Race Report: 2024 Patterson Pass - Women’s 3/4/N

Race: 2024 Patterson Pass - Women’s 3/4/N

Date: Aug 4, 2024

AVRT racers: Hannah Chen, Claire MacDougall

Top Result: Hannah (6/11 overall) 

Course: Two laps of a 23 mile loop with 2 major climbs. The second half of the course is mostly downhill with a 1mi uphill finish. It was cooler than previous years with a max of 95 deg in the afternoon and quite windy in certain areas, like by the highway overpass. See Jeremy’s course notes I found from last year. 

Nutrition: Oatmeal for breakfast. 2 gu and pack of chews during the race, 3 bottles of water and 1 feed bottle with mix. 

Race Summary: 

I wanted to try something crazy, since if it came down to the last uphill climb one of the stronger cat 3 riders would win. I chatted with Claire and asked if we wanted to try attacks/counterattacks, and she was game. This turned out to be A Total Mistake. 

Having never ridden the course I underestimated how defeating the first climb would be (hint: it goes from 8-14%). We set the pace too fast and burnt matches too early in the race, and that’s when I looked up and realized we weren’t even at the legit climb yet…lol.

The group was separated at the end of the first climb, with a group of 3 breaking away and the rest of us each on our own. During the Flynn climb switchback I saw Claire below me and wasn’t sure if I should wait (2nd mistake). With another woman between us chasing, I kept going but didn’t push. I should’ve waited for Claire so we could ride together. 

Feed Zone: My first time using a feed zone. I got a neutral bottle from the feed but it was half empty. Then I got a mixed bottle from the AV feed and it was the perfect slushie temp - YUM YUM YUM sugar (thanks guys!!!!) And to top it off, they had pantyhose ice packets made for us <3 I had to stop my bike to shove it down my back and switch to a full water bottle. The woman chasing passed me here. Oops. 

The rest of the race was pretty sucky. Second time on the climb was equally not fun. I’m actually really embarrassed to admit this: I got off my bike and walked the steepest section. I thought I was gonna fall over. During this time, another woman passed me. I spent the rest of the race in survival mode, got cramps in each leg, mentally was not feeling it, and was so relieved for it to finally be over. 

I read previous reports about how hard this race would be, but we had “favorable” weather and it was only “a little” windy compared to previous years. At the end of the day, both Claire and I showed up and finished so I’ll take that as a personal win.

Thanks for reading!

Claire and me, happy at the start, ignorant of the suffering to come