February 11, 2007, McDowell Park CR, Category 50+
NE of Phoenix, AZ   12.6 miles

This would be my first real race of the 2007 season. I'd be competing against other racers in the Masters 50-59 age group in a Circuit Race.

It was East of Phoenix, a 2.75 hour drive from where we're staying in Tucson. I couldn't fall asleep until 1:30 am the previous night, so I only got 3.5 hours sleep, which happens for me a lot the night before a race. The weather was overcast, in the 60's, but occasionally spitting some rain. Just as we were lining up for the start, it sprinkled a bit more, but stopped soon after, just letting the roads get wet, but the rough pavement would not get slick when wet. I had brand new Tufo S3 Pro tire's and kept the pressure down to 130 psi for the rough roads, so they'd work fine in the rain too. I had just put on some SwissStop brake pads and they proved to be very smooth, even on the wet carbon rims of my Zipp 404 wheels, so a good upgrade. The course was 1.6 miles, dropping about 40 feet to the back stretch which has a slight rise before the final turn and two 90 degree turns on the course. The last turn was 400 meters from the finish and the line can not be seen until about 180 meters to go and there's a bit of a bend at 200 meters to go. The final stretch was a little rolling and twisty, as well as narrow, and dips down at about 150 meters to go.

We had 18 starters with several Team RPM riders, the club that was putting on the race. David Bixby (Team RPM) would be the rider to watch, although a new face was also present in the form of Neal Stoughton from California. Neal had won the Usery Pass road race in a solo breakaway the previous week and was second at the 2005 National Championship Masters 50-54 road race. Team RPM was not happy about being beaten by Neal last week and were going to monitor his actions closely.

During the week I had been trying to plan the best tactics. I thought that a series of attacks that would get a small group of us off the front that would be easy to manage for the sprint would be best. So for training on Wednesday I did a quick succession of 11 attacks without much rest between, a new thing for me. As it turned out, this was probably not a good idea, as my quads were still sore on Saturday night and I was a little concerned as to how I'd do in the race.

The race was to be 30 minutes, which would be 8 laps. I had cut my driving time to the race a little close and only got in 1.7 miles of warmup, going back and forth between the course and the sign up area; we didn't get the expected warm up lap. But I hadn't planned to do much of a warmup as I get going pretty quickly. I was able to get a start position right on the line at the outside. At the gun, I did my usual hard start, taking the pace up past 30 mph and took the first sharp corner first (half a mile from the start) to test out how slippery it might be and avoid any possible crashes from taking me out. Some riders don't handle a fast start very well, so I pulled over to access any damage. The pace slid down to 17 mph, but as we approached the slight grade, Neal did an attack, being flagged by a Team RPM rider (who would constantly stick to his wheel for the entire race). The rest of us surged and we brought them back in to one group again. OK, so Neal was going to be aggressive, but he wasn't impressive yet.

On the second lap, the pace was up and down, but we were mostly just watching each other. However on the next lap a Landis rider went off the front and no one seemed to have any interest to reel him back in. By the time we got to the middle of the back stretch, he was out of sight. This could be a problem and I really don't like having a solo rider take a win just due to apathy from the rest of the field. So I went to the front and picked up the pace and was able to get some cooperation from Neal. Team RPM would help a little, but were not really into doing a chase, hoping that Neal and I would wear ourselves out. On the next back stretch, Neal did a flyer from behind and everyone had to jump to try to keep him within reach. We got somewhat stretched out and it was at this point that I realized I wasn't really at my best, probably due to a combination of my Wednesday training and lack of sleep. But I couldn't let the guys in front of me get away or the race was over, but I really had to dig to keep them from gapping me.

OK, so I was going to need to re-assess the best tactics. At this point I was thinking that I was going to need to conserve as much as possible and hope I could muster something for the sprint. Neal was strong, but not really fast and he wasn't riding smart tactically, taking very long leads that would allow the rest of us to take it easier behind him.

With just over two laps to go, Bruno Jaremko (winner of the 2004 45+ race) in a red and white jersey snuck off the front with nobody picking up the pace. He got a fair distance after half a lap and it was going to turn into a real chess game to see who, if anyone, especially the teams, might do something to pull him back in. With a bit more than one lap to go, Neal did a strong attack on the grade up the back stretch and we all gritted our teeth to stay with him. We rounded the last turn with one plus laps to go and I was struggling to stay on the wheel in front of me; I just didn't feel any power. Fortunately, Neal would get frustrated with everyone just sitting on his wheel and eased up, allowing me to recover a bit.

But now we had one lap left and that Bruno was still away. I didn't have the strength to successfully fly off the front and stay away for a mile and a half. I had to hope for the usual surge before the finish that might bring in the solo rider. As expected, as we went down the back stretch, the pace picked up and I got surrounded by riders. I tried to get on David's wheel, but a small gap opened and another rider, Bill McDorman, was able to squeeze in and take it from me. I was now in my large chainring to make sure that it was ready to go (I use the small chainring for the race, except for the sprint). There were now five riders ahead of me, but the pace slowed up a bit and I moved to the right of Bill as we approached a right bend in the road. By getting slightly ahead of him and then the riders keeping close to the edge on the right bend, I was able to re-take David's wheel. Neal was leading the group and I lost track of where Bruno, the solo rider was, but apparently we caught him just before the final turn. Neal was first through the turn, with David's teammate glued to his wheel, followed by David and then myself. Pretty much what I would want with 400 meters to go. Time to put all the pain and tiredness out of mind and get down to the task at hand.

Neal gave it all he had, but his top end would not secure him a win; that would be up to David and myself as David's teammate basically just pulled off to the side. As we got close to 200 meters to go, David began his sprint and I had no problem matching his effort. About 50 meters later I put it into the 15 and muscled by him to take the win by about a wheel. Neal took third.

One of the club's sponsers is Pabst, so they used the bottle as part of the trophy to the first place rider in each class. Norm Kibble, one of the best sprinters in the state and a Team RPM rider, rode the 60+ race, winning it easily and not playing into the tactics of our race.

Next race is in two weeks, the Sun Devil Criterium in the Phoenix area.

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)
9:30 am 12.6 18 32:00 65, OverCast, Calm 320 23.8 33.3 173 189 48 300

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