Not a road race or crit but I'm gong to do a race report anyways: Chino Grinder (Gravel Race) first place female!
This was my first gravel race, 106 miles around 9k of climbing and about 60% on dirt. I put in a few rides on our new cross bike but mostly just on canals. I went to the race with the intention of just having fun. The weather forecast was not good. We started out on a 30 mile dirt section of rollers in 50 degree sunny weather, the scenery was amazing as we rode north through red rocks and river beds. That did not last long. With about 5 miles to go on the dirt, it started to rain. My goal was to get out of the dirt before the rain got heavy, I managed that and was on the 20 mile mostly paved climb when it changed from rain to hail to snow. I kept passing people who had been faster on the dirt, and halfway up the climb I was all alone riding in the snow which was now laying on the ground. I was also freezing. Riders were pulling over and stopping at aid stations to get coffee or call it a day. I just wanted to get to the lodge at the halfway point to get my dry clothing. The last few miles to the turn around were on dirt and I saw 4 guys who were the race leaders come the other way, then nobody. When I got to the turn around, they said I was first place female and in top ten overall. I was surprised! I went into the lodge where a few friends were huddled by the fire. I had a long break of 20 minutes to get warm and change clothes. Then we decided to go on. We rode the long descent and some rollers back to the dirt. I was thankful to have a couple of friends to ride with. In the mean time most people had abandoned at the halfway mark and the few riders who had attempted to go back through the dirt, had got stuck in the deep red mud, the race was cancelled. A moto caught us and stopped us at 77 miles. We waited for a ride back to the start which took a very long time but everyone was so nice and helpful, we were still in good spirits and it was nice to be warm. I'm disappointed that I didn't get to finish but the roads were impassable. I'm looking forward to more events like this. I met some really nice people and already have invites for some "epic rides". I'm also glad that i got the opportunity to tough it out in those conditions, I needed to remind myself that I can be tough
