Santa Cruz Beach Hill Crit

By Brooke Miller
Date: April 9, 2006
Category: Women 1/2/3
Filed Size: 42
Teammates: ALL OF THEM! Amy, Tracey, Jamie, Julie, Jenni, Eryn and me
Place: 1st

Brooke --
finish line

So the beach hill crit (as those of us in Santa Cruz call it) is a particularly special race for me. Two years ago, it was my first USCF race and I did it as a Cat 4. I won that race and was beyond elated! But, then I stuck around and watched the Women 1/2/3 field and I remember thinking, "Wow, those women are SO fast. I could never do that!" and being awed by the few women I knew out there who were racing with the "big girls." So, today was a bit special for me.

Today was even better because this win was a total team effort! For the first time, we had the full squad together and we had our plan and we got to stick to it. Because of Sea Otter, the field was bigger and stronger than it would typically be for a small local crit like this. Meredith Miller from Lipton was there, as were some strong Cheerwines and a bunch of really strong racers from a team that I had not raced against: Promax or something like that.

Brooke --
final sprint

The race started out fast from the gun and we got strung out. The course has a hairpin corner that leads into a bumpy descent and then a few corners later, puts you at the base of the small hill that then flattens out and leads into the finish.

A few laps into the race, I was delighted to see Eryn, the little general attacking and getting an early break going. She was joined by a few other riders -- if memory serves me correctly, I believe that there was a McGuire in there and a Cheerwine. At any rate, that break was drawing a bit of a chase and they were out there for a few laps. I was so excited to have a teammate up the road! As we narrowed to the break, I started thinking that now I get to launch my attack and still have time to recover if I am needed in the sprint finish. Just as we approached the break, I got ready to jump, but McGuire sent a rider attacking hard, so I decided to catch on her wheel and let her do all the work. We were joined by a couple other riders, but caught quickly. Like clockwork, as we were caught, another attack went off and there was another break formed. This time, the break lasted another few laps.

I am not sure who was chasing, as I can't remember, but as we got close to them, I realized that it was a perfect spot for me to jump: right at the start/finish area, which would give me a lead into the corner and a chance to gap on the downhill. So, I attacked and I attacked fairly hard. No one responded. So, I immediately got a nice and comfy gap on the field and settled into a pace. This was the first time that I had been off the front of a race for longer than a few minutes. I have always been a bunch sprint/breakaway sort of a rider and have never soloed anything. I had 18 laps to go, so it was unlikely for me to stay away, but I was going to make them work to bring me back. Apparently, Eryn overheard someone in the pack say, "oh, that's Brooke. Let her dangle out there for a while." Fine. I had my powermeter, so I knew what I could hold and I was holding a steady pace that would not burn me, just enough to make them have to work a bit to catch me. I was out there for maybe 5 or 6 laps, not really sure, but about halfway through, I settled into a comfy pace where I knew I could hold it all day, but was still going at a fairly good clip. I looked back and saw someone trying to bridge and the field chasing. I knew that my time was up and I started looking for them to catch me and counter.

Sure enough, as soon as I was caught, Meredith Miller attacked hard and I jumped hard to get on her wheel. We dragged along a Cheerwine and a McGuire, Cindy Carroll. We had a gap and they were trying to get me to work. I worked a little, but Linda was yelling at me to save myself, so I told them, "sorry guys, I have to sit out a couple pulls" and sat in. I was recovering and not thinking that this break was going to stick anyway, so I did take a few pulls that were not hard. Mostly I just worked enough to be seen working, but not enough to spend myself.

Julie
Adams

Sure enough, we got caught. At this point though, I was positively DELIGHTED to see that the front end of the race was filled with PABW Powered by TIBCO pink and blue! Julie, Eryn, Tracey and Jamie were all up front and taking turns moving around and covering things. I could rest assured that nothing was going to get away without one of my teammates in it and that allowed me to sit in and recover.

On the final prime, there was a woman from that Promax team who was really strong and attacked hard. She broke and was solo off the front. There were 6 laps to go. I heard Linda yell, "she's strong enough to win it!" and then Julie responded. Jules moved up and bridged with a Cheerwine rider to bring her back. When Julie moved, the whole pack responded and brought her solo ambitions to an end. Sweet!

Jamie
Crawford

We were heading into the start/finish area with 3 laps to go, when I heard the field yell that an attack was going off. To my utter delight, Eryn, the little general, was gunning it to break for her solo win plans. She launched (AND on a slowly flattening tire too!!!!) and got a gap that forced the field to respond. She ended up getting a couple riders along with her into a full break, but that got caught by the end of that lap. Jamie, Tracey and Julie were all up front with me and I was using them to move around and to make me feel comfortable in knowing that I was protected.

Heading into the final lap, I knew that I had to move up, as I had slipped away toward the back. I saw Julie up ahead and moved in right behind her wheel about three or four places back. As we climbed the hill going into our final lap, Meredith attacked hard and I had to work very hard to close on her. But, I was in good position behind Julie, so I was chasing right behind her as opposed to trying to bridge up. I was able to catch her. She slowed when she realized I was there and we had two Cheerwines and the whole field coming up behind us. One of the Cheerwines moved up for the leadout and I got in right behind them. I don't know what was going on behind me, but I knew that I was looking at a sprint with Cheerwine and Lipton. I decided to jump early, as my legs felt great and I thought that I could hold them off. So, I jumped hard and got an initial gap right away. As I was heading toward the line though, I could see a Cheerwine closing in behind me and I looked under my arm for the response. As she started to close, I dug a little bit deeper and thought of all the times that I had done long sprints for city limit signs against the boys of my UCSC cycling team, and I pulled out a little more. Enough to hold her off and take the win. I could not have done that without my team. They were great and we should all be proud of this one! Great job to everyone!!!