May 6, 2006, Tucson Crit Series #1, Masters 45+
Tucson, AZ 12.1 miles
This was to be my third real race of the season.
So a continued slow start of the season and a not likely to dramatically change for the rest of the year as I become more selective in the events I choose to attend.
Since the last race a month ago, I had gotten stronger, posting my best time on my personal 5.3K time trial course last Monday, averaging 27.1 mph.
I had done some sprint work, but tweaked my left arm a bit on some standing starts and had to back off to let it heal.
At my age, I can't just go gung ho all the time.
I've discovered that I need to put in a good effort and then usually allow two recovery days, otherwise I risk injury, burnout, and set backs.
So I feel my progress has been good, although slower than I would like.
However, my main goal for this season is the Track Nationals in early August in Colorado Springs, CO, and I seem to be on track for that barring injury or illness.
This was to be a 30 minute event.
I figured with all the turns to slow us down, we'd probably average around 24 mph, which would mean about 16 laps.
The course was not entirely level, climbing a bit after the first two turns, descending into the final turn and a bit of uphill coming to the finish line.
There was also some wind from the NE, so a bit of a headwind finish.
The temperatures were in the upper 80's, but not bad for Tucson and the low humidity meant that it was not uncomfortable.
I decided to wear the colorful skin suit I got at the bike swap meet for $7, as I was concerned about a crash and didn't want to ruin my best one.
This race was going to be a little different.
The course is very technical (meaning lots of tight turns).
I had gone out to practice on it a couple of times, since it is conveniently located just a 15 minute drive away.
The trickiest turn is the final hairpin before the finish.
During my practice, I was able to find the best line and bike position to take this turn.
The trick is to get your center of gravity as low as possible, just like the cafe motorcycle racers.
However, with our skinny, high pressure tires, there is more of a chance of losing grip at some point.
During practice, I had used 140 psi instead of 155 psi in the tires and was able to take the turn comfortably at 27 mph.
Hopefully that would work at the faster speeds encountered during a race.
With this tricky a course, it would be imperative to be at the front or at least in the top three from the gun.
There were 16 of us in the 45+ event and some of the 46 to 47 year old riders were pretty strong; much tougher than the 50+ races earlier in the season.
When I registered, the lady said "Oh you've got lots of fast riders in there", of which most of the names I did not recognize.
I spoke with Norm Kibble while warming up (who would not be racing due to a spill he took on Wednesday) and he said that there's a couple of guys on the Southwest Hand Cycling Team that are pretty strong.
I lined up at the line early to get a good position in hopes of being first to the first corner and hoped to hold it for the first lap to avoid being involved in any possible accidents.
I got a good start and powered towards the first turn from the left side of the course.
Someone else beat me to the corner from the right side, so I was second going through the first couple of turns.
This was OK as I could draft him down the following straight stretch and he was moving pretty fast.
It took a lot, but I had to put out whatever I could to not let him get a gap on me.
This guy was one of the Hand Cycling team members, Jon Roberts and he was indeed pretty strong as I had been clued in previously.
As we approached the sharp turn at the end of the straight-away, another rider got to my inside and slid in ahead of me (with a polite verbal apology for cutting in).
I was surprised to see another rider so quickly get in there, but he turned out to be the other Hand Cycling team member, Joel.
Nevertheless, I had to make sure I stayed with these two guys.
The three of us started to get a gap on everyone else in just half a lap.
I was hanging on, letting them do most of the work, which they were not too happy about after a few laps.
When I tried to take a turn, I'd just slow things down and I was afraid that we might get caught.
Wth the course so open, it was easy to see just how close other riders were after taking a tight turn.
These two guys were definitely stronger than me and my lungs were working their hardest just to keep with them, but I was hanging in there.
 |
 |
 |
| Chasers |
Back turns |
Finish stretch |
After about five laps, I didn't see the chasing group on our tail any longer.
Apparently there had been a crash that interfered with their progress and we now had a bit of a comfortable gap.
I could take some turns and not have to worry about getting caught, but feared that my companions might do a jump after I was fatigued and leave me behind.
As we rode together, it seemed that Jon was the stronger of the two and also had the best technique through the corners (Joel actually clipped a pedal early on).
I had practiced getting my body low to take the corner quickly and Joel was still sitting pretty high.
When we came through the final turn, I was usually able to take a tighter line and gain a half length; this might come in handy on the final sprint.
Yet my chances of a win against two stronger riders was going to be tough.
Actually I was usually hoping I just didn't get dropped and get something less than third.
But if they let me hang with them until the finish, I'd certainly give it my best to take the win.
However, these two were on the same team and not stupid.
On the first long straight stretch, Jon would occasionally leave a gap and I'd have to close it up the grade to get back to Joel.
Finally on one of these, I stayed with Jon and he just let Joel ride away, even yelling to him to look back to see that he had me in his control.
Fine. They were stronger than me anyway and it would be hell trying to fight with both of them for the final ten minutes of the race.
So Joel had the win in hand and I just had to work things out with Jon for the final 5 laps.
He kept having me take turns and I did my best to contribute, but all the while when at the front looking down between my legs to make sure he wasn't dropping back for an attack.
Jon could take the corners with no problem, however on the final turn he always seemed to drift a bit wide.
If I could not lead into the final turn, I hoped I could take a better line faster and maybe have enough momentum and strength to take second.
With one lap to go, Jon made me take the lead, which I did, but not at too hard a pace.
I watched him carefully, wondering when he might attack and if he didn't, I'd have a nice advantage going into the final turn.
Attack he did on the back stretch, just before the double turns before the final turn; just where I would have attacked if I were in his position, so no surprise there.
I was able to easily get on his wheel and knew it would now all come down to the final turn.
I stayed with him down the final back stretch and then accelerated a bit just before hitting the turn and prepared for a really tight lean to speed through to the exit.
Just as we got to the apex, both of my tires skipped about four times in about half a second, not able to grip the asphalt enough and my momentum dissipated with the resultant wider line.
Fortunately I did not go down, but at that point it was impossible to make up the speed uphill to chase Jon down before the finish line.
Looking at the computer log, I was doing 31.6 mph at that point; guess I'll have to drop the tire pressure down next time.
So a satisfying third.
No tactical errors, no crashes, I was able to be ahead of some other good riders, and had some worthy competition.
With some luck, I could have done better, but luck (good or bad) was not in my cards today, just hard work and perseverance.
It was especially nice to have Noel and four neighbors there to cheer me on and see what bicycle racing was like.
All of us had a great time.
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) |
| 10:39 am |
12.1 |
16 |
30:00 |
89, light NE |
272 |
24.2 |
31.6 |
175 |
186 |
46 |
280 |
Results
Racing page Bike page
This was to be a 30 minute event.
I figured with all the turns to slow us down, we'd probably average around 24 mph, which would mean about 16 laps.
The course was not entirely level, climbing a bit after the first two turns, descending into the final turn and a bit of uphill coming to the finish line.
There was also some wind from the NE, so a bit of a headwind finish.
The temperatures were in the upper 80's, but not bad for Tucson and the low humidity meant that it was not uncomfortable.
I decided to wear the colorful skin suit I got at the bike swap meet for $7, as I was concerned about a crash and didn't want to ruin my best one.
