January 21, 2006, Tucson Senior Olympics (50-54 age group)
Tucson AZ

(All pictures can be clicked to go to a different page of more details)

Although this is generally a low key event, I was still expecting it to be a challenge with my current handicaps. For one, I had a hernia surgery just 12 days prior and had discovered that I could still ride hard as long as I did no upward forces with my arms (I only missed one day of riding, the day of the surgery). Also, just two days ago I started getting the sniffles (probably caught while on the airline flight back from Minneapolis on Monday), so my throat was swollen and I had a bit of a runny nose. The pain in my right knee had started to resurface during the week, but not as severely as before. Add to this the fact that I basically had not had the opportunity to do much hard training since December 10th when we went on vacation and I was definitely not at my prime.

Two other residents of the Voyager RV park would also be participating, Desi in the 55-59 class, and Donna in the Women's 50-54 class. This would be the first cycling competition for Donna. Desi participated last year and years ago was a cycling Canadian National champion, although he is no longer in training.
Lionel, Desi, Donna



This year the event was moved to a new location (West Pima College in Tucson) and the organizers were not organized. Although the first race was scheduled for 9 am, registration didn't open until 8:45. I got my number and the announcement was made "5 minutes until the start of the 1 mile", and I still had to get my bike together and clothes on (it was 33 degrees). And of course, I was the first one to go off. So a quick scramble, rush to the line, and I'm off.

We had four events today, 2 time trials and 2 mass start races. The first was 1 mile in length and unusual in that we started on Greasewood at Speedway, traveled up hill to the next light at St. Marys, hung a right and finished about a third of a mile further up, with an altitude gain of 100 feet. So it was almost more like a hill climb than a regular TT, which are generally flat on an out and back course. Because of the elevation involved, I switched over to my regular road bike instead of my TT bike, since it's a lot lighter and I wouldn't be using the aero position very much.

Not being sure of my condition, I rode a little conservatively. The start was in a much lower gear than I normally would have chosen and a much faster transition into the saddle while going up the hill, due to my inability to use my arms in the process. My throat was probably the biggest problem, but I managed a decent 2:50. My good friend Desi beat me by 2 seconds, but he was riding in the next age group class (55-59). Afterwards I was surprised to see that there were no other entries for this event in my class, so a gold medal was assured.

I was able to do an average 177 bpm on my heart rate with a 179 max, so pretty consistent, but not as hard as my usual 183.

1 mile Results

The next event was a 5 km (3.1 mi) TT, but it was actually a bit shorter due to road situations and was only 2.7 mi, including 280 feet of altitude gain (1.9% grade). After the 1 mile, I had continued up the road to familiarize myself with this course. This took a bit of extra time and after a restroom stop and shedding a layer of clothing, I got the 5 minutes to go call. Since the course got steeper towards the finish, I rode to keep something in reserve, covering the first mile in 3:00 and finishing in 8:14, the fastest of the day (Desi was second fastest at 8:29). There were five of us in my class for this event.

I again did an average 177 bpm on my heart rate with a 183 max.

5 km Results

I was glad that they had a 2 hour start time gap until the next event. Unfortunately, the five that participated in the 5 km, didn't all join us for the 10 km mass start (there were only two of us). So we rode with the 55-59 group for the one lap race, which was pretty close to 10 km. The first half of the course was the same as the 5 km TT course and then continued down Speedway (down as in altitude also), making a right turn on Greasewood for an uphill sprint finish.

Immediately after our start, one rider went off the front. He wasn't pulling away fast, but nobody wanted to chase up the hill. When climbing, there generally isn't much of a disadvantage at being at the front, so I went up to pick up the pace and we slowly closed in on him. Surprisingly, this effort seemed to have an effect on the two top riders, Desi and Norm, even though I just did a grind and not a major push. There were a couple of mild attacks and Norm and Desi were quick to close the gap. Just before we approached the steepest part of the hill before it peaks, I did an attack from behind and got away. I quickly made time and never saw the group again. The motorcycle rider leading us was impressed and gave me encouragement. I soloed in over a minute ahead of the sprint finish which Norm won with a powerful sprint. Although I love to sprint against Norm, I skipped the opportunity, as trying to sprint uphill without the use of my upper body would have made it an unwinnable situation, so I went for the glory of coming in solo. Desi was able to capture second in the sprint behind Norm. Donna captured her third silver for the day.

This time I averaged 173 bpm on my heart rate with a 189 max (during the attack on the climb).

10 km Results

Winning the 10 km Donna starting the 10 km Donna finishing the 10 km

We had about half an hour of rest before the final event, a 20 km mass start race (2 laps around the same course, which made it about 18.8 km). This time there were three in the 50-54 class, but they would not last long before they were dropped off the back. We had a very slow climb on the first time up the climb. A few minor attacks by Norm, which we knew would not be lasting. I was hoping to assist Desi in getting away solo for a win, so we discussed some strategies about attacking on the climb. Although he tried an attack on the first climb, I was unable to keep Norm at bay and he quickly closed in on Desi. I figured we needed to wear Norm out a bit more before an attack, so on the second climb I took the lead and picked up the pace. Desi was on my wheel, with Norm on his. I started grinding up and before I knew it, Desi was no longer behind me. I was disappointed that he couldn't maintain that pace and assumed that if he wasn't strong enough for that, that we'd have little success in getting him away on his own. So I picked up the pace, never to see the group again and finished 57 seconds ahead of Norm, who beat Desi in the sprint again. The temperature had warmed up to 70 by this time, totally clear and now a bit of wind from the North instead of complete calm.

This time I averaged 165 bpm (due to the easy first lap) on my heart rate with a 183 max.

20 km Results
Winning the 20 km Desi finishing the 20 km

So four golds out of four, even though the challenge was mostly with myself. The hernia surgery was not a problem with the methods I used (although my doctor will probably be surprised if I tell him). The sniffles left me feeling a little wiped out at the end, so I decided to forgo the Criterium in Phoenix on Sunday. And due to the surgery limitation and resultant lack of sprint training, I've decided to skip the track racing and criterium in Los Angeles next weekend.


Desi walked away with two golds in the time trial events and two silvers in the mass start races. Donna had a successful fray into competition, taking three silvers to admire.

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