Race Report: 2024 Davis 4th of July Crit - Men’s Pro/1/2
Race: 2024 Davis 4th of July Crit - Men’s Pro/1/2
Date: July 4, 2024
AVRT racers: Jon Wells
Top Result: Jon Wells, 10th of 29
Course: 0.7 mile loop through downtown Davis. The figure 8 course feels like it's entirely corners with a very short main straight. There were a couple rough spots on the pavement but overall pretty solid! Absolutely pancake flat, making the other main feature of the race the heat
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11811556363
Nutrition: a pre race Redbull and 60g flow bottle during the race. Also tried eating crushed up ice a la Filippo Ganna pre hour record to help with the heat.
Race Recap:
Watch my race recap here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGRf5T2E488
It was HOT for the 4th of July crit in Davis, especially starting at 5pm. Temperature at race start was ~110F so I pulled out all the stops for trying to stay cool. About 10 minutes before the race, I absolutely doused myself in ice water and then put an enormous ice sock down the back of my jersey with a smaller one in the front. I also tried eating crushed up ice like Filippo Ganna did before the hour record. I was really uncomfortably cold before the race started, but that didn’t last long. Additionally, I froze a water bottle and a drink mix bottle through entirely for the start of the race.
Field was around 30 people on a very technical course so my plan was to be up front and try to get in dangerous moves. Since it was just me from AV, I had to be a bit selective so I decided to only chase moves with a Voler, Terun, and Enjoy rider since they were the only teams with 4 plus riders. I also didn’t want to go too deep in the first half of the race and not be able to come back from it with the heat.
Race got off to an animated start with plenty of moves trying to go. There were two moves that had everyone represented that I wanted to follow, both of which I made big bridges up to, only for them to be caught a few laps later. Finally, just after the halfway point, there was a move with all 3 teams including Ryan Gorman that I knew was gone if I didn’t react. I put in a big bridge and made it up alone. It was a group of 6 by the time I got there and then another group bridged up a lap later, making 10 guys in the breakaway.
The group did not work very well together but the constant attacking kept the pace high enough for us to stay away from the main group, who sat up so much that we almost lapped up late in the race. Folks in the break kept attacking and Ryan would cover but nothing really stuck.
With 3 laps to go, as we brought a break back, I was sitting second on Ryans wheel coming up with momentum so I took a flyer. I was hoping to have company but no one came with so I put my head down and committed to taking it all the way to the line by myself. The group all looked at each other just long enough to give me a gap. I rode solo until 1 to go when Ryan bridged up solo and flew past me. I still had a chance at holding off the field for second at this point so I kept pouring it on. Eventually, they caught me with 2 corners to go and I was totally gassed so the whole group came past.
Ended up finishing in 10th place. Pretty happy with how I raced, in particular being selective about chasing and making it in the break of the day. Also proud that I took a chance to win the race late even if it meant sacrificing a safe top 5 finish. Think I dealt with the heat fairly well with all of the ice. I was definitely uncomfortable but my body seemed to perform pretty well in the heat!
-Jon