Race Report: 2023 Oakland Grand Prix - Women’s 3/4/5
Race: 2023 Oakland Grand Prix - Women’s 3/4/5
Date: September 17, 2023
AVRT racers: Jennifer Steele, Louise Thomas
Top Results: Louise 3/13, Jenn 4/13
Course: four corner crit in downtown Oakland. Each lap was around 0.6m with a hairpin on turn 1 and a ~3% hill going into turn 3
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9869304247
Nutrition: a gel on the line and part of a malto bottle during the race
Recap:
The main feature of the course is a hairpin on turn one, with manhole covers and potholes scattered on the exits of corners one and two. At least one guy slid out on the hairpin during the race before ours, and the race after ours was completely stopped for a couple of minutes to get an ambulance to another guy that came off there. Luckily the women’s fields are much smaller and more sensible though, and I figured at least this would be easier than last year when we had to race in heavy sideways rain
We started the race assertively - Jenn shot off the front from the start and I followed. Coming out of the second corner we had a small gap on the field, but of course everyone else wasn't going to let that go so caught us almost immediately. It was fun to get the party started though. Eclipse had three riders in the race and used their numbers to send repeated attacks. Jenn and I settled back into a defensive strategy, between us effectively making sure any moves were shut down. A couple of the solo riders were also chasing everything, which made our job a lot easier.
By the middle of the race Eclipse had calmed down and weren't sending any more attacks. One of the solo riders would repeatedly attack on the hill, but then sit up as soon as we got to the downhill section shortly after. It wasn't the most effective strategy. At some point, the marshals near the hairpin started waving us to one side of the road. At first I wondered whether someone had crashed, but that didn't make sense because the peloton was still together apart from a couple of individual dropped riders and I'm pretty sure I would have noticed if someone next to me went down. Turns out it was just a homeless guy that had wandered onto the course and wouldn't leave.
When the lap cards came out it seemed inevitable that the race would end in a field sprint. Me and Jenn decided we should try for a lead out and, since I don't have much faith in my sprint, Jenn would be the designated sprinter. At that point Eclipse started attacking again though, and we had a burn a couple of matches chasing. I almost got in a breakaway with Pam when I was the only one that chased her, but in the end everything stayed together.
The last few laps were mired by confusion. We switched back and forth as to who should be the sprinter since we were both getting fatigued from chasing, but settled on the original plan of me leading out Jenn. During the final lap I stupidly started doubting whether or not it was actually the final lap because I couldn't remember hearing a bell on the previous one. I decided to go for it anyway so got to the front and pushed the pace up the hill, but I think the niggling doubts in the back of my mind meant I wasn't 100% committed so it wasn't as fast as it should have been. On the final stretch I was waiting for Jenn to come around, but then Paula and Gwen did instead and Jenn yelled to sprint so I chased but unfortunately couldn't catch them. While sprinting I could see from the corner of my eye there was someone just behind me so pushed even harder. It was only after I crossed the line I saw it was Jenn, and turns out I'd accidentally taken 3rd from her. Whoops.
Overall our communication could have been a bit better at the end, but I feel like we worked well together in the middle of the race to cover attacks. Getting 3rd and 4th wasn't too shabby either.
Thanks for reading,
Louise