Race Report: 2024 Pescadero Coastal Classic Road Race - Men's Cat 3

Race: Pescadero Coastal Classic Road Race - Men's Cat 3

Date: June 16, 2024

AVRT racers: Bradley Lovegren, Drew Mathews, George Wehner, Henry Mallon, Jeremy Besmer, and Maxime Cauchois

Top Result: Henry 2/29

Course: 2.7 laps of this. After a neutral rollout from Pescadero High School, the race begins on Stage Road with two short climbs (1 mile at 4.5% and 0.9 miles at 7%) separated by a quick 1-mile descent. After the second Stage Road descent, the course turns right onto 84 for 7.5 miles of gradual 1% uphill with a few punchy rollers. Next is a right turn onto Pescadero Road with a short feed zone climb followed by 0.5 miles of flat before turning right onto Pescadero Creek Road for the final Haskins climb (1.6 miles at 7%). On the final lap, the race finishes at the top of Haskins. Otherwise, it continues down the backside of Haskins through Pescadero back to Stage. 

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11660851421 

Nutrition: Three bottles with 80g of drink mix and two gels.

Race Recap:

On the first lap, Drew and George jumped into a three-man breakaway on 84. This was perfect, as George was likely the best climber to win from the break if it survived to the finish. And, the remaining four of us could rest in the group behind and force other teams to spend energy controlling the gap. A Terun rider bridged to the breakaway on Stage on the next lap to make the breakaway four. 

The breakaway was eventually caught over the top of Haskins going into the final lap. We were expecting an attritional race, but the pace had been relatively mellow (in part due to a headwind on Stage Road). Since the group was still large, we anticipated fireworks from the non-climbers on Stage Road trying to get ahead before a pure watt-per-kilogram battle on Haskins. 

This is exactly what happened, as attacks started flying as soon as we turned onto Stage Road. Since four of us were fresh from sitting in the pack while George and Drew rode the breakaway, we had the strength to keep the field together. In particular, Brad patrolled the front and singlehandedly covered multiple attacks on the Stage Road climbs. 

Once we turned onto 84, there was another flurry of attacks with Brad again sewing together any gaps. Eventually, George went to the front to set a hard tempo and discourage attacks. As we turned onto Pescadero Road, Maxime attacked through the feed zone climb. Just as Maxime was getting caught over the top, Terun came by with a full loadout storming towards the base of Haskins. 

I jumped onto the Terun train but immediately cramped in my hamstring. I watched a sizeable group ride away with the Terun train as I gently stretched my hamstring. When I could pedal again, I was behind a split and back in the second group. 

With support from teammates all race, I was especially motivated to give my best effort and make up as many positions as possible on the climb. Starting conservatively, I ramped up my effort to ride a steady pace just below the limit where my hamstring would seize. I crossed the line a few times and had to ease off until the cramps subsided. 

I was surprised to be making progress and with about 1k remaining, I made it to a group of four that I initially thought was the front of the race. But, I soon noticed another TMB guy about 20 seconds ahead. So, I continued just below my cramp threshold and managed to bridge to him solo with about 200m remaining. The TMB guy didn’t look back once while I was gaining, so I tried to attack as I caught him. He followed my attack immediately and came around at the finish to win by about half a wheel-length.

Lastly, I want to extend a huge thank you to all the incredible volunteers and race director Bernardo for creating such an amazing race experience. I’m already looking forward to next year!

Thanks for reading,

Henry