Race Report: 2023 Regalado Road Race – Men’s 3/4

Race: 2023 Regalado Road Race – Men’s 3/4

Date: June 4, 2023

AVRT racers: Andrew Ernst, Jeremy Besmer, Michael Fryar, William Hakim, Brian Shreeve, Drew Matthews

Top Result: Andrew 1(/41), Jeremy (5/41)

Course: 4 laps of a flat/rolling, 17-mile loop. There was a mix of good and bad pavement, with the worst on Tim Bell Road (southbound), a mile or so of which required dodging gravel and potholes. The finish was on a mostly flat section heading east on Warnerville with a decent tailwind. The bottom half of the course (westbound and northbound) had small rollers and moderate cross/headwinds.  By the end of the race, temperatures were nearing 90F.   

Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/9203417880

Nutrition: Started with two bottles (one with water and one with 75g GU Roctane) and picked up two bottles from the neutral feed. Also consumed 4 Wiggle gels. Total calorie intake was 700kcal for the 2.5 hour race.

Recap (by Andrew):

The week leading up to the race, Jeremy did an excellent job designing a race plan based on everyone’s fitness level, personal goals, and team goals. With minimal climbing, we felt this would be a race better suited for the sprinters. We planned to soften the field with early attacks in the first 2 laps by Drew and myself. We really wanted to ensure Velo Kings was putting in work so EJ would have less support late in the race. Michael and Jeremy were planning to cover attacks, Will was our late-race breakaway man, and Brian was our dedicated field sprinter.

The race started smooth but quick, with EJ and Mitchell from Velo Kings controlling the front during the tailwind section. Jeremy and I moved up behind them. As we turned onto Tim Bell, I put in my first attack which strung out the field through the pothole section. This successfully caused a bit of chaos and forced everyone to work as we were riding with the tailwind. Jeremy called out for somebody to attack in the crosswind section just before turning onto Warnerville (NW corner of the course). We did just that and I found myself in a group of about 12 riders that weren’t too set on staying away from the field. Regardless, it kept the tailwind section fast and forced everyone to work.

The remainder of the second lap was pretty relaxed until Jeremy put in an attack at the NW corner of the course again. As solo riders began bridging up to him, I followed one rider through the gap and counterattacked as soon as we hit Jeremy’s group. Four riders followed, one of whom dropped back to the peloton immediately after bridging. This group included someone from each of the major teams in the race (Velo Kings, Dolce Vita, and Mikes Bikes). With this composition we figured our respective teammates in the field would disrupt any chase attempts to allow the break to succeed, which is exactly what happened.

The four of us kept a good rotation going through the third lap and managed to gain about 2 minutes on the field coming into the start of the fourth and final lap. I focused on taking in plenty of fluid and nutrition. The moto told us that the field wasn’t chasing anymore, but I bullied the other riders into continuing to push the pace. I knew I had a better chance of winning if I attacked them while they were tired vs letting the race come down to a sprint. On the final hill on Claribel into the headwind, about 7 miles from the finish, I ramped up the pace enough to gap the other three riders. I didn’t fully commit until about a mile later when I saw my lead increasing. I managed to stay away for the win. I owe a huge thanks to the team for disrupting an organized chase attempt from the peloton. I definitely wouldn’t have had the same result without a solid team effort.

Meanwhile, back in the field, the third lap was relaxed, with AV and Velo Kings controlling the pace and disrupting occasional chase attempts. Going into the start of the fourth and final lap, the moto ref told the field that the gap to the breakaway was 2 minutes. That was likely to hold through the finish, so the field would be competing for 5th place. (Due to the Mikes Bikes rider in the breakaway riders flatting during the final few miles, the field sprint ended up being for 4th rather than 5th). Knowing that beating EJ in a field sprint was unlikely, the AV riders in the field planned to launch a series of attacks in the last few miles of the race. This would force Velo Kings to chase and disrupt their attempts at setting up a lead out for EJ.

The plan worked. Michael attacked coming out of the penultimate turn (onto the crosswind section) and got a small gap. EJ put in a hard effort to close and dropped his teammates in the process. Anticipating this, Jeremy followed close on EJ’s wheel, and then counterattacked as soon as EJ caught Michael. Jeremy got a gap which he held through the final turn (onto the tailwind section) with 2 miles to go. In response, EJ and three other riders broke from the field to chase Jeremy. The group of four caught Jeremy with 800m to go, but Jeremy hopped onto the back of the group. Things got strategic from there and ended up with the five of them staring each other down with 200m left. EJ then put out his classic 1500+ W sprint, and Jeremy did his best with his 900 W sprint and stayed in EJ’s draft as long as possible while putting a gap on the other riders in this group. Jeremy rolled in for 5th place just a couple bike lengths behind EJ who ended up 4th.  

We executed our race plans well which landed two AV riders on the podium. A successful day!