San Tan Criterium Race Report

I got a little snarky in my last blog post entitled Bike Racer Fashion Police. I received a couple of offline comments asking if I was serious. Of course not! It absolutely doesn't matter what you wear or what your style is on the bike. What's important is that you're out there, moving your body and enjoying the simple pleasure of riding a bike, or competing if that is what you enjoy. In fact, we should celebrate the diversity that cycling attracts. My observations in the blog were sort of my way of making fun of ourselves. But always, in the back of my mind is the famous quote "there is a fine line between an outfit and a getup".

One last & very important cycling fashion observation: Last time I mentioned the "over the butt" jersey. This one  has to do with the same region; and it goes like this - if anyone ever suggests that it's time to replace your cycling shorts, it's absolutely time to replace your cycling shorts. Everyone that you ride with has already been thinking the best way to tell you. Don't wait for the 2nd suggestion.

Now to the San Tan Race Report.

San Tan was one of only 2 masters races I did in 2015. Again this year I entered the Master's 50+ category. There were roughly 20 starters today. I am still getting to know the areas strong master's names and faces but I took note that several of them live in Phoenix and were present today.

Also present was my favorite good luck charm - Kiki Waugaman. This is only the 3rd race that she has attended and so far I was 2 for 2 with her present, and I wanted to keep the streak alive!

The course is set in a corporate/industrial park. Usually I hate corporate/industrial park races. But this one is more interesting. Although it's flat, it has 8 corners. Most of them are wide enough to go pretty much full gas through.

It was only a 40 minute race and the organizers offered several primes which kept things animated. After several attacks (including one that I tried after taking one of the primes) were brought back. I was fairly sure that nothing was going to get away today, so I just tried to stay in a good place, ready to respond or pick the best line when the time was right

With one lap to go we were all together. Coming out of turn 5, I hit it hard and swung out wide. I got a good lap that held through the finish line. Not much else to say about today other than I won some cool purple skewers for the prime and a little bit of scratch for the GST end of season shindig kitty.

Time for a well-deserved rest week in San Diego. Next week I hope to be blogging about saltwater, seagulls and diesel fuel.

2016 Podium

2016 Results

2015 San Tan Finish