Club News
Race Report - CX Infestation Women’s A’s
Date: December 4, 2022
AVRT racers: Niky Taylor 4th
Course: This course started on a paved hill, then wound through some dirt containing many sharp turns, a few barriers, a run-up, and some bumpy descents. Those descents deposited us on a long sand pit also known as the beach. Then it was a few more turns and back to the climb.
Sometimes you feel strong and excited coming into a race, and sometimes you have a cold. This race I had a cold. But you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take or whatever so YOLO let’s go race in some mud! Also it was my last chance to race the A’s and I at least wanted to say I started. I rolled up on race day feeling anxious, both about racing and riding hard while sick. I warmed up with Claire (Stanford) and Leslie (Ornot) and cheered on Sharon, Lindsey, Janine, and Kelly racing the B’s.
I lined up at the start, and it was great having Kristina, Kelly, and Karen there for support. Then the whistle and we were off. I was so nervous about overdoing it and coughing up a lung or something, so I didn’t push that hard. I came away with lungs intact but didn’t have a great position heading into the dirt.
Once things settled I took stock: there were several riders out ahead. Then Claire, me, and another rider behind me. Claire’s superior handling began to pay off and she pulled ahead. I could feel the rider behind me getting frustrated and wanting to pass me. When we hit the sand she jumped off and started running. I considered getting off my bike since that’s what I’d done in my practice lap, but running in sand sounded like more effort than riding it. So I shifted low and spun my way through, passing her back when she got tired. It was a very tortoise vs hare type situation.
Riding the sand made me feel pretty accomplished and saved some energy. I caught Claire on the hill and stuck with her, forcing myself to then keep with her and follow her lines. When we hit the sand she got off to run, and again I rode it and passed her right at the end. I realized I could gain time on the hill and the sand, but for the rest I had to focus and work hard to keep my position. I managed to use the hill and sand to compensate for my slow remounts and handling and worked my way into 4th place, but never quite caught the top three.
This was a cool race. I once again learned 1) to fight for a top position at the beginning of the race, and 2) remounts matter. Cleaning up my handling and remounts would save me energy and make me feel more comfortable. But overall I was stoked to podium in my first A’s race and happily celebrated 4th place with my hands in the air over the finish line, because why not :)
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8208954087
Nutrition: My teammates gave me bottle hand ups! Kristina, Lindsey, and Sharon all gave me bottle hand ups throughout the race, so I got to take some quick sips and then launch the bottle away for them to go find. Thanks guys :)
2023 Membership Is Now Open!
We’re pleased to announce that 2023 Membership is now open! You can complete the entire process online here: https://www.bikereg.com/altovelo2023.
For 2023, we’re doubling down on our commitment to building an inclusive community. If the membership dues are a financial obstacle for you, then we want you to know that you are always welcome in Alto Velo. We are now offering a $0 membership option, available to anyone through BikeReg.
We also want everyone to be able to ride and race in AV kit regardless of their financial circumstances. We are happy to share that Dave Keefe (Action Properties/Dave Keefe Real Estate) and Mark and Alex Bailey (B5 Capital), our largest financial sponsors, are helping us establish an Alto Velo jersey fund. If the price of the kit is a financial burden for you, reach out to us (clothing@altovelo.org) and we’ll sort you out with a jersey.
We want to thank all of our 2022 members for your support, and we look forward to seeing you again in 2023! If you’re not an Alto Velo member yet, we hope you’ll consider joining and taking advantage of our many member benefits. Lastly, we want to thank our 2023 sponsors for all their support:
Action Properties
The Dave Keefe Real Estate Team
B5 Capital
Eliel Cycling
Summit Bicycles
Terun
Gelvio
Agile Physical Therapy
WendWax
KAV Helmets
Palo Alto Concrete & Construction
Princeton CarbonWorks
AC Coaching
Morrison & Foerster LLP.
Ride report: Everesting on Bonny Doon
Date: 16 Oct, 2022
Participants: Soren Holm, Louise Thomas, Xiong Chang
Results:
Soren - Everesting 10k
Louise - Single Everesting
Xiong - Basecamp Everesting
Course: 27 laps of Bonny Doon First Steep Climb (to Smith Grade)
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7977582048
Nutrition: bottles and bottles of maltodextrin/fructose/sodium citrate drink mix, an unhealthy amount of gummy bears and gummy worms, fruit and grain cereal bars, a banana or two, cooked oats with honey, coffee, orange juice, Chinese steamed buns, croissants with nutella, muffins
“The concept of Everesting is fiendishly simple: Pick any hill, anywhere in the world and complete repeats of it in a single activity until you climb 8,848m – the equivalent height of Mt Everest.”
Preparation
Segment selection
When looking for a segment, I was trying to meet the following criteria:
Consistent gradient between 7 - 10 % (as steep as possible while still being able to spin sitting down).
Non-technical descent
Low traffic
Climb time of around 15-40 mins. Shorter climbs would mean more repeats, which I thought would be mentally challenging to do the same stretch of road a hundred times, and would also result in more time lost in the turn-arounds. Longer climbs would result in more fatigue at the end of each climb, and have longer stretches of time without seeing anyone else.
Somewhere to go to the bathroom enroute
The Bonny Doon segment ticked all of those boxes apart from having a bathroom enroute, but I figured that it would be fine to go behind a tree or detour 3 miles to Davenport as needed.
Some other top contenders were Mt Umunhum Rd from Hicks to the parking lot, which was ruled out because of the more technical descent, and Montebello, which was ruled out both due to the flat section in the middle and the technical descent.
Bike setup
Usually I run 50/34 11-28 gearing, but the thought of going up Bonny Doon 27 times with that was filling me with dread so I decided to switch out the cassette for a bigger one. My short cage derailleur only allowed up to 30T though, so I ended up switching that out as well to allow me to go up to 34T.
In preparation for his attempt, Soren kept his 28T cassette but switched out his bottle cage for a carbon fiber one. Considering he finished more elevation in less time than me, maybe that was the way to go.
Fitness
There was very little preparation that went into this. My general bike fitness was ok having just finished the racing season, but the most elevation I’d ever done in a day was less than half of an Everesting. Knowing that a random guy on the internet attempted it with basically no cycling experience made us feel a bit better about the prospect though (even if he didn’t complete it).
On the day
My estimated completion time ranged from 15 hrs to 22 hrs. Given that this was longer than the number of daylight hours, we decided to front-load the attempt and start in the dark in the hope that we’d be done before sunset. Trying to find the balance between starting as early as possible while still getting some sleep the night before, we decided on a 2 am ride start.
Waking up at 1 am was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Maybe it was anticipation nerves or maybe it was because my body is used to still being up around that time. We then drove past the people stumbling their way between clubs in Santa Cruz (where we’d stayed overnight) to the start of the Bonny Doon segment. At the bottom we dropped off a traffic cone, bike pump and patch kit to mark the turn-around point before driving to the top of the segment to start our long day of cycling.
The first third of the attempt passed pretty smoothly. I hadn’t done much night cycling before but it was quite peaceful having the road to ourselves, only able to see a small bubble of light in front of where we were riding. By sunrise everything was going well; I’d completed 9/27 laps, Xiong had completed 7 and Soren 10. My nutrition strategy up until this point had been to drink a bottle of maltodextrin/fructose/sodium citrate mix every two laps and eat a constant stream of gummy bears and fruit and grain cereal bars during the climbs. At sunrise, Xiong and I decided it would be a good time to stop for real food and made some cooked oats and honey for breakfast. Soren pushed on without a break because he’s a beast.
