Race Report: 2023 Regalado Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Date: 6/4/23
AVRT Racers: Conor Austin, Austin King, Nathan Martin, Grant Miller
Top Result: 3rd - Conor
Course: 4 laps of a flattish/rolling 17-mile loop. Per usual in NorCal road races, there were sections of rough road full of potholes and loose gravel. East to West winds that were not insignificant and it was HOT.
Nutrition: Overnight oatmeal pancakes, cheerios, banana and a couple slices of toasted gluten free bread slathered in peanut butter at 5:30am. 4-5 Salted Lime Gu gels throughout combined with Gu Roctane Drink mix in two 24 oz bottles. Grabbed a few neutral feed waters on laps 2 and 3 to douse myself with or sip from.
Race Recep (written by Conor): Our plan coming in was to have Grant, Nathan, and me make this an active race while Austin sat in to be ready to sprint to victory if everything was together in the end. We wanted to make sure we were represented in any moves that went up the road but otherwise force others to bridge and chase.
As we passed the neutral feed for the first time on lap 1, Grant saw ahead in the distance that the road pitched upwards and he launched the first move of the day. That man loves a good incline. There were some efforts to bridge across to him but all Grant’s move did was force others to burn matches early. Attempts to bridge across to Grant eventually brought him back about 8 miles later, at which point Nathan put in a dig of his own on the rougher section of the course with a PenVelo rider, Eugene. Nathan’s move up the road really forced a lot of solo riders and the other teams to work harder than they probably planned to. Everyone knew that Nathan and Eugene could stick it out until the end so there was some urgency for others to try and shut their move down.
Nathan and Eugene were eventually brought back about halfway through lap 2 at which point Eugene went ahead again with a rider from the Ride Bikes Bro team. The rest of the peloton continued to remain disorganized in chasing and solo bridge attempts kept flying, which for us was great. Austin, Grant, Nathan and I remained active in trying to latch onto any attempts to cross the gap that was growing. Eventually we did try to organize a “chase” to try and launch one of our guys across in a crosswind section of a course. It was clear we weren’t going to get much help and after trying to have Grant get some daylight off the front unsuccessfully, we began to sit in a bit to conserve energy. It was at this point we missed a solo move by a rider from Olympic Club who was able to get across on his own. After the three riders up the road began to get over a minute on the field, Austin asked Grant, Nathan, and me to start rotating turns to bring them back after passing through the neutral feed for the last time on lap 3.
We weren’t getting much help from others so each time I rotated back I would shout out for some help and take a look around to see who was sitting at the end of our three-man train. As we came into the rougher and more technical section of the course I noticed Ryan Gorman of Mike’s Bikes lurking and suspected he might attempt to get away in the more technical sections. Knowing that he would wait for the moment that best suited him, the next time I hit the front I launched away so that we wouldn’t miss his move. Whether Ryan was actually planning to go or not, I’m not sure. I was sure that the field was beginning to wither in the heat and that we would be better off being more offensive at this point than continuing to burn ourselves in our three-man rotation to bring the whole field together.
Ryan and I pushed on and eventually were joined by James from Dolce Vita. About 5 minutes later I looked around and the peloton was nowhere in sight, but the break was coming within shouting distance. Once we caught them we invited them to hop on the train and pressed on as a 6-man break with about 25 miles to go. A few riders dropped off and the heat was getting to all of us. We eventually came back to the westernmost portion of the course on the final lap where I knew someone (Ryan) would try to take advantage of the crosswind to solo away. Sure enough, as we rounded the second to last big corner 3(ish) miles from the finish, Ryan made his move and left the remainder of us cramping trying to bridge up to him. The remaining four of us in the break at this point all rolled in one by one with myself coming 3rd.
Overall, it was a hot but fun day. Our communication as a team was fantastic throughout the day. Now, I’m looking forward to a break in the season and long rides under the midsummer sun!
