Race Report: 2025 Early Birds #4 - Women’s Cat 4/5
Race Report Writer: Robin Kutner
Race: Early Birds #4 - Women’s Cat 4/5
Date: Sunday, Jan 26, 2025
AVRT racers: Alex Cameron, Hannah Chen, Elena De La Paz, Sam Dewees, Robin Kutner, Maeve Roach
AVRT mentors: Louise Thomas (head mentor!)
Top Result: We did 3 practice races (5 laps / ~9min each).
Course: 1km square, flat loop with four right turns. Strong headwind on the finishing straightaway today.
Strava: Segment here
Event Recap: At this week’s Early Bird clinic, the focus was sprinting. This included the mechanics of how to sprint most effectively / safely, how to emergency stop + bike throw, and some practice races. The group was about 15 people, so we practiced some of these skills in smaller groups, and then we reconvened for practice races.
Finally, we did 3 5-lap practice races at higher speeds. We focused on practicing effective sprinting and bike throws during these practice races. I personally focused on cornering rather than race performance 😎. The races were pushed hard from the front and therefore there was a lot of time in single or double file. Alex and I were reflecting afterwards that we actually felt less safe in the corners this week compared to last week, and we thought it may be because the riders on the front this week hugged the inside of most corners rather than the smoother outside-inside-outside lines. This caused a little bit of slowing/accordion pacing down the line as everyone followed the wheel in front of them through corners. As the races neared the end, we got to practice trying to find a wheel for in the final sprint, which is hard and requires some split-second reflexes. Sprinting is also hard. My back and arm muscles are a little bit sore today (the day after). Fun!!
Elena’s perspective: In the second of the 5-lap races, after watching Hannah and Sam open a gap on us, Alex and I worked to bring them back. With about a lap and a half to go, we caught them. At the time, I didn’t think to let them know we were there, and their teammates. If we had, we could have shared the paceline effort more efficiently (possibly by not letting such a gap open up and then burning ourselves out trying to catch up). Compared to previous weeks it was definitely windier so the additional time in the headwind had an impact. However, the one upside of being in a small group was that we could pick our own lines into the corners and sometimes save some energy taking them less tightly.
