up to sprint at the finish, thinking I had a perfect position. On the last lap it looked like we might get swarmed on the back straight, but that fizzled out quickly. I was still in that same 4^th wheel position as we rounded turn 4.

The guys in front of me turned in on as soon as we hit the straightaway, basically giving me the perfect leadout. Unfortunately there was a Prius in the way and our finish was cancelled. Only lap all race that we even saw a car. Oh well. Ian stuck with the break until the finish, but unfortunately was bested in the sprint and finished fourth. Great work in the break though. I had a blast at this race.