March 26, 2005, 4th Ave Criterium, Category 4
Tucson, AZ 22.8 miles
This was a 60 minute criterium in downtown Tucson.
The course was just over a mile, with 8 ninety degree turns.
An interesting aspect was going below the railroad tracks twice, once through a narrow one lane, almost dark tunnel (actually a choice of 2 tunnels for 2 lanes) and then again just before the finish under a much wider span that was more like going under a bridge.
After the last turn, the course actually curves to the left, starts down to the lowest point under the span as it curves right, and then as you rise back towards the finish it curves to the left again (not nearly so straight as the map below seems to indicate).
There was also a headwind coming into the finish, crossing slightly from the right.
The weather was sunny and about 70 degrees.
I had been pondering whether to ride this race or the Masters 45+ later in the day and finally decided to give both a try.
The category 4 race was to start at 10:15 and the Masters at 12:30, so there was not a lot of rest time between.
Since I had cut my training time back to about an hour a day, I would probably not have the stamina to ride hard for the entire duration of both races and would need to conserve wherever possible.
I had taken the previous weekend off, skipping a longish road race with some brutal climbs in it.
This race included both category 4 and 5 riders and was limited to 50 entrants. These are two of the largest categories when they are run separately and so this combined race quickly filled up and they squeezed in a few more to get around 60 starters.
It is a concern on a tricky course like this when riding with somewhat inexperienced category 5 riders, so it was even more important to stay near the front to avoid any crashes.
However, the riders took the corners very well and there were basically no surprises in this area.
The first lap was controlled and no one was allowed to pass the lead truck, so I stuck right at the front until the truck zoomed ahead.
I was able to stay in the top 5 for the first half dozen laps or so.
My friend Jesus Lamb would get himself into second position and then refuse to take a pull at the front, getting admonished from other riders in the process.
I would often be on his wheel and just let him take the blame.
I'd eventually drop back to the 5th to 8th position to avoid being obvious at not putting in turns at the front, but where I could still keep in contact with the lead riders.
We had a couple of prime sprints, but I basically just kept an eye on any attacks following the sprints.
A little past the halfway mark, a few riders at the front picked up the pace and about 12 of us got a gap on the rest, which had probably thinned down to about 30 at that point.
However, after about 2 laps, there was a lack of concentrated effort at the front and we became one group again.
We were now getting to the final third of the race and one rider seemed to be demonstrating good strength.
He was last year's Cat 5 state road champion, Javier Contreras, age 26.
I lost track of my friend Matt Runquist and also Jesus was unexpectantly not seen near the front.
With about 7 laps to go, we were going down the home stretch at the lowest point of the under pass and a rider that was slightly ahead of me and to my right touched a wheel and quickly went down.
I saw his helmet and shoulder sliding out towards a direct line with my front wheel and thought for sure I was going down, however I must have just missed him as a few seconds later I had the relief that I was still upright (he rejoined us a lap later and had some blood around his nose when I saw him after the race).
I barely heard them announce that we had 5 laps to go, the point at which it changes from time remaining to laps remaining, since they did not use the bull horn.
I made sure I moved myself up to at least the top 8.
I paid attention next lap and was able to see the lap board announcing we had 4 to go, tightened up the buckles on my shoes, and watched for any sudden shifting of positions that could cause congestion or accidents.
To my surprise there was little change in the next few laps and the pace did not increase appreciably.
As we approached the finish line with 2 to go, Zupke, the promising AZ junior rider made an attack, but the pack did not let him get away and we were all together on the back stretch.
No one else made any attacks until we came to the line again with one lap remaining and Zupke tried again.
The pack surged and kept him in the fold.
I was able to to get on Javier's wheel as we went through the back stretch for the final time and he was in about 4th position as we went through the final 2 turns.
As we approached the downhill section another rider in a solid red jersey tried edging me off of Javier's wheel from my right.
I held my ground and rode just to the left of Javier, which was on his downwind side anyway, which is where I wanted to be.
As we hit the 200 meters to go mark at the very bottom of the under pass, Javier began his sprint and I followed his lead.
With about 120 meters left I started to pass him on the left, which was also a straighter line to the finish because of the slight left curve.
I gave it my all, concentrating as much as I could to accelerate and use every muscle I could, but I could not quite get past Javier and got within a wheel length of matching him.
