March 8, 2015, Hungry Dog 60+
Phoenix, AZ 30 minutes
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ
Many thanks to Noel Space for the photography.
(Images can be clicked on for a larger version)
This course is only 0.48 miles around, totally flat, and has fairly gentle turns.
We rode counter-clockwise this year.
I've won several times on this course and the race generally draws good participation.
This course is only 3.5 miles from home.
This was the second race of the day and my third for the weekend.
This was also the last criterium in Arizona for the season before the final State Championships next month.
For some reason there were only 8 criteriums in Arizona available compared to 15 last year, so I'll need to make a few trips to California to continue the rest of the season.
Our 11 60+ racers would be mixed in with the 16 50+ racers, racing for separate and equal prize money and also separate primes of 2 each.
Any rider with a bib number of 250 or higher was in the 60+ race, so we were constantly looking at numbers of riders that attacked.
I was expecting this to me a more aggressive race, so I was not making winning primes a priority, especially since they were only $10.
Still I would put myself close to a position to take one if it was easy, but the opportunities did not present themselves for our 2 primes.
The majority of my race was monitoring my two main rivals that might break away, David Bixby and Paul Curely.
I would always be on one of their wheels and would keep an eye on the other.
In the beginning, David was spending more time near the front of the pack, looking for an opportunity to slip away in a break.
Then as the second half heated up, Paul was jumping on the attacks and I'd be with him.
However, each time we rounded the first corner, we'd hit a pretty good headwind and the attacks would hit a wall and get absorbed, so nothing stuck for very long.
My plan A was to use the wind tactically, since it was predominately a tailwind on the South heading stretch before the final turn.
The tailwind partially negates the advantage of someone trying to get a draft behind another rider, so leading out is not such a disadvantage,
and it effectively shortens the sprint distance.
I wanted to conserve as much energy as possible, waiting for the last lap, and then before we got into the tailwind;
I wanted to jump into the last of the headwind and stretch out a lead.
We got the lap board with 6 laps to go and the pace eased to a steady 24 mph.
With 3 laps to go a 60+ Paragon Cycling rider attacked with 2 of his team mates behind him to buffer the pack.
He started to get a gap as his team mates blocked, but the pack was too big and anxious to let him succeed.
However, it did pick up the pace and we averaged 25.8 mph on the penultimate lap.
Bixby was trying to get on my wheel, but my team mate Wayne was keeping him from that goal.
So as we hit one lap to go, I was feeling the exertion of the recent chase.
There was a 50+ rider just off the front of the pack, still trying to win.
I was on Paul's wheel and he was in 4th position in the pack; a 50+ rider, Robert Francis, had moved onto my wheel.
I was wondering if I was up for my Plan A and hoped my body would not revolt at the demand I was about to ask of it.
As we rounded the first turn, we started to hit the headwind.
I was expecting a surge in the pace, but to my surprise, all the lead riders let up and started to ease; maybe they had just caught the solo escapee.
Rather than lose my momentum, I made my jump a little earlier than anticipated (with still 600 meters to go to the finish) and dove towards the left side of the road, giving it everything I could, keeping tight to the curb as the road curved left.
This time I set up a perfect turn for the final corner and glanced around as I came out of it to see if I had enough advantage to make it first to the line.
To my surprise, I had about 10 lengths on the pack and I didn't even need to pedal the last 60 meters, allowing me to raise my arms in victory and easily take the win, not only for the 60+, but the gratification to also be ahead of all the 50+ as well, by a wide margin.
Robert Francis told me after the race that he jumped when I jumped, trying to follow me, which allowed him to win the 50+ race, so it's not like the pack just let me go because I was a 60+ rider.
The last lap average was 30.4 mph using my 50x14 for the sprint.
One lap to go, lone rider off the front.
One lap to go, pack chasing, Lionel in 5th.
Winning finish, well ahead of the rest.
60+ podium, top 4.
So the weekend wrapup was 3 races, 3 wins, 3 primes and $220 in prizes.
Still riding my steel, round tube bike too.
I'll have a hilly circuit race in a couple of weeks and then the State Criterium championships next month.
The rest of the season will be out of state with the Nationals, both track and criterium, as the major goal.
Summary
Start
Time |
Distance
(Miles) |
Starters |
Duration |
Weather
(Deg F, mph) |
Speed avg
(MPH) |
Speed Max
(MPH) |
| 2:15 pm |
11.6 |
11 |
28:40 |
85, NW@10 |
24.3 |
34.0 |
Results
Racing page Bike page
