Race Report: Oakland Grand Prix - Women’s Cat 3/4/Novice

Race: Oakland Grand Prix - Women’s Cat 3/4/Novice

Date: September 18th, 2022

AVRT racers: Emily Schell, Louise Thomas, Sue Lin Holt

Top Result: Sue Lin Holt - 4th/17

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7829929595

Nutrition: A Clif Blok on the start line, too focused on survival to drink anything during the race

Course: Four corner crit with one narrow hairpin

Weather: Atrocious - heavy rain and 35 mph gusts

I was excited to race the last crit of the season with teammates Louise and Emily. As race day approached however, we were becoming a bit wary about the prospect of racing in potential rain and strong winds. However, being from the UK, I seriously doubted that California wind and rain could really be that bad and we all decided to show up and see.

When I arrived in Oakland it wasn’t raining and the roads were still dry. The cat 4/novice men hadn’t started their race yet so I jumped on course and rode a few laps. As I rode past the Velo Promo truck, a few of the large pads used to protect obstacles from bike racers (or is it the other way around?) blew off the truck and across the road in front of me. But at least the road wasn’t slippery. I ran into Will and Emily and we celebrated the fact that it wasn’t raining. Then giant rain drops started falling from the sky.

Will and I debated if we should put up the Alto Velo tent. Ultimately we decided against as we were worried it would blow onto the course and cause a crash. The men’s race started about 30 minutes late and I asked the officials what time they expected the women to start. They didn’t know, so I assumed we’d be 30 minutes late as well. So Louise, Emily and I decided to go warm up around Lake Merritt. Unfortunately my sense of direction isn’t great and we had to stop to look at Google maps a few times. Then Will started frantically calling Emily and we realized the women were lined up ready to go. So it became a race to make it back in time for the race start!

When we arrived, the ref was about to blow the whistle and we had about 3 seconds to ditch our rain jackets and throw down a Clif blok. With our heart rates already high, we set off.

While the hairpin wasn’t too bad, I discovered there was one part of the course where a cross street acted like a wind tunnel and we suddenly got hit with a 35mph cross wind every lap. Everyone managed to stay upright but it became a fun game of avoiding sideways-moving bikes every time through this section.  Unfortunately Emily got a flat fairly early in the race, and although she changed her wheel, it took longer than the one lap rule and the officials wouldn’t let her back into the race. So it was Louise and I left from AV. 

Soon afterwards, a torrential downpour started. Earlier in the race I had experienced my wheel slip on a few wet drain covers situated right on the exit line of the hairpin and the next turn. So I had been careful to avoid them on subsequent laps. Now, with the rain falling, dark skies, and the reflection on the road, I couldn’t even see where the drain covers were any more! Louise was doing an amazing job of staying near the front of the race, but I started being more cautious around the corners and having to put out a big effort to close gaps as a result. For a few laps I became extremely miserable dangling off the back of the race. Seeing Emily on the side of the road sheltered from the rain and relatively dry and comfortable made me seriously consider quitting. But soon after that the lap cards signaled ten to go and I forced myself to close the gap and survive ten more laps given I’d made it this far.

Louise and I enjoying the California weather (photo credit: Jeff Vander Stucken)

During the last few laps I was more focused on just surviving and making it to the finish line versus getting any kind of result. We finally made it through the last few corners and I was still pretty far back - around 8th wheel coming through the final corner. I tried to gather any remaining energy to put in an effort through the finish straight and accelerated, although I was too worried about my wheel slipping to stand up for a proper sprint. Through my rain-covered glasses it was a bit of a blur, but I vaguely wondered why everyone was moving so slowly as I passed multiple riders and ended up crossing the line within inches of 3rd place.

After the race Will looked at me and laughed because I was wearing my Diablo summer jersey (I had given my others to teammates). I realized the rain had made it even more transparent than usual! That (and the fact that I was shivering cold with shoes full of water) meant that I didn’t endure the seemingly endless wait for a podium photo. This wasn’t exactly the fun/enjoyable experience I had anticipated for the last race of the 2022 season, but it has been a great year and I’m looking forward to lots more racing with this team in 2023!

As always, thanks to all our sponsors and club members for your support. See you out on the road!

Sue Lin