Still going strong at this point
(photo credit: Niky)
10 am rolled around and we got our first visitors - Gina and Jack! Since me, Xiong, and Soren had all been riding separately to go at our own pace it was nice to have friends to chat with on the climb. At around 11:30 am I was starting to feel a bit low-energy and was in the middle of wolfing down a nutella croissant when we got our second lot of visitors! Niky, Sharon, and Sue Lin had come to cheer us on as part of a gravel ride they were doing, which was an instant mood and energy boost. Not too long after that we had more visitors in the form of Suds, Henry, and Marco, as well as a flyby from Julien and friends. Having people stop by was definitely the highlight of the ride, and made the ordeal so much more enjoyable.
Visits from friends
(photo credit Sue Lin)
At around 2 or 3 pm, Xiong successfully completed his half everesting. Pretty impressive for someone that only decided to attempt it the night before! He then switched to a supporting role and started cooking us all steamed buns, which I was very grateful for.
The next 8 hours were tough. I was starting to get GI issues so stopped eating and drinking as much, and as a result wasn’t getting the nutrition I needed to keep my pace up. I’d never had any GI issues before while cycling so it wasn’t something I put too much thought into beforehand. But then I’d also never done a ride as long and demanding as this. If I had to do it again I’d definitely be more deliberate about my nutritional strategy and have a better idea of what my body can tolerate; shitting water into plastic bags was a pretty low point of this whole experience.
On the women’s team Slack channel people had been asking how the attempt was going, but with no phone reception I wasn’t replying to anything. I had originally said I should be finished around 8 pm, so when that came and went and still no one had heard from me Niky and Kristina kindly drove over from Santa Cruz to check we were still alive. We were, but definitely less animated than earlier in the day. I think at this point Soren had already completed the everesting, but decided to push on for the 10k while I was struggling with several laps to go.
The final few laps were a slog. It was dark, I was cold, and my stomach was upset. At this point I was going at only 60% of my original speed, but was too close to finishing to quit. With one lap to go, disaster struck. My bike computer was giving me a low battery warning, so I quickly plugged it into a charger to ensure it would last for the final lap. Which promptly reset the entire ride. Unfortunately the Garmin Edge 500 is designed in a way that doesn’t allow you to use the device while it’s plugged in, and also resets the activity as soon as you plug it in. I already knew about this ‘feature’ and had planned for it with an OTG charging cable that tricks the Garmin into thinking it’s not plugged in; I’d tested the setup before the ride, and even used it earlier in the day with no issues. But for whatever reason it decided to reset this time.
Trying to stay warm at base camp
(photo credit: Niky)
I told Xiong, Soren, Niky, and Kristina what had happened to deafening silence. Afterwards Xiong told me he wanted to say it would be ok, but had no idea whether it was actually going to be or not. I was a bit more familiar with the device and about 90% sure that even though it had reset, the file was still saved. With that assumption, and assuming I could combine multiple files afterwards, I pushed on for the final lap. Luckily both assumptions turned out to be true.
At around 11 pm, 20.5 hrs after we originally started, I completed the final ascent. I’m glad Xiong was driving home because staying awake became an impossible task after that.
Ride data
| Total elevation | 29,642 ft |
| Total distance | 132.5 miles |
| Elapsed time | 20 hrs 34 mins |
| Moving time | 16 hrs 1 min |
| Max speed | 55.9 mph |
Reflecting on the graph above made it obvious how important nutrition and pacing is. I felt fine for the first nine laps, but the data clearly shows I was getting progressively slower until I stopped for breakfast at about 7:30 am. Not sure if I should have been eating more as I was riding, or if I just went out too hard to start with at a pace I couldn’t sustain. Likely both.
From about 2 pm onwards I was just trying to minimize GI issues and so switched to drinking water (without maltodextrin) and stopped eating as much. That lack of fueling (and general tiredness) resulted in my final 9 laps taking 7 hrs 57 min, compared to 4 hrs and 57 min for the first 9 laps.
Final thoughts
Am I glad I did this? Sure!
Would I do it again? Definitely not
What I think we did right:
Starting at 2 am. It sounded horrible, but was definitely worth it to get a good chunk of the work done before sunrise
Having other people to ride with and to come support (thanks Xiong, Soren, and everyone that came by!!!)
Picking a steep segment with a non-technical descent
What I’d do differently:
Test out my fuelling strategy beforehand
Pick a segment with easy access to toilets
Start out slower
Bring more warm things
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading my super long report!
- Louise
Race Report: 2022 Surf City CX Women’s cat B
Race: 2022 Surf City CX - Women’s B’s
Date: October 29 and 30, 2022
AVRT racers: Sharon Newman, Niky Taylor, and Kelly Brennan (except she was racing for Stanford)
Top Result: Niky 1st, Kelly 3rd, Sharon 5th (Saturday) and Sharon 4th (Sunday)
Course: This was a tough course, as can be expected from Rock Lobster. Technical sections included three dusty descents, a giant mulch pile, several runups, multiple off-camber dusty turns, and more. It also had a fair number of straightaways and “power sections” as someone described it to me. It was full-on pure unadulterated cyclocross.
Saturday Recap, by Niky:
My goal going into this race was to not crash. Part of this was self-preservation, but part of it was also that I was on a brand new carbon Otso Waheela gravel bike! It was a huge step up from my steel Soma Double Cross build and I was excited (but cautious) to put it through a race.
The race started with me and Sharon gunning it immediately to get out ahead before the first set of turns. Everything was super dry and dusty and on the third turn I washed out… and crashed. Darn it. Somehow my bike flipped over me and got tangled up with my right leg. I yelled some ~profanity~ and paused for a moment to figure out how to get untangled. By not getting up immediately I worried Sharon, who pulled up to me looking very concerned and asked if I was ok. I responded by telling her WHAT ARE YOU DOING GO GO GO!!! (I thanked her later).
Several riders passed while I was down, including Claire who races for Stanford. I got up and back on the bike (which thankfully was fine besides a skewed shifter) and passed a few people, coming back to position by Sharon. Sharon let me pass her, then I hung out behind Claire through the technical descents and run-ups. Once we made it to the open area I passed her. I was really noticing how much easier everything was with the new lighter bike.
At the beginning of the second lap I reached for my bottle and discovered it was gone. Which was a huge bummer because I was very thirsty and had inhaled approximately 4 metric tons of dust. I tried to signal to a cheering friend that I wanted water by sticking out my tongue. Unfortunately that is a really poor form of communication and didn’t get the point across. Around the same time there’s a picture of me, choking on dust but having a better time than my face implies.
I kept tabs on Claire, who was looking super strong. I had a solid gap but knew I needed to prioritize riding clean if I wanted to keep the lead. So for the rest of the race I focused on clean lines and tried not to think about how desperately I wanted water. Still had a blast getting heckled and yelled at and navigating the fun obstacles signature to Surf City (I particularly liked riding the giant mulch pile towards the end).
When I finished I celebrated by chugging a lot of water and coughing up some dust. It was pretty awesome to get to win this famous local race! Kelly rolled in 3rd even though she had dropped her chain 4 times, and Sharon rolled in 5th for an AV/Stanford podium sweep!
Sunday Recap, by Sharon:
Course updates: Sunday had the same course as Saturday save for an extra mulch section with a sharper loose turn off it.
I warmed up with Claire (Stanford), and tried to do some intervals, but we were too tired to really try hard to warm up. Nonetheless, after a short time, my heart rate was too easily up. Was it the wonderful sleep we got in a tent on mulch with what felt like 20 mph wind? Was it the race from the previous day? Was it a lack of endurance? Who knows.
