[Race Report] Ridge @ 38 Criterium

Learning to not be afraid of the front! | Photo cred: Brent Murphy

I had a really phenomenal race this weekend. I made huge strides and learned so much.

At the line, while going over logistics, the official said we had three primes (special laps where you can sprint and win something extra, pronounced "preem"). Then they said we actually only had one and we felt a sigh of relief. Primes are very very fast and break up the field and burn out the sprinters. It's basically a simulated finish. I struggle on primes because often the pace picks up so much, this is where I get dropped. One prime lap sounded much more doable than three.
The gun went off though and we had no more time to think about it. First, I struggled to clip in off the line but got my foot in and caught up to the pack quickly. Since the announcer was talking when the official corrected himself, there was some chatter in the field about only having one prime. The race was pretty calm at this point, a strong moderate pace, no one chomping at the bit.
The prime lap was announced with only 12 minutes down (of a 40 min race - we agreed it seemed early). My teammate, Erin, who kind of wanted a prime or a podium spot, attacked up the side. The pace immediately quickened and per my Strava file, this was our fastest lap of the race. I powered up the hill to stay on and held as close as I could. The field strung out, dropping 3 women off the back. After the prime, which unfortunately Erin didn't get, I was a little off the group with another woman, but powered around her and we both caught back on the group! I knew I could do this - I had been dropped before and they were close. The hill was suited to me as it was small and easy to power up. The pace of the group immediately backed off as we crested the hill.
Now a group of nine strong, solid wheels, we had an incredibly fun race. I worked on moving around in the pack - specifically moving up. The group felt safe and smart - teammates worked together. Women made calculated decisions. There were attacks but we communicated to hold them. We had another prime we did not expect and the whole group collectively sighed. We picked the pace up a little, but didn't really go for it. At this point, we just weren't really interested - we were confused if we had one or three and just stuck together. There was a little bit of a sprint for it among a few women right at the line, but we all quickly came back together.
With sprinters tired, I hadn't pushed too hard for it and came to the front of the race! I hemmed and hawed but told myself "you have been sitting towards the front, you can pull." I came through and pulled for most of a lap. This was my first time doing this in a real race. I pulled off the front as we started to come up the hill again. I immediately noticed a change in the race dynamic - particularly with how the other women reacted to me. Suddenly, I didn't have to fight for wheels as much and I had a really easy time maintaining a spot in the top 5 wheels. It's as if spending a few minutes on the front established me as someone who wasn't afraid to do work, someone who was strong enough, someone who was a contender and people immediately made room for me. I couldn't believe it (but it was awesome)! I stayed in this position until the very end, when the bell lap (final lap) pushed the pace and I held on to finish 3-4 seconds off the winner.

Sprinting for it, because why not? | Photo Cred: Damon Brandt

It was a great learning race and probably one of my best finishes. I now know I can work on my 3-minute power to really make that bell lap possible for me. I had tons of fun feeling like I got to play a role in the race and riding with some really solid racers.

One more shot! | Photo Cred - Damon Brandt