February 9, 2014, Avondale Masters 55+
Avondale AZ
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ

The second criterium of the year in Avondale, just West of Phoenix with the 55+ Masters category starting at 7:55 in the morning. 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 130 meters and the wind was nonexistent at this time of the morning.. Normally the optimal place to begin the sprint is before coming out of the final bend. They moved the finish line about 40 meters closer to the final bend this year, so sprint action would need to start in the bend or before.

 

When getting up at 6 am in the dark and the temperatures below 50, I really didn't feel like going out for a race. I was not sure how prepared I would be for this race as some manual labor on my knees during the week had given me a lot of pain and I was not able to accomplish any intensity training since the last race. We arrived in Avondale just as the sun was coming up over the horizon, half an hour before my race was to start. I had enough time to register, prepare the bike, get dressed and roll over to the start line.

My main rival would be Keith Brodhagen, who is strong in a solo effort and pretty good in a sprint as well. David Bixby would be the next competitor to keep a close eye on. The other racers that beat me last month at Avondale were not here.

At the start, Bixby took the lead and everyone was content to let him do so, only averaging 21.5 mph for the lap. Unlike last month, there were very few solo attempts and although laps 3 and 4 averaged about 25 mph, we slowed down to only 20.8 mph on the next lap. Perhaps the early time of day and cold temperatures sucked the inspiration out of most of them. I had two layers on my legs, booties on my shoes, a heavy jacket under my skinsuit and a cap over my helmet to shield off the air flow and was quite comfortable. Many of the racers were in shorts and some complained of the cold after the race. They rang a bell for the second prime for the finish of lap 15 and David Bixby picked up the speed from the front and took it, just as they rang the bell for another prime. About 3 other riders went up to join him and I was concerned about the gap that the pack was allowing to develop, so I closed it on my own and caught them just as we entered the final straightaway. Nobody seemed interested in the prime and I had momentum, so I gave it a little kick to get the prime and settled back into the pack.

Keith Brodhagen had been sitting near the back of the pack for most of the race and I was getting concerned that he might try a solo flyer, so I went to the very back to sit behind him and watch him. After a few laps, he tried a tactic to change the arrangement by working up to the front and taking a pull when his turn came up. He picked up the speed quite a bit, but without an attack and then pulled over just as we crossed the finish line. I took a short turn at the front and when I pulled over, nobody would pass me. Going below 20 mph seemed a little silly, so I kept to the far left and just did a medium pace and eventually the majority of the riders went on by. However, Keith made sure to get onto my wheel in hopes of having me give him a good leadout at the finish. I kept an eye on him over my shoulder for a couple of laps, but I did not want to go into the final lap in this order. So with about 4 laps to go as we came down the finishing stretch, I pulled to the far right curb and slowed down, almost as if I was going into the pit for a wheel change. Keith looked rather perplexed, but carried on through and I was able to swing over back behind him.

As we approached 3 laps to go, just after the long bend, a Faster rider rode off the front on the inside and the pack let him go. It was not a fast attack, so I hoped he didn't have the strength to really make it a hard challenge, but the pack gave him more leeway than I would have liked. I was at the very back, sitting on Keith and watching Bixby in the front third.

With 2 to go, I was the last rider across the line out of our pack of about 14 and the lone attacker was still about 15 seconds ahead of us, but not gaining. Another rider was trying to force me off of Keith's wheel, so with 1 to go I edged him over a bit and he was the last rider over the line as I stayed on Keith's wheel. We went around the three sharper turns and I was still next to last. Bixby was in about fifth position and I was hoping that Keith was going to make a move. I kept a bit to the outside so as not to get boxed in and was about 6 lengths back from the lead rider, knowing I'd have to pass them all in order to take a win. I finally had to go, and went while the back stretch was still straight, about 400 meters from the finish, just as the front of the pack was passing the lone break away rider. I had put it in the 50x13 so that I wouldn't need to worry about changing gears part way through. I jumped off of Keith's wheel on the left and hoped that he wouldn't be able to immediately latch on. As I passed the riders in the pack, I moved over a bit to the right to try to shave Keith off of me if he happened to be there. I saw a hole on the right of about 3 riders up ahead and considered going on the inside, but did not want to risk getting boxed in. I flew past those riders on the outside and cut to the inside just in front of them and was surprised to see one lone rider about 3 lengths still up ahead and recognized him as Steve Cullinan. I bee lined for his draft and flew by him at 35.4 mph and saw the long, morning shadows of another rider near me. It was Keith, but I was still 2.5 lengths ahead of him at the line as he also finished ahead of Steve.

I was fortunate that the race played to my strengths. No major attacks came about and no team work in an attempt to wear me out. The relatively slow pace of 23.6 mph average for the race allowed me to keep rested so that I had maximum ability retained for the final sprint. I chose a good time to start my sprint and was able to not give a leadout to other strong sprinters. My Dad was in town visiting and I'm glad I was able to be successful for his viewing.

Summary
Start
Time		 Distance
(Miles)		 Starters Duration Weather
(Deg F, mph)		 Speed avg
(MPH)		 Speed Max
(MPH)
7:55 am 11.9 15 30:02 46, Calm 23.6 35.4

Last lap graph:
 

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