Right before starting, it was decided we would have a Le Mans start! I have never done an official le man start…so I was torn between nervousness and excitement. Before I could decide which, we were off! Claire and I were able to take off ahead of the group pretty fast (I mounted fine, but struggled a bit to clip in…I need to replace them…). At the first straight away, my goal was to get far away from people as fast as possible, so shot past Claire and we attempted to draft. But alas, too many turns.
This time, I was motivated to run less, and bike more than yesterday (who da thunk to bike more on a bike race). I was less scared of the loose dirt and was able to keep on my bike more than the day before. I knew Claire was technically and more powerful than me, so let her pass. I kept behind Claire for a bit, but soon I was just coating my lungs with her dust, and I could only see her further and further from me. At that point, I resolved to stick to 2nd, and fished for a gummy worm on a fishing pole - cause why not? However, by the last quarter of lap 2, my body was getting super tired. I longed for a caffeine shot blok, not the cupcake handouts. I tried to rally and absorb energy from the heckling – but someone that I thought was a tracklocross person passed me after a run-up, only to realize too late that we were in the same race. I tried to pass, but was just so tired.
Lap 3 was not my greatest. The heckling kept me pedaling, but that was all I could do. I lost another spot at some point, but my brain was very much focused on not eating dirt – not my choice of meal. I managed to not eat dirt, just breathed in more. ( I want to figure out my pacing and improve general endurance on these shorter races– Lap 3 clearly killed me. )
I rallied into lap 4 maybe because there was a set of people behind me, and I had no idea which race they were in, and I was motivated by only a few more minutes of being on my bike and at least staying on the podium! I pulled through and passed two tracklocross racers, but couldn't catch up to 3rd place. Finally, I grabbed a (partial) beer hand off, crushed it, jumped over a few logs, and bolted to the finish, afraid to look back.
Oof. Some people tried to talk to me at the finish line, but I needed to keep rolling otherwise I’d keel over. Once I recovered, I downed a lot of water, took a semi-shower with a hose, and eventually found myself packing up my tent and cheering for Nico on his As race! Overall, Type 1.5 fun, and 10/10 would do again while choosing to forget lap 3. May the dust not coat my lungs forever.
Race Report: 2022 Red Bull Bay Climb Open Women
Race: Red Bull Bay Climb - Women’s open
Date: October 22, 2022
AVRT racers: Steph Hart, Sharon Newman, Niky Taylor
Top Result: Niky 1/20, Steph 5/20
Course + Recap: Red Bull Bay climb is a very straightforward blast up Potrero Hill in San Francisco. The course has three tiers: the first tier is about 8%, the second is about 20%, and the third is about 15%. Tiers are separated by short flat sections where cross-streets meet the main climb. The race begins with a standing start on a 6% grade, so a big challenge is clipping in on the start line efficiently. And then the bigger challenge is getting up the hill fast.
Before race day I swapped my pedals to my double sided gravel/cross SPD pedals because I was nervous about the fast clip-in. Sharon and I carpooled to the race, looking forward to bike partying all day. When we got there we saw Simon, and we all did a practice lap and some sightseeing. Then Sharon and I met up with Steph and listened to the riders briefing, where we found out our first heat was just performative (all women were set to advance the first round).
Since it was just for show, I wanted to take the first heat really easy. I tried to chill up the hill, but you can’t really chill up a 20% grade. My legs felt terrible, and I figured it was because I had done very little warm up. Then we hung out in cold windy SF for three hours and Sue Lin and Gina and Jack tried to get me and Sharon and Steph to eat.
For our second heat we decided to actually warm up, so me, Sharon and Steph rolled around and then I sprinted up some shorter hills in the area to get my heart rate up, which turns out got me some crowns. Sweet.
At 2:30 we had our second round. This one mattered because only the top 5 of each heat would advance. This time Steph and I were in the same heat. We started pretty calm, but midway through the second tier more than 5 riders were in the bunch. So when we hit the third tier I opened up a bit. I rolled in solo, then Steph and one other rider followed. Sharon also made top 5 in her heat, so we all advanced to the finals!
Then we had a slightly awkward 45 minutes to stay warm. I was nervous but excited for the finals, expecting a bit of a showdown with Alex Obrand. She had been winning all her heats, but we hadn’t raced each other yet.
We rolled up to the final heat and I took a position next to Alex and another girl named Liz. The announcer shouted go and we all took off. Right away the pace was faster than I’d taken all day. I hung back, tracking Alex, and followed another rider up the first tier and into the second.
Starting the second tier I was in about 6th position, with Alex beside me. We both moved up as a few of the riders faded on the 20%. I’m not sure where Liz was before, but at the end of the second tier she was moving up and in the mix. I pulled ahead into first position and Alex stuck on my back wheel through the flat into the third and final tier.
The third tier hit along with a LOT of shouting people. I shifted up and started grinding, but Alex started gaining on my right. Then I heard “GO NIKY GO!” and saw Cam and George cheering and taking pictures. I thought “fuck I can’t get passed in front of the guys,” and dug in harder. Alex started fading back, but then almost to the finish Liz was right there on my left. I was maxed out and she was just about to get by me when we hit the finish, but I somehow found the energy for a final punch and a bike throw to snag the win! Steph rolled up a few seconds later with a 5th place finish! Then I sat down because my legs hurt.
Then followed podiums which was a huge party and I got interviewed by RedBull and everyone was very hyped and it was all very exciting and Liz cheerfully soaked me with champagne, possibly as revenge for beating her in the race.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8004456570 (not sure what’s going on with the GPS data tho, it didn’t take 5 or 30 minutes to get up the hill).
Nutrition: snacked throughout the day on deep fried okra, chicken nuggets, mochi donuts, French fries, gummy bears, water, scratch mix.
Race Report: Red Bull Bay Climb Open Men
Race: Red Bull Bay Climb
Date: 10/22/22
AVRT Racers: Nico Sandi, Cam O’Reily, George Wehner, Daniel Fonyo
Top Results: Nico (3/68)
Course: 0.3 miles averaging 15% with max 22% gradient.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8004277975
Nutrition: Caffeinated Clif Shots, malto, caffeinated gels. No Red Bull. Oops.
Race Recap (NorCal Cycling): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onTldRqppzg
Race Recap (me):
This race is one all-out 70-90 second effort from a standing start. First one to the top of then hill wins. But you have to do that three times.
The way Red Bull Bay Climb works is you race up the hill in a qualifier against 9 other riders. If you are top 4 of that round you qualify to semis. If you are top 2 of the semis you qualify to the final.
For me this was a fun race to spice up my cyclocross season. I knew I was coming into good form being in the middle of cross season and that the one minute power, standing start and explosivity required for this event were strengths I had been working on.
Qualifier (3/10): I was a bit scared coming into my qualifier as I had never done this event and I was up against Jeff Linder and another strong roadie I knew from racing on the road. Jeff and I had a good start and I just tried to stay in contact with him all the way up the first 2/3 of the climb. Once we were into the last section of the climb I looked back to see we had a huge gap on everyone else. I realized that easy pedaling would get me a 4th for the qualifier and that is all I needed. So I reeled it back and took it easy for the last block. 1 minute power = 530W
Semi (1/10): I had about 3 hours of rest between qualifier and semis. And from my time at the track seeing sprinters do their thing I knew I had to put my legs up as long as possible. So I literally laid on the floor for a whole hour.
