Race Report: 2023 Berkeley Streets Criterium Women 4/Novice/Collegiate C

Race: 2023 Berkeley Streets Criterium Women 4/Novice/Collegiate C

Date: April 30, 2023

AVRT racers: Alana Mari, Louise Thomas 

Top Result: Louise 5/10 (cat 4), 5/13 (combined) 

Course: Short 0.46 mile laps in downtown Berkeley featuring a traffic circle with rough pavement and an uphill finish.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8986328218 

Nutrition: Since we had the 8 am start I wasn’t really that hungry when I got up at 5 am (my usual wake up time is around 8 so I was a bit of a zombie at that point), but forced myself to have some cooked oats and honey for breakfast. During the race I had a few sips of malto.

Recap: I originally thought I was going to be racing this one by myself, so was pretty excited when Alana texted me to say she was registering day of. Before the race we discussed possible threats - most of the other women had also raced Berkely Road Race so I was hoping that had tired them out too.

In the second or third lap Alana launched an attack. Initially no one followed, so I sat back and waited for someone to chase. After a few laps of Alana being off the front, Hannah (who had won the road race the day before) decided to close the gap and I jumped on her wheel. Once the pack was back together Hannah then launched her own attack. Honestly I’m not sure how she had the energy for that, and I couldn’t even hold onto her wheel at that point. 

The field split up with Hannah (Cal Poly), Evelyn (Eclipse) and Sherry (Super Sprinkles) in the breakaway, and with me, Haley (Super Sprinkles) and Felicity (Eclipse) in a chase group. It stayed that way for the second half of the race, with me and Haley each trying to avoid pulling but ending up there anyway. Haley probably ended up doing a bit more work than me, which was much appreciated, even though she had a teammate on the sideline yelling at her to get out of the wind and stop working for most of the race.

At some point during the race there was a loud bang that sounded a like a gunshot. Turns out one of the other rider’s tire had come off of their rim and the tube had gotten pinched in-between the outer part of the rim and tire and popped. Who knew that was even possible? 

On the final lap Hannah won by a landslide. Felicity, who had been sitting on our wheels the whole time, sprinted around the side past me and Haley and crossed the line for 4th. It was a little bit annoying to have that happen again; in hindsight I probably should have attacked on the hill a few laps prior, but at the time I was worried about burning matches and not having anything left for the final sprint since me and Haley are pretty similarly matched. It’s all a learning experience though.