Race: Berkeley Hills Road Race — 35+ 3/4

Race: Berkeley Hills Road Race — 35+ 3/4

Date: April 27, 2024

AVRT Racers: Shai Traister

Top Results: Shai (14th/40)

Course:  Three laps of an 18.7 mi loop with 1,650 ft of elevation gain each lap for a total of ~53 miles and ~4000 feet including the neutral rollout. The main feature of the course is the “Three Bears,” which is a sequence of short climbs in the second half of the loop. “Mama Bear” is the first and takes about 2-3 minutes to climb; “Papa Bear” is the second and takes about 3-4 minutes to climb; and “Baby Bear” is the third and takes less than a minute to climb. There’s a short descent between Mama and Papa and a longer descent between Papa and Baby. The rest of the course is mostly flat with some rolling hills. 

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11278654389

Nutrition: 2 Gu gels, 1 bottle of water with 60g of carbs

Recap

Lap 1. Started near the front to keep an eye on anyone slipping away and riding with the group that started 2 minutes in front of us (like happened last year). Everything was clean. Pretty chill pace through the first lap until we got to the bears which were climbed at a high yet manageable pace. A few people got gapped on the climbs but were able to catch on the descends. 

Lap 2. Pace picks up a notch, but overall we ride as a group without any attacks or other incidents, until we got to the climbs. Really fast pace up Mama bear and then on papa bear as well. I managed to stay with the front group and continued down papa bear following wheels. Another kick up baby bear and we’re off to the 3rd lap (last). 

Lap 3. We got to mama bear where the pace was again very high. I managed to get through most of the climb, but as we crested the first top I had a 15 feet gap and I found myself in the wind. Didn’t have it in me to continue at that pace, and decided to slow down a bit. As I got to the bottom of papa bear another rider came from behind and passed me. I took his draft for ~half the climb, then decided to attack and not let him get in front of me. That worked even though it made no difference at all (14th vs. 15th place). A small encouragement after getting dropped from the front bunch.