Race Report: 2024 Berkeley Streets Criterium – Women’s 3

Race: Berkeley Streets Criterium – W3, Master’s 40, 50, 60+, Collegiate A/B

Date: April 27, 2024

AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Rachel Hwang, Steph Hart

Top Result: Rachel 1st

Course: 0.6mi rectangle, slight incline on the front side, slight decline on the back side

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11287098546

Race Recap: (Rachel Hwang’s perspective)

I’ve ridden with Steph and Louise multiple times at this point, and in many crits, so felt comfortable going into this race with them.  As always, Louise and Steph were going to attack and make the crit interesting and try leading me out for the sprint.

The course was pretty simple – a rectangle, with the start/finish side on a slight incline, up to 3.7% according to Strava, and the backside a similar profile decent.  In addition, the front side had a headwind, while the back had a tailwind.  Very quickly into the race, I realized the strategy (at least my strategy) was to draft up the hill which made the incline barely noticeable, and coast and draft down the back side which meant no pedaling at all.

Also, very quickly into the race, people were pushing the pace already.  A few girls switched off attacking which picked up the pace of the ride.  While I let most other people chase the attacks, I wedged myself into 4th or 5th spot each time so as to not get dropped off the back.  The only attack I did was on lap 5 for the prime which created a small break and a girl followed behind.  While we did switch off for a lap, I knew I wanted to reel the group back in as I could tell my throat was closing up.  On that note, Louise did come up to me near the end of the race asking how I was doing to which I responded, “I’m feeling pretty tired, I’m going to save my energy.” 

Louise and Steph also attacked a couple times, and were lifesavers for chasing down attacks for me.  I just wasn’t feeling 100% this race and am so glad I had teammates there.

Around 2 laps to the end, Louise said she would try to lead me out.  On the final lap, she got trapped against the gutter and couldn’t get into position to lead me out.  Going into the first corner on the last lap, I couldn’t find Louise, and it was time for me to get into position.  Generally, my tactic is to get in 3rd or 4th position going into that last corner, but recently I’ve felt pretty confident in my sprint that I decided to go for it out of that last corner.  It’s a pretty long sprint so that decision was not smart by any means.

Nutrition: 1 bottle of water with a stick of liquid IV, and a Cliff Double Espresso flavored shot on the start line right before the race.