Pescadero Coastal Classic- Women's 4/5 Short course
Race: Pescadero Coastal Classic - Women's Short course
Date: Saturday June 15, 2024
AVRT racers: Hannah Chen, Kristin Hepworth, Robin Kutner, Claire MacDougall, Katie Monaghan, Emily Selman, Katarina Zgraja
Top Result: Kristin 2/3 Masters 40-44 (3/27 overall), Kat Zgraja 5/16 Cat 4 (9/27 overall), Robin Kutner 6/16 Cat 4 (10/27 overall), Emily Selman 1/1 Masters 45-49 (?/27 overall)
Course: 1.7 laps of a loop. Race begins with a neutral rollout to Stage road, where there are two short climbs. Race then continues onto 84 for several miles before turning into the feed zone on Alpine. The race then takes another turn onto the Haskins climb, the longest climb of the race. After the climb, there is a 9 mile descent to Stage road. First 4 miles are technical with several hairpin turns, the remainder is fairly straightforward.
Nutrition:
Kristin: Oatmeal for breakfast, a gel from The Feed at the start line, one bottle of water with Perpetuum and one bottle with only water. 1 gel and a few gummies Hannah passed to me during the race.
Kat: Turkey sandwich for breakfast, one gel at the start line, one pack shot block gummies during the race. Two bottles with 0.5 pack LMNT + 1 scoop Tailwind carb mix each.
Recap (mixed POV from Kristin and Kat):
Kristin: All ages and categories for the women's short course raced together, so there were 27 of us. Robin, Hannah, and I were the protected riders for Alto Velo. I was racing for the master’s district championship for women’s 40-44 age group and Robin and Hannah were racing cat 4. There were only two other racers in my field, but they both are incredibly strong and coincidentally both named Shannon (Shannon G. and Shannon P.) and were working together as an alliance.
Kat: We had discussed a tentative game plan together as a team prior to the race. As Kristin mentioned, we had our protected riders, and we also had a few competitors who we each wanted to "mark". As Kristin’s domestique, I was tasked with keeping a close eye on the two Shannons, ensuring they did not pull away from the group, to give Kristin the best chance possible to earn the district champion 40-44 title.
Kristin: The race started and was smooth and steady. We got to Stage Rd. Shannon G, clearly working for Shannon P, picked up the pace as they tried to thin out the group. Kat and I were able to keep up with them and made sure we were close enough in case they attempted a break. We descended Stage Rd and worked our way to 84. The pace on 84 was moderate and steady with very few surges or attacks.
Kat: I was pretty nervous about trying to stay on top of both of the Shannons as I know they are both very strong, especially on climbs (as is Kristin). The first two climbs on Stage went at a surprisingly mellow pace, and both descents were also very mellow. It seemed there was some nervousness/hesitation. Perhaps everyone was getting a feel for the course.
Kristin: At some point on 84 I heard a crash behind me and I hoped none of the team was affected and everyone was ok, but didn’t know who went down. I found out afterwards that a few ladies on our team went down. Robin got back up and caught up to the group, but unfortunately Claire had some wounds and DNF’d.
Shannon P. (my marked competitor who won every race she entered this year) went up the first Haskins climb at a blistering pace. I stayed close to her up the climb. She was in front going into the descent, but I passed her after the first turn. I had a small gap on her but I knew that was pointless and I didn’t try to keep the gap and slowed a bit for others to catch up. It was the first time I realized that Shannon P could be vulnerable on technical descents. She and two cat 4 Sprinkles riders (who we had marked as top contenders going into the race) caught me once it flattened out on Pescadero Road. We worked together briefly, but not everyone was willing to work, so the field eventually caught up to us.
Kat: When the pace blew up on Haskins, I told Kristin I'd probably be falling off, and then just like that I was dropped by the front group. I think there were about 10 riders ahead of me once I reached the top of the climb. Based on my experience at the Berkeley RR, I had assumed that the group had split and was likely going to stay split for the rest of the race. I knew I could make up time on the descent, so I pushed super hard, passed the first follow group fairly quickly, then rode solo for the remainder of the descent to catch the front group (containing Kristin). I eventually caught up to the front group (I think about 5 riders), and then the chase group (including Hannah and Robin, who traded pulls to catch back on) caught up shortly after me. The remainder of the riders eventually caught up so we had most of the field back together again. In hindsight, I should have probably just saved my energy and waited for the main group to catch up to me, and then rode with them to catch up to the front group, but I wasn't sure during the race if they were going to catch up or not.
Kristin: On the second lap Super Sprinkles tried a few attacks that didn’t stick. Kat was my main helper who worked to protect me but many other teammates also helped protect me from the wind and took pulls on the front. (Thanks, Kat and team!) The pace was pretty chill on most parts of the course.
Kat: The pace relaxed again, and again was not too much on either of the Stage climbs. After the second Stage climb, one of the Sprinkles riders (Rensy) picked up the pace on the descent. Finally a solid paced descent, I followed her, and Kristin was right behind me. It was fun. We did not get away from the group (I don't think we were really trying to). Between the second Stage climb and Haskins climb, Camille and Sophia from Sprinkles attacked into the headwind near the town of Pescadero, and Robin initiated a chase with Kelly (Eclipse) to bring them back. From there we were all getting set up for the final climb. Katie and myself stayed near to the front for most of this time. There was also a Sprinkles rider, but she wasn't contributing on the front (and really their team never did take the front!).
Kristin: The race really came down to the final Haskins climb. The group was mostly together at the bottom of Haskins. I stayed on the front of the group right on Shannon Pidd’s wheel. As we headed up Haskins for the final time the group started to spread out and break up. I was at the front with Shannon P and Gwen. As we reached the 1K marker I was starting to reach my limit but still managed to stay on Shannon’s wheel. Just before the 100M marker Shannon P started her sprint and a gap started to open. Gwen, who was on my wheel (but not in my race category), came around me to try to take Shannon’s wheel. Unfortunately, I took too much time to start my sprint and I was distanced. I ended up getting 2nd for the masters district championships and 3rd overall.
Kat: We all knew what was going to happen going into the final climb. My goal was just to keep up as much as possible with this front group. Kelly attacked fairly early, before Haskins actually started. I couldn't keep up with this attack, and grinded out the rest of the race as much as I could. Kelly was ultimately caught (she later said that she made a mistake and attacked too early, and burned her matches before the finish line). Kristin is so strong, and I am super impressed at her pace on these hilly races! I'm excited for us to try some different tactics in the future to get a win over some of these dominating riders.
Kristin: In hindsight, I wish Kat and I would have tried to break away on the 2nd Stage Rd descent to get away from Shannon. I also plan to work on my sprint/kick for next season. This race was so fun for me. The team was really awesome and supportive. I feel fortunate to be part of this team of women. I’m already looking forward to next year's Pescadero Road Race.