Teammate Cam was on my heat for the semis, so I was scared for my life. Jokingly I kept saying I would lead him out for him to take 1st and 2nd. I had a good start, clipped in fast and stayed conservative for the first third. Then I opened it up full throttle in the middle half. I looked back and I saw a big gap but knew that I just had to push all the way to the line. I ended up coming 1st followed closely by Fraser (new AV rectruit!). 1 minute power = 701W (all-time PR)
Final (3/10): Stacked final. And I didn’t even know who the eventual winner was. I literally thought he was just a kid wearing a Trek Factory Racing Team kit that he bought online. I was wrong. He is a pro mountain biker, national champ, blah blah blah.
I had a good start, clipped in fast again and immediately saw 3 people in front of me. The last two heats I was second wheel. These guys knew how to get off the line! This heat was just all out the whole time. I tried to stay with the top guys in the middle section but their acceleration was so hard to match. I saw 1 and 2 go up the road and I knew I could still hang on for podium. It was super helpful to have teammates there encouraging me to keep pushing to get on that podium. 1 minute power = 695W. Basically as hard as my semi. 1 and 2 were on a different level.
I think that warmups, cool downs and nutrition played a huge role on this race for me. I brought my rollers with me so I was able to have a very controlled warm up before every heat and also able to spin the legs for 10 minutes after. I was also constantly eating gummies all day and had an actual meal in the middle of the day between quals and semis. These are all things I learned from riding the track!
Nico
Jeff Vander Stucken Photography
Alto Velo SF Ride - Saturday 11/5
Come join Alto Velo’s San Francisco crew as we take a tour of some of Marin County’s best roads. We’ll loop around Alpine Dam, take in some (hopefully) stunning views as we climb Seven Sisters, enjoy the jawdropping descent into Stinson Beach, and roll home along one of Highway 1’s most beautiful sections.
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3019708907165210362
Summary: Golden Gate Bridge > Fairfax > Alpine Dam > Seven Sisters > Pantoll > Stinson Beach > Muir Beach > Tam Junction > Golden Gate Bridge
Start: Golden Gate Bridge Plaza
Time: 8:30 am. Leave 8:40 am
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Will Hakim
Alto Velo Race Team - 2022 Recap
The 2022 road season has come to a close and it is our pleasure to report on some of the tremendous success that Alto Velo has had. AV had an incredible year both in terms of the level of success achieved as well as the breadth of disciplines in which the team was represented.
Alto Velo came second in the NCNCA district by overall points with a comically-slim margin from first and scored the most “Elite” (excluding masters) points in the district. The race team generated 361 race entries which included 332 road, 10 TT, 13 gravel and 6 XC entries. The road entries yielded 38 wins, 50 podiums, 26 top-5 finishes, and many more top 10s. The team raced 35 road events averaging 9 entries per event or 3 entries per event-category.
For the third year in a row, Dave Keefe (Action Properties, Dave Keefe Real Estate Team) was our largest sponsor, continuing his stewardship of NorCal racing through a generous contribution to Alto Velo. We also received continued financial sponsorship from Mark and Alex Bailey (B5 Capital, formerly DFJ Growth) and welcomed new sponsor Tomio Izumi (NuVision Construction) to the team. Money from these sponsorships provides riders with reimbursements for race entries, kits, and lodging, enabling us to send a team to nearly every event on the NorCal calendar, plus many others across the country.
Pescadero Coastal Classic returned with the help of countless AV volunteers and was our most well-attended team race with 25 racers. Katheryn won the Women’s P123 field and, as a result, earned herself the Women’s Elite Road Race District Champion title and won the Bariani Women’s Series. Other district titles won included Robin’s Women’s Elite TT District Champion title, Sue Lin’s Women’s Masters Criterium District Champion title, and Skyler’s win of various Women’s Elite District Champion title in various track disciplines.
The team managed to win an impressive three separate categories at San Ardo RR, Santa Cruz crit and the Copper Valley circuit race. There were also six other events in which the team took home two wins. An especially notable result included a pair of golds in the Men’s and Women’s 3/4 fields at the prestigious San Rafael crit.
Both Men’s and Women’s elite 3 and 4 teams were the highest ranked in the district! Additional individual distinctions earned included:
District top riders by points
Women’s E4 Summer Series - Niky Taylor wins
Men’s E4 Summer Series - Daniel Fonyo wins and AV takes all of 1-3rd
Bariani Women’s Series
Sue Lin Holt wins Women’s 3 Spring series
Niky Taylor wins Women’s 4 Summer series
2022 California cup - Connor Austin wins in the Men’s 3
Alto Velo also had a busy year at the velodrome and the jersey was represented all the way up to Nationals in various categories. David Domonoske was part of the winning team pursuit team and silver in the Kilo TT. Skyler Samuelson podiumed the individual pursuit, scratch race, and team sprint.
Alto Velo has also found success in some less traditional cycling events including the Red Bull Bay Climb in which Niky won the Women's category and Nico took third in the Men’s. Recently, Louise also successfully completed an everesting on the slopes of Bonny Doon.
It takes a lot of resources to make all of this racing happen and so we would again like to thank the club and especially our sponsors who make it possible for us to participate in the sport at this level.
Race Report: Mare Island CX - Open A
Race: Mare Island PedalFest
Date: 9/25/22
AVRT Racers: Nico Sandi
Top Results: Nico (4/16)
Course: Probably my favorite CX race on the calendar. The course is sooooo fun. It weaves in and out of abandoned shipyards and a school and parks. Niky described it best on her race report: “The course was described as “urban cyclocross” and “riding through 142 years of Naval history.” I did not learn much about Naval history but we did have to ride over some thick anchor chains, through some water, over wood chips, around a lot of trees and sharp corners, and much more. Apparently the course had 15 features but I’m not sure what they were counting because I felt like there were at least 100”.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7867391944
Nutrition: Malto and gatordade mix during the race. Gummies galore before.
Race Recap:
I did this race last year and got second in the A field. But last year this race was not part of the Bay Area Super Prestige series. This year it was added on so it meant the field was way stronger. Including eventual winner, Ben Frederick, who was fresh off some UCI races in the east coast.
The start was a mess because some people took a wrong turn right on the first corner and it meant I was at the front. With a decent gap! For like 1 minute. Amazing!
With the adrenaline of a good start and wanting to stay away I pushed more than I should have. There was a straight away with two mulch mounts. I took it too fast and went right over my handlebars. Oops. I got back up quick and caught up with the chase group. By now Ben had taken off never to be seen again. We were racing for second. The course included a lot of pavement and I could tell early on that people were afraid to rip the corners like a crit. Dirt corners we were taking like champs. Paved corners not so much.
I stayed with this group for a whole lap and attacked going through the start finish area. I was able to get a gap and rode in second place for the next whole lap, with Sacramento CX legend Jeremy following closely. I was happy with my lines during the race. I was able to rip paved corners and had a ton of fun! It was in that lap that I realized how much better I had gotten technically. My fitness still needed work but I felt confident in my handling. Jeremy caught me at the start of lap three and I was not able to match him on the power sections. I was getting ready to settle for 3rd.
But on lap 4 I was caught by another guy who put in a solid attack to get away and I was also not able to respond. I was able to match his times on the lap but it was that initial acceleration that left me hanging. I rode a solid final lap making sure not to get caught by anybody else and rode it in for 4th.
The main learning of this race was to dig a little more to try to match an initial acceleration. With little to no drafting in CX it is important to go with a move and know that it will eventually settle into a pace I know I am comfortable with.
