Race Report: Cat’s Hill Classic - Men’s Cat 4

Race: Cat’s Hill Classic - Men’s Cat 4

Date: Saturday, March 25th 2023

AVRT racers: Maxime Cauchois, Riley Chapman, Ian Twamley

Top Result: Maxime Cauchois (3/28), Ian Twamley (6/28), Riley Chapman (7/28)

Course: 1 mile lap with a 20-ish-second hill every lap, fast corners.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8777500190

Nutrition: One bottle mix of Skratch and cyclic dextrin during the race, one gel before the start.

Race Report: I usually don’t race criteriums, but this one is one of our local races and features a punchy steep climb every lap, so I thought I would give it a go. I was approaching the race primarily as an opportunity to get a good workout in and have fun, but also give it a shot should an opportunity arise. We had three riders from AV at the start so we were also well represented.

The race started off relatively fast, but the first laps were uneventful, following a common pattern: some small gaps would open during the climb and on the short rollers before the downhill section, but nothing would really stick and the group was usually back together by the time we were reaching the finish line. At this point, it was mostly a course of attrition and no one really wanted to commit to a breakaway. My goal was simply to stay in the first 5 or 10 positions and wait for the final two laps to produce an effort. 

With about 8 laps to go, I found myself well positioned going into the finish line, and I remember they had announced a prime on this lap, so I made a short effort to get it before letting myself back into the pack, as I was also trying to save energy for the final laps.

The pace picked up during the final two laps, and I narrowly avoided a crash with two laps to go, as the two riders in front of me took a right turn too wide into the side curb and crashed out. This near-miss encouraged me to stay even more focused on positioning, and I started the final lap in the first third of the group, close to Ian and Riley. Going into the final climb, I had experimented with different lines during the race and found the outside one to be slightly faster, so I picked that line and went into the climb almost sprinting right behind Ian. We were well positioned among the first 5 riders at the top, at which point the pace slowed down a bit, and a couple riders attacked. Ian followed with me on his wheel, and we engaged the final descent in 3rd and 4th positions. I tried to rip the last corner and keep as much speed as possible going into the final turn, but the first two riders already had a small gap and I was only able to sprint for 3rd. 

Overall I was quite happy with the result as I was coming into the race without any specific expectation, and I could see the fitness was coming around. In retrospect, we probably made a small strategic error by not pushing a bit more to come out ahead going into the descent but that’s how you learn!