Winters Crit/Masters District Championships

Race: Winters Crit / Masters District Championships

Date: August 22, 2026

AVRT racers: Emily Selman, Hannah Chen

Top Result:  Emily (2/5; 2/2 W45-49), Hannah (3/5; 1/1 W35-39)

Course: .5 mile flat L-shaped course in downtown Winters. Great pavement throughout and slight headwind on stretch into the final turn. 

Nutrition: oatmeal 2 hours before race, a Maurten bar 30mins before, 1/2 bottle water during race

Recap: We only had 5 racers total, but Shannon Gaffney (Cat 1) was in my age group, so I went into the race thinking I probably couldn’t beat her but just have fun and try to follow her moves. This was also my first crit ever, so I was equally nervous and excited. The day before, I tried on my skinsuit for the first time and fortunately it fit!

At the whistle, Shannon shot off the front and started pulling. She led for a few laps, but also was slow on cornering. After about 5 laps, Shannon started launching hard attacks almost every lap on the last straight segment before the final turn. Hannah did an amazing job covering each attack. Fnu Novita then started attacking and pulling the group. After about 20 minutes0 laps, Hannah told me she was ready to switch covering attacks, so I pulled up on Fnu’s wheel. Going into the final turn, I looked back and Fnu and I had a gap, so I surged past her and got into a sizable solo break. Hannah later told me she was ahead of Shannon and started soft-pedaling, which worked perfectly. I kept the lead for about 5 laps but saw Shannon slowly closing the gap. I was pretty gassed after a much earlier all-out sprint than I’d been expecting, and she passed me with a few laps to go. I did my best to make up time on the corners, but she was just the stronger rider. All in all, it was super fun and a good lesson about expecting the unexpected in a race. Hannah was district champ in her age group and the best at team tactics, so big congrats and shout out to her!