March 28-29, 2009, Colossal Cave, Masters 55+
Tucson, AZ

This year's Colossal Cave race was a stage race. Previously it was just the Road race, which for my class was 45 miles. Although I won the Masters 45+ race in 2004, I had not ridden it for several years. The stage race consisted of a Time Trial, a Criterium, and ending with the 45 mile road race and would be based on points instead of overall time. Since most stage races are won on the Time Trial when only time is considered, I figured I may have a chance to win the overall when based on points, especially since this would be my first year racing in the 55+ masters category. Points were given in each event based on placing in the form of 25, 20, 16, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and there would be bonus points with an extra sprint in the criterium and road race for the first four in the form of 5, 3, 2, 1. The road race would be my big unknown challenge.

Time Trial
The TT was very short, predominantly downhill and with a tailwind. At only 2.9 miles, it would be more suited to my talents and I was hoping I might pull of a win to start an early lead in the overall General Classification (GC). The night was cold, my start time was 7:54 a.m. and the temperature had warmed up to 47 degrees. One of the hardest parts was standing in the slow registration line for 15 minutes and not being dressed warm enough. For the ride, I had two layers on my legs, two on my arms, three on my chest, and a balaclava on my head. My warm up was only 6 minutes and interrupted mid-way as I went back to the car to exchange clothes, but I normally only need a few minutes anyway.

I had set up my Gilmour Morph bike with brakes on my aero bars, using my Zipp disc wheel with a 11x23 cogset and put a 53 on the front.

I had done a few 3 mile TT practice runs over the previous month to get a better sense on my pacing. If one starts too fast, the rest of the ride is an absolute struggle. In practice, a heart rate of about 174 bpm seemed to be about right, but it's usually a bit higher in an actual race. Previous TTs from long ago, my sustainable threshold was 184.

I had a pretty good start, trying not to be too aggressive. Before a minute was up, I was doing over 36 mph and my heart rate was 188 bpm. I tried not to go any harder and I held a pretty steady 187 to 188 for the first 4 minutes, so apparently I did not start too hard. At this point I could could see the tall stadium lights that were close to the finish line and the approaching power lines that crossed the road with about 400 meters to go. I tried picking up the pace an the last slight uphill, but my heart rate was actually going down, indicating that I had pretty well used up my resources, but finished at a steady 184 bpm until the end, resulting in a time of 5:09, averaging 33.9 mph with a 105 rpm cadence average. I'd have to wait until the afternoon to see how that compared with the other 14 contestants in my class, but I felt like I had done a very consistent performance with no mistakes.
  

That afternoon, the results showed that David Bixby won the class with an excellent time of 4:58 and my time of 5:09 was good for a three way tie for second. This gave David 25 points and 20 points to myself and the other two second place racers.

Criterium
The crit would be a short 25 minute race later that same afternoon on the kart track that I won the 45+ Tucson series on last year. The tricky part of the course is the last turn, where you enter it going slightly down hill and it's very tight. The bonus sprint would be at the end of the third lap. The weather had warmed up nicely into the 70's and there was a slight tailwind coming into the finish (or more importantly, a headwind on the back stretch).

I started off fast, leading the first half lap to make sure I did not get stuck behind any crashes or escape break-aways. I made sure things stayed together, riding in the top 4 until the first sprint lap at lap 3. From third position, I jumped just before the final turn on the sprint lap and easily took the bonus points, with David taking second. So now he was only 3 points ahead of me in GC. About mid-way through the race, a rider went off the front and nobody bothered to close the gap. Although we weren't going fast, he continued to pull away. He had only scored 12th in the TT, so he was very low in points and not a threat to the GC. If everyone was going to take it easy, it only meant that I'd be that much fresher for the more grueling race the next day, so I was fine with this situation. As we approached two to go, we were a half lap down and David's team-mate Don Williams (who had also tied for 2nd in the TT) took the lead. I sat in third spot with David behind me and we stayed like this until half a lap to go. I attacked with 3 turns to go and pulled ahead by about 6 lengths on them immediately, allowing me to actually brake in the final turn to reduce the risk of wiping out and coast to the finish to take the second place points ahead of David, putting me in the lead of GC by one point. Maximum speed in the race was only 30.9 mph, average 22.8. Maximum heart rate 188 bpm, average 170. Distance 8.2 miles over 22:15.
  

