January 31, 2009, Swiss Crit 50+
Peoria AZ
The first AZ race for 2009 was a Criterium in the NW area of Phoenix.
My event would be against other 50 year old or older riders and we had a good turnout of over 30 riders.
The course was a flat, under a half mile course in a parking lot with three left hand corners, where just the second one was rather tight.
The finish was slightly uphill, but long enough from the last corner that you could contest a sprint from second position.
There was no wind and the temperature was in the upper 60's.
Our race was a 40 minute race, starting at 9:40 am, where the officials estimate the end and give a 5 lap countdown to the end.
A large clock was at the finish line and we had a verbal count down to start at 9:43:30.
I stayed very near the front on the opening laps, to avoid getting caught up in any crashes and to be able to better see the corners at speed.
They were all a bit bumpy and the second one was a bit tight, had two man-hole covers in it, was slightly reverse banked, and had a sharp curb on the outside that did not allow one to stray far from a proper line.
A few minutes into the race and there would be small groups off the front of 2 or 3, but the pack was able to hit speeds over 28 mph and reel them in.
We had some primes within the race and I'd keep near the front to keep riders from drifting away.
I chose to conserve my energy for the first half of the race, riding between 5th and 12th position.
I'd watch the clock and see when we were 15 minutes in, then 20, the half way point.
The course was short enough that a typical lap would take less than a minute to complete.
Then at about 25 minutes into the race they had another prime and 3 guys went after it, but it was not hotly contested.
Unfortunately, the pack eased up too much and we let them get too much of a lead allowing them to establish a small gap on us.
We still had 15 minutes left and since the pack had previously exhibited some good speed,
I took the gamble that the pack would speed up and be able to catch them, at the same time wearing out the lead three riders as they worked with fewer resources.
Sure enough, a lap later the WM team all went to the front and picked up the pace.
If they increased the pace as I anticipated, then they would either catch the lead group or get me close enough to easily jump up to the leaders.
However, after just a couple of laps, and even though other riders were assisting, they began to fade.
So at 28 minutes into the race I roared off the front up the slight grade to the finish to try to close the gap on my own, hitting 30 mph.
I was able to close about half the distance to the leaders, but then could no longer sustain that pace.
After two laps of going a little too fast, I'd need to pace myself if I were to catch them in the next 10 minutes and still have something left to beat them in the final sprint.
But with less than 30 minutes into the race, they put out the lap board with 5 to go; way too early and a big psychological blow to me.
Now I was in a pickle. Instead of 10 minutes, I only had 5 to catch, recuperate, and sprint; not a likely possibility.
If I couldn't catch or stay in limbo, I'd need to drop back to the pack and recuperate very soon if I wanted to contest the pack sprint for fourth.
My heart rate was already at 193 bpm (my sustainable threshold is 183) and I tried to go for the win in hopes that the leaders were beginning to tire.
On the next lap, one of the 3 riders slid out on the second turn, but I was able to avoid him and continue my chase after the other two.
But I had already burnt up my reserves and was way deep into the red zone and fading fast.
With two to go the pack was storming up behind me and I knew there was not going to be anything in my tank to sprint with the bunch.
I had little choice, but to just sit up and watch everyone ride by.
The two leaders were able to take the top spots, with the pack not far behind, which I observed from the other side of the course.
When I slowly rolled up to the line, only 35:12 had elapsed.
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