March 18, 2007, Hungry Dog Criterium, Masters 50+
Tempe, AZ   11.7 miles

This was a flat, 30 minute criterium on smooth roads. 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. I've raced on this course several times before, so I had some good familiarity with it

In addition to Noel watching, two other friends were with us and I wanted to give them a show. My plan was to be very aggressive, with the goal of achieving a small breakaway that would make the finish more controllable. Rather than jump directly from the start line, I didn't get into my pedals as smoothly as I wanted and everyone else got ahead of me as I waved to my small fan club on the sidelines. Since the pack had not made any effort, I then attacked and was still first to corner number one and got a gap. Bill Heob quickly joined me and we tried to make a go of it. We were out for almost 3 laps before the pack brought us back. There was a prime and John Holmstul took it and kept going after the line. For several laps he was out there solo and we basically let him work himself tired out alone.

At 17 minutes into the race I attacked again, getting Bill to go along with me. Bruno soon joined us and the three of us soon reeled in John. This was a good break with four of the strongest riders in the group and I thought for sure that this would last until the end. We started to settle in and then the officials called a prime. I hoped that we could work steady and not let the prime disrupt our rythm. Just as we approached the last corner before the prime, Norm Kibble and Steve Cullinan came flying past us and went for the prime. I was so shocked that they were able to find the energy to catch us that I didn't think of the best tactics to employ at the time, which probably would have been to immediately attack again.

We were now down to about 5 laps to go, so time to prepare for a bunch finish. Bruno was still looking strong and he had just taken second in the 40+ race immediately before ours, so I knew he was feeling fast. I got onto his wheel for the finish, but he didn't move up much until after turn 3. This left things rather congested, as the course does a bit of a left curve before the final turn and we all get squeezed together before the tight final turn. With no room to accelerate, I remained on Brunos wheel. Bruno was able to bet into the lead just before the last turn and cut in tight, which basically used Steve as a blocker to sweep me off his wheel. Steve continued to ride wide, forcing me even further out and by the time we got to riding in a straight line, Bruno was secure in his win and there was insufficent time to get ahead of Steve, resulting in third place for me.

So a fun race with lots of action and no major team tactics to put a lid on things.

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 11.7 13 29:35 94, Calm 0 23.6 34.8 173 191 47 261

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