Race Report: 2022 Sand City Criterium - NCNCA Masters District Championship
Race: Sand City Crit - women 35-49 district championship race
Date: September 11th, 2022
AVRT racers: Sue Lin Holt
Top Result: Sue Lin Holt - 1st (age group), 2nd (combined field)
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7793096941
Nutrition: A few Clif Bloks on the start line, half a bottle of SiS GO Electrolyte lemon & lime during the race
Course: 1.1km technical 10 corner course with a short hill
After Cam sent out this Strava course map, my immediate question was “how do we avoid crashes where the course crosses itself?”. Luckily I have really helpful teammates who were able to provide the following advice:
https://youtu.be/msWpkaCnWHY?t=198
and…
Based on this, I wasn’t feeling particularly confident about the course. But I was happy to realize that the 4-way intersection was in fact divided diagonally and so we were actually taking two right turns instead of going straight through racing traffic! Also I’ve been telling myself I should work on my cornering and 20+ laps of 10 corners seemed like an efficient way of doing that.
Race morning arrived, I lined up, and soon the whistle blew. A rider from the Live Play Real Estate team attacked from the gun, meanwhile I failed to clip in not once but twice. So I was left several bike lengths off the back struggling to catch back on through this twisty course. The first three laps were a struggle as the rider who attacked continued to set a high pace and I attempted to figure out the best lines through corners. Each lap I would just about catch back onto the group through the start/finish straight and then get gapped again as the front of the race sprinted out of corners ahead of me.
I was grateful to have Skyler and Nico on course cheering me on, and it helped me to stay positive and try to come up with a plan. I knew I needed to move up as it is always more surge-y through the corners if you’re at the back. I found that the easiest sections to move up on were the start-finish and the hill section, so I gradually started passing riders and became much more comfortable with the smoother cornering towards the front of the race.
A few riders attacked during the next 30 minutes but others seemed motivated to not let anything get away, and I was happy to only have to chase down one move, allowing me to recover slightly from chasing during the early laps.
As the bell rang for one lap to go I tried to figure out a strategy - either attack early or wait for the bunch sprint on the final straight. I knew everyone would be fighting for position around the last few corners, and as we rounded corners 1 & 2 I tried to focus on looking for an opportunity. Sure enough, after corner 2 the race slowed ever-so-slightly as we hit the headwind section. I saw space on the left side of the road and accelerated to gain a few positions before the fast-approaching right turn. Then I attacked as hard as I could up the hill. I reached the top of the hill first, and knowing there was less than a minute to the finish I gave it everything I had through the last six turns. I knew there were a few other women who were likely better at cornering than me, so I fully expected riders to start coming past at any moment, but somehow I rounded the final turn into the finish still in first position. By then my legs were burning but I could see the finish line and sprinted as hard as I could. With a few meters to go, the Live Play Real Estate rider who had been sitting on my wheel for the last half lap managed to edge past me and I crossed the line second place overall. But as she was in a younger category and I held off all the other racers, I won the masters district championship for my age group!
Masters district crit champion!
This was the inaugural race on this course and I’m glad I showed up and got some fast cornering practice. I feel like I learn a little more about my abilities with each race I do, and this ended up being a really fun course. Final lesson learned: don’t lend your fast socks to Skyler after your race - she will steal your course QOM by one second ;-)