Race Report: 2022 Mare Island Pedalfest Women’s Cat B

Race: Mare Island Pedalfest Women’s Cat B

Date: September 25, 2022

AVRT racers: Niky Taylor

Top Result: Niky 1/10ish

Course: The course was described as “urban cyclocross” and “riding through 142 years of Naval history.” I did not learn much about Naval history but we did have to ride over some thick anchor chains, through some water, over wood chips, around a lot of trees and sharp corners, and much more. Apparently the course had 15 features but I’m not sure what they were counting because I felt like there were at least 100. It was awesome. 

Leading up to the race, I was pretty nervous about racing in a cyclocross format (aka throw yourself everywhere) on pavement in an urban setting. But when I arrived and rolled onto the course for a pre-ride, that nervousness totally turned into excitement. The course was unlike anything I’d ridden before. It felt more like a scavenger hunt than a race. I knew it was going to be a blast just to ride it. I killed an hour cheering for the men, meeting some other women, and changing my race category to B after feeling like I’d sandbagged the C’s at VSRTCX the day before. I rolled up to the start line and they sent the A’s off, then the Masters age categories, then us (the B’s and C’s). 

Right away I gunned it, not wanting to get stuck behind anyone for the first section—which involved a shallow pool, then weaving through hay bales, riding over the anchor chains, and finally balancing on wood planks. Normally this all came at the end, but at the start of the race they made us ride this first. I hit the water first but then another woman charged in front of me, pulling ahead through the hay bales and hitting the chains and wooden boards first. I later found out her name was Jessie (I am 90% sure that’s right), and pretty much my whole race was against her.

In the first lap I couldn’t stop smiling, it was just so much fun. I made sure to keep track of Jessie and not let her get away. Going over the wood chips I heard someone yell “Don’t jump!” but it was too late, I was already in the air. I came down front wheel first on a terrible landing and nearly crashed, screamed, and I heard the same person yell “Yeah I told you don’t jump!” I yelled ok and filed that helpful info away for future laps. I later learned that jump had apparently taken out like half a men's field.

I kept tracking Jessie, and we started passing a lot of the Masters riders. It was tough to get by but I managed to get in front. Then, on a hairpin, the rider in front of me got confused and stopped suddenly. I slowly, awkwardly crashed on the turn to avoid hitting her. She yelled “sorry!” I yelled “it’s fine!” and Jessie jumped over me and I scrambled to get after her. I caught back up to her, passed, and got a bit of a gap, until I dropped my chain at the start of lap 2. I threw it back on and caught her again, drafting on a rare straightforward pavement section to recover a bit. Then I dropped my bottle on a bumpy section which was a bummer but RIP can’t stop won’t stop (I went and got it after the race though). 

I tried a couple times to gap Jessie, but mostly it was too hard to get by other people. I was confident I had more fitness, but she had slightly better bike handling. She was able to get a gap on the water crossing and hay bales the first two times, so at the end of the second lap I dropped back to learn her line. I copied it and stuck with her, and pedaled through everything to keep my chain this time.

Then at the beginning of the third lap we hit a wide, extremely smooth paved turn. My tires were still wet and I slid out and crashed hard. Jessie was gone. I picked myself up, considered leaving the race, but had been having so much fun and wanted to finish. I got back on and realized my bars were totally twisted. I stopped again and forced them back into a somewhat straight position, then carried on, just in time to get out ahead of the woman in third place coming up behind me.

I was resigned to second. But theeeeen I saw Jessie, and the gap wasn’t that big. It took me most of the lap to close it down, but when we hit the final stretch I knew I had her. I attacked, but she stuck with me. So I dropped back right before the water. I followed her line through, and then right after the wooden planks sprinted and threw my bike a bit to take the win by just a few inches. 

As soon as we stopped moving Jessie and I looked at each other, grabbed hands, and just started screaming and laughing. This race really beat me up but it was so much fun. I loved the course, racing Jessie and the other women, and all the vibes. I was so excited to snag the win in the end. 

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7867391199
Nutrition: Had a clif blok before the start of the race.