Race Report Women’s P123 Giro di SF
Race: Women’s P123
Date: September 2, 2024
AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang, Ari Fischer, Niky Taylor
Top Result: Niky 4/22, Rachel 9/22
Route: First you start and it’s straight then you turn left then you turn right over some train tracks then you turn right and go up a little hill and then you turn right and then you go straight for like forever and then you turn right and right and big open straight to the line. Pavement in places is kind of rough and you have to watch for some potholes.
Recap: Ok well once again I wasn't sure how I was going to feel on the day because health is variable but I was feeling pretty good so I decided to register and join Ari and Rachel. We came up with a Plan. The Plan was basically to cover attacks, get Rachel in a break or get to the finish in a bunch and lead her out.
We got to the start and so did the other 22 women racing in our field. Ilan (Terun) rolled up next to me and we shared a moment of joy that the field was so large. Then they blew the whistle and she became my sworn enemy for the next 60 minutes.
Things got going pretty quickly. I saw Ari and Rachel staying in the top few wheels. Around lap 2 or 3 Terun started attacking and we helped shut them down.
Another Terun attack went. Alex Obrand aka The Main Threat went up the road and her teammates got on the front to block. Jamie Chapman (Monarch) went with Alex. This was bad because they are both very strong. So I was like ah well that needs to get shut down ok gulp this is gonna be hard.
I got on the front and got to work trying to bring it back. The gap was closing, but after a lap and a half of chasing they still probably had 3-5 seconds on the field. I felt my body want to shut down and internally screamed NO I am doing this shut up. I desperately looked around for help but saw Terun riders on my wheel blocking anyone from helping me. The gap started going out, probably to about 10 seconds.
Then, like an angel sent from heaven, Rachel went flying past me. Thank god. Gwen from Revolution racing went with her, and then the field swarmed around me as I sat up and tried to recover.
Luckily, Terun had decided to chase Rachel and Gwen back, so I sat in and took stock. I saw that Rachel was dangling between the break and the field, and I couldn’t find Ari in the pack. I tried to think. I could bridge to Rachel and try to help her get to the break, but I was still fairly gassed and I was sure she was too. I took my free pass and drafted Terun as they chased down my teammate.
We caught Rachel and Gwen right at the hill, and I looked for the counter. I saw it immediately– Kate (Terun) was standing up and coming up the right. I went left and got on her wheel, then catapulted off her to try and bridge to Alex and Jaime.
I went pretty hard, but tried to pace myself. I went for half a lap and then looked back to check where the field was and saw Kate glued to my wheel. I was like oh guess my searing attack wasn’t all that searing, also bummer I’ve been doing all this work and I’m dragging her to her teammate. But also I need to get AV represented in that break. Torn. I flicked her through and she finished off the gap closing. Honestly probably wouldn’t have made it on my own.
So then ok I am here. In the break. Hoping that Denver Disrupters, PAS Normal, Revolution, Super Sprinkles, and the handful of strong solo riders get together to chase us down so Rachel can sprint.
After that my race honestly became pretty boring. I had no obligation to work, I wanted the break to fail, and I was extremely confident that I had the worst sprint in the break. Alex is the best sprinter in NorCal. Jaime is probably the best time trialist and for sure a stronger sprinter than me. Kate is a punchy ex-pro. I am a climby sometimes all-rounder who now sometimes shuts down the same way a computer crashes. So I sat on and pulled exactly zero times. Kate briefly tried to get me to work and I was like ah no. Sorry.
Our gap went from 30 seconds to a minute and I stopped hoping we’d be brought back. I saw Ari standing on the sidelines and my worries about her being out of the race were confirmed. Turns out she’d gotten a flat just a few laps in.
I kept puzzling over how to beat 3 people with better sprints than me and came up with nothing. For lack of any better ideas I attacked into the last two corners since I had some momentum. This predictably failed spectacularly and the other three outsprinted me to the line.
But hey, I got fourth! That is cool. It’s nice to feel like I remember how to race. Rachel rolled in 9th in the field sprint.
Overall this was fun if mildly frustrating. I think my caution about my health prevented me from racing as aggressively as I like to race. Maybe I could have bridged Rachel up, maybe I could have played the break better, maybe I shouldn’t have worked with Kate to bridge. But hey we did what we could and we got on the podium. So that is neat.
I would also like to thank Louise and Ari for taking care of my dog.
Nutrition: Speednut Spring Energy gel a half hour before race start, half a bottle of water during the race
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12310283538#kudos
