Race Report: 2025 Watsonville Crit - Women’s 345

Race: Watsonville Crit - Women’s 3/4/5

Date: July 5, 2025

AVRT racers: Louise Thomas

Result: 2/11

Course: 0.7-mile loop featuring a short hill (0.1 miles @ 3.3%) and a couple of hairpin turns with cross-gutters 

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15019693598

Nutrition: a fig bar and some gummy bears before the race, and a bottle with mix during

Recap: With the hill and hairpins, and me not being much of a sprinter, I figured a breakaway was my best shot. I launched my first attack on the hill during lap two. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t stick with everyone still fresh. I slotted back in for the next couple laps. A few more attacks followed on the hill, but it was tough to stay away. After the climb, you had to brake for a corner with a cross-gutter, and then it was straight into a headwind. Maybe someone with less self-preservation would have carried more speed through the corner, but I wasn’t feeling heroic.

Since hill attacks weren’t landing, I tried sending it on the back straight before the final corner. That felt like a smarter move, but still wasn’t enough to get away. By then, we’d shed a few riders. One of the women suggested we start rotating to stay away. I didn’t think those dropped riders were a real threat, but it was in my interest to get others working, so I helped get things organized.

With three to go, I made one last attempt on the hill and carried as much speed as I dared through the corner. Still no dice. On the final lap, Sarah started tightening her shoes and I knew it was game on. Adelaide launched a long attack before the last corner but instead ended up leading us out. Sarah was on her wheel, and I was on Sarah’s. I gave everything on the final hill to catch her, but didn’t quite have the legs. I held off everyone else in the sprint though, hit my season’s 5-second max power, and was rewarded with many tasty strawberries. All in all, a good day.