Race Report: Chicago Grit WP/1/2 Day 9-10

Race: Chicago Grit WP/1/2 Day 9-10

Date: July 26-27, 2025

AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang 

If you’re only gonna read one, read Day 10.

Day 9: Lake Bluff; Result: 40/63 pulled but placed; 

Course: it’s a very technical course. so many corners I lost count, but actually 6 corners. narrow roads twisting and turning through a neighborhood, also meaning narrow turns, with one straighter long section to the finish line

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15246867740

Race Recap: 

Ok, this race killed my morale.  Long story short I lined up near the front (second row) and got shot out the back within a few laps, and got dropped from the main group in 20 minutes.

From yesterday, I knew I had to line up near the front, so I was literally first to the gate before they staged, and by the time everyone called up, second row(?).  The strategy to survive this race was to stay in the front.  With the technical course, knowing I can’t keep position and that that’s the strategy to get to the end, very scared about cornering squished between riders, I really got in my head.

We start, and immediately, I’m getting passed left and right, and as I’m not comfortable being in a small space, slowly slip to behind their wheels every time, and that’s how I always end up in the back.  Within a couple laps, I go from the near front to the back of the peloton.  First few laps are chill, but after a few, it strings out, and I’m playing catch up, doing efforts out of the last corner every time to catch up to the people in front of me.  I have power, so I’m able to for a bit, but it’s annoying that every lap this girl would pass me around one of the many corners, only to get dropped out of the last corner meaning I had to bridge the gap, every. Single. Time.  So that was a lot of matches.  All of a sudden one lap, they were just too far ahead, and I knew (or thought) I couldn’t catch back up.  I ended up catching a girl in front of me, and the moto tried twice to get in front of her, but with the corners back to back and narrow rodes, the moto failed, allowing more of us to group and stay in the race as a chase group.  I believe we were actually chase group #2, and for a while, I could see the group ahead of us, so achievable, but I couldn’t do it alone.  Don’t get me wrong, the group was helping, just not enough, not like that Fount girl yesterday who gave me the last bit of boost I needed.  After I got dropped, the rest of the race in that chase group felt pretty easy.  There were maybe 6 of us, and about 3 of us who pulled regularly.  If I’m trying to win a race, I don’t want to pull, but in this case, knowing I won’t win, knowing I more than likely won’t even make it to the end, knew if I didn’t catch back up, would just get pulled out, so was more than willing to pull if that meant staying in.  But I couldn’t do it alone, and eventually we got pulled.  From 20 minutes, getting dropped from the main group, to 43 minutes, I guess it was worth it, but man, I was so disappointed with myself.

Day 10: Fulton Market Grand Prix; Result: 32/65 finished the full race in main pack

Course: four corner flat crit, very wide roads, very long (~0.28mi straightaway), one under train tracks

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15258031919

Race Recap:

My morale was basically down the gutter today.  Who do I know who’s great technically at crits? Whitney.  I texted her, gave her a call, and she coached me through some really good points on how to not get dropped.  My main takeaway, always move up.  Never settle for my position, and always move up.  Second main takeaway, it’s ok to burn matches moving up, because it takes way more energy in the back slinky-ing.  Third takeaway, be proactive, not reactive. Get in those first few pedal strokes early before the surge begins.

So I lined up at the front again.  As we start, the entire time, I think about Whitney’s voice echoing in my head, “always move up.”  I’m still not good at moving up within the pack, so I stay on the outer edge of the peloton the majority of the race, having a security curb next to me. At least the curb doesn’t move, but riders do.  As a result, I’m not getting much draft benefit at all, but at least I have the ability to move up.  From this race, I also realize I got some decent power, that despite being in the wind for most the race, I’m still able to push and move forward.  I also tell myself there is no way I’m getting dropped, that I’ll get dropped from trying too hard before I get dropped for not giving it my all. For the first half of the race, I just kept trying to move up constantly, never settling.  By the second half of the race, where I started getting a little fatigued, I would settle if I was in the top 50%.  Honestly, that was the entire race.  As the laps went on, primes were being shouted by the announcer, and I can’t lie, all those $500 and $200 primes were very enticing.  My goal was to finish the race, but I can’t deny there were many moments I thought about blowing my legs up for a $500 prime and to get dropped out of the race.  Because in those moments, I actually felt decent, legs, heart rate and all.  But no, I need to prove to myself I can finish the race.

When they put up the lap counter, I started counting down the laps, starting to get tired, hoping to make it to the end.  I also couldn’t tell what was going on ahead, and apparently there were a few breaks, that’s probably when the peloton was stringing out and I was pushing it a bunch.  I was just trying to stay with the peloton.  The last few laps started getting really hard, but I managed to keep my power relatively consistent, all things considered in a crit with breakaways, so my legs felt decent, and heart rate still ok.  With 2 laps to go, I knew it was go time.  For the last lap and a half, it was basically all out effort.  Out of the last corner, I managed to pass 2 or 3 people.  

I passed the line, I finished.  I actually smiled because I finished.  It’s not even a great result, people strive to win, but I was just happy I finished.  Sure it was a 4 corner crit, and I’m not usually stoked on a flat four corner crit, but boy was I happy today was a four corner crit.

Nutrition: A Torq caffeinated gel 15 minutes before the race, a bottle of Tailwind mixed with Liquid IV for the race.

Take away: I am so incredibly happy I got to race these big P/1/2 fields and gain some experience.  That’s what I came here to do, and I was able to get that experience.  I’m also very grateful Alto Velo provides me the opportunity to race these events.