February 8, 2009, McDowell Park CR, Category 50+
NE of Phoenix, AZ   11.1 miles

This was a circuit race NE of Phoenix on a 1.6 mile course in a park. The big factor of this race was the uncertain weather. For up to a week before, they were predicting rainy weather for Sunday morning. Saturday had been beautiful with sunny skies and shorts were the appropriate attire during my bike ride in the 70's. Sure enough at midnight Saturday, it began to pour. I had the pleasure to have my parents visiting me and the three of us drove up to the course with our fingers crossed that we might get a break during the 30 minutes of my race which started at 9:30 am. The rain was spotty as we approached the course and had actually stopped by the time I was assembling my gear. We heard the stories from the juniors and women who had raced earlier and had to deal with horrible rain. Although it had stopped raining, it was still only 42 degrees, so I had two extra jersey's on, plus two layers of arm warmers, leg warmers, balaclava, helmet cover, and rubber shoe coverings. The course was starting to dry as I started my only warm up lap, but we experienced a few sprinkles during the latter half of that lap.
Bundled up. Old timers.

There were 18 50+ riders at the start of the race, plus a few 60+ and 70+ riders that would be starting about half a minute after us. The start was rather brisk and most of us tried to avoid the small puddles that were starting to form. There are only two right had corners per lap and we took them rather cautiously, not only on the first lap, but pretty much for the entire race, so safety was on everyone's mind. After the first corner, there is a long back stretch that occasionally has a bit of an uphill grade. By the time we had reached the middle of it on the first lap, it was raining so hard that my prescription glasses were useless and I had to pull them down to look over them, which means I would not have good vision in the distance. There were major puddles everywhere and they were impossible to avoid. We had 5 primes and only 7 laps to complete our 30 minutes, so we had a prime on the very first lap and pretty much every lap afterwards. I was going to be extra cautious this time to make sure that nobody got too far out during a prime.

At 2.5 laps into the race I could feel the water running down my leg warmers and into my rubber booties, completely soaking my shoes. This would loosen up the shoes somewhat and with the booties on, it was impossible to ratchet them tighter. A few guys would get some distance on the prime, but I kept them close. There were really only about four other riders that seemed worth keeping a close eye on and they would normally be right at the front on each of the prime sprints. Occasionally their team mates would purposefully allow a gap to from between them and the bunch, but I would quickly jump up to them to keep them in check.

At 3.5 laps into the race, my biceps were so cold that I'd have to pump them on the back stretch to shake out the numbness (I would need these if I stayed until a sprint finish). I would do this on every subsequent lap as well. Although my balaclava was totally soaked, it was still more comfortable to keep it over my nose and mouth to keep the chill off my face, but it was heavy and wanting to fall down.

As we approached 2 to go after the last turn, someone at the front was giving it a good pull and there were 6 of us with a slight gap on the rest just after crossing the line; however even though I went to the front to try to keep them motivated, we ended up easing up and forming one large group again. It looked to be a good bet that we might finish as a bunch sprint. There were two major sprinters in our group that I would focus on: David Bixby who at times has shown to be a very strong sprinter and had placed second in the last two years of this event, and Steve Cullinan who came around me to take a win at a Scottsdale crit a couple years ago. I planned on being on Bixby's wheel for the sprint as he usually will ride strongly towards the end and keep himself in good position; plus he had several team mates that would do what they could to help him out and since his club was producing the race, he probably would want a good showing.

As we approached the final corner for the last time, I was in the perfect position: on Bixby's wheel in fourth position. Prior to entering that last corner I had looked behind me and saw Cullinan on my wheel; thus it would be risky to take an early flyer as he might easily use me as a lead out and take the win at the last second. It's about 400 meters from that corner to the finish and the course is narrow, twisty, and some slightly rolling hills, making it impossible to see the line until the last 150 meters. As we hit 300 meters, one of the riders in front of Bixby accelerated and got a gap on Bixby. I thought that Bixby was playing with me, hoping that I would take the bait to jump up to the lead rider and allow him to use me for a lead up to the finish. I hesitated, hoping that he would not follow through with his bluff as we were getting too close to the finish for this tactic to work successfully, plus I had Cullinan perfectly poised to strike on me if I went this early. Just at the time that I expected Bixby to begin his sprint up to the lone leader, he sat up and coasted! This completely caught me off guard and was not anywhere in my reaction plans. By the time I shook off my confusion and began my chase of the leader, he had several lengths on us and I started my quest to bore down on him in hopes for the win. However with my obscured vision I had not realized that we had already passed the 150 meters to go point and there would not be adequate time to reel him in. As I continued my sprint, I heard Cullinan coming up on my right, so I popped the gear up a couple of cogs and dug in to keep my second place. Just as we finished, the rain subsided and the sun would be out a half hour later.

The winner, Keith Brodhagen, is not known as a sprinter, but made a smart move that was fortunate with Bixby's actions. I certainly would have played my cards differently if I had a better expectation of Bixby's unusual move. Bixby had ridden a 20 km time trial the day before and said that it had made him tired. So I'm disappointed in second when I know I had the ability to win, but circumstances of luck and weather made it too fickle to pull it off. Each race I learn a little more to help me better succeed next time.
Brodhagen taking the win. Taking second over Cullinan.

I went back to the car as quickly as I could as I was starting to shiver very uncomfortably and I needed to get my soaking wet clothes off as quickly as possible. My poor parents were also pretty wet and cold, though they did not complain and I only found out by asking if they had been comfortable enough during their spectating at the finish line. We'd brought extra blankets and chairs, but it wasn't enough. After the race we went out to get some hot coffee to warm us up and then came back to the race for the awards.

Due to the overcast and the rain, the pictures were hard to get. Thanks to David Space and Lisa Kolin for providing the visual addition to the contest.

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)		 Cadence Avg
(rpm)		 Calories Burned
(Kcal)
9:30 am 11.1 18 28:45 42, Heavy rain 279 23.2 32.6 170 182 105 252

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