April 16, 2016, ASU Crit #2
Mesa, AZ 35 minutes
Report from Lionel Space, Phoenix AZ
This was a 0.66 mile clockwise course with 4 corners .
The final stretch is fairly short at 115 meters.
Most of the corners were fairly safe and the roads were smooth.
Turn 3 had some undulations caused by a gutter system.
The roads were somewhat narrow, which would limit the width of riders that could traverse the course.
The most dangerous obstacle was a metal barrier erected at the edge of the road just where a high speed sprint would exit, making any mistake of going wide there disastrous.
The weather was in the 70s and sunny, but there was a stiff WNW wind that gave the stretch between turns 3 and 4 a strong tailwind.
11 riders were in our race and we'd be riding in a group of 16 as the 65+ age class would be riding with us.
My biggest concern was my health.
The virus I had contracted on March 7th appeared to have disappeared by the State Championships 2 weeks ago, but came back strongly the following Thursday (4/7).
It only got worse over the weekend, to the point that I visited Urgent Care on Monday.
A chest x-ray eliminated the possibility of pneumonia and the doctor wondered if I had allergy problems (which I've never had in my life).
The doctor prescribed Flonase to help clear my sinuses (which had zero affect) and a pill to increase expelling mucus to help clear my lungs (again with zero change).
In addition, a 5 day dose of the antibiotic Azithrormycin might kill a virus, which had worked well for me with a problem back in 2005.
I noticed no improvement over the week and continued to have coughing, runny nose, headaches, lack of concentration, low energy, and difficulty in completing a reasonable bike ride most days.
I had joined a bike club 2 weeks ago which would provide sponsorship to races in California.
Although I had my entry paid for to do a race in Redlands on the 10th, I was not even able to ride my bike that day.
The club had also paid for my entry in this race, the last AZ criterium of the 2016 season, so I felt obligated to go in hopes that I might magically feel better.
The main contender would be Mark Fosenburg.
I started on his wheel and remained there pretty much the entire race.
He was the first to attack very soon into the race and I was immediately out there with him.
He of course expected me to contribute to the possible escape, but I needed to conserve everything I could, so of course we were soon joined by the rest of the pack.
Mark attacked soon again and I was sure to be with him, but his efforts alone were not sufficient to escape the pack.
I would occasionally go to the front, but I had to keep my turns short and when I pulled over and slowed, the entire pack did also.
Eventually someone would take over the lead and we'd get back to a reasonable pace.
The narrow roads meant that we'd be single file through the corners, so if a gap opened up in the strung out field during an acceleration, the string would snap, leaving slower riders behind.
This whittled the field down to about half of the starters.
The pace then settled into a steadier rhythm, but the toll had already been taken on me and I soon found myself floundering at the back of the remaining riders and my breathing was taxed.
Normally I have no problems with gasping for air during steady state efforts in a pack, so this was an indication that the congestion in my lungs was limiting my ability.
I was able to close up the small gap and get back to the rear of the small group,
But by the next lap, I found myself gasping even more and unable to maintain just sitting onto the rear of the pack, which was not really going very hard.
My race was over after only completing about half of it.
The pack maintained a steady pace until the pack sprint at the end.
Mark jumped between turns 3 and 4 to easily take the win, with Steve Cullinan second, getting squeezed out in the final turn and not having an opportunity to try to catch Mark.
My plans for several big races in California in May are in jeopardy as this illness has been going on for six weeks now and I do not have a solution in hand.
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