Race Report: 2023 Berkeley Road Race Women P123/Long Course

Race: 2023 Berkeley Road Race (District Champs) Women P123/Long Course

Date: April 29, 2023

AVRT racers: Kelly Brennan, Ari Pascarella, Lindsey Raven, Gina Yuan, Niky Taylor

Top Result: Niky 1st, Kelly 3rd (P123), Gina 5th (P123)

Course + Recap: It’s an 18 mile loop and we did it 4 times. Luckily it is pretty. Also nice weather so yay. Starts with a not super steep descent which is kinda sketch cause there’s some weird pavement things. Watch out. Right turn onto nice road with 2 main hills and some road furniture. Down a descent, then right onto a “flat” (actually 1-2%) for a while. Some vague rolling and then you get to the “3 bears.” No one seems quite sure which hill is what bear because there’s more than 3 climbs but here’s what we’ve deduced: there’s a moderate climb (mama bear), a descent, a short climb (psych, still mama bear), a descent, and then the biggest climb (papa bear) to the finish line. After the line there’s a kicker (baby bear), a fun descent, then another kicker (not a bear, just a kicker). Right turn, do it all again.

This race was district champs and the 1-year anniversary of me starting road racing. I wanted to win it. I haven’t really gone into many races trying to win. I’m usually more of a let’s see what happens and la de da. But I thought I’d try setting the intention this time. I buried my goal in a slack thread and everything. 

I love racing with my teammates. We didn’t make a race plan (well, not a real one anyways), we just said how we were feeling and what we wanted and that was it. We know how we each ride and we know how to work together and we’re all comfortable trusting that. Also I cannot describe how amazing/relieving/wonderful it was to stage with a bunch of friends. Redlands was the last thing I did and was so intense. At Berkeley I got to joke around and laugh and say hello to all the other women and I wasn’t terrified. 

Our race started out comically slow. We joked around a lot. End of lap 1 I pushed it on the climbs a bit. Gina watched the other riders and how they responded. At the start of lap 2 she told me who we needed to watch for. I got her to have some fun on the descent with me. She reminded me to be patient, which was good. Ari got on the front to control.

There were some attacks. We did some, Monarch did some, Terun did some. The field thinned out. Kelly covered a lot of stuff. Ari got two flats on the descent and had to pull out of the race. Lindsey was riding super strong but then got gapped on the second lap climbs. So it was down to me, Gina, and Kelly. 

I felt weird. I realized I’m a bit burnt out. I was having just an ok time. I thought about pulling out of the race. I thought about how my throat hurt from allergies. I thought about all the ways I didn’t feel great and then realized no one else knew I didn’t feel great and they all probably saw me as a threat. And maybe I didn’t feel perfect but actually I felt pretty fine. So just keep biking. 

Lap 3 Monarch started rolling attacks. It was definitely effective. Alex (Terun) and Gina and Melanie and another solo rider were doing a lot of the work to shut things down. I joined in to help Gina. Alex got us working together (along with a couple solo riders) to bring back one of the attacks. At one point Gina suggested I bridge up to Chloe (Monarch) and try working with her, so I did that, but then we got brought back and Monarch attacked again omg. Stop it. 

I was kinda over it with being attacked, it felt like being caught in waves at the beach and just getting rolled over and over. So I attacked. Gina counterattacked that. Then Kelly got on the front and started pushing the pace up to discourage attacks. Sweet. I love Kelly.

Coming through a kicker Kelly really ramped it up and I went with her. We got a small gap and bucked down and got to work. That break lasted maybe a quarter of a lap and then we were caught. As soon as the group caught us Gina countered, and Kelly and I sat up. I said “holy shit I love Gina.” Kelly and I had really committed to that break and so we were both pretty tired. Gina attacking meant everyone else had to respond to her rather than make attacks of their own. That gave us the time we needed to sit in and recover. Such an excellent move by Gina. Holy shit I love Gina.

By the time we reached the climbs Kelly was recovered and covering things on the front. Into the kicker that I think is baby bear (the one right after the finish line), Chloe (monarch) attacked. We didn’t bring her back immediately, but Gina stayed on the front to control. We wanted to leave Chloe out there for a bit so Monarch wouldn’t counter. After a few minutes, Gina said to roll some attacks to get us up to Chloe. I was still struggling with mental stuff and it was taking a lot of energy, so I did a very lame attack. The field worked to catch me, then Gina did a much stronger counter and bridged to Chloe. Solo riders and Terun were forced to bring them back and Kelly and I took the free ride.

Then Helen (Monarch) attacked. I was like ok sure and bridged up to her. And then I was like hm I kinda like this. Having her with me meant that Monarch wasn’t gonna chase. And she helped me establish a pretty good break. And I was pretty sure I could out-climb her. 

After a quarter lap the moto rolled up and said we had a 45s gap and Helen fully committed to just hanging on my wheel. We had some race banter which was basically me saying “don’t you wanna pull” and her saying “lol no way.” She thought I’d beat her on the climbs. Which made me realize that really all I had left to do was that.  

So on mama bear or whatever the first hill is I put the pressure on, just slowly ramping up the pace. I gapped her and held it and grew it, hoping she’d give in. She didn’t. I worried she’d catch me. I knew if I let up at all she’d notice and she’d capitalize. So I rode hard, and it was hard, but at the base of the final climb I knew I had it. 

I got to cross the line with my hands in the air. It was a cool moment, this race meant more than just a districts title. Crossing the line was a mark of how far I’ve come in a year. I’ve met so many people, joined this team, accomplished a bunch of stuff in this sport I never thought I could do. It was also a bit of an ego boost after Redlands, and a feeling of accomplishment knowing I had set a goal and achieved it with my team. I also realized I need a break. I’m burned out. I like racing, I love biking, and I’m gonna take a minute now to figure out what I want to do next.

Kelly and Gina rolled in with the bunch, Kelly outclimbing the rest of the P123s for 3rd and Gina coming in strong in 5th. This win (and all our wins) was made possible by teamwork and I am so thrilled with how we raced this. We won this race because we know how to work together and support each other, and we won this race with smarts and a little bit of strategic climbing power at the end :)

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8980257959

Nutrition: Feed zone was at the base of Papa Bear. I had 6ish clif bloks during the race, half a bottle of maple syrup/water which I tried bc malto makes my stomach hurt but plot twist this also made my stomach hurt, also a full bottle of plain water.