Race Report: 2023 Watsonville Crit - Women's P/1/2/3

Race: 2023 Watsonville Crit - Women's P/1/2/3

Date: July 8th, 2023

AVRT racers: Gina Yuan (DNF/7)

Course: 1 km loop through the neighborhoods of Watsonville, CA. The course is fairly technical with 5 turns and a slight hill up to the finish.  Additionally, there are significant gutters that run through the middle of turns 1 and 2.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9414888370

There were only 4 people pre-registered for this race, including me and Lora, and Lora had texted me saying she wasn't feeling well. I showed up anyway because you never know who will register day-of, and lo and behold, there were 4 more riders from Terun. I went from thinking about how I'd attack the small but mighty field to wondering how to respond to whatever strategy Terun went for.

The race was essentially attack after attack from Terun. Hannah (Cal Poly rider who just upgraded to Cat 3) was also pretty strong and we were taking turns covering every move. With a small field, it was a fairly smooth if hard ride around the course. It was also fairly simple to be in whatever position I wanted to be, which was a Terun wheel. I was feeling pretty good about the race and my legs, and all of Terun's attacks had dropped a few people from the field including their own riders. The final group only had 3 people: Hannah, and Alex and Kate from Terun. Unfortunately, I got a rear flat going over a gutter 40 minutes in and that was the end of my race. This is the first race-ending mechanical I've ever experienced, so I can cross that item off my bucket list. Overall a fun course and hope to be back next year to finish the race.