February 1, 2009, Avondale Category 4
Avondale AZ
(Most images can be clicked on for a larger version)
Many thanks to Mike and Lisa Kolin for the photography.

This was another Criterium just West of Phoenix. They had two Masters categories for 30+ and 40+, but if you were to look at the Category 1 (the best racers) criterium results in other races, some of those top places are 40+ riders. Since I need to be careful to not over extend myself, I decided to ride one of the categorized events instead. Back in 2005 I rode quite a few Category 4 events (my current road rating) in an attempt to move up to 3 and those guys were pretty fast; I only won a single Cat 4 race. So I chose the Cat 4/5 event, hoping that there would not be too much dangerous riding by the 5 riders (novices). Also there would be four other Strada team mates in this race, 3 juniors (Drew Albert, Cedric Bosch, and Eric Yatko) and another master (Jeff Biever).

 
The course was exactly a half mile per lap and perfectly flat, with basically 3 right turns and a long curve. The final straightaway was 160 meters with a slight tailwind, quartering from the riders right (ESE). This meant that the sprint would need to start before the final curve finished and the inside would be shorter, but the outside would be somewhat sheltered from the cross-wind. The temperature was again in the upper 60's, but still cool enough that I wore coverings on my legs and arms. The race was to be 35 minutes and the race official looked straight at me and said it would be the full 35 minutes (I had spoken to her after yesterday's race). There would be about four primes during the middle of the race as well.

I started fast as usual, being second through the first two turns and first through the third. This had given me a couple bike length gap, but I certainly did not want to try to go solo at this point. So it was time to settle in and check out who looked strong and keep myself fresh for any chases if need be. I needed to stay fairly close to the front as you never know the experience of the Category 5 riders who can take very bad lines through the corners at times, causing crashes. The most dangerous section seemed to be between turns 2 and 3 where some riders would get pushed off the road to the outside, but would just end up riding on dirt for a little while. Later on there would be some crashes on turn 3, but they were behind me. Also about mid-way through the race, a rider was overlapping my rear wheel on the front stretch and as we moved to the left to set up for the right corner, he did not and I felt a bump and he may have gone down.
Lap 1 Corner 1. Corner 2. Back stretch.

So back to the racing. Some of the riders would try one or two man breaks, but they would not get far and the pack was eager to quickly reel them in. The prime sprints were interesting in that although the first one was hotly contested, during the others nobody started in earnest until about 100 meters before the line. So either they weren't really interested in the prizes or they were getting too tired to go for a long effort. However, this just meant that the chance of a small group leaving the pack after a prime was minimal.

As we rode the race, I noticed one rider in particular that seemed superior to the rest. He was wearing an all black outfit and the number 665 (later I would learn his name to be Brock). He was always in a good position near the front of the pack, took the corners very well, and seemed very relaxed. When accelerations occurred, he was quickly up to speed with seemingly little effort. So I picked him out as my lead out guy for the final sprint and I would be close to him during the prime sprint laps. Oddly enough, I sometimes had to fight for this postion as Cedric Bosch, a Strada teammate, was often on his wheel; a wise choice from a smart kid.
Cedric and Jeff in the action. Cedric and Drew. Eric and Jeff taking turn 2.

Eric leading the race. Drew and Cedric following Brock. Cedric leaning into the turn.

I had to try corners 2 and 3 at various positions, because we were usually taking them about 3 abreast and with the inconsistent lines they were using, one could get cut off or bumped back. So I needed to experiment to know where to put myself so that I could be on Brock's wheel after turn 3 on the final lap.

Shortly after one of the primes, Brock put his hand in the air as we approached the finish line and was slowing down. He needed to stop for a mechanical (as it turned out, he had been bumped from behind and his rear shifter was stuck in the hardest to pedal cog). Riders were allowed 2 free laps to repair incidents such as this and soon he was back in the pack.

I had been monitoring the clock and pretty soon the 5 laps to go board came out and right at the same time as they were announcing another prime sprint. I spotted it, but others may have missed it. A double check on the next lap confirmed that we were down to 4 to go; time to get serious. 665 was my guy and I was going to stick to him unless he looked to be in a bad position coming up with one to go. With two to go they announced another prime. Not only are the two last laps extremely hectic, but with novice riders it can get very dangerous, and then they add in the fervor of a prime to boot. Fortunately the sprint for it was short with no major alarm bells and Brock was in a good position (about 6th) with one to go with me on his wheel. The excitement of it all got the speed up for everyone, which meant that we went through the corners on the last lap pretty much in single file with no unexpected jostling.
4 to go, staying near the front.
Eric Yatko (Strada) not far behind.		 3 to go, watching Brock. Just under 2 to go, with Cedric, behind Brock.

My adrenaline always gets so high on the last lap, that everything becomes surreal. On the back stretch we were not very bunched up and it seemed like we were going too slow and I was expecting a rush of riders to come around the outside (left side) and squash us in, getting me completely boxed. But looking at my computer log later, we were doing roughly 29 mph at that point, making it difficult for riders to race into the slight headwind to pass us. My Plan A was to let Brock start his sprint and then come around him on the outside. As we came to the middle of the curve, I was still concerned, as even though I was on Brock's wheel and he was almost at the front, there were riders to our left that could box us and there was another rider against the curve in orange that was not riding a solid line. I had expected Brock to explode into full speed at about the 200 meter mark, which is still in the curve portion of the final, but instead he seemed to be drifting slightly towards the outside. We were getting close to the straight away and I kept eyeing the hole he was creating between himself and the slightly swerving orange rider. Should I go, should I wait, can I fit through the gap, or will the orange rider swerve and I'll have to hit my brakes. It seemed like an eternity of indecision, but it was probably less than one and a half seconds. Finally I could wait no more and I dove for the hole, blasting through without incident. I popped the gear up another cog to the 12 (50 on the front) and powered it to the line to win by a few lengths. Total race time 31:35.
Leading the sprint with 75 meters to go. Gaining a bit more, Brock trying to come up on
Drew, Cedric also in the mix.		 Brock finding room to try to come around Drew.

Drew finding the power to keep his position.
Cedric pouring it on.		 Looking to see where the others are.
Brock making progress, but not enough.		 Side view at half way down the straight away.
Notice Brock is on Drew's wheel and Cedric is ahead of Brock.

As it turned out, Brock had suffered low pressure in his rear wheel for the last two laps (possibly a result of his earlier mishap). Thus when it came to the sprint, he could not get out of the saddle to accelerate as it felt too mushy and by picking up the speed it felt unstable, causing him to drift out. He still was able to get things moving again and pulled off a third. Drew Albert, a Strada teammate wisely stuck to my wheel as best he could during the sprint which gave him the best advantage to take the second slot. Cedric Bosch, another Strada rider, kept his determination going all the way to the line and took 4th for 3 of us in the top 4. Jeff Biever, a Strada Masters rider that was in our race, got caught behind a crash on the second turn with two to go and lost a little skin.

    Results    

I was very impressed with my new teammates and it will be fun to see them increase their skills as the seaon progresses.

Summary
Start
Time		 Distance
(Miles)		 Starters Duration Weather
(Deg F, mph)		 Climbing
(Feet)		 Speed avg
(MPH)		 Speed Max
(MPH)		 Cadence avg
(rpm)		 HR avg
(BPM)		 HR max
(BPM)		 HR waking
(BPM)		 Calories Burned
(Kcal)
11:33 am 13.5 45 31:35 69, Sunny, ESE@4 0 25.8 35.1 105 172 195 44 299


Racing page     Bike page