Race Report: Tour de Murrieta Grand Prix Crit and Circuit Omnium
Race: TdM Crit Women’s 35+
Well attended race weekend with Legion riders showing up in the P123 field
Date: Apr 1, 2023
AVRT racers: Chris Davis
Top Result: Stage 1: Masters 35+ (1 out of 4) Combined with 3/4/5 (9/22 Overall)
Course: Technical Crit Course about 1 mile with 6 turns, two are onto brick and two are into gutters. Long finishing stretch with a slight .5% uphill grade. WINDY in the afternoon, with a tailwind on the finishing straight.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8814649410
Nutrition: Two scoops of Fluid Nutrition for my bottle with a small scoop of beet powder.
This is a great weekend with some awesome competition. I have traveled with Greg Beliera for the past three years to race as he photographs. Legion has shown up in the Men’s P12 race each year I have been there.
Crits are not my favorite, especially technical ones. This one is a great opportunity to take advantage of great cornering skills. Therefore, I made it my goal to work on my cornering. The field of Masters and 3/4/5 combined was the biggest women’s group of the day, with about a quarter of the field being from Mexico. SoCal racing is a bit different in that it is a contact sport. In the first few laps two girls were shouldering each other rather aggressively. Fortunately, they were both adept at handling this as neither caused a crash at that moment. It’s pretty amazing that the 3/4/5 fields are so aggressive.
A solid team (Incycle) in pink came to play. They had 5 in this field and one was the birthday girl (who promptly took off at the gun). I wanted a good result overall, so I charged after her. Others joined and we eventually caught her with her teammates tagging up as well. Half the field was shattered at this point. As the nine of us rounded a corner in the penultimate lap, a crash happened right in front of me. Bodies were flying and I just missed running over a fallen rider. I screeched to a halt and bumped her leg, but she seemed okay so I went after the five that got away. As I came around to the finish line, the officials had stopped the five front girls (all pink) and they were waiting at the line. We were then divided by where we came in. They moved two girls to the top group who had crashed (Is this supposed to happen?) I was in the second group with several lapped riders (Argh). In hindsight, I should have asked to be put into the top group because I was with them when the crash happened. Oh well…. The officials then sent us out with two laps to go and 60 seconds between each group. It was silliness, especially when a rider joined our group on the backside from the side of the road (her result was removed from the race). I came in 9th overall and was most happy that I bridged up to the break, did not crash, and felt great in the corners.
Photo credit: Greg Beliera
Race: TdM Circuit Women’s 35+
Date: Apr 2, 2023
AVRT racers: Chris Davis
Top Result: Stage 1: Masters 35+ (1 out of 5) Combined with 3/4/5 (5/22 Overall)
Nutrition: Two scoops of Fluid Nutrition for my bottle with a small scoop of beet powder.
Course: Approximately 4.2 miles per lap, mostly flat with a couple big ring rollers. Super fun course with a short finishing run after the last right turn. Winds pick up at noon.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8821746579
Knowing that Incycle would make a move from the gun, I stayed glued to the pink train (5 riders). As we rounded the turn off of the slight incline (with major headwind) to a steeper section, Incycle attacked. I quickly responded because after the incline comes the fun rolling section. The taller girls railed downhill, leaving me and one of the smaller girls in a pink jersey behind. I jumped out from behind the Incycle teammate that let a gap open and went to chase. I asked her to help since I was not in her category (3/4/5), but she was not biting. Then another rider joined us and I thought we had a chance. No such luck, the pack caught us and the 4 pink got away. Cornering behind a few of the riders that are still working on this skill motivated me to fly the coop. So on the third lap I sat in and rested, especially going up the headwind section. As we rounded the corner, I copied the attack that worked for the breakaway and it stuck for me. I rode 2 and ½ laps solo and loved every minute of it. Taking the corners at speed gave me a solid minute lead (moto informed me) and I crossed the line 5th overall and first in the 35+. This weekend was a real boost for me because my season this year started out in the gutter. It feels good to have some solid racing in the books finally. The SoCal scene is a blast: food, music, and people! I would highly recommend this race weekend for your calendar. Just be ready to rumble. Oh yeah, Legion will likely be there!
Photo Credit: Greg Beliera