February 21, 2015, Tolero Criterium, 60+
Oro Valley, AZ   30 minutes
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ

I left at 7:30 for the one and a half hour drive to the criterium just North of Tucson with my good friend Julie Morgan to help pass the time and stay awake. The 30 minute race would have 3 categories racing together, Masters 50-54, 55-59, and 60+ where the overall placings of the entire group would have a chance at cash awards for the top 3. There would be 3 prime sprints during the race as well.

Although the temperature was below 50 in Tucson when we left Phoenix, the 60 degrees felt warm in the sun when we arrived at the course. I still wore long sleeves and 2 layers on my torso, but it probably wasn't necessary as it quickly heated up to above 70 by the time we finished. There was a slight breeze that was a headwind on the portion of the backstretch just before the final corner, but it was very light.

We had a few last minute entries bringing our starters up to 16. Two of the riders that registered on the day of the race were teammates from GST (Jim Silverman and Scott Baker) and I knew that they would most likely employ team tactics to try to escape me. I had a bit of trouble getting my foot in the pedal at the start, falling to about mid-pack, but the start was mild and I was able to quickly move up to the front portion in the first lap.

Jim was the first to push the pace and I was immediately on his wheel as he forced the pace up the hill of the finishing stretch on the second lap. He continued the push for most of the lap, before easing up and then Brett van de Sande took a turn. I slotted into third and let Jim and Brett take all of the turns.

After 6 laps, a prime was announced. I stayed on Jim's wheel and there were no attacks going around the course. As we came to the last corner, someone from mid-pack jumped and since we weren't going all that fast, I jumped, took the last corner first and took the prime with little effort and several lengths. Then I eased up and got behind Jim as he pushed the pace past the first corner and I easily was able to latch onto him.

Jim and Brett continued to do most of the work at the front, but then Scott Baker would do an attack and I would chase him down. Scott is a good time trialist and could easily stay away on his own, especially if Jim blocks for him from within the pack. Jim would occasionally do a mild attack, usually up the hill and I'd work to stay with him. The efforts were starting to affect my breathing (an indication of how much effort I'm expending), so when they announced the next priime, it seemed prudent to not pursue it. There were 2 guys in front of me as we went around the final corner with Jim blocking my way a bit, so Chris Steele was able to take the prime.

Jim charged up the hill and Brett gave chase, so I latched onto Brett. We had a big lull and then Scott gave another attack and I came from third to chase him down. Since this happened between the first and second corners, there's not much opportunity to pass, so by the time I could get around to chase him on the downhill section after turn 2, he had a good gap. But I was able to close it down and he soon eased up.

Now it was Jim's turn to give it another go, the GST team giving it constant one two punches and I was definitely getting labored from the chasing. With 6 laps to go, they announced another prime and I sat near the front of the pack as it really eased up. As we approached the final corner, no action had happened, so I gave it a quick acceleration to take the corner first and easily take the prime with several lengths again. I really didn't expend much energy taking the prime, just a short in saddle burst to gap everyone, then just maintained the gap to the line, looking back the whole time to measure my effort to the minimum needed.

Scott took off on the back stretch and it was easy to get on his wheel since I was already in the lead. As we came around the course Jim took off and I had to chase him or Scott would have just let him ride away for the win. After catching him, Scott attacked again and this time I couldn't quite close the gap and he gradually increased his margin, staying away for the rest of the race. I dropped back to Brett as he began to give chase, but I had burned too many matches and could not stay with him, or with Jim as he rode past. On the last lap, it all fell apart, with Scott leading away solo, Jim in second and also solo with Brett not far behind. I was sitting behind Chris Steele and Chris Goldsmith as we crossed the line and hoped I might make up some ground on the top 3 on the backstretch at the bottom. As we took the first corner, Chris Steele hit a pedal and slid out as Goldsmith and I braked to avoid him and lost any chance of getting into the top 3. So I just stayed with Goldsmith for the rest of the lap who didn't even try to sprint me at the finish, thus finishing 4th, but 1st in the 60+ category.

So the team work of the GST riders was successful. Although I expected it, the twisting course made it too taxing to keep them in check by myself. It made the race interesting though, rather than just another easy bunch sprint; at least I didn't make any tactical errors and let the winner just ride away while I had the ability to prevent it. If I was willing to settle for second, I would not have chased all the attacks and just stayed with one of the GST riders and then take him at the sprint, but the bigger challenge was to try to win overall and gamble that it would cost me in prizes.

Results
Summary
Start
Time		 Distance
(Miles)		 Starters Duration Weather
(Deg F, mph)		 Speed avg
(MPH)		 Speed Max
(MPH)
9:40 am 11.1 16 27:57 72, Calm 23.9 31.8

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