Race Report: Santa Cruz Crit - Men's E3
Race: Santa Cruz Crit - Men’s Cat 3
Date: 3/26/2023
Written By: Flo Costa
AVRT racers: Flo Costa, Daniel Fonyo, Matt Koenig, George Wehner
Top Results: Matt 10/32, Flo 13/32
Course: 1.2 km lap in Santa Cruz featuring a 400m climb. Sharp hairpin on top of the climb kicking into a wide fast downhill. Less than 2 min per lap for 45 min.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8789338344
Nutrition: 1 bottle of rocket fuel (malto + gatorade)
Race Recap:
This race was the day after Cat’s Hill and was the second crit in the Hwy 17 omnium. Santa Cruz Crit is another super fun crit course with a small climb and tight hairpin every lap. Unlike Cat’s Hill, this hill is draftable so the smart move would be to conserve energy in the first half of the race. Our team for this race was me (Flo), Daniel, Matt, and George. Our plan was basically to stay in good position, follow threatening moves, and empty the tank for a result in the final laps.
The race started out pretty chill for the first lap as everyone got a feel for the course. On the second lap a strong PenVelo rider launched a big attack up the climb which I dumbly followed, only to be brought back in the descent.
A few laps later a strong Cal Poly rider attacked and quickly got a nice gap on the field. No one really wanted to chase given it was still early in the race. Not wanting this rider to get away too easily, I attacked and tried to bridge up to him. The peloton wasn’t too happy with this so I got brought back within a couple laps. At least now the chase to the breakaway was on. With some help from Matt, Daniel, and George we eventually reeled him in.
After this there were a few more attacks from riders including Matt, Daniel, and George, but nothing stuck and the main group stayed together. With about 3 laps to go a solo rider rolled off the front and got a gap on the field, with this time no one wanting to chase. With 2 laps to go still no one wanted to pull. Was this how the race would end?
My answer was no. With 1.5 laps to go I slingshotted to the front and set a fast pace up the climb hoping to bridge the gap and shell some riders, knowing I still had strong teammates behind. At the top of the climb the pack was strung out but we still hadn’t caught the solo rider. I slotted into second wheel to recover in the descent before the final sprint up the hill. I held this position until 500m to go where I got swarmed by the group just before the final corner. We caught the rider off the front in the final 200m as Matt and I sprinted to the line finishing 10th and 13th respectively.
Not the results we had hoped for, but not the best decision making on my part. Still had a great day playing bikes in Santa Cruz. Two important takeaways for me: 1 - even if you feel good, save energy and 2 - the race to the final corner is just as important as the race to the finish line.