Finding My Break: A Weekend of Racing at Momentum Indy

By: Claire Abrey

The Momentum Indy weekend was a fun and challenging 3 days of racing. It was the first time having our full squad back together since Fat and Skinny Tire Fest in May so I was super excited! 

Friday Night - Mass Ave

My Friday night race started off a little rocky. Someone swerved right off the start line while trying to clip in and chopped my wheel. I came to a complete stop and put a foot down while the group rode away. I found the nearest course exit and started running with my bike. I knew the pit was somewhere along the start-finish straight but I didn’t know exactly where, so I just started shouting  “where’s the pit??” as I ran along the side of the course. Pro tip: it’s probably a good idea to locate the pit before starting a race… oh well, lesson learned. Eventually I made it and they let me back into the race. I struggled a bit early on with positioning and confidence around a couple technical corners. Thankfully I had some awesome teammates who helped pull me further up into the group when I got caught near the back. I wasn’t as involved in the race as I would’ve liked but I had fun watching Sarah riding off the front in the breakaway like a champ! Unfortunately the break was brought back with 3 to go, so I just did my best to make up some spots in the final laps and sprinted for 17th.

Saturday - Indy Crit

Saturday’s race start was also a little chaotic. It started dumping rain just minutes before we raced. Thankfully it stopped before we started but the course was wet which caused some early crashes involving a few of our girls. Luckily enough I was positioned far away from all the crashes and got through unscathed. I pretty much sat in the group for the first 20 minutes, letting early moves go and then started to get more active. I followed a number of moves and tried to stay consistently in the first 5-10 wheels. Unfortunately I let the winning breakaway go as I had already chased multiple moves immediately before. It wasn’t long before I realized this breakaway of 4 had a good chance of staying away. I attempted to bridge and followed others trying to bridge but we just didn’t have the fire power to close the gap. With 3 laps to go it started pouring rain again. After throwing my glasses off, I did what I could to position myself well for the field sprint and sprinted for 6th place (10th overall). 

Sunday - Parkside Throwdown

Sunday’s race was one I was looking forward to because I love hilly crits! A team goal for the day was to get me in the breakaway and we executed well! I sat in for the first 20 minutes and let early moves go. Hanna and Sarah put in a couple big digs to bring me to the front of the race. And thankfully they did cause I was close enough to the front when I saw a dangerous move involving Fount, Kingdom Elite, and Projekt go up the road. It took a big effort and a full lap for me to bridge up to the 3 riders. Initially, I took some big pulls in the group because I really wanted the breakaway to stick. After a few laps, another Fount and Kingdom rider bridged up to us, and at that point I was outnumbered. I started to work less because Fount and Kingdom Elite each had 2 riders. Fount kept things hard, sending multiple attacks, making the rest of us chase. Eventually it came down to 5 of us, as one Kingdom elite rider dropped from the group. On the last lap, Fount sent an early attack and led us into the hill. I gave everything I had and sprinted for 3rd. I was stoked to get Apex our first Pro/1/2 podium and top 10 omnium finish but I really couldn’t have done without my amazing teammates! I’m so proud of how everyone rode this weekend!