Race Report: Webster Groves Criterium

I am not a huge fan of the Webster Groves crit.  Both women's field start together and the race attracts a lot of first time women racers and it's always super humid.  It took a lot of self-talk for me to race and stay in yesterday.  It was sunny and 84 yesterday, with high humidity.  I got a 30 minute warm up in, but I stopped riding too soon.  As a result, I struggled the first lap.

We had 25 women in the combined field, with 12 women in the 1/2/3 race.  My goal was to sit in and finish.  The race started off at a good pace, but a slight surge on the back of the lap had me fighting to hold on . . . hence why I think I needed to time my warm up better.  By the third lap, I was sitting in the group comfortably and feeling ok.  With the field as large as it was, holding a good position in the pack was tougher than normal.  Our first prime was about six laps in. I had no intention of going after it, but I was able to work my way up to the front of the group.  Emily jumped early on the sprint for it, so I just chased to stay with the front group.  The second prime was somewhere around 20-25 minutes in, I wasn't able to get as close to the front for it but stayed with everyone easily.  Most of the race truly went by in a blur.  A good number of attacks went off, but the group was large enough to cover them easily.  There was some squirreliness, but nothing that caused me too much panic.  We got to five to go and I was estatic.  I was truly ready for the race to be over.  I continued to sit in and make sure I had a strong wheel on the hill on the backside of the course.  With two to go I started thinking about positioning.  I made sure I was mid pack.  We got the bell for the final lap.  The group made a slight surge and then slowed down.  As we hit the hill on the back side I decided to see how close I could get to the front.  I moved to the outside and rode up.  I was sitting third wheel, but the pack was bunched.  Chris took off with about 600k to go.  I saw it and was ready.  Eight of us broke off.  As we rounded the last corner, the sprint was on.  I wasn't able to gain position on the 1/2/3 women, but still finished sixth for my field and seventh overall.

My infamous smimace (smile-grimace).  I was not having fun. *Photo credit:  Michael Dawson

Trying to make sure to stay on a wheel.  *Photo credit:  Dennis Fickinger