Nico
Race Report: Sac CX, River Walk Park
Race: Sac CX - River Walk Park Day 1 and 2
Date: 10/8/22 and 10/26/22
AVRT Racers: Nico Sandi, Peter Ambiel
Top Results: Nico Day 1 (8/25), Nico Day 2 (6/21)
Course: Day 1: A 1.31 mile course consisting of grass, sand, and hard park dirt. The course is primarily on grass along a raised levee which added significant number of off-camber switchbacks and tight S turns. One tricky descent onto the beach that was rutted out and very loose followed by a sandy loose run up. Link to course: https://www.clippedinforlife.org/our-races/sacramento-cyclocross/races/race-1/course-information/
Day 2: Reverse of Day 1. Much faster course likely due to lower temps, but it the reverse also had longer straight aways or gentle turns along grass sections that allowed racers to carry great speeds. The small descent ran opposite from Day 1, which proved to be somewhat trickier as racers rode down significantly looser sand. Link to course: https://www.clippedinforlife.org/our-races/sacramento-cyclocross/races/race-2/course-information/
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7938806207 https://www.strava.com/activities/7932908341
Nutrition: Malto and gatorade mix during the race. Not enough on Day 1. Just enough on Day 2.
Race Recap:
Saturday: Temps were close to 95 degrees on Saturday. I brought a lot of ice and ice packs and stuffed my skin suit with those during my recon and warmup. I waited by the start line to get a good starting position for way longer than anybody else and I somehow managed to end up on the second row. I’m just not aggressive enough I guess.
Then race was FAST form the gun. The course really lent itself for fast, consistent pacing. No major climbs, not much running. Just a very technical crit on grass. 20 minutes into the race I was ready to be done. I was sitting in around 10th place and wishing I was in an air conditioned room. This was not a target race for me, just a training race, so my mind kept trying to convince me to quit. “This is too hard” “This will put you in a hole before you target races” “Just go do an easy ride by the river”. I seriously considered.
But there was just enough people in front of me that were within reach that I stuck it out. I knew everybody was suffering. Everyone else wanted to quit. I had been passed by a couple of guys who I knew I could bring back. So I put all my focus on just riding clean lines, smooth power, and just catch those guys. With 3 laps to go I had caught them and had a decent gap. Now the game was staying away from them. No way was I going to catch the people ahead of me.
The race turned out to be 1 hours and 6 minutes long. The longest CX race I’ve done. I averaged 182bpm for the whole hour. That’s really, really high for me. It was super hot.
Sunday: Temps were 10 degrees cooler on Sunday! And I opted for a larger water bottle and a ziplock bag full of ice over my back, tucked in my skinsuit (thank you Eliel for the stretchy material) Plus…a very helpful lady told me to make some holes in the bag so the cold melted water would drip on my skin. GAME CHANGER! Thank you lady.
Second row start again but I managed to get myself into the top 5 in the first lap. I was happy and also had a realistic idea of my effort and didn’t want to push too hard too soon. The lead group was within reach but I kept my own pace and focused more on keeping my position rather than over stretch myself and try to catch the fast guys.
That strategy seemed to work as I eventually got passed by a couple of people and later in the race I caught and passed them. Perceived effort on this day was way lower than Saturday. The ice and more water and lower temps helped! But I was also a bit more conservative with my initial laps and that paid off later.
Halfway through the race I found out that the leader, Jeremy, had flatted, was all the way off the back, and that I was sitting in 5th place. I made it my goal to stay away from Jeremy as long as possible. He is fast and I could see him slowly making his way back up through the field. He was coming for me!
Once he caught me, with 2 laps to go, I made it my new goal to stay with him and follow his lines. Great chance to learn his tricks! And I lasted a whole lap with him! The best part was seeing him take a deep sandy corner in front of me. He took it so smoothly and immediately gapped me. The next lap I tried his technique on that corner and it was mind-blowing. Of course he ended up ahead of me but I held on for 6th and was happy with my race!
Next up: Surf City!
Nico
Race Report: 2022 Oakland GP - Men’s P123
Race: Oakland Grand Prix - Men’s P123
Date: 9/25/22
AVRT Racers: Conor Austin, George Wehner, Cameron O’Reilly
Top Results: Cameron (11/61)
Course: Four corner crit. Hairpin T1, slight uphill going into T3, slight downhill after T4. VERY windy.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7830863689
Nutrition: 1.5 bottles of Skratch/Maltodextrin before and during the race
Race Recap: After some rain during earlier races the course had a bit of time to dry out for the last race of the day. The wind, however, had picked up significantly. This proved to be a significant factor during the race, as the entire peloton would get blown across the road from the gusts swirling between the buildings. The other main factor in the race was Tyler Williams (L39ION), who showed up to tear the race apart, drilling it for the first few laps, establishing the winning break, and eventually riding away to a solo victory.
During the first few laps all I could do was hang on. The field was immediately single-file and people were getting dropped left and right. There was also a crash in T3 that I avoided, but had to chase back on after hitting the brakes. I started to learn where the surges were and weren’t happening in the pace and got steadily more confident picking up spots on the inside before T1. This saved me from needing to surge hard on the start/finish straight; you can see the peaks and valleys in my Strava file level off through the race as I kept more speed into and through the hairpin.
About half way through the race with Tyler Williams (L39ION) off the front, I jumped when a promising move by Quinn Felton (Team CA) went with Roman Kilun (Mike’s Bikes) covering. While the field responded and we were caught two laps later, I was glad to have the awareness to identify a good move and the fitness to take action and go with it.
A little while after, another move with Quinn went but I wasn’t in position to cover. This group ended up being the winning break, but I was determined to race as hard as I could through to the end. With about 3.5 laps to go as the remains of the field hit the demoralizingly strong cross/headwind and slowed, I saw Ariel Hermann (Thirsty Bear) moving up the left and attacked up the right into T3. Neither of us had teammates up the road, so we were both fully committed. I closed a small gap to Ariel and with a few covering riders from Mike’s Bikes and P74, we got separation from the field. With only two of us working in the break there was very little room for error, so I ended up working more than would have been ideal. We got to the line and I was out-sprinted by the rest of the group, narrowly missing the top-10.
Overall I was happy with how the race went. This was a tough field on a hard (for me) course and I was able to achieve my best personal result so far in a P12 crit. I’m excited by the progress I’ve made this season and am looking forward to even more AVRT representation and results in the P12 fields in 2023!
Credit: Jeff Vander Stucken Photography
Race Report: Oakland Grand Prix - Women’s Cat 3/4/Novice
Race: Oakland Grand Prix - Women’s Cat 3/4/Novice
Date: September 18th, 2022
AVRT racers: Emily Schell, Louise Thomas, Sue Lin Holt
Top Result: Sue Lin Holt - 4th/17
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7829929595
Nutrition: A Clif Blok on the start line, too focused on survival to drink anything during the race
Course: Four corner crit with one narrow hairpin
Weather: Atrocious - heavy rain and 35 mph gusts
I was excited to race the last crit of the season with teammates Louise and Emily. As race day approached however, we were becoming a bit wary about the prospect of racing in potential rain and strong winds. However, being from the UK, I seriously doubted that California wind and rain could really be that bad and we all decided to show up and see.
When I arrived in Oakland it wasn’t raining and the roads were still dry. The cat 4/novice men hadn’t started their race yet so I jumped on course and rode a few laps. As I rode past the Velo Promo truck, a few of the large pads used to protect obstacles from bike racers (or is it the other way around?) blew off the truck and across the road in front of me. But at least the road wasn’t slippery. I ran into Will and Emily and we celebrated the fact that it wasn’t raining. Then giant rain drops started falling from the sky.
