944th cyclist finishes top 10 in Phoenix-metro race

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Susan Stout
  • 944th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  A picture perfect morning greeted a 944th Fighter Wing member and his fellow team of cyclists on the final day of a three-day stage race, known as the Valley of the Sun Stage Race, Feb. 16 through 18 around the Phoenix metro area. 

Lt. Col. Paul Theisen, 944th Logistics Readiness Squadron commander, and racers with the Phoenix Consumers Cycling Club Team won two of three stages in the competition. Colonel Theisen was among the top ten finishers of his category in Arizona's premier stage race event. 

"The Valley of the Sun event draws people from all over the country spanning 900 riders and 10 categories of racing," Colonel Theisen said. 

Cycling races come in several varieties and the most challenging of those are stage races where racers compete over several days and sometimes weeks of racing, like the Tour de France, he said. 

"The racers have to prove themselves by racing in individual time trials, open road races, mountain races, and criterion races," Colonel Theisen said. "The rider with the lowest overall time is deemed the winner at the end of the race. Racers can win different stages and still not get the overall win and sometimes the overall winner can win without winning a specific stage of the race. The sport of cycling is very much a team sport and tactics plays a huge role in multiple stage events such as this one." 

After the first day of racing the PCCC team had the leader's jersey thanks to a strong performance by stage winner Dr. Matt Duke, of Buckeye, Ariz., beating the field by a gap of 24 seconds over the nearest competitor. With a lead in hand the night before the second stage, the team discussed how the next day's race would hopefully unfold. 

"As the race leaders we began the road race with all five of us on the start line and leading out the first six miles, and controlling the tempo," Colonel Theisen said. "You'd have thought we were on the final day of the Tour de France and coming into Paris by the grins on our faces, sans champagne, of course. 

"But things got real and fast on the first climb of the day where we realized it was going to be slightly, actually much, harder than we planned." 

After a small breakup of the field on the first climb, the team of good friend (Colonel Theisen; Dr. Matt Duke, a family practitioner; David Herzog, a regional software vice president; Dr. Joe Lozon, an emergency room physician; and Ken Ferguson, a semi-retired dairy farmer) caught the leaders and the peloton (group of racers) was soon all together again. 

"Our plan of attack was to send two of us off the front and try and steal the King of the Mountain bonus seconds on the next lap to protect our overall leader, Dr. Matt. As most military planners know plans are only good until they are used. The dynamics of the day called for a change in tactics. The team leader that day, Dr. Matt, is an expert mountain bike racer, but all too new to the road race scene, watched in pain as the little guys powered away and stole the team's leader jersey without even so much as a please or thanks." 

Rude and painful was the rest of the road race, Colonel Theisen recalled. 

"Physics, as usual, ruled the day and the lighter climbers ganged up on us and road away as they seemed to completely ignore our script," he said. "It was as though they weren't paying attention to our masterful roll out earlier at the start line, so our new plan was to attack again the next day." 

The final day and stage was the Downtown Phoenix Criterium race, racing around the Arizona capitol building. Our prior leader Dr. Matt, feeling as though he had let the team down led everyone into the final two tight turns and had nothing but clear road ahead of him but the others racers were riding closely behind. 

"As we entered the final turn, I was in a good position and took a tight inside line and lined up jus behind Matt," he said. "I braced for the work ahead as the field hammered just off Matt's wheel at over 30 mph. With about 200 meters to go, the rest of the field seeing that Matt had done all he could, was forming for a bunch sprint hard towards the finish line" 

After staying behind Matt for a few hard strokes, Colonel Theisen powered to the front of the pack. 

"I was shocked at getting such a quick lead," he said. Colonel Theisen crossed the line first by about two bike lengths, his first win. 

"It was another great weekend for the team and a great continuation of good hard racing so far this year." 

Colonel Theisen and his teammates continue training for the upcoming Summit Center Classic Stage race in Flagstaff, Ariz., in May.