January 19, 2014, Avondale Masters 55+
Avondale AZ
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ

The second Arizona Criterium of the year, held in Avondale, just West of Phoenix and this year they had a 55+ Masters category starting at 7:55 in the morning. I've won this race a few times in the past, but I don't like the cold and it was 42 at the start line. So I was wearing 4 layers on top, two on the bottom, and a balaclava on my head.

 

The course was exactly a half mile per lap and perfectly flat, with basically 3 right turns and a long curve. The final straightaway was 130 meters with a slight headwind coming into the finish by the time this event happened. Normally the optimal place to begin the sprint is before coming out of the final bend. They moved the finish line about 40 meters closer to the final bend this year, so sprint action would need to start in the bend or before.

My main rival would be Keith Brodhagen, who is strong in a solo effort and pretty good in a sprint as well. Mark Fosenburg was not in this race, but Steve Cullinan was and he can sometimes pull out a good sprint. So a good group of about 18 racers were at the line and there were a few teams with several riders that might work together.

At the start, I took the first 3 corners ahead of the bunch and had several lengths on them, but nobody had an interest to join me, so I sat up. Immediately another rider went off solo and the group let him get a sizable lead. A few laps later and his lead had increased and I was sitting in the middle of the pack when Keith took a flyer to chase. It took about 10 seconds to finally find a hole and go after Keith who had about 10 lengths on us at the time, but in half a lap I was on his wheel and he eased up as we caught the solo rider and all bunched together again. So I felt like I had pretty good speed and it did not take a 100% effort to catch up to Keith, but for several laps later, I sat at the very back with Keith where I could watch him.

There were a few mild attacks by lesser riders and it seemed that there were teams that would slow the pace of the bunch down to let them escape. The jersey's of the blocking riders didn't always match that of the riders away, so it was difficult to figure out the alliances. Most of these attacks where brought in, but with about 10 minutes to go, Peter Smith went off the front and his friends made sure he got away. He didn't pull away fast, but with the slow pace of the bunch, his gap increased. I'd go to the front to pick up the speed, but when I pulled over, everyone else also pulled over. On the next lap I tried to give it a stronger effort and they just let me ride away; so I thought I might see if they would just let me solo away like the other guy. While the bunch seemed to be amiable to this, Keith saw the opportunity to attack and went flying by me just as I was hitting my red zone, making it impossible to jump onto his wheel (a very good move by Keith). We then hit the 5 laps to go and seeing that my speed was not all that fast, I thought it best to recuperate in the pack and go for third.

After a few laps I was feeling fine again. Just before 1 lap to go, I rider tried a solo bid and the pack again was complacent and he got several lengths on us. Seeing third place slipping away, I started my sprint very early, just before the third turn and started to chase him down. I came close, but at the line he still had a couple of lengths on me as Steve Cullinan was trying to catch me to take the last prize place of fifth.

So it was a challenging race where team tactics were employed, many solo attacks were given, and Keith rode tactically well, although still only garnered second. I felt like I was the fastest there, but that's what makes racing interesting.
Summary
Start
Time		 Distance
(Miles)		 Starters Duration Weather
(Deg F, mph)		 Speed avg
(MPH)		 Speed Max
(MPH)
7:55 am 11.9 18 29:38 42, Calm 24.1 33.4

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