Road Race
This would be my biggest unknown. The distance would take us about 2 hours and I'm normally good for one. We would be doing 5 laps around a course that had some climbing, with the finish at the top of a .8 mile climb of about 4% and I had not climbed any hills for about 3 years. Although we started at 6:56 a.m., it was already in the upper 50's and I expected 60's by the end of the ride, but I still had warmers on my arms and legs, with full fingered gloves.

David and I were within one point of each other on GC and the next closest were 11 and 15 points behind me, so all I needed to do was beat David to win the event and nobody else would really matter if they placed higher than us. Thus I would watch David like a hawk and conserve as much of my resources as possible; then I should be able to beat David in the final sprint for the victory. The bonus sprint would be at the end of the first lap.

There were a few short lived attacks on the first lap, but I just stayed with David. The first time up the hill at the end of the lap was a reminder that for me, hills aren't much fun. I had no problem staying with the leaders and the legs and lungs worked just fine. But it's always a struggle with no relief until the top is crested. As we approached the final 200 meters, we sprinted for bonus points (hitting 26.8 mph) and I took second behind Bill McDorman; there was no need to win it as the point spread was not enough to ensure a GC win. I only need to last four more laps and I can sprint for the win.

The second lap was uneventful and the climb no more difficult. Half way through the third lap, on the hilly section leading up to the final hill, David tried a solo attack, but I was immediately on his wheel with no problem and he eased back up. Thus my vigilance was proven necessary. On the climb up for the third time, he pushed the pace a bit harder, but I was able to stay with them without any problems.

On the fourth lap as we entered the hilly section after turn 2, I had a visit from an old nemesis of mine in the way of cramps. In the past I've tried every solution suggested with no positive results. The cramps started to surface, primarily in my right leg just above the knee. The climb up the hill started to affect both legs in all muscles and if the sprint was on that lap, I probably would not have faired well. I tried shaking it out and massaging with my hands on the following lap while the pace slowed and hoped I could magically hold off the cramps until the end because of the easy pace due to everyone preparing for the finale. I tried all the combinations I could think of: standing, pulling only, big gear, little gear, but my legs were bad in all situations and trying to overcome the pain might be the only solution. I was laughing to myself due to the irony, as here I was with plenty of strength and not feeling at all tired, but lacking in the ability to control the spasms that would debilitate me. I could only hope for a miracle that the slowing of the pace might let them recuperate to get off one final effort. Climbing up the hill for the final time was working well, with the legs and lungs having no problems and the cramps keeping at bay. I was still in contention with the leaders at 200 meters to go where David Bixby and I were neck and neck and all I had to do was beat David for the win. As we passed the 200 meters to go sign, I began to pick up the pace gradually, hoping a slower acceleration would work better for me. The extra exertion of the sprint set the cramps into full play with every leg muscle in both legs just screaming in pain and almost locking up my ability to pedal, such that I only finished 7th, but with enough points to hold onto 2nd in the GC.

Average speed 22.2 mph, Duration 2:02, Distance 45 miles, Average heart rate 157 bpm, Max 189 (at the bonus sprint), 186 in final sprint at 21.4 mph.


So I did the best to my abilities and had to be satisfied with second. I'll probably skip the longer races in the future as it's just too frustrating to not be able to race to the end.


Results
  GC TT Criterium Road Race
Name Place Points Place Points Place Points Bonus Place Points Bonus
David Bixby 1 66 1 25 3 16 3 2 20 2
Lionel Space 2 57 2 20 2 20 5 7 9 3
Bill McDorman 3 54 8 8 4 16 2 1 25 5
Reg Dowdall 4 49 2 20 5 12 3 4 14  
Donald Williams 5 47 2 20 6 10   3 16 1
Steve Alward 6 39 12 4 1 25   6 10  
Jim Ostrem 7 27 5 12 9 7   8 8  
Glenn Eyler 8 26 11 5 7 9   5 12  
Dale Crockatt 9 25 5 12 10 6   9 7  
Craig Liming 10 18 6 10 8 8   DNF 0  
Lee Gardner 11 18 7 9 12 4   11 5  
Jay Hirsch 12 17 10 6 11 5   10 6  
Glenn Harris 13 12 9 7 14 2   13 3  
Steve Bohn 14 8 13 3 13 3   14 2  
Dennis Kruse 15 7 14 2 15 1   12 4  

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