I kept it going, but the rider in red came slowly by me on the left and got me by another half wheel length, giving me a third place.
The picture shows us about 50 feet from the finish, with Javier in the red and white on the left, me in the the grey jersey and black helmet in the center, with the second place finisher in Red on the far right.
The larger image will give a better idea of the curves and hill involved in the finish.
So this was another race where I needed to find just a little more horsepower at the very end to get the win.
I was surprised to see I had finished in my 39 x 11 and might have been a bit better off in the 12 (I rode the entire race in the small chainring).
I received $95 in prizes and a few more upgrade points.
Matt had gotten a flat with 4 laps remaining (no free laps to rejoin the race once we hit the 5 lap to go point), so bad luck for him.
It was nice to have my friends Desi and Donna come with me to enjoy watching the races.
They also stay at our RV park and are from Canada.
Desi has been successful in the past in Masters races and has given me much useful coaching.
Desi was also kind enough to snap a few photos.
I'm also happy to report that I have my full cornering skills back.
I can now take corners at full speed and even make up time or pass other riders on the corners.
Last year I was so fearful of sliding out that I would usually brake and loose valuable speed, which resulted in then having to make it up with a hard acceleration after the corner.
There was an accident in the the next race for the women involving a car on the course, which delayed the start of the Masters races by about 15 minutes.
These races were to be 45 minutes in duration.
The Masters 35+ started, followed 10 seconds later by the 45+ (my race) and then the 55+ another 10 seconds behind us.
We occasionally caught some 35+ riders and had to avoid mixing or having them interfere with our progress.
I had forgotten to start my computer and when I started it 2 and a half laps into the race, it did not catch my heart rate.
Surprisingly, the Masters were not as skillful in taking corners as the Category 4 riders.
There were 19 starters.
The Category 4 race had taken it's toll on me and I definitely felt at a disadvantage during the start of this race.
I was struggling a bit and could not tell how hard I was actually working due to the computer malfunction.
At about the 10 mile mark, my left calf started getting cramps, so I'd compensate by working harder with my right leg.
2 and a half laps later I ran out of gas on the back stretch and watched the lead pack just ride away from me.
So I did not finish and there was about 15 minutes left to the race.
I was happy with the day. The bi-annual bicycle swap meet was also happening right next to the course, which I always enjoy attending.
I found a few bargains and when you add in the race entry fees and prizes, I came out a dollar ahead!
Summary
Start
Time |
Distance
(Miles) |
Starters |
Duration |
Weather
(Deg F, mph) |
Climbing
(Feet) |
Speed avg
(MPH) |
Speed Max
(MPH) |
HR avg
(BPM) |
HR max
(BPM) |
HR waking
(BPM) |
Calories Burned
(Kcal) |
| 10:29 am |
22.8 |
60 |
58:00 |
70, NW@7 |
750 |
23.6 |
34.8 |
175 |
193 |
48 |
510 |
Results
Racing page Bike page
As we approached the finish line with 2 to go, Zupke, the promising AZ junior rider made an attack, but the pack did not let him get away and we were all together on the back stretch.
No one else made any attacks until we came to the line again with one lap remaining and Zupke tried again.
The pack surged and kept him in the fold.
I was able to to get on Javier's wheel as we went through the back stretch for the final time and he was in about 4th position as we went through the final 2 turns.
As we approached the downhill section another rider in a solid red jersey tried edging me off of Javier's wheel from my right.
I held my ground and rode just to the left of Javier, which was on his downwind side anyway, which is where I wanted to be.
As we hit the 200 meters to go mark at the very bottom of the under pass, Javier began his sprint and I followed his lead.
With about 120 meters left I started to pass him on the left, which was also a straighter line to the finish because of the slight left curve.
I gave it my all, concentrating as much as I could to accelerate and use every muscle I could, but I could not quite get past Javier and got within a wheel length of matching him.
I kept it going, but the rider in red came slowly by me on the left and got me by another half wheel length, giving me a third place.
The picture shows us about 50 feet from the finish, with Javier in the red and white on the left, me in the the grey jersey and black helmet in the center, with the second place finisher in Red on the far right.
The larger image will give a better idea of the curves and hill involved in the finish.
