February 26, 2012, Avondale Masters 50+
Avondale AZ
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ

The second Avondale crit, just West of Phoenix, and I rode the 50+ Masters category again. I got a second place in last months event and hoped to do well again today. My health was good, my training was on target, and I had gotten adequate sleep. The temperature was about 80 and sunny, with a slight headwind crossing from the right on the finishing straight.

Keith Brodhagen and Mark Fosenburg were present and the only riders I was concerned about in the pack of 24. I started off watching Mark, but Keith was once again riding towards the back. We had many prime sprints and I was mostly concerned that nobody got away. Mark took an early prime and stayed out front for several laps. Keith went to the front and made sure the pace kept him close and I was right on his wheel, occasionally taking a turn when he pulled over. After a while, Kieth's team-mates came to the front and got the pace brought up such that we reeled Mark back in. From that point on, Mark mostly kept an eye on Keith and I kept an eye mostly on Mark, but also kept Keith's moves in mind. Occasionally a solo rider would try an attack off the front, but it was assured that they would not succeed. For the last 8 laps out of 24, the pace would slow down as a bunch finish looked inevitable and none of the premier riders were going to attack.

Mark took the last prime with 6 laps to go, beating Keith who had made an early attempt at it and I was a few lengths back, making sure they didn't try to keep going without me. We then got the 5 to go signal and the pack bunched up, waiting for the final pack sprint. Mark fastened himself to Keith and I stayed with Mark. I got a little concerned as they were riding quite far back in the pack. With two to go, I was the next to last rider in the pack, with Mark and Keith just ahead of me. I was debating about going to the front ahead of them, but with the slight headwind on the finish, it would probably be worth the risk to follow their train to the line.

With one to go, they had moved up to about mid-pack and the pack was still thick with us riding 3 to 4 abreast. As we approached 250 meters to go, the pack was still very tight and there were no options available except to follow Mark, having riders on all sides of me. With about 220 meters to go, Mark found a hole in front of him and gave a strong jump, just as I started to follow, two other riders tried to get onto Mark's wheel, banging my handlebars from both sides. The bars were bouncing left and right and I greatly feared that I'd be going down at 30+ mph going around a bend. By the time I had control of my bike again, 10 riders were off the front as I entered the short straight. I gave it some extra speed, hitting 36.3 mph and was able to reel in a couple of riders to get an eighth place. So the fourth race in a row this season where I've not really been able to give it my all in a clean sprint. Keith took the win with Mark second, so I was following the right riders; I just got some bad luck from interference from other riders.

Summary
Start
Time		 Distance
(Miles)		 Starters Duration Speed avg
(MPH)		 Speed Max
(MPH)		 HR avg
(BPM)		 HR max
(BPM)
4:05 pm 12.4 24 29:11 25.6 36.3 167 188


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