A goal of ours has been to try races new to us, and the Wilmington Grand Prix didn’t disappoint. What an atmosphere and it was awesome to race in nothing but sun for a change. Our Star Track teammate Viv came too. On Saturday we three raced the Crit and on Sunday we did the Delaware Gran Fondo.
The scenery of the Crit reminded us of Road Nationals in Roanoke, VA in 2022—a busy downtown area with lots of bystanders. These “bigger” races definitely draw strong riders, and we both didn’t get the results we were hoping for. Max got pulled toward the end of his Cat 4/5 race along with 24 others—he’s still recovering emotionally (prior to that he got pulled last in the 2023 Somerville 15-18 Crit when he was ten). I finished 27th out of 56 in the Cat 2/3.
I must admit, mistakes were made—certainly nothing big, but perhaps some that prevented me from placing a little higher. In the heat, my black aero helmet turned into a head sauna, and my 500ml hydration lasted me just 30 out of the 50 minutes. Also, I should have spent more time pre-riding the course (I only did two laps). Well, as long as I learn from this… and keep doing what I am already doing well.
For the Gran Fondo on Sunday, I had just one goal: keep up with the Automatic Racing riders. I saw them at the Tour of Newport News, and they’re a very impressive crew. Well, things rarely go as planned. The Automatic riders took things super chill (except the timed segments), and several ended up riding with Max. He took it easy too and was basically on a snack tour with wheels.
Not all was lost, though—I held the front with four other riders with two from Bike Works Cycling who were super strong and did most of the pulling. On the timed segments, I finished 6th out of the 259 and 1st among the five U18 riders. Very happy with that, but I wish I hadn’t been boxed in on one of the climbs.
The Easton Crit is next for us on Sunday. We’ll have the same fields there—Max the Cat 4/5 and I the 2/3. Remember what we wrote about bigger races drawing stronger riders? The Wilmington Grand Prix Crit was definitely great prep, and we know Easton will be a VERY hard, super competitive race too. Also really looking forward to Somerville on Monday—it’s a highlight of the year for us and we’ll be in the 9-14 and 15-18 junior fields which’ll plenty difficult too.