Will and I debated if we should put up the Alto Velo tent. Ultimately we decided against as we were worried it would blow onto the course and cause a crash. The men’s race started about 30 minutes late and I asked the officials what time they expected the women to start. They didn’t know, so I assumed we’d be 30 minutes late as well. So Louise, Emily and I decided to go warm up around Lake Merritt. Unfortunately my sense of direction isn’t great and we had to stop to look at Google maps a few times. Then Will started frantically calling Emily and we realized the women were lined up ready to go. So it became a race to make it back in time for the race start!
When we arrived, the ref was about to blow the whistle and we had about 3 seconds to ditch our rain jackets and throw down a Clif blok. With our heart rates already high, we set off.
While the hairpin wasn’t too bad, I discovered there was one part of the course where a cross street acted like a wind tunnel and we suddenly got hit with a 35mph cross wind every lap. Everyone managed to stay upright but it became a fun game of avoiding sideways-moving bikes every time through this section. Unfortunately Emily got a flat fairly early in the race, and although she changed her wheel, it took longer than the one lap rule and the officials wouldn’t let her back into the race. So it was Louise and I left from AV.
Soon afterwards, a torrential downpour started. Earlier in the race I had experienced my wheel slip on a few wet drain covers situated right on the exit line of the hairpin and the next turn. So I had been careful to avoid them on subsequent laps. Now, with the rain falling, dark skies, and the reflection on the road, I couldn’t even see where the drain covers were any more! Louise was doing an amazing job of staying near the front of the race, but I started being more cautious around the corners and having to put out a big effort to close gaps as a result. For a few laps I became extremely miserable dangling off the back of the race. Seeing Emily on the side of the road sheltered from the rain and relatively dry and comfortable made me seriously consider quitting. But soon after that the lap cards signaled ten to go and I forced myself to close the gap and survive ten more laps given I’d made it this far.
Louise and I enjoying the California weather (photo credit: Jeff Vander Stucken)
During the last few laps I was more focused on just surviving and making it to the finish line versus getting any kind of result. We finally made it through the last few corners and I was still pretty far back - around 8th wheel coming through the final corner. I tried to gather any remaining energy to put in an effort through the finish straight and accelerated, although I was too worried about my wheel slipping to stand up for a proper sprint. Through my rain-covered glasses it was a bit of a blur, but I vaguely wondered why everyone was moving so slowly as I passed multiple riders and ended up crossing the line within inches of 3rd place.
After the race Will looked at me and laughed because I was wearing my Diablo summer jersey (I had given my others to teammates). I realized the rain had made it even more transparent than usual! That (and the fact that I was shivering cold with shoes full of water) meant that I didn’t endure the seemingly endless wait for a podium photo. This wasn’t exactly the fun/enjoyable experience I had anticipated for the last race of the 2022 season, but it has been a great year and I’m looking forward to lots more racing with this team in 2023!
As always, thanks to all our sponsors and club members for your support. See you out on the road!
Sue Lin
Race Report: 2022 Dunnigan Hills Road Race - Men's Cat 4
Race: 2022 Dunnigan Hills Road Race - Men's Cat 4
Date: 8/28/22
AVRT Racers: Nat, Brian, Will, Ian, Daniel
Top Result: Daniel (3rd / 25)
Course: Link to the Strava segment. The course was 2 laps consisting of 44 miles with 150 feet elevation, as flat as it gets! The road surface was typical country roads with a couple of bumpy sections but overall fairly good. The back stretch of the course heading into the last mile had a strong headwind for the entire race.
Nutrition: 2 bottles filled with 80 grams of carbs, 1 big bag of gummy bears. Definitely felt a bit under fueled and felt the fatigue set in towards the last lap when the temperatures rose.
Race Recep: Going into this race, we were the largest team and had the most firepower. We came in with a number of gameplans depending on how the race played out. Given the hilly sections after the start finish line, we were expecting a possible breakaway, but knowing how flat most sections were, Brian and I were also ready to sprint.
As the race started, we were going snail pace. A couple of riders were yelling at us to pull through and ride the front but we just ignored them and sat in. We knew how long the race was and didn’t see any reason to start pacing the front. This continued for a while until about halfway through the first lap a couple of solo riders decided to start throwing down on the front. They pulled us along the rest of the lap, until the headwind back stretch where everyone just sat up refusing to work into a headwind.
When we started the second lap, the fireworks started. A super strong Pen Velo rider decided to light up the front going up the hilly sections which strung the field out. Most of us were already positioned up near the front expecting something like this, so Will, Ian and I did some pulls with the Pen Velo rider through these sections to keep the pace up and put some hurt in behind us. This continued for a while until we came out into the flats and the pace mellowed. Unfortunately during all this Nat flatted, and we didn’t manage to communicate this out between ourselves so we ended up drilling the front while Nat was trying to chase back on, which was a lesson learned.
As we neared the last 15 miles or so, a masters field ended up catching us, right as a solo rider attacked out of our group. We ended up getting neutralized while the masters peloton passed us, however the solo rider out front just kept riding and extended his gap. Will and Ian sensed the danger in this and immediately got on the front and started pulling hard. We then ended up catching the masters field and now they were neutralized as we passed them trying to reel this rider out front. When we caught the solo rider from our field, the pace settled and like clock work the masters field caught us again and we got neutralized. This happened two more times until we ultimately ended out in front of the masters group. Going into the headwind section, some of the strong riders noticed that we were the biggest and strongest team and started attacking us into the headwind section. This is where Will and Ian saved the race and began covering every attack. I was sitting in the draft the whole time and I was getting tired from just staying in the wheels with all the accelerations to put it into perspective. With a final turn going into the finishing mile, there was one Mikes Bikes rider left out front and Will burned his final match to reel him in and get us out of the headwind section. Ian stayed on the front and I slotted in behind in second wheel as he pulled us into the last few hills to the finish. Given the insane output Ian just did, he ended up blowing up with exactly 1km to go and I was suddenly left on the front. Knowing I can’t go from 1km out, I sat up too and started looking around which then caused things to explode as a bunch of riders attacked and came around me. I put in a huge dig to get into their wheels and just barely hung on to stay about 5th wheel going into the final uphill sprint drag. I started my sprint and being at my absolute limit while having to weave through a field of 4 guys, three of us came to the line together where I was able to snag third place by a bike throw.
The effort the team put out to cover attacks and keep the race together was amazing. We learned some lessons, specifically around knowing when a teammate has dropped (for a flat in this case) that we need to communicate and not pull on the front to let them catch up, and for me that sitting second wheel with 1km to go is not the right position to be in as it’s very hard to cover any attacks from the back if they come.
Race Report: 2022 San Ardo Road Race - Men's Cat 4
Race: 2022 San Ardo Road Race - Men's Cat 4
Date: 8/20/22
AVRT Racers: Nat, Brian, Will, Daniel
Top Result: Daniel (1st / 30), Nat (9 / 30)
Course: Link to the Strava segment. The course was 3 loops of about 23 miles and 375ft elevation gain, so it was as pancake flat as it can get. We were told this race was notorious for its heat given that it’s in the middle of summer out in some farm fields. However we were blessed with 60-70 degrees for the first two laps, until the third lap where it warmed up to our promised mid 90s. Road conditions were pretty good for most of the course, except for a bridge that was covered only in pot holes and giant gaps. Winds were also fairly tame but a constant headwind heading towards the finish was always present. The race finish actually deviated from the course, having us turn left up some slight gradient with a bumpy surface.
Nutrition: 2 bottles filled with 60 grams of carbs, 1 bag of gummy bears, 1 Clif bar. I wanted to grab more water in the neutral feed from one of our teammates but missed the handoff so had to make it work with no water the last lap.
