February 21, 2016, Avondale Crit #2, 60+
Avondale AZ
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ

The typical Avondale course that I had done many times (half mile, flat), early in the morning in cool temperatures. However, the big surprise was that it would be run in reverse and the finish line moved further South to give more room from the final corner. I bundled up with 1 layer on the legs, 3 on the top and 2 arm warmers. We had 19 riders on the start line, 11 in the 50+ race and 8 in my 60+ race. At the start they said we'd be scored separately, so I raised my hand and asked if the prizes would also be separate; they said that they'd figure it out after the race. There would also be three prime sprints.

Mark Fosenburg in the 50+ race would be my primary threat, with Steve Cullinan always to consider for a sprint. David Bixby would be the biggest challenger for the 60+ category.

The first lap was rather leisurely, taking 1:26 to complete. A solo rider took off from the line at the start of the 2nd lap and things picked up. Soon Fosenburg's teammate, Bontrager, took off to join him and they got a small gap. Bixby took the lead of the pack with Fosenburg on his wheel. Bixby pulled for a long time and I knew Fosenburg would not keep the pace when he pulled over, so I came through to make sure we kept the break in check.

We got a bell for the first prime and although the 2 man break was not too far up the road, it didn't seem worthwhile to put out the energy needed to catch them and take the prime. Plus it would put me in a dangerous position for an immediate counter attack while I was exhausted, so the first prime went to the break.

Bixby continued to do the majority of the pulling at the front and I again did a surge to bring the pack close to the break again. Bontrager ran out of steam, leaving just one rider away, and the officials rang the bell for the second prime. Although possible to chase it down, again it was not worth the gamble and energy to do so.

Soon after the prime, we brought the solo rider back and we were basically one big group again, and the pace eased up considerably. We soon got a bell for the final prime and I was boxed in near the back. As we finished the long curve, I was still stuck in the pack, so I dropped behind all the other riders and came around the outside towards the front of the pack. As we came to turn 2, a rider gave an attack to try to get the prime and Bixby gave chase. I moved up to third around the corner, chased down Bixby and passed him on the right to take the final prime (hitting 34.5 mph), garnering a $25 restaurant gift certificate.

We then had 10 laps to go out of the eventual 24. The pace eased up, averaging between 22 and 24 for the next several laps, with no attacks. We got lap notifications starting with 5 to go and I settled on watching Fosenburg, fully expecting him to make an attack from the slow pace. As we got down to 3 to go, Robert Francis decided he wanted Fosenburg's wheel and began physically bumping me off with his elbow. He employed these same strong arm techniques on me a month ago at the Avondale 45+ race. As he pushed me off Mark's wheel and sometimes close to off the course into the dirt, I'd verbally complain with a "Watch it", but stood my ground as best I could. This struggle continued on into the final lap.

Fosenburg had been sitting on Steve Cullinan's wheel for the last several laps. Cullinan is a great sprinter when he has a lead out, but is not so successful when initiating his own jump, so this prevented Cullinan from getting a tow from Fosenburg.

I kept in position with Fosenburg for either an attack or a lead out for the sprint. He knew I was back there, so an attack would be less likely to take a win over me. For a sprint, my plan was to get a lead out through turn 3. We got the bell for one to go and we were still all together, so it would likely be a bunch sprint. Bixby was near the front, Cullinan about 5th, Fosenburg on his wheel and me behind Fosenburg, still struggling with Francis. Fosenburg properly waited until the last opportunity, after turn 1 and Francis yelled "Watch the inside" in hopes that he could keep me from taking a fast line. Fosenburg jumped just before turn 2 so that he could just take turn 2 ahead of the pack and I jumped also in pursuit, having to lean it over tightly to take the inside while Bixby lead the pack to my right around the turn. I followed Fosenburg through turn 3 and he got out of the saddle to hammer it home. I was in his draft, kicked the gear down to the 14 in hopes to beat him to the line, but he was flying and it was all I could do to maintain my position behind him to take 2nd overall.

Unlike previous editions of this race, they actually had separate prizes for the 50+ and 60+ races, so placing behind Fosenburg did not diminish my winnings, getting $44 for 1st in the 60+ category, Bixby getting 2nd.

I drove home and would return for the 3:40 pm 45+ race later in the day.



Summary
Start
Time		 Distance
(Miles)		 Starters Duration Weather
(Deg F, mph)		 Speed avg
(MPH)		 Speed Max
(MPH)		 Course Length
(Miles)
7:58 am 12.4 12 30:47 55, Calm 24.2 34.5 0.5

60+ Results 50+ Results

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