Race Report: 2023 Bariani Road Race– Women’s Cat 4/5 & Master 50+
Race: 2023 Bariani Road Race - Women 4/5 & Masters 50+
Date: March 12, 2023
AVRT racers: Steph Hart, Louise Thomas, Chris Davis
Top Result: Steph (2/14 W4/5), Louise (8/14 W4/5), Chris (3/4 Masters)
Course: 4 laps around a 10-mile circuit with 300 ft of elevation gain per lap. Key features were (a) ~2 miles of 1% grade and a headwind that leads into a ~0.5 mile 4% hill each lap (b) so-so pavement ~1 mile before finish line (leading to many flats in the field, including Chris) (c) on and off rain throughout the race (I’m starting to bandwagon on this “allergic to riding in the rain” business…)
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8705310222
Nutrition: 1 bottle of Gatorade
Recap: Teams were Eclipse (5 riders), Super Sprinkles (3 riders), and SJBC (2 riders). Going in, Chris predicted a race of attrition, so the plan was just to see where things were at, and if the pack was still together, attack on the hill at the end of the third lap. The first 2.5 laps were largely uneventful- both Louise and an Eclipse rider attacked but got pulled back by the field. Coming up the hill on the third lap one rider attacked gaining ~10 seconds on the field and Chris moved to the front of the peloton to bring her back and I followed, established a gap from the field and quickly passed the rider up the road. No one followed right away, and as a solo rider in the headwind I was feeling pretty out of luck but was joined after a couple eons minutes by 3 other riders (1 Eclipse, 2 Super Sprinkles) and we were able to get a 4-person rotation going.
At the start of the last lap one of the Super Sprinkles riders attacked from the break, and the Eclipse rider and I traded pulls with the other Super Sprinkles rider sitting in (smart move). I wasn’t too concerned about the solo rider as I assumed she’d get burned out in the headwind section, but just as she was getting a pretty solid gap, we were joined by a second Eclipse rider who bridged up. The two Eclipse riders appeared to be turning themselves inside out to bring back the Super Sprinkles rider up the road, while I was going full gas just to hang onto their wheels. Eventually the rider up the road is caught and the 5 of us are back together, but at this point I’m wondering who here has any matches left for the next half lap... At the base of the climb, one of the Eclipse riders went down after a touch of wheels on a rough section of road leaving 4 in the break. Shortly thereafter (2ish miles to the finish) the Super Sprinkles rider who spent ~15 minutes alone up the road at the start of the lap attacked. I looked around, realized that the Eclipse rider wasn’t going to chase, quietly cursed to myself, and then tried to chase down Super Sprinkles. Half a mile later it was pretty clear I wasn’t catching her, but I seemed to have second place locked up and so slowed down a bit, checking behind me every once in a while. I happened to turn around one last time with ~200m to go and saw the eclipse rider just a few seconds back. I panicked and then sprinted to the line managing to just hold her off (sprint is a strong word here but was definitely pedaling faster). Louise rolled through a couple minutes later after the main pack fell apart in the final lap. Chris flatted with 1k to go (second race in a row) but still managed to hang in for third place in the masters field.