Race Recep: We had a number of gameplans going into this race and were prepared to execute them for any scenario that came up. We came to this race with a stacked squad having FTP monster Nat ready to go up the road in a break if the chemistry was right, Brian and I sitting in if it came down to a sprint, and Will ready to ride the front all day to bring back any dangerous attacks.
The biggest threats we noticed right away were Velo Kings team showing up with 8 or 9 riders and Dolce Vita with a team of 5 riders. The first lap was fairly tame with Velo Kings riding the front the whole time. On the approach to the mentioned bridge, the pace picked up and Will and I would rotate to the front and pull for a bit to ensure we were first to go through to get the best (flat free) lines. The second lap things picked up a bit and became spicy. There was a few miles of road where it got pretty hilly which people started attacking on. It was a flow of constant attack and counter-attack between all of us, but ultimately resulted in everything coming back together.
Nat and Will threw in quite a few big digs during all this which definitely thinned the field up and left my legs a bit fatigued but once we were out of the hills, a rotation with Velo Kings fell back into place and we rolled into the third and final lap.
This time around Will stayed at the front for a bit and pretty much ensured the pace was fast enough where attacks were a lot harder, which kept everything together. At this point it seemed like everyone in this final group of 20 or so riders was content with going to the line for a sprint…and we were ready!!
Going into the last stretch of 10 or so miles, Nat got on the front and pulled everyone pretty much for the entire way into a headwind. This let us rest, relax, and eat, while not having to worry about big surges or attacks. As we got into town, this is where everyone was getting ready for the finish. Brian had tapped me and told me to go for the sprint as his legs were cramping.
So began our leadout. With Nat still on the front riding, Will, Brian, and I all found each other and moved ourselves into position. Brian used his size to just move everyone out of the way which gave Will and I an easy route to the front. As we came into the final uphill drag before the finishing turn, we were sitting about 5th wheel with Nat somehow still having the legs to be riding the front. The moment we hit the uphill, a bunch of riders threw in a massive dig which blew apart the field. Given our perfect leadout to the front, we were positioned to cover this with Will and Brian burning all their matches to get me up to the front. I began to close the gap to the 5 or so riders that went off the front. Nat gave one final dig and I came around him to close the gap and I was sitting about third wheel going into the left turn to the finish.
However this almost fell apart, as just before the left turn, there was another left turn leading onto the 101 south. I began turning left onto the freeway onramp thinking this was the finish until some voice yelled out saying “NEXT LEFT”. This stranger saved my race as I quickly turned back and made the correct turn 100 feet later. The final sprint ended up being very ugly as the 3 of us had about a 250m uphill drag to the finish line. I ended up staying seated grinding it out for the win! I was one of the fastest times of the day for the San Ardo finish segment averaging 550 watts for a minute to win a sprint.
As a team, I think we executed perfectly and raced a very smart race, so I’m super happy to be able to deliver a result. We didn’t waste any energy and only rode the front when needed. We also communicated with each other through the whole race and made sure we’re all on the same page on which tactics we’re following.
Race Report: 2022 Watsonville Criterium - Men's Cat 4/5
Race: 2022 Watsonville Criterium - Men's Cat 4/5
Date: 7/9/22
AVRT Racers: Daniel, George, Colin
Top Result: Daniel (10th / 50)
Course: Link to the Strava segment. The course was fairly basic yet had some more dynamics over the typical 4 corner crits. The start/finish line was on a small hill. Another notable factor in the course that caught a lot of riders out was the poor road surface quality. Besides the uneven pavement, there were a couple horizontal gutters across the road that were pretty bumpy and could throw you off your line if you were not paying attention.
Nutrition: Some gummy bears before the race and just 1 bottle with some electrolytes.
Race Recep: With a field of 50, our strategy was to just stay near the front and see how the race plays out. Given that none of us have raced this before, and the technical aspects such as the hill, and sharp corners, we just wanted to stay near the front and avoid getting caught out in a crash or the field separated. The first 25 minutes were absolutely flying. Given the size of the field and “eagerness” of newer riders, dive bombs were happening at almost every corner which caused the field to slow down and accelerate endlessly. I’d work my way to the front, get cut off in some corner or take a bad line, and find myself back in 15th wheel. This went until about halfway into the race where on the start/finish hill a couple of riders threw in a huge attack. I was about 5 wheels back and tried to follow but the gap had opened up enough where the riders in front of me blew up and couldn’t close it so it was up to me. I pulled on the front a little bit but after noticing that I had the whole field on my wheel again I sat up, thinking there is the second half of the race to catch them. This ended up being the wrong move as the winner, Matt Koenig (now racing for us!!) solo-ed away from that breakaway for the rest of the race to take the win.
But back to our group, while the pace settled down a bit after a large portion of the field got sent out the back, nobody would really pull through on the front. The pace would be fast for a few turns, then everyone sat up, and repeat.
Coming into the last few laps, I realized there was no way we’re catching the front, so while I rotated through a bit soft pedaling, I was mostly conserving for the finish. Coming into the last lap I was really happy with my position sitting around 10th wheel. From the warm ups I knew I couldn’t hold a powerful sprint out of the last corner all the way up the hill, so I wanted to aim for 2nd or 3rd wheel coming out of the final turn. However the second to last turn chaos ensued as everyone stopped pedaling and instead of carrying my momentum and just spending the energy to stay near the front, I waited to see who would continue the leadout. In this confusion I got shuffled back and coming out of the final corner, I had to sprint from quite a ways back to weave through to the finish.
Overall the race felt like it was very stressful and we came away with quite a few lessons learned as a team afterwards.
Race Report: 2022 Suisun Harbor Criterium - Men’s Cat 4/5
Race: Suisun Harbor Criterium - Men’s Cat 4/5
Date: August 14th, 2022
AVRT racers: Brian Shreeve, George Wehner, Daniel Fonyo, David Shih
Top Result: Brian Shreeve 2/45, Daniel Fonyo 3/45
Course: Simple 4-corner and flat course (https://www.strava.com/segments/621954).
Nutrition: All about this new mix by tailwind nutrition. More sodium than the rest.
https://gelvio.com/collections/hydration-mixes/products/berry-endurance-fuel
Recap:
The pre-race plan was to have Brian and Daniel sit in while George would try to start a break about halfway through the race. Since this was a mixed field cat 4,5 race we planned to stay towards the front where it was safer. The pace of the start of the race was high enough to shed lots of the Cat5 field. Once things settled in George moved to the front to attempt a break. After a few tries he got away at the same time Brian and Daniel tried to slow things at the front of the pack. But after a few laps and some determined riders in the group, George was caught. At the start of the bell lap Daniel was about 5th wheel and Brian was towards the back of the pack. Using the open far inside line Brian was able to move up to the front of the pack in the first two turns of the course. Holding some speed out of turn two he was coming up on Daniel which was forth wheel now. Brian yelled to Daniel “hop on my wheel!” as he still had momentum out of turn two to move to the front of the pack. As Brian moved past the lead rider he asserted his racing line moving to the left pushing the first few riders to the outside line. Brian stayed on the gas until the last turn and he was now in the lead with Daniel now pushed off Brian’s wheel into 3rd place. After the last turn Brian gave it all he had and got passed at the line for 2nd place and Daniel passing a rider to get 3rd. Great to see two Alto Velo riders on the podium and can’t wait for next season with more podiums!
