May 20, 2006, CZ Grand Prix Criterium, Masters 50+
Tempe, AZ   13.5 miles

My fitness has been steadily improving and I've been able to avoid illness and injury as of late. During last week's race I was pretty much in control, but ran into complications to try to totally splinter the pack. Luckily I was able to win the sprint and take the victory. Having another good training week, I thought I'd be able to do a better job this week. I took two rest days after the race, then a day of sprints, hitting 38.3 mph. Then basically three more days of rest to be prepared for Saturday's race. So I felt very prepared to go full bore, especially since we wouldn't have the 40+ racers in the mix. Five 60+ racers would be starting with us, but only Norm Kibble would be of the caliber to participate with the 50+ riders. Again, there was no way to differentiate the classes by their numbers. This would be the last criterium in the Phoenix area for 2006 and most of the Phoenix riders don't visit the Tucson crits, so a final chance to see who's best. I wore my gray/silver jersey to mix it up again and because it's not easy to see if I were to get away on a solo breakaway.

The course went around two city blocks, forming a figure eight over a distance of 0.95 miles. The middle intersection made it great for Noel to take photos a couple of times per lap. The corners had wide gutters coming out into the roadway and corners 3, 4, 6, & 7 were particularly bad in that the gutters sloped to create a reverse bank. Riders in previous races had crashed on corner 7 in particular and during my first practice run through it my rear tire skipped dramatically. So I lowered the pressure and made sure I took that corner a bit wider, but I was concerned that someone else might crash going through it and take me with them. I'd do my best to lead the first lap to eliminate someone causing a crash in front of me at the beginning. There was a slight crossing from the right, tailwind for the finish.

I had studied the picture of the course a few days in advance to prepare the best course of action for a sprint finish. From turn 8 to the line is only about 150 meters and also curves left, so in order to win, it would be almost imperative that I be first through it on the finishing lap. Since it's even a shorter distance from turn 7 to 8, one has to lead turn 7 to be leading at turn 8. The good sprinters will realize this and thus the sprint action will actually begin between turns 6 and 7, if it came down to a sprint. I was hoping I might be alone by that time.

This was to be a 30 minute race. If we averaged 24 mph, we'd do 12 laps at about 2.5 minutes per lap. That means we should get the 5 laps to go at about 17:30 into the race.

I had a great start and was first to turn 1. I blasted along, not looking back and averaged 27.8 mph for the first lap, covering it in 2:10. I would have thought that this should have shredded the field somewhat and took a quick glance at the line to see who might still be there. To my surprise, there was a long line that consisted of just about everyone, only detaching two of the 60+ riders. Don Williams, a strong time trialist, was right on my wheel and David Bixby was two back behind him. I kept it going through 2 more turns and then pulled over to see if anyone else would take over the pace. The speed immediately dropped to under 20 mph! Great, this game again, where I'm the only one willing to push the pace. After turn 3, I picked up the pace again for a couple more turns. Don and Bill were right on my wheel and this demonstrated that they were the next strongest of the group.
Quick start (I'm on the far right) End of Lap 1, with me leading

I was able to get Don to do a bit of an attack and then David followed through. The paced eased up for a bit and I took a bit of a breather. Damn, it was going to be tough to get a gap on these guys, especially with Don pulling them along at every attack. A lap and a half later, Don attacked, with me right on his wheel. David wasn't far behind and I was hoping the three of us could make a break of it. This would allow me to have more control over a smaller group.
After Lap 2, Corner 1 (who's still here?) Don attacks on Lap 4, Corner 8

Unfortunately we couldn't get organized and the pack was still fresh enough to reel us back in. So I dropped back a bit for some rest, trying to decide what course of action to try next, but keeping Don and David within sight at all times.
Lap 5, Corner 8 Lap 6, Corner 4, behind David, who's behind Don
Lap 6, Corner 8, still watching those two Lap 7, Corner 8

