March 6, 2005, Hungry Dog Criterium, Masters 50+
Tempe, AZ 12.1 miles
This was a flat, 35 minute criterium on smooth roads, although the officials short changed us somewhat.
The course was a about 1 kilometer, somewhat roundish course with 2 ninety degree turns, the last one 130 meters from the finish.
The first corner had some reverse banked angles on the inside due to gutters.
The last corner had some bumps that would cause the rear tire to sometimes skip into the air.
The streets had dried by noon and it had also warmed up a little, so just shorts and a jersey could be used.
I switched over to my best racing wheels and used 155 psi in the tires, which seems generally best for a course with tight corners.
I playfully started off fast and one other rider from the RPM team joined me and we had a slight gap for a while.
We had 4 RPM riders in the pack and I was again concerned that they would apply team tactics again.
David Bixby and Norm Kibble, 2 of the best 50+ riders in AZ were participating and they are both on the RPM team as well.
There would be some meager challenges, but everything pretty much stayed together.
About 21 minutes into the race, the pace picked up and the next time I looked back, there were only 7 of us left.
This would be a tough sprint for the finish and I didn't want to go too early with David and Norm being excellent sprinters.
There were no surprises as we came into the final lap.
As we approached the final turns David was in about second position, I was about fourth, and Norm again was somewhere further back.
I was able to dive on the inside of the curve prior to the s-bends as I had seen gaps open up here on previous laps.
There was plenty of room so I flew towards the final turn ahead of everyone else at over 32 mph.
Coming out of the turn, I slipped the gear up a notch and got out of the saddle to hammer it home.
To my dismay, I saw Norm pass me on the left and then David just nip me at the line, for a third overall.
A fun race and I've got some tough competition to make it challenging.
Summary
Start
Time |
Distance
(Miles) |
Starters |
Duration |
Weather
(Deg F, mph) |
Climbing
(Feet) |
Speed avg
(MPH) |
Speed Max
(MPH) |
HR avg
(BPM) |
HR max
(BPM) |
HR waking
(BPM) |
Calories Burned
(Kcal) |
| 12:05 pm |
12.1 |
15 |
31:15 |
67, Calm |
0 |
24.2 |
32.3 |
171 |
190 |
47 |
268 |
Results
Racing page Bike page
