January 19, 2014, Avondale Masters 45+
Avondale AZ
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ

Having ridden the 55+ race in the cold early morning with less than expected success, I was hoping to redeem myself in the tougher 45+ race in the afternoon. The day had warmed up to about 72 degrees, so no extra layers needed, but the sky was overcast. A slight breeze had picked up, a headwind on the curve before the final finish stretch.

 

There were a few new faces in the crowd and some had good ability, with about 22 of us at the line. Keith Brodhagen joined in, but this would be his third race of the day after getting 2nd in the 55+ and then 2nd in the 35+. Mark Fosenburg was with us and this would be his first race of the season. There were also several 45 and 46 year old riders that I was not familiar with.

From the start, we had solo attacks. Right after completing the first lap, Michael Batson of Strada took off solo and was allowed a sizable lead. Soon 2 other solo attacks were able to join him and create a group of 3 that sat off the front, but the pack was maintaining a good pace with laps 4 and 6 averaging over 28 mph. I had no trouble handling the pace, the tricky part was to assess if a move might become successful. I'd see James Kramer covering some moves, but he was not willing to contribute to an attack. Batson tried a few more times solo as did Eugene Boronow, a Tucson Category 1 rider that rode on the East Coast most of last season. Batson was a dangerous rider to be behind as he'd quickly shift left or right without warning.

I moved to the front as Brodhagen moved to the front and saw Fosenburg on his wheel and I'd slip in behind him, but they didn't make an attack. Boronow would try again, he'd get a bit of a gap, get joined by some others and then we'd reel them in as laps 22 and 23 averaged 27.5 mph.

I was looking at the laps and we were doing about 1:10 to 1:15 per lap and so as we approached 28 minutes into the 35 minute race, I was expecting the 5 lap to go board to come up. Boronow made another attack at 5.5 laps to go and then we got the 5 lap to go board. The pace changed and we only averaged 25 mph that lap as Boronow gained distance on the pack. I was watching him when he went, but if I had gone with him, the pack probably would not have let the gap go for two riders and Boronow might not be willing to work with another rider, so I sat in the first half of the pack in hopes we'd chase him down. As we came to 3 laps to go, we had him in our sights and the gap looked to be closing. Brodhagen was leading the pack with Fosenburg on his wheel as we began 3 to go and I was on their wheel. Then before we hit the third corner, Brodhagen eased up and Fosenburg was unwilling to take the lead. I came around the inside to try to keep the pace up, but the pack wouldn't use my help and we all watched Boronow creep away again.

I settled back into the pack somewhat frustrated and seemed to lose my motivation to set up my sprint. I drifted too far back and although I was on Brodhagen's wheel with one to go, I was not positioned well. I was hoping I could take an early flyer right after the 3rd and final turn and catch everyone by surprise with a gap and try to hold them off for second. To my surprise, the ramp up for the sprint started before turn 3 and we were flying all the way down the back stretch and I was caught up in the middle of the surging pack with little opportunity to pass. I was able to get up to 34.8 mph in the sprint, but it only kept me even with everyone else and 8 others were ahead of me in the pack, leaving me with a 10th place, since Boronow won while away solo. I should have chosen a better sprinter to sit on for the final lap, like James Kramer, and then I'd probably have been in the top 5.

At least I felt pretty good, I didn't have any cramps or pains, and the pace was very manageable. I was able to be in the mix when I wanted to, but failed to position myself well for the final sprint. However, these double races are taking their toll on me during the rest of the week and I think I'll stick to one race a day for a while and ride more aggressively to go for the wins.

Summary
Start
Time		 Distance
(Miles)		 Starters Duration Weather
(Deg F, mph)		 Speed avg
(MPH)		 Speed Max
(MPH)
2:20 pm 15.2 22 35:11 72, Light from SW 25.9 34.8

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