Race Report: 2024 Pine Flat Road Race - Men’s Cat 4

Race: Pine Flat Road Race - Men’s Cat 4

Date: February 18th, 2024

AVRT racers: Henry Mallon, Steven Pelas, & Zack Berger

Top Result: Henry 1/15, Zack 2/15, Steven 3/15

Course: The course is about 62 miles with 3,500 ft of elevation gain. The first 26 miles are on a rolling out-and-back stretch overlooking Pine Flat Lake. Then, there’s a 2-mile descent followed by a 16-mile valley. Next comes an 11-mile climb, starting gradually with rollers and shallow gradients, leading to a 3-mile main segment at 6% with a final mile nearing 10%. Then there’s a fast 6-mile descent with a few cattle guards followed by a 1-mile climb at 6% that steepens towards the finish. 

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10790038942

Nutrition: 2 bottles with 80g each of homemade malto/fructose mix and 4 gels with about 20g carbs each. This worked well given the cold start, but if the race was warmer I’d consider carrying a third bottle in my jersey pocket. 

Race Recap: Written by Henry. Similar to the Cantua Creek RR the previous day, the field started very slowly on the out-and-back section. I averaged only 128 watts, and it took us 45 minutes to cover the 13 miles. We were happy to sit in during this section, and Zack and I took the opportunity to stop for a quick bathroom break. 

On the return leg, a Cal Poly rider took the front for a 1-mile section at 4% and reduced the group to about 10 riders—all AV teammates made the split and it required about 5 w/kg for me sitting in the draft. After that effort, Zack motivated the group to continue working in a paceline to establish the gap, and we rotated fairly evenly for the next 25 minutes leading to the descent.

On the descent, I was less comfortable with the crosswind and started drifting towards the back of the group to take it more carefully. A few minutes later, the Cal Poly rider punctured just in front of me and rode off into the gravel shoulder. After going around him, there was a small gap to the group ahead. Thankfully, Zack was disrupting the rotation and Steven dropped back to help me reconnect. Their awareness of the situation and quick thinking made it much easier for me to rejoin the group.

Once in the valley, the group slowed down, and a couple of riders caught back on. During this ~45 min section, I averaged 165 watts and we all took the opportunity to eat and drink. 

In the rollers leading up to the climb, a solo rider attacked and established a small gap. Zack rallied the group and insisted that everyone contribute to the chase. This was critical, as his persistence motivated multiple strong climbers to take long pulls on the front. With everyone contributing, we kept the lone leader within a comfortable distance. 

Going into the main ~15-minute climb, we had a discussion and decided not to invest energy into pulling the base. We were all feeling strong, and with a slight headwind and shallow slopes at the bottom, the other climbers would be doing significantly less energy in the draft. As a result, the first ~10 minutes of the climb were relatively easy, and we caught the solo rider off the front. 

When the climb steepened to about 10% in the final mile, I went to the front and raised the pace (about 5 mins at 5.7 w/kg). I glanced back as I crested the top and saw Zack about 10-15 seconds behind. I had to decide whether to wait for Zack and work together or commit to a solo 18-minute effort down the descent to the finish. Had I known that Zack was another 20+ seconds ahead of the next group, I would have definitely waited. But, I was worried that the group might be just behind Zack and waiting would give up most of our advantage. 

With limited information, I decided to commit to the solo effort. The descent is very fast and completely non-technical, aside from a few cattle guards. I was focused on maintaining an aero position and managed to stay away on the descent and 1-mile climb to the finish. Zack finished alone about 25 seconds behind me to take second place (while averaging an impressive 300 watts for the full descent). 

When Zack and I broke away on the main climb, Steven decided to sit behind the other strong climbers and not attempt to bridge. He crested the top of the climb with 3 others, and with teammates up the road, he was able to sit in and recover for the final climb to the finish. Perhaps demotivated by Steven’s presence, the group yielded nearly 1.5 minutes to Zack and me on the descent. As Steven approached the final climb with the remaining group, he gradually increased his power and created a gap over the others. In the last 200 meters, he attacked out of the saddle and dropped the remaining riders to secure 3rd place and complete the Alto Velo sweep of the podium!

Overall, the team did a fantastic job of working together and communicating during the race.  Excited for a great season ahead!