Race Report: Cat’s Hill Classic Criterium - Women’s 4/Collegiate D
Date: Saturday March 23, 2024
AVRT racers: Katarina Zgraja, Kristin Hepworth, Katie Monaghan, Claire MacDougall
Top Result: Katarina 2/10 (2/11 in combined field, scored separately). Kristin 4th, Claire 6th, Katie 9th.
Course: 40 minutes around a 0.90mi crit course. L shape with 6 corners and a punchy 0.05mi, 35ft at avg 11.8% hill max 20% (Strava), and a gradual descent to the finish
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11022808665
Nutrition: Before race: coffee, water, bagel with peanut butter. During race: No food, 1 bottle with LMNT electrolyte mix.
Event Recap (Written by Katarina)
The morning of the race, Kristin, Claire, Katie and I were all keeping an eye on the weather, and ended up texting each other at 7am on Saturday to decide if we should race, seeing as it was actively raining. We all ended up deciding we should go for it. I arrived a bit hastily, finishing my day-of registration about 25 minutes before our scheduled race start. It was also actively raining, so getting warm was challenging.
We had 11 total starters in our wave (10 for cat 4, and 1 for collegiate D). Off the start of the race, everyone was pretty mellow. It seemed that everyone had the same mindset, to take it easy on the first lap, and get to know the course a little bit. I was happy about this, as I have never done the hill or course before either. I took the advice given, and shifted down to my small ring and down on my cassette once the left turn onto the climb came along. There were a couple of chain drops on that first climb, but overall I felt good with my first time going up. The hill itself was also “easier” than I was anticipating. I had been picturing a longer effort, but this (at least on the first lap) felt manageable. I also got to see how the other racers were doing on this effort, as I suspected this would be the part of the race where most moves would be made. I looked up and Kristen and I were up near the front. Claire it appeared had dropped a chain, but she caught back up pretty easily after the climb. There was also one other Eclipse racer who seemed strong on the climb as well. Once again, the rest of the lap was pretty mellow, just people catching up to the group over the gradual downhill back to the start. I was getting a feel for cornering, and keeping an eye for road features to avoid.
With the first lap out of the way, things picked up slightly. Once again, nothing major happened. We all kind of stayed together, although a group of 2-3 racers dropped off of the pack somewhere around the 2nd lap or so. Each lap seemed to follow the same pattern: fast-paced from the start line, and then a spread would occur during the climb and over the crest, and then speed would pick up again. People usually could catch up and regroup 1 or 2 turns before the start/finish line. I found myself able to gain space on the climb quite well, and would try to pull ahead over the crest, but usually I got caught up eventually on the two turns which followed.
On the 3rd or 4th lap, I felt quite good, and pulled ahead a bit for the majority of the lap. Then at the very last second, one of the Eclipse riders sprinted right past me at the finish line. Turns out it was a prime lap. I had no idea. I felt a little stupid for not knowing that. So I made a mental point to keep listening to the announcer for the next primes. Sure enough, a couple of laps later I heard the 2nd prime was announced. I put myself into a strong position going into the climb, and was in a good position at the top. I still felt good, so I pulled ahead, and rather than easing off in the slight downhill to the lap marker, I kept up, and on the final turn put in a bit extra power to get the prime. On the final prime, I didn’t want to waste any more energy, so I left that for someone else.
With about 4 laps to go my legs were starting to feel it. The group had dwindled down to about 6 riders at this point in time. And I spent a good two laps at the tail end of this group, struggling to keep up. With two laps to go, I made the effort to get myself into a better position. I positioned myself near the front next to Kristin, and we briefly discussed what our thoughts were. Kristin said that I should go for the sprint, as the final part of this course would suit me well. I told Kristin to try and stay on my wheel when I ended up making a move. However, about 100 meters before the bell lap, one of the Eclipse riders took off. I honestly was pretty dead, and was not feeling like I had the energy to chase her down at this time. So I (along with everyone else) let her get a bit of a lead on us all starting on the final lap. We all made up a bit of time on her on the climb, but she still did have a bit of an edge on us cresting over the top. The rest of the last lap was a battle to catch her. On the last stretch before the final corner into the sprint, I had lost hope that I would catch her, but I was still tailing the 2nd rider (also an Eclipse rider). Kristin was behind me, I think. After that final turn, I turned on the gas. I was following Eva the Eclipse rider closely, as I wanted to pull out from her at the right time. It worked out for me as I pulled out and smashed the pedals and passed her with about 10 or so meters to go. Kristin finished right behind Eva.
Some afterthoughts: There was a bit of confusion from some of our teammates, about the scoring. Kristin had thought that both Eva (3rd) and Stephanie (1st) were both racing in the collegiate field. So Kristin mentioned that she was nonchalant when Stephanie pulled away at the bell lap. She said she would have reacted differently if she would have known they were both on the cat 4 field.
