May 19, 2012, Criterium at DC Ranch
Scottsdale, AZ   30 minutes
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ
Many thanks to Julie Morgan for the photography.
(Images can be clicked on for a larger version)

This was the last of the criteriums to be held in Arizona in the spring. The normal high this time of year is 95 and that can affect racers that have to race at the peak of the day; we had about 90 degrees during our race. I'm assuming that this did not have a huge effect on our low turnout, but that the technical nature of the course may have discouraged most (many fear tight corners). There were only 6 riders in the 55+ category and another 2 in the 65+ that would be riding with us. It would have been nice to have more riders in our event. Checking the quality of the riders that pre-registered indicated that this should be a race for the taking. Since I had recently won the State Championships for the AZ Criterium, I decided to wear an AZ Championship jersey (I had one from 2005).

The course was ridden counter-clockwise and was 0.57 miles in length. The roads narrowed in places and all the turns could only be taken single file, with turn two being the tightest. Surprisingly the first corner was only about 50 meters from the start/finish line, which would make negotiating it after a full sprint rather difficult, especially when considering that the course was all downhill in the finishing stretch. This also meant that the course gained elevation from turn 2 until the hairpin before that stretch, gaining about 30 feet, a fact I was not aware of prior to seeing the course first hand. Although the wind was light, for the most part we had a head wind coming down the final straight. This combination would create such wind noise in my ears that I could not hear anything from the announcers; although we were told that we had two primes for our event, I had no idea when they happened.

My original intent was to ride this race hard, assuming I did not need to conserve myself for a final sprint with no other sprinters in the field. I had also hoped to take both of the primes, but that couldn't happen. The only warm up I had was the three laps we had to survey the course prior to the start of the event. Parking for the event was over a quarter mile away and the logistics of assisting my guests and registering from such a distance consumed all my preparation time, but that was not a concern for me.

At the start I took off from the gun, riding hard, but not all out. I wanted the other riders to barely hang on, but I did not want to break away and solo for half an hour. After one lap I had them stretched out and it seemed most of the hurt was on the 65+ riders. I gave it another strong lap and looked back while approaching the hairpin and was surprised that all the 55+ riders were still behind me. Apparently the hill was negating my speed and allowed those with more practiced climbing abilities to stick with me.

Starting quickly. End of lap 1. End of lap 2.

I pulled over to see if anyone else would put in some effort. Ken Doss took the lead for a couple of laps, not at a blistering pace, but sufficient. I took the lead again to pick up the pace and then pulled over and an attack on the uphill came from David Swain. He got a couple length gap, but did not continue to pull away and I was able to close it on the downhill stretch. So there was still plenty of fight in these guys and the up hill would be where they would try to find some advantage over me. Even though I was not enjoying the climbing sections, it was not so steep or fast that I had any problem countering any attacks.

End of Lap 5, catching Swain. End of Lap 6, more pressure. End of Lap 8, leading again.

Most of the spectators were sitting between turns 1 and 2, while a few were situated just past the start line (where the photos are taken). Most of the action however was happening on the other side of the course, out of sight, and on the up hill section. On lap 8 I had pulled over from leading right after turn 2. Jim Browning (green helmet) put in a strong surge and got a bit of a gap. I followed and kept close to him around turn 3 and up the hill where he eased after seeing that his efforts did not greatly succeed. Ken Doss took over for a while and then David Swain tried another attack on the hill on lap 13, followed by Joe Puchi while I kept close contact with them.

End of Lap 9, watching Browning. End of Lap 12, Doss leading. End of Lap 13, Swain and Puchi kept in hand.

I kept waiting to hear the announcement of the primes, but all I could hear was the rush of wind and the occasional music blasting out of the loudspeakers. The efforts on the hill were worrying me a little, so I had to back off trying anything too aggressive that might put me into the red at a bad time. I'd be looking over my shoulder each time up the hill to keep an eye out for attacks from the rear. At about 22 minutes into the race I saw the 5 to go lap board come out. The pace didn't pick up substantially and I planned to control things to a bunch sprint again. With 2.5 laps to go on the up hill, David Swain gave another attack, swinging around the hairpin and giving it a good strong effort. I was able to stay with him and we didn't pull away from the others either. He continued the effort for a full lap, but to no avail. On the final swing up the hill, Jim Browning gave a good effort, but it was not sufficient. As we approached the top of the hill for the final time, Ken Doss started to come around on my right and rather than get boxed in, I surged ahead to take the turn first and then gave it a good jump down the straight to gain a good gap. A few more seconds of acceleration and I had many bike lengths on Doss and could take the win without having to worry about the upcoming turn just 50 meters ahead. Ken followed in second with Joe grabbing the last of the prize money.

End of Lap 19, keeping Swain in check. End of Lap 20, finishing first. Victory.

I should have worn a hat. Pretty medal.


Summary
Start
Time		 Distance
(Miles)		 Starters Duration Weather
(Deg F, mph)		 Speed avg
(MPH)		 Speed Max
(MPH)		 HR avg
(BPM)		 HR max
(BPM)
10:45 am 11.4 6 29:37 90, SW@5-10 23.0 33.7 172 187

Results (see page 5)    

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