At 2:05 p.m. on Monday, September 1, the Women’s SF Giro and NCNCA State Championship race started. On the same day, at 10 a.m., I was still riding mountain bikes on Mt. Sutro with a couple of buddies, unsure if I’d race in just a few short hours.
Criteriums were the center of my entire season (and arguably, of my life) for a handful of years but have since taken a back seat to the more exploratory variety of off-road riding.
Jumping into the odd training crit for my own training and to check a competitive “box” has been my bread and butter recently; between Port of Oakland training crits and local race rides. I was getting the benefit of the joy of competition but with deeper, bigger fields than you’d find at a local women’s criterium. Which, I know, is my fault too, by not showing up. It’s hard to understate how devastating it can be to show up ready to race hard and only line up with two other women. So on this Monday, when I was urged that SF Giro is the “most iconic” NorCal Criterium, and “there’s a good field, just jump in,” I knew I should check whatever hesitations I had and just go.
Race 1 was the race against the clock to get home, off the MTB, fed, ready to race, and ride to the Financial District in San Francisco. Nerves set in, and I promptly threw up, ate a bowl of plain white rice, found my skinsuit, pumped up my tires, and rallied.
Registering in the final available minutes, I realized quickly that there would be some aggressive and organized team efforts out there, and there were, from the gun. A crash delay from the race prior made our race even shorter, and the field was not planning on waiting to hit the gas.
What felt like a dozen consecutive attacks strung out the field into disjointed groups of one and two only bike lengths away, to then reset for another crash delay. The reset gave me a moment to take a breath, eat a gel, and make a plan.
The sprint would be fast, but after our first half of racing, I also realized how much shorter it would feel than what that final drag looked like. The race resumed, we started the countdown for laps-to-go, and I braced for what I knew would be an unbelievably difficult and painful 20-ish-second effort.
The backside of the course is a long, slightly downhill (and high-speed) straight with pretty chewed-up pavement, followed by a right onto a short block, and a final right onto the finish straight.
The two teams spent the last lap getting organized and near one another for their lead outs, but with just 50 or 60 meters from 2-to-go, there was a lull. It maybe lasted less than a couple of seconds while they were looking at each other, but that’s all it took to activate caveman brain and hit the gas from about five wheels back. Not even a moment wondering if it was the right call, no checking over the shoulder, no looking down; just eyes up from two corners to go and hoping I had enough momentum to at least make it hard to come around me.
The funniest part of the whole day wasn’t being so ill-prepared to race, but probably the little bike throw I did in disbelief that I crossed the line first, with clean wheels.
Proud and elated for the win and the new title, but mostly looking forward to more race rides and training crits for more chances to activate caveman brain.
Ivy Audrain | @ivyaudrain