March 12-13, 2016, South Mountain and Hungry Dog Criteriums
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ
This weekend had races that I had very much been looking forward to for quite some time,
the South Mountain circuit race on Saturday and two Hungry Dog criteriums on Sunday.
I had won all 3 last year and fully expected to do so again this year.
Race Promoters had been complaining that riders were waiting until the last minute to register online, which made it difficult for them to predict the upcoming participation.
So I entered a bit early this time, paying for all 3 races on Monday afternoon.
However, as I went to bed Monday night, my sinuses began to run and it seemed I had succumbed to the illness that my wife had been suffering with for the last four days.
I rarely get sick and usually avoid catching Noel's illnesses as well and hoped that it would quickly dissipate.
The last time I got sick was January 17, 2013, where I got a running nose on Thursday, but still won a criterium on Saturday.
Previous to that, I had a runny nose in September 2009 and it was January through March of 2006 where I had a long spell of severe illness.
So I was dismayed as my condition worsened as the weekend approached.
A quick ride on Friday (15 minutes) displayed a burning in the back of my throat.
Since the South Mountain race on Saturday would require lungs to be operating at 100%, that race was then off the list.
A short ride on Saturday demonstrated that my lungs were too congested to consider riding at race speed, so I'd also have to forgo the criteriums at Hungry Dog.
$83 in entry fees wasted because I entered early and there were no refunds.
With only about 18 criterium races available locally in Arizona this year, missing 3 of these is 17% of the season.
Monday I was finally able to complete a one hour ride at 18+ mph, although I was expelling quite a bit of phlegm.
Even at this moderate pace, my breathing was labored, so the lungs were still severely hampered.
But the illness was finally receding.
Hopefully this will give my immune system a boost to carry me through the next 10 years.
Results - South Mountain 55+
Results - Hungry Dog 55+
Results - Hungry Dog 60+
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