We had a prime and we made a charge again right after it, but the group would not split. This was tougher than I thought it was going to be. With Don being so strong, I was a bit concerned about doing a strong attack which he would counter-attack and get away solo. So the next several laps were a little dull as I kept a close eye on Don and didn't concern myself with anyone else. But at least we were keeping a good tempo and not mosying along at 20 mph. David, Don, and I would not be farther than a bike length from each other for the rest of the race.
Norm Kibble Don Williams David Bixby Lionel Space

We got down to 17 minutes, so I was expecting to see the 5 laps to go sign on the next visit to the line. However, the officials didn't seem to be paying attention properly and were in deep discussion as they started to move the lap board out after two riders had already passed it. So I guess we'll being doing more than 30 minutes, but no big deal. We got the 5 lap to go board on the next lap and I carefully watched Don. If he was going to win, he had to go in the next couple of laps as he has little chance to outsprint David or myself. His attack never came and with 3 to go, a prime sprint was announced (meaning the winner of the next lap would win some merchandise). This really changes the character of the finish and with 2.5 to go, a teammate of Don's on the Landis team was able to get a gap on the bunch and take the prime. After crossing the line with about 10 lengths on us, it looked like he was going to ease up and join us; however after looking back at how slow we were going, he picked up his pace again. Don maintained second position and had no intention of taking the lead and picking up the pace, preferring that his teammate might take the win. With 2 miles still to go, I wasn't about to sacrifice myself in an attempt to get the win only to lose it in the sprint due to being tired. So instead, I hoped to use team tactics against the teams themselves.

With one to go, the solo rider still had a good lead and a good chance to take the win if our pace did not pick up. Norm of Team RPM took the lead and picked up the pace. Since he was the only 60+ rider in our group by this time, he already had his race won, even though he is the fastest sprinter in our group (probably even with his recent injury). So he used his energy to try to benefit his teammate David Bixby and lead our group closer to the solo breakaway.
Solo leader with One to go Norm leading the chase, I'm 6th in the group behind David, Don on my wheel

OK, this is going to be an interesting final lap. The solo rider may win or we may swallow him up with Norm's help. Our positions don't change for the next 5 corners, but we're making slow progress on the solo breakaway. As we approach corner 6 for the final time, he's only about 5 lengths ahead. I'm on David's wheel (who's 5th in the bunch) and Don is behind me. I sure don't want to get caught behind the eight ball and not be first to corner 7 so I begin my plan. Half way down the stretch between turns 5 and 6, I back off of David and leave a gap of about a bike length. Just before getting to turn 6, I accelerate up through his draft, swing out for a wide setup into the turn, and take the turn sharp, making the reverse bank become just a bump at this angle of attack. After the turn, I immediately give it everything I can and quickly pass everyone in sight, including the solo rider. I set up a careful line through turn 7 as it is the most dangerous of the turns and take it cleanly, but David makes up a bit of time and is right on my wheel. Since there's a bit of a bend in the final stretch, I want to be on the left side of the road at that point, so I swing out to take a line that will leave me on the left of the road coming out of the final turn. I keep pedaling as much as possible, maybe skipping a half of a crank turn, and get out of the saddle again. This makes for about a 500 meter sprint from turn 6 and my legs are starting to tighten up, but I dig in and power it up, starting to creep away a bit from David again. Just before the line I see that I've got a length and a half on him and throw both arms up in victory. Don was another 6 lengths back and the rest of the field still had not made it to the final turn.

So the competition was not so easily rattled this time. We did a total of 14 laps, which turned out to be one lap longer than what would have given us a 30 minute race. We averaged 24.8 mph, so a bit better than most of the local 50+ races and faster than last week. At the start of my sprint after turn 6 I hit 33.8 mph and crossed the line at 32.8 mph. My heart rate hit 197 bpm at the finish, my highest ever (it was a long sprint).

As it turned out, our's was the last event of the day. The police showed up and there was some kind of problem with permits. So the next 11 races were canceled. Whew, that was close; I would have been a little miffed at driving the nearly two hours to Tempe and not been able to use the anticipation that had been building up in me all week. Since they were packing everything up and it was only 10 am, the riders showing up for the 3:15 race are going to wonder if they came on the wrong date.

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)
9:15 am 13.5 12 32:40 98, light SE 20 24.8 33.8 176 197 43 290

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