May 19, 2013, Criterium at DC Ranch
Scottsdale, AZ 30 minutes
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ
I had won this race last year and like last year, we had a low turnout of only 6 55+ and 2 65+ racers on a 90 degree day.
David Bixby would be the main challenger and I expected him to put some efforts in on the up hill sections to try to weaken me.
Thus my main objective was to make sure David did not get away and then go for the final sprint.
After having suffered a cramp during my previous race that caused me to abandon,
I was timid about putting in any hard efforts that might bring that on again.
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.
Although the wind was light, for the most part we had a head wind coming down the final straight.
We had a leisurely start and I settled into third place for the first few corners.
To my surprise, soon after turn three I heard a Pss, Pss, Pss as the air quickly dissipated from my rear tire.
As we approached turn 4, I moved to the outside and did a U-turn back towards the start/finish line where I had a spare set of wheels.
In most criteriums, riders can get a free lap in the event of a crash or a flat tire.
I'll usually put a pair of wheels in the pit by the officials just in case, but I've never been able to take advantage of that in the past.
The last time I needed a wheel was in the 2009 San Tan Criterium where my rear cassette broke a spring on the first lap, but the officials wouldn't allow me a free lap because it wasn't a flat.
That same official allowed me this time to put on my spare and re-join the race.
As I got back into the mix, David was starting to put on some pressure with his team mate Joe on his wheel and they began gapping the rest.
So I immediately rode up to join them and we left the others behind.
David and Joe now had about 3 minutes of race time to get going and I was basically starting from scratch again, so I took it easy at first.
At first we were taking turns at the front, but I was a bit concerned that Joe might work with his team mate by intentionally leaving a gap at an opportune moment,
so I shifted the order such that I would usually be on David's wheel.
After a while, Joe remained at the back and David and I did the turns at the front, which was fine by me.
The expected attacks on the hill from David never came.
I would let him lead up the hill so that I could keep an eye on him, but he never put the pressure on.
I would take over on the downhill section into the wind, but I didn't put much effort into it as there was no need to try to wear David out.
After the first two turns, I'd let David take the lead and we did this for the last 6 or 7 laps.
Knowing that I could easily outsprint David, I just needed to avoid any mishaps.
As we came through the final lap, I pulled over after the second turn and David went to the front.
The pace did not pick up until after turn 4 where he finally put out some effort, but it was too little and very late.
I let him take the final corner, then came by on the inside and jumped away from him in a 50x14, easily taking the win by several lengths, Joe coming in third.
Noel was able to watch the race from the comfort of an outdoor seat at a bistro right at the first turn, observing the riders cross the finish line.
My total time and distance was a bit less than the other racers due to my free lap from the flat.
It would have been nice to have some more riders for a bigger challenge.
I decided not to also do the 45+ race a couple of hours later due to the fear of cramping up again.
The pretty much wraps up the season for me this year.
I might do the 3 hour drive out to Show Low next month for the Crit, but that's a lot of gas money.
I'll look forward to doing the Track State Championships in mid-July in Encino CA.
There's only Time Trials, Hill Climbs, and road races left on the calendar in AZ, which are not fun for me, and other races are too far away for my budget.
Summary
Start
Time |
Distance
(Miles) |
Starters |
Duration |
Weather
(Deg F, mph) |
Speed avg
(MPH) |
Speed Max
(MPH) |
HR avg
(BPM) |
HR max
(BPM) |
| 10:30 am |
10.7 |
6 |
27:43 |
90, SW@5-10 |
23.0 |
35.6 |
173 |
190 |
Results
Racing page Bike page