Red Trolley Crit

While Neva successfully took on the rain and the field in Dominguez Hills at the CBR crit, I was at the Red Trolley Crit in San Diego. The Women's 1/2/3 crit started at 2:30 p.m. I decided to ride to the crit, allowing me to get a 20-mile warm-up in before racing. All morning it looked to be dry in San Diego, but on the way to the race it began to pour on me. After about 6 miles, I was out of the rain, and thankfully it was the last of the rain that day.

Red Trolley is a fast course with a good-sized power hill before the finish straight. It was my first time doing Red Trolley since I crashed two years ago and broke my collarbone and suffered a pretty good concussion. I went into the race just wanting to hang in and get used to racing in a crit again. About 10 minutes into the race, I decided to give my legs a test and went to the front for about 3 laps. On my third lap on the front, Sarah Hammer exploded by, along with riders from SDBC and Helen's. Amazingly, that break did not stick. Another break would get free later, with Helen's Michele Orem out on her own and a small chase group followed by the peloton. With one lap to go, Sarah Hammer once again went, closing down the 20 second gap held by Michele Orem and taking the win, while I rode in for a finish in the field.