February 24, 2013, Avondale Masters 55+
Avondale AZ
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ
Many thanks to my Dad and Steve Duffy for the photography.
(Images can be clicked on for a larger version)
The second Criterium in Avondale, just West of Phoenix.
This time they separated the 55+ and 45+ races and although there were 9 pre-registered riders, only 7 were at the start line.
The course was just over a half mile per lap and perfectly flat, with basically 3 right turns and a long curve.
The final straightaway was shortened from previous uses of the course by about 30 meters and thus about only 130 meters.
Normally the optimal place to begin the sprint is just before coming out of the final bend, but the headwind and closer line were new factors.
We had very strong winds, being almost a headwind down the finishing straight and temperatures of about 61 degrees.
With so few riders, I only had to keep them all contained and then take the sprint.
David Bixby would be the strongest contender and the one most likely to try a lone break.
As we rode the course, we experienced strong, gusty cross winds just before clearing the final turn.
This would push the bikes about and also tend to stray the course line to the far outside.
We had 3 primes throughout the race, so I thought I'd go for some.
The first one was about 5 laps into the race (out of the 25 we covered) and I jumped off of Bixby's wheel early and got a good lead, hitting 34.4 mph.
Although I eased up towards the line, Bixby tried to go for it again, but I had no problem keeping him at bay.
This prime shook off one rider permanently.
The next prime came at lap 12 and I sat on Doss's wheel until late and then jumped around him on his right side, only hitting 32.1 mph.
But the acceleration took a little out of me and I decided to save the rest of my strength for the finish.
We had 3 riders away, but I had little to gain by pushing it and eventually the other dropped riders made it back up to us.
At lap 20, Bixby went for the last prime and I just sat on his wheel to make sure he didn't solo away.
This brought us down to 4 riders in the lead as we next saw the 4 laps to go board on the following lap.
The average speed dropped considerably, to about 21.5 mph, as there was little advantage for anyone to push it.
Bixby was usually stuck up front with me watching him and the other two sticking behind me.
We eventually got the one to go lap board and Doss tried a jump just before we entered the back stretch, but it was immediately countered.
As we approached the final bend, I was still behind Bixby and just before we hit the area where our front wheels would get hit by the cross wind, I did my jump, strongly to the inside of the turn.
This would cause the other riders to have to accelerate while being a bit out of control with the cross wind.
While I was able to smoothly ride the right side of the road, the other riders ended up on the far outside and several lengths behind, Bixby taking second.
So a relatively easy win and a couple of primes to pad the wallet.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Approaching the finish. |
Victory. |
After the line showing position. |
Podium. |
Summary
Start
Time |
Distance
(Miles) |
Starters |
Duration |
Weather
(Deg F, mph) |
Speed avg
(MPH) |
Speed Max
(MPH) |
HR avg
(BPM) |
HR max
(BPM) |
| 2:30 pm |
12.9 |
7 |
33:49 |
61, Strong, gusty winds |
22.9 |
34.4 |
167 |
187 |
Results
Racing page Bike page
