Race Report: 2022 Dunnigan Hills Road Race - Men’s Cat 3

Race: Dunnigan Hills Road Race - Men’s Cat 3

Date: 8/28/2022

AVRT racers: Conor Austin, Flo Costa

Top Results: Flo 2/23, Conor 3/23

Course: 2 laps of a ~45 mile loop along I-5. Despite its name, the race is mostly flat with rollers on the first half of the course. The final 500 meters is up a small hill.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7717114583

Nutrition: Clif Bar, gels, shot blocks. This is one of the longer road races so nutrition was important throughout the race. Since each lap was nearly 45 miles long, I started with 3 bottles of rocket fuel (malto + gatorade). Also grabbed a bottle of water at the neutral feed.

Race Recap: After an excellent night’s sleep at Journey Inn Woodland, Conor and I were ready to take on the Dunnigan Hills Road Race. We had identified the strong riders in the field and would make sure to follow their moves. Being a longer race, we wanted to conserve energy for the second half. The race started out slow. About 8 miles in a break of 2 got away but the field was unbothered. I was towards the back of the group eating, drinking, and spotting longhorns and cows.

Just before starting the headwind section, about 30 miles in, we caught the early breakaway. This began a series of attacks and counter-attacks from the group. Conor and I had both moved up in the bunch to be able to respond to any moves. We both threw in a few digs to test the field. For the most part these were quickly brought back, especially since we were riding into a headwind. At around 40 miles in, I found myself in the back of the group and noticed some of the stronger riders were out of position. I decided to test my luck and slingshotted to attack the front. I continued pushing and was hoping for some riders to bridge up. A few minutes later I was still solo with some nice separation and committed to the long effort ahead.

As I passed the start line I had about a minute gap on the field. I knew things would heat up in the field on the rolling section, so I had to make sure to keep putting power down while staying within my limits. As I later found out, the field exploded on the hills but luckily Conor stuck like glue to each move and was able to make the selection of 6 or 7 riders that had gone off the front without doing any of the hard work himself. This lead group eventually caught me in the tailwind section and Conor shouted for me to hop on. I was feeling the 20+ min solo effort, but was motivated for this group of strong riders to stay away. I got into the rotation and rolled turns, seeing that the field was not far behind.

For the next hour and a half, this breakaway rotated together at a fast pace which seemed to nullify any attacks. We quickly gained on the field - most of the teams were represented. I was stoked for both me and Conor to have made the selection. In the final crosswind section, the attacks started coming and games were to be played. I was playing more defensive, being content with a sprint amongst this small group. Similar to the first lap, the headwind section was filled with attacks and counter-attacks with some lulls in between where no one wanted to take the front. We knew the field wouldn’t catch us, so there was less urgency to be in front.

We reached the final few km all together. I was feeling good, so Conor and I agreed to help me out at the finish. As we approached the final hill, we were on the left side of the road sheltered from the crosswind. Unfortunately, this left us slightly boxed in as the open space was on the right side of the road. There was a flyer with 1km to go, which was quickly shut down. Soonafter, a Davis rider opened up the sprint at the base of the hill and I had to quickly follow on the right to not get boxed. I passed him and continued the sprint to the finish, but got passed in the final 50 m. Conor was also able to put in a strong sprint and secured 3rd place for the Alto Velo 2-3.

I had felt strong on the day, so I was very happy that both Conor and I had made it on the podium. After the race (and after some mexican coke), I couldn’t resist completing the century on a bonus ride with more Alto Velo friends and teammates. Good times.