Race Report: 2024 Dash for Cash - W P123
Race Report: 2024 Dash for Cash - W P123
Race: Dash for Cash Critérium - Women’s P123
Date: June 1st, 2024
AVRT racers: Ari (Pascarella) Fischer, Sue Lin Holt, Steph Hart, and Chris Davis (Chris was combined with our field as a Masters racer)
Top Result: Ari (Pascarella) Fischer Cat 2nd; Chris Davis Masters 2nd
Course: An uncomplicated, .82 mile, 4-corner crit.
Strava: https://strava.app.link/501mU4Y7iKb
Nutrition: Pre-race bottle of SiS drink mix, SiS flavor Tutti-Frutti on the line, during race half bottle of SiS drink mix.
This race was the perfect illustration of team spirit- cheering on Steph and the rest of the 3/4/5 racers, pinning each others’ numbers and warming up together pre-race with some laughs and discussion of strategy, encouragement mid race, and feeling the love and support afterwards with the sweet taste of a good result to end on a high note.
Off the line Chris drove a hard pace. As I got my bearings and thought about positioning, I was eager for the prospect of capitalizing on my sprint for some cash (thinking I had many laps ahead to work on this execution). That was quickly squandered when on lap 2 Alex from Terun went hard after the lap sprint and, as she was my mark to follow, I tried heartfully yet fruitlessly to chase her down to get into a break together. I just could not close it down, so after a couple of laps in no man’s land (and questioning all my life choices) I let the peloton reel me back in.
A few random riders that didn’t have teams tried to get away, but between myself, Sue Lin, Terun, and a few other riders chasing it down the group stayed together. Any attempts amongst the peloton to organize and chase down Alex were swiftly interrupted by the Terun riders in the peloton.
Then around 30-35 min into the race (with Alex out of sight), the Terun riders in the bunch launched repeated attacks, to wear down the peloton. I chased a few and then had to sit in for a while to recover, a few people got dropped, I was saved by Sue Lin chasing one of those attacks, and ultimately enough people were alternating that it stayed together (Minus Alex of course) to the end.
Despite feeling pretty cooked, I managed to remain protected and to recover the last 10 min or so of the 60 min race, so I felt pretty good coming into the final sprint. This had a fairly long runway following the final corner, so I knew I wanted to be a few wheels back going into it. I actually sprinted from mid-pack, and used the early sprints of novice racers to lead me out before coming around and nuking myself. It was a decisive field-sprint win (my speciality, apparently), and a great feeling to celebrate a podium finish with the team.