AVRT Opening Weekend Recap

Alto Velo,

The 2023 racing season has officially kicked off in northern California! AVRT women and men had a huge weekend across Cantua Creek Road Race, Pine Flat Road Race, and the Cherry Pie Criterium. Let’s take a minute to celebrate the team’s success, and look forward to what’s next.

Let’s start by congratulating our eight race winners Florian Costa, Fraser Bulbuc, Niky Taylor, Otto Jolanki, Steph Hart, Nico Sandi, Kelly Brennan, and Daniel Fonyo. That is quite a statement to kick off the season, and doesn’t even count the dozens others that claimed podium spots.

The team raced hard and worked together across fields, with more than thirty AVRT participants. No matter where you looked, the Eliel orange-to-navy fade was impossible to miss. 

Weekends of this magnitude are made possible by the generous financial support of our sponsors Dave Keefe and Action Properties, Mark Bailey/B5 Capital, Palo Alto Concrete and Construction, and Summit Bicycles. 

Thank you to everyone who helped make the logistics for this weekend click, including Jeremy Besmer who organized three Air BnBs in Fresno. Some of the best parts of race weekend are getting to know people outside of biking while sharing copious amounts of home-cooked food.

For all the ups this weekend, we also had our share of struggles, but we appreciate everyone pitching in and supporting their friends and teammates through some scary and difficult situations. 

Next up - Snelling Road Race and Merced Criterium this Saturday and Sunday, where the team looks to build on our fast start. If you’re in the area, please come out and join the fun!

Thank you,

Cameron