The course for the San Marcos Criterium is a 1.3-mile course with fairly wide corners and a power climb with 72 feet of elevation gain before the finish. PC, Bonnie, and I were out representing SC Velo/Empower Coaching and the weather was perfect for a race (clear with a slight head wind on the false flats of the course, and warm). At the start of our pre-race meeting, Bonnie asked me how I felt and told me that she saw no reason why I shouldn’t solo the win (Bonnie, thank you for your vote of confidence). Bonnie used tails of past team wins on this course to motivate us as we finished up our last GU chomps and headed to the start of the race armed with a set of plans and back-up plans.
As we lined up, I felt glad to be home. I have dedicated the last month and a half to traveling for races and for a friend’s wedding, so being surrounded by two of my teammates and the usual suspects of some of my favorite local riders put me at ease on the start line. On the whistle, I moved to second wheel and pulled up along side PC to inform her that my brake was rubbing. She thought I was joking when I told her it could be my excuse if I did not perform well- I wasn’t joking, but it wasn’t bad and my Cannondale loyally saw me through to the end of the race. The race started into a turn and a descent, then a second right-hand turn, followed by a straight, very slight descent into a right-hand turn and then a long and fast straight section. I sat second and third wheel throughout the first lap and made sure to not hit the pace too hard after the last right hand turn into the climb before the start finish.
PC and I worked together near the front on the second lap and when we rounded the last turn into the climb, I picked up the pace to test out the field. I could hear huffing and puffing, so I kept my pace consistent. There is a short false flat before the last little hill into the start finish on which I sat second wheel. PC and I both picked up the pace nearing the start finish. It was a prime lap and PC yelled to me to take it- I did and I rounded the corner into the descent hard. A voice behind me told me to pull through hard and as I snuck a peak behind, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Joy McCulloch (Helens) was on my wheel and we had a gap between the field and us. Following Joy’s instructions, I took a hard pull. When she pulled through, I was happy to see that Karen Meske (Revolution) had joined us. The three of us worked through the backstretch and finished the third lap together. I am not sure when we lost Karen out of the break, but she left us around this time, I think.
On the fourth lap, Suzanne Sonye (Helens) joined us and shortly after PC was with us. I was happy that PC had joined us and I stayed at the front of the break, preparing to do the bulk share of the work to save PC’s legs for the sprint. Soon though, I noticed that Hillary Crowley (Revolution) had joined us. While PC is one of our best sprinters, being in a break with Hillary and Suzanne meant that we was outnumbered by sprinters and our team’s odds of a win were narrowing. I attacked near the last kicker before the start finish and took Joy with me. The two of us successfully broke away from the break away and I was satisfied knowing that Suzanne and PC would do everything they could to protect Joy and me. At some point, Becky Siegel (PAA) joined Joy and me. Becky rotated through with us for at least one lap before we lost her. I made sure to take pulls on the first kicker after the last turn and the last kicker before the start finish. This allowed me to keep the pace up and to keep the other riders in the break a little tired.
At some point, I noticed that we were passing a lot of riders and it became apparent that we would lap the field. When Joy and I came upon the main field, I rode hard up to the front. Joy had two or three teammates in the field and Suzanne was somewhere behind, not out of striking range. I could not stay with the field for two reasons: 1) Joy had more teammates in the field than I, which would mean more work for me; 2) if the field stayed slow, Suzanne would catch us and use her caginess against me. At this point, Bonnie got on the front of the field and pushed hard. She took me into the final turn at a good pace and I attacked hard. I heard Helens working to chase me, but I went harder. When I crested the top, I noticed that I had Trina Jacobson (Revolution) with me. I pulled hard down the descent, took the first turn at a mellow pace, hit the false flat hard and pulled hard through the turn. At some point, I looked back and realized that Trina was gone, but Karen was with me. Karen reassured me that there was no one close behind us, and I finished the lap with Karen on my wheel.
I should note that at some point, Jacob made sure to yell to me that I had two laps to go (always helpful, because I tend to not hear the announcer and I miss the lap cards). The last two laps, I worked hard, always pushing the descent and on the flats, I practiced my time trialing. I even tried to work on my bike posture (I sometimes feel as if I’m the cycling version of a “fixer-upper”- there is always something new for me to work out to improve my cycling). When Karen and I came into the last turn, she took the last pull to finish her final lap and I crossed the start/finish line with the win.
Joy came in a well-earned second place, Suzanne came in third after working hard to protect Joy, and PC came in fourth after sprinting around the other members of her group. As a team, Bonnie, PC and I executed our plans perfectly and most importantly, we had fun! The women’s 1-2 field showed camaraderie and reminded me how fun So Cal racing can be (especially with a long course and a hill- sorry PC, but you love it!)
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