February 2, 2013, U of A Crit, 40+
Tucson, AZ   40 minutes
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ
Many thanks to Noel Space for the photography.
(Images can be clicked on for a larger version)

Since it was such a long drive to Tucson and I had a good race with the 45+ two weeks ago, I thought I'd see if I could do two races in one day for an extra $10 entry fee. There would be a 2.5 hour break from the 50+ race earlier in the morning and it would be substantially warmer. Normally I never do two races in a day and the last time I tried several years ago, I had to pull out mid-way through the second race, exhausted. A 40+ race is a different caliber of racers though, with some of the best Category 1 and 2 racers being in this age group. I was able to strip down to just one layer of leg warmers and arm warmers and regular gloves; no booties or balaclava.

The first lap was rather gentlemanly, averaging only 22.4 mph. However, it picked up dramatically after that and I soon discovered that being 20 riders or more back required a lot of effort out of each of the corners. The riders would jam out of each corner and there was little ease of pace. Some riders would slip off the front and it quickly became apparent that the Landis club, which comprised a fourth of the pack, would block as soon as a break got away with one of their top riders in it. Although I had planned to just sit in the pack during the race, there was an opportunity to place high by being part of the successful break. After 3 laps of jamming, about 5 riders had a gap with Landis starting to shut things down and when Mark Fosenburg made an attempt to join it, I put in an effort to catch him. I hit 32 mph in the effort, averaging 28.2 mph and it was really taxing. Just as I was about to catch Mark, the lead riders eased up and we all joined up again and I was beat. The next lap, another group got away and it turned out that this would be the successful one. It had eight riders in it and immediately there were about 6 Landis riders at the front of the pack shutting everything else down, guaranteeing that the break would succeed. At least this brought down the average speed of 27 mph down to under 25 and I was able to recover and remain in the race. I really dislike that clubs that have a dominance in numbers think it's great to use that gang-like strength to control the race where most of the other clubs are represented by just 3 or less. Team tactics should be reserved for races where each team is equally represented.
Early lap. I'm not yet in the picture. I'm wearing red & white this day, black helmet cover.

Sticking with Mark Fosenburg. Another early lap, crossing the finish line. Back stretch.

I watched the break make great gains on us and knew that they would eventually lap us. As the break came flying by on the back stretch, they yelled at us not to chase, but a few riders latched on, so of course, we all also had to follow. The pace picked up again to about 27 and I had to constantly try to move up in position to avoid the yo-yo effect on the corners. As the laps counted down, I started feeling pretty good and was hoping to put myself into a good position for the finish, but the pace was relentless and it was difficult to just maintain position and I could not ever move up substantially. I got into the top third for the final lap of 31 which averaged 29.3 mph, but could not get into a prime position and counted about a dozen riders in front of me after we crossed the finish line, but not knowing how many of those were in the break that lapped us.

I'll see how the extra effort pays off with my form. It was at least satisfying to be able to complete the race and not be struggling at the back against riders up to 19 years younger.

Summary
Start
Time		 Distance
(Miles)		 Starters Duration Weather
(Deg F, mph)		 Speed avg
(MPH)		 Speed Max
(MPH)		 HR avg
(BPM)		 HR max
(BPM)
10:39 am 17.0 35 39:28 64, Calm 25.9 32.0 168 185

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