February 10, 2013, McDowell Park CR, Category Masters 50+
NE of Phoenix, AZ 16.0 miles
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ
Many thanks to my Dad for the photography.
(Images can be clicked on for a larger version)
This was a circuit race NE of Phoenix on a 1.6 mile course in a park.
I've usually done well on this course and have won twice previously.
This year they ran the course clockwise after last year's unique attempt to run it the opposite way.
The weather was only in the mid-40s at the beginning and was probably about 50 at the finish, with calm winds.
There were 22 riders in the 50+ at the start of the race, plus a few 60+ and 70+ riders that would be starting about half a minute after us.
The race was to be 40 minutes, which should take us about 10 laps.
Mark Fosenburg, Keith Brodhagen, and Scott Baker where the main contenders that I was familiar with.
There were many primes available, with ringing of the bell for them happening almost every other lap for primes and the same bell for the final lap.
A strange twist was the addition of a "first" prime where it would the first rider to cross the line first more than once would win $100 and no other primes would start until that happened.
This could make it very confusing if you were not right at the front monitoring who was crossing the line each lap as the officials gave us no indication as to when this occurred, they just kept ringing the bell.
Fortunately Keith Brodhagen set his sights on the first prime.
I think he took the first lap (I was mid-pack so couldn't tell) and then he went solo for the second lap and everyone just let him have it.
Keith immediately sat up after that lap, so he must have have been the winner of the "first" prime, otherwise I would have expected him to continue to solo for a chance at a win (he won last year after many laps away solo).
The next several laps saw some mediocre attacks and flurries for the primes, but nothing dangerous.
I was usually a bike behind Mark, watching his intentions.
About half way into the race, I saw Keith move closer to the front and I also moved up.
On the back stretch he made a strong solo move and I countered by catching up to his wheel.
He very quickly eased up and then his teammate Scott Baker went on the attack.
I had to watch him go and sit in the pack to recuperate a bit and was fortunate that the pack was able to keep him from escaping.
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Early laps (I have the black helmet cover on). |
Mid-pack: I am sitting on Mark, who is sitting on Keith on the home stretch in an early lap. |
Detail of the key players in the pack. |
We eventually got the 3 laps to go sign and things would become more serious.
I moved up to about the top third of the pack so as not to get caught behind any groups that let gaps happen between them and the lead riders.
With two laps to go, I saw Keith come to the front of the pack again and I kept an eye on him.
Soon after the first of the 2 corners, he gave a solo attack and I jumped to get on his wheel, hitting 33.6 mph.
Keith prefers to go solo, especially if there's a good sprinter with him, so he immediately shut down his effort.
As we approached the last corner with still a bit more than a lap to go, I was fairly near the front, farther up front than I would have preferred.
The rough surface of the asphalt caused my tire to slide a little and I was concerned that I was getting a soft tire, but could not confirm it by bouncing on it; however, this drastically reduced my confidence in my cornering capability.
I could sense that other riders were marking me and sitting behind and I didn't try to force the issue by dropping back, but instead sat behind the 5 or so riders in the lead.
The last lap was not intense (although the fastest, averaging 25.8 mph) as everyone was watching each other and I knew I was still too near the front and that I probably had Mark right on my wheel.
As the final corner came into sight, a rider jumped off the left in a solo bid.
I hesitated, hoping there would be some chasers that I could latch onto, but there was nothing.
Sensing that this rider would win if I did nothing, I gave a strong jump to try to catch him, but I was too far back to get any draft from him and I was now in the situation of doing a 600 meter sprint with good sprinters on my wheel.
I took the final corner a bit too gingerly and started my bid to try to pull this rider back, but I was not making good progress.
With about 250 meters to go, Mark predictably came by me on my left, towing Keith along.
I never did close the gap on the lone rider, so ended up fourth, just out of the money.
My initial hesitation and lack of agression on the final turn were not able to be overcome with my available speed.
Summary
Start Time |
Distance (Miles) |
Starters |
Duration |
Speed avg (MPH) |
Speed Max (MPH) |
HR avg (BPM) |
HR max (BPM) |
10:10 am |
16.0 |
22 |
40:27 |
23.7 |
33.6 |
157 |
184 |
Results
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