Alto Velo 2024 Winter Newsletter
Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Alto Velo newsletter! We will publish the newsletter on a quarterly basis to inform club members of key developments and events affecting the club and racing team. We’d love to hear your feedback!
Thanks,
AV Board of Directors
New Board of Directors & Officers
A new board of directors was elected in early January. Thanks for voting! You can read our bios at https://www.altovelo.org/board-of-directors
Edward Stewart (President)
Katheryn Curi (co-Vice President)
Cameron O’Reilly (co-Vice President)
Sue Lin Holt (Treasurer)
William Hakim (Secretary)
Jerome Sierra (Volunteer Coordinator)
Akin Dirik
Chloe Nguyen
Bernardo Tapia
Louise Thomas
Gina Yuan
New Alto Velo Slack
We now have an Alto Velo Slack for the club! You have to be an active club member to participate in the Slack Workspace. Thanks to new board member Louise Thomas for setting it up!
As a member, you’ll get an invite to join automatically. If for some reason you didn’t get the invite, please reach out to any of the board members.
AV Slack isn’t intended to replace the mailing list on Google Groups, but due to its better user-experience and familiarity to most users, is well suited to fostering a sense of community among Alto Velo members. Other benefits include specific sub-channels for buying/selling (and not worrying about getting scammed), learning about member-specific club deals, organizing rides and events, conducting polls, etc.
The mailing list will continue to exist and be open to the broader community – anyone can join and while non-members’ messages are moderated, anyone can post information as long as it conforms to AV’s mailing list rules.
Membership Growth
To those of you who are active club members, we are grateful for your membership! Your membership dues are a primary source of income for the club, which has experienced strong membership growth over the past several years. We’ve set a goal to have 350 paying members in 2024.
If you’re not a member, please consider joining, especially if you partake in our group rides. It takes a lot of effort and coordination from our ride leaders to run these rides in a safe and fun manner.
To learn more about the benefits of being an AV member, please check out https://www.altovelo.org/join-benefits.
Survey Results
Thank you for taking part in the survey! We had 114 respondents, which is an amazing response rate.
Analysis Methodology
AV member Roger Pai did a thorough analysis based on the top 3 open-ended free text questions (of which there were 336 comments):
What is the primary reason for your overall satisfaction with Alto Velo?
What aspects of the club do you enjoy the most?
What aspects of the club do you think need improvement?
Roger categorized each comment by up to 2 of the topics mentioned and the sentiment (positive/negative) around each topic.
Summary
The majority of respondents find AV to be inclusive, and most speak positively about the various group rides and activities hosted by AV. They appreciate the work that goes into setting up A/B/C/Coffee/Egan rides and the friends they make while on these rides. Respondents mention the people they meet as the main reason for joining. There is a perception that the B/C rides have become much faster, and leaving some riders without a consistent weekly ride to participate (Coffee ride is only once a month). There is a perception that AV is focused on racing, deterring some respondents, although only 17% of respondents self-identify as current AVRT members. In short, respondents want less AVRT focused activities and more around the AV community, and more co-mingling of AVRT members attending B/C rides and sharing their knowledge with the greater group.
Positives
A majority of the responses spoke positively about the group rides, inclusiveness of the members on those group rides, and good leadership communication and the routes that are put together every week.
Some select quotes:
"Atmosphere, friendliness, social part (after-rides pizzas etc), level of rides/events maturity"
"Community building + camaraderie, group rides through amazing locations, riding fast"
"Egan rides, C rides and Coffee rides are challenging and fun and a great way to cycle with like minded people."
"Comradery, people with different skills level can ride together"
"Just love how the club has come together over the past 5 years. Of course, the rides, especially the C rides & the coffee rides."
"Social club, I moved to the bay area last year December and made a lot of friends through Alto Velo. At the same time, I was able to improve my fitness significantly in 2023 by doing rides like Egan and B rides."
