Merced Criterium by Holly

Holly and Amber do the pre-race walkdown

Perhaps the rain and wet course explained the fast pace from the get go; it seemed Cheerwine’s tactic was to hammer from the gun to string it out enough to keep the race safe and smooth on the slippery streets. It certainly worked well, but damn, it makes the first few laps painful! Jill and I found ourselves in the back at the start, so Jill rode by me saying, “I reckon we should make our way to the front.” Two corners later and she was there…but it took me at least a full lap, if not longer. We made it just in time to start covering attacks. Jill covered a move. It was brought back. I covered a move. It was brought back. Then, Jill covered the move of the day by Sarah B from Cheerwine. Webcor superstar Amber bridged up with Cheerwine Kelly Benjamin attached. Looked good, but missing key players from Value Act and Tibco. I covered attacks from the two unrepresented teams for a couple laps, until they settled on chasing instead of making bridge attempts. I did my best to interrupt the rhythm of the chasers and block for Jill by riding on the front, but my tactics were more transparent than a Ziploc bag.
At two laps to go, it was evident the break was coming back, so I mentally prepared myself for the sprint—I knew I might need to go for it if Jill was worked over from the long breakaway. Unfortunately mental preparation isn’t enough. I failed to give myself a way out when the attacks began—I was stuck in the wrong place just long enough to sink to the back at the critical 1-lap to go. Luckily for the team, the field remained strung out and Jill held her position in front. I really needed to be there to offer Jill some help, but you know the expression about hindsight… The sprint featured the same women from the breakaway—Jill took third behind Kelly Benjamin (1st) and Amber Rais (2nd).