Race Report: 2025 Shea Center Criterium 4/N
Race: Shea Center Criterium 2025, Women’s 4/N
Date: Sunday: August 10, 2025
AVRT racers: Elena De La Paz
Top Result: Elena De La Paz 4/9
Course: ~1km roughly square- same course as the Early Bird crits. Slight crosswind after the 2nd corner and headwind between the 3rd and 4th corners of the course.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15415036484
Nutrition: Oatmeal to start the day. Some Clif Bloks pre-race. It was pretty hot (90+ degrees F); I decided staying cool would be more helpful than a long warm up so I went to an air conditioned gas station and ate a bonus pop tart.
Race: Since I attended several early bird crit races, I am fairly familiar with the course so I was excited to give it a shot. The race also had decent turnout, with 3 of the other riders from the Super Sprinkles team.
The race was delayed, so we got to experience even more of the hot Livermore sun. However, it was kept to 30 minutes which is quite short. Between the short race and small field size, I should have realized that the odds of a break, even a small one, making it were good.
All 3 Sprinkles riders started strong. I tend to start crits from the back of the pack, since I’m new to racing and want to avoid pack dynamics, but the group kept splintering and I kept having to bridge the gap to the front. Just as I caught the 3rd super sprinkle rider, she slowed down the pace, leaving her two teammates to continue on ahead. I was a bit tired from a couple of these bridge efforts so I didn’t pursue the main group- this was my primary mistake.
The Sprinkles rider, 2 other women, and I formed a chase group, but we didn’t communicate. I did a lot of pulling because the Sprinkles rider had no incentive to, and she positioned herself right behind me. Then, midway through, she attacked. I realize her goal at the time was to break up our group and keep us from organizing to catch the break. At the time, my main focus was “stick with her” - which I did, but the non-Sprinkles riders of our group did not. The chase group was effectively neutralized.
At this point, the race was basically decided. I did a lot of pulling but when it became clear we wouldn’t catch the break, I asked the Sprinkles rider to pull a bit and she did. I got mixed up on the lap counter and sprinted a lap early, but after all the pulling I did, I bet she would have out sprinted me anyway. Overall, I felt fit enough to stick with the group and I learned a bit more about how tactics can play out- the only thing I would have done differently is made a stronger effort to stick in the break.