Race Report: Cal Aggie January 30, 2016

Cal Aggie Women's 1/2/3  Photo by: Pheobe Hill

Yesterday I raced the Cal Aggie W3/4 and W1/2/3 field. In the 3/4 race someone slid off my wheel in a turn and crashed. Thankfully I stayed upright and caught back on to the group. In the end I hesitated and missed my lead out. There were a few moments in there where I froze up. like I forgot we were still racing, but then I snapped back and sprinted for 3rd. 3/4 race takeaway? "BE READY ALWAYS". I have a lot to think about during training this week. 

The most prominent thought I walked away with from the 1/2/3 race for myself was "next time, don't hesitate, and don't look back". I have a horrible habit of looking back. Not in instances where it's for safety, but instances where I'm questioning "is it worth it"? Is it worth the effort to catch the break before they get too far. Yesterday the answer was an outstanding YES. Early in the race, a group of 3 pulled away from the group. I was hanging out in the back of the pack, and when I FINALLY decided to try to bridge the gap, they already had a nice little lead on the main group. Did I give it my best shot? Nope. I gave a little push to encourage the pace of the chase group (so lazy of me), they picked it up, but only to bring me back in.  I'm not going to keep beating myself up about it, but i'm also not going to do it again.  Learning how to team will take more than a week. Coach's response was "Rome wasn't built in a day", and "Never accept the idea of a satisfactory result." True and true. I will never again walk away from a race feeling like I could have done more. If you see me after a race and I'm not destroyed, then please do this. 

Ok.. maybe don't do that. How about I just charge this week to the game, since I can't go back and change it, and do better going forward. Yea? Deal.

I can't help but think that break was a leg shredder. I'm jealous of the girls who got to feel themselves being pushed to the edge. Beth Hernandez, the woman who won, is on the Olympic long team for track. This was after she'd already mixed it up with the men's race before ours. Most of the chase group had teammates in the break, so the pace slowed to a crawl. They were doing their jobs, blocking our every attempt to bridge the gap without starting a separate chase group altogether. 

Don't hesitate. React. Trust your instincts. These are the things that will prevent me from repeating the same mistakes. The theme of yesterday's races was summed up with the phrase "you live and you learn". Well ain't that the truth. 

Luisa  and I before the 3/4 race. First race of the season!

Cal Aggie Crit Results: 

Cat 3/4 | 3rd Place

Cat 1/2/3 | 6th Place

Much thanks to Luisa, May, and Nina for being awesome yesterday, we definitely put in work. Thanks to Onward and Upward Coaching, Osmo Nutrition, Castelli, Napa River Velo, Velotoze, and Honey Stinger for sponsoring Razzle Dazzle Racing.  Also thank you to Will(my wonderful husband) for being a #nextlevelteamAssistant. More podiums to come! Woot!