March 24, 2013, Hungry Dog Crit, Masters 55+
Mesa AZ
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ

This criterium was on a very safe course with gentle corners and wide roads in an industrial park going CounterClockwise; each lap was 0.89 miles. Since the age category was a 55+, I did not expect the other contenders to be a major threat. I had easily won this event on this course last year. We only had 9 starters, so I just needed to keep anyone from sneaking away and then go for the sprint.

The weather was a little nippy in the early morning at 56, but we had sunshine and just a bit of a headwind coming into the final stretch. Before the finish there were a few gentle left turns and then a left bend before a right curve at the finish. So my plan would be to go a bit early to hit the last left bend first and then hold it until the finish, so as to avoid getting boxed in.

I planned on racing the 50+ race a few hours later, so hoped to conserve my energy, but thought it prudent to pick up the early primes. The first prime was at the end of lap 3 and I moved to the front after the left bend and nobody challenged me for it. A rider soloed off the front and the pack made no motion to contain him, so I chased him down, he quit and we were all one bunch again.

Three laps later we had the second prime and I waited a bit longer, coming off a rider after the bend and Jim Pongratz challenged me, so I put out just enough energy to beat him by a half wheel. A more serious attack followed and I again had to close it down. These were not too taxing, but I decided not to pursue any more primes so as to ensure a victory.

Two laps later (out of a total of 13) we were given the 5 to go board and they called another prime. Three riders went for it and got a bit of a gap and I made sure that they did not pursue their effort after the sprint. This was somewhat ensured by another call for a prime and in fact the officials called a prime for each of the following laps until we finished. Thus we generally were riding pretty slowly between primes with surges for the sprints, making it easier for me.

With no other strong sprinters in the group, there was nobody to select to follow coming to the line for the final time. I positioned myself to third position before reaching the long left bend and then went a bit early to avoid someone getting in front of me and boxing me in. So I just accelerated to the front at the beginning of the left bend and held it to the line for the win.

Summary
Start
Time		 Distance
(Miles)		 Starters Duration Speed avg
(MPH)		 Speed Max
(MPH)		 HR avg
(BPM)		 HR max
(BPM)
7:40 am 11.5 9 29:27 21.7 34.4 144 183

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