Areas for Improvement
General takeaway is group rides are straying away from being inclusive with B/C rides becoming too fast. Many riders also do not follow group riding etiquette and this should be enforced. Negative comments about club inclusiveness includes perception that AV is a race team first, with members wanting more social activities outside of riding, and more cross-pollination between AVRT and regular members.
Some select quotes:
"The gap between B and A rides is too great, does not allow for advancement or a feeling of progression."
"The gap between C and B rides is very wide. C sometimes feels too easy but B feels impossible."
"Group ride skills / etiquette"
"Increased events for non-racing club members that focus on social riding"
"More social activities besides riding. Perhaps having a meetup for beer and/or food"
"My perception is that AV is a racing club regardless of the ride level. Since I have no interest in racing, but do want to improve group cycling skills/networking, I can't determine if I would ever "belong" at this club."
"More connection between the club and racing team. It seems like a lot of people of the racing team don't know those on the Saturday group rides and vice versa"
Next Steps
As a club, we’re always looking to improve based on members’ feedback. In response to the survey results, specific actions that we’re looking to implement:
New “A Endurance Ride” on Saturdays to bridge the gap between the B Ride and the Sunday A ride, thereby allowing a gradual progression of Saturday rides (A, B, C)
Opportunities for members to join destination or event rides, either run by AV or local gravel/century rides where some of the registration fees can be reimbursed
Opportunities for members to improve their riding skills and learn more about nutrition and training, such as periodic clinics, club-hosted events, mentorship programs, etc.
More efforts to promote cross-pollination between club members and the racing team, e.g. AV Slack
AVRT News
2023 was a huge year for AVRT. At the local level, AV had one of its strongest showings in recent history, dominating the men’s and women’s elite categories en route to becoming the NCNCA’s Best All-Around Team. At the national level, AVRT sent squads to some of the country’s premier stage races, securing wins in the general classification at the Tucson Bicycle Classic and Baker City Cycling Classic.
2024 is shaping up to be even more significant, as AVRT steps up to race at the Domestic Elite level and mix it up with some of the best squads in the country. David Domonoske recently won the Men’s Pro/1 Criterium at Valley of the Sun—one of AV's biggest results in years and a major upset against race favorites Miami Blazers and Aevolo. David’s post-race interview perfectly sums up the AVRT mission to provide a diverse platform for aspiring racers: "[AVRT] is an awesome program where we've got everybody from Cat 5 up to our Domestic Elite Team, men’s and women’s teams, racing local races, gravel, a bit of mountain bike—just getting people into bike racing." Top results in other categories include: 21st GC WPro/1/2 Niky Taylor, 11th GC M2 Grant Miller, 2nd TT W3 Louise Thomas, 1st Crit W3 Rachel Hwang, showcasing AVRT's tremendous depth and rising talent.
David Domonoske (helmet by KAV, kit by Eliel, legs by Henson Shaving) winning the Men's Pro/1 criterium at the 2024 Valley of the Sun Stage Race. [Photo Credit: Alyssa Feuz]
That mission has been in full swing closer to home, as the men’s and women’s squads continue to rack up wins and podiums at a prodigious rate in early season races. Up next for AVRT is the Tucson Bicycle Classic as well as local favorites such as Snelling Road Race and Cat’s Hill Classic. For more details, please be sure to check out the race reports!
Sponsors
Thank you to all our partners for your continuous support!
The Dave Keefe Real Estate Team https://davekeefe.com/
Action Properties https://www.actionproperties.com/
B5 Capital https://www.b5cap.com/
Palo Alto Concrete and Construction https://www.paloaltoconcrete.com/
Morrison & Foerster https://www.mofo.com/
Summit Bicycles https://www.summitbicycles.com/
Eliel Cycling https://www.elielcycling.com/
Henson Shaving https://hensonshaving.com/
Princeton Carbonworks https://princetoncarbon.com/
Terún Pizza https://www.terunpizza.com/
The Feed https://thefeed.com/
Agile Physical Therapy https://agilept.com/