Race Report: 2022 Oakland GP - Men’s 3
Race: Oakland Grand Prix - E3
Date: 9/5/22
AVRT Racers: Conor Austin, Nico Sandi, Matt Carvell, George Wehner
Top Results: Conor (1st / 21), George (8th / 21), Nico (9th / 21), Matt Carvell (double flat)
Course: Link to Strava file. The course was a 4ish-turn clockwise lap in Downtown Oakland. I say 4ish because the first turn has a small left-right chicane, with a soft left and then a hard right. The weather was downright awful and diabolical. The women had raced earlier in the day in sideways wind and rain. Velo Promo and the USAC officials were having a tough time keeping their tents in place.
Nutrition: I had a Gu salted lime gel about 20 mins before the start and used one small half-full bottle of water during the race.
Race Recep: With the forecast as it was, Road Captain Nico got clever with our strategy for the day. We wanted to see if we could get an early break going with Nico in it that could stick. If it didn’t, George and Matt would put in their own digs and I would sit protected in the field and wait to sprint for a win with the help of whoever was left. If it were really raining and windy, Nico and I would hit the front to put the pedal to the metal and take the cleanest lines to wean down the field.
Plan A worked! The rain was on and off throughout the race but never as terrible as it was earlier in the day. Nico went solo for at least half of the day in two different moves. In between those moves, George threw out his own moves that caused worry within the field. These moves forced other riders and teams to have to chase all race long. I was able to sit pretty on their wheels and expend zero energy.
We lost Matt to a double flat at some point in the race's latter half, so it was down to the three of us. With 4 to go, Nico was reeled in and George put in a huge dig that caused a bit of panic in the field. Dolce worked hard to bring him back and as soon as they did, Nico went again right at the start of 3 to go! The field panicked again! A few riders worked hard to bring him back and I actually worked to disrupt that chase since I was convinced Nico could go the distance. Unfortunately, he was reeled in as we came into the bell lap. I was prepared to sprint off the work of others as I knew George and Nico had just done a ton of work. With 1 to go, a flyer went from a Davis rider that I latched onto immediately. I found myself 3rd wheel on the backstretch when all of the sudden, I heard shouts of another flyer. It was Nico, again!! I hopped on and yelled to him, “GO, GO, GO!”
We rounded the final turn toward the long finishing drag. I hadn’t burned a single match all day and knew I could go for a long sprint. Nico pulled off and I hit the ignition button, holding on to the win. What I didn’t realize until after the race was that even though I forgot to post up for the winning photo, Nico and George got the job done for me:
Nico, George, and Matt were the absolute MVPs of the day. This was my first win of the season and my first race win period. I had come 2nd or 3rd enough times before to make this one extra special. I was also so proud of my teammates and was just plain stoked that I could bring it home for them and for AV. I only joined the AV race squad midway through the season and it has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. In addition to the win, I was also able to bring home the E3 California Cup, where AV went home with 2nd (Grant Miller) and 4th (Flo Costa) as well.
I’m looking forward to many long off-season rides with AV and meeting so many of you that I have not yet had the chance to meet.
Race Report: 2022 Giro di San Francisco - Men’s 3
Race: Giro di San Francisco - E3
Date: 9/5/22
AVRT Racers: Conor Austin, Nico Sandi, Flo Costa, John Janetzko, Daniel Fonyo, Matt Carvell
Top Results: Conor (6th / 40), Nico (9th / 40)
Course: Link to Strava file. The course was a 6-turn clockwise lap in the Levi’s Plaza area of downtown San Francisco. It made for a great atmosphere and it was great to have some of my friends in SF be able to make it out to see what I’ve been doing every weekend all summer. The first three turns came in quick succession, crossing over trolley rails and a few loose manhole covers. This was followed by a short kick up in the road to turn 4 and then a long back straight leading into the final two turns before the start/finish.
Nutrition: I had a Gu salted lime gel about 20 mins before the start and used one small half-full bottle of water during the race.
Race Recep: We knew coming into this race that this was going to be a tough course to move up on. We also knew it was going to be tough for a break to get away and stay away. I had volunteered as a marshal for the morning races and confirmed that was going to be the case. Road Captain Nico emphasized our strength would lie in our numbers as long as we all remained active and in the front half of the field. Our goal was to set up a lead out for either Flo or me to take the win, whichever of us two was feeling the best after 40 minutes.
Right from the gun, this Cat 3 crit classicly descended into disorganized chaos for most riders and their teams, but not for AV! Our guys did a great job of staying at the pointy end and covering early moves. There ended up being a lot of frustration generally throughout the field about the lines being taken into and out of the first two corners. Unfortunately, there were a few things shouted out between riders that should not be repeated here or anywhere. AV heads stayed cool and focused on the task at hand.
At one point about halfway through the race, Nico found himself riding at the front. This is where a string of bad luck started. While Nico was goofing off on the front, he got into a fight with the sidewalk and a parking meter. In the video, you can see my double take and general confusion at seeing him down on the sidewalk. Nico was able to dust off and get himself back into the race with a free lap. Just before that, Flo had dropped his chain going through the technical three-turn section. About a lap or two later, in the same spot, I also dropped my chain. We were both able to keep moving on our bikes and get our chains back on our rings to keep racing.
As the race wound down to the final few laps, Matt was at the front keeping the pace high and fending off flyer attempts. Flo, JJ, and Dan were doing their share of the work throughout the race and in the final few laps as well. I was able to locate Nico with about 3 to go and glued myself to his wheel. Looking around and not seeing many AV bodies, I realized our likelihood of pulling together a lead out was slim, so I tried to communicate as best I could with Nico to set us both up for success. With a little over 1 to go on the long backstretch, the flyers really started to go. We did a great job letting others bring back moves quickly and hold our positioning. Through the last few turns, we both found ourselves pushed off our lines where I should have fought harder to protect our positioning from those behind us. The winning flyer went from the back straight and because I hadn’t fought harder to protect my and Nico’s positioning, we found ourselves pretty boxed in towards the outside edge of the road. As we rounded the final turns onto the finishing straight, Nico and I found ourselves sprinting to pass as many riders as we could to make up positioning. A couple of riders ahead of us collided and crashed, creating a spectacular display of flying bikes.
Overall, this was as chaotic a crit as I have done as a 3. I hope to do this race again sometime in the future. It’s a great way to wrap up Labor Day Weekend!
Race Report: [2022 San Ardo Road Race - Men’s Cat p12]
Race: 2022 San Ardo Road Race - Men’s Cat p12
Date: Aug 20, 2022
AVRT racers: Cameron O’Reilly, Shane McGuire, Austin King, Andrea Cloarec
Top Result: Andrea (10/27)
Course: 84 miles on a 22-mile loop of flat and rolling country roads in Monterey County. Good to fair paving, some narrow stretches
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7671499865
Nutrition: Based on 90g/hour with Maurten gels 100, Maurten solid bar, water with 80g Maple Syrup, and mix carbs bottle prepared the day before (with Skratch ?)
Recap:
We started this race as the biggest team of the team, with 4 riders.
The plan was either to get in the break with Cam, Shane or Austin. Or if a break isn’t possible, control the race for me, Andrea, to try to go for the sprint finish. So my job was to try to save as much energy as possible, and fuel correctly to feel fresh at the end of the 84 miles.
An early break of 2 guys during 3 laps held. And it was quite “funny” to see the other teams asking us, Alto Velo, to do the job as the “biggest” team.
Cam, Austin and Shane did very great efforts of controlling the pace and the break to finally catch the break with one lap to go.
Meanwhile we tried to control the other big team, Project 74, Mikes Bikes.
Finally we arrived at the last lap, I mentioned to Cam that I still really feel good, and I am confident in my abilities to have a good result.
In the last 10 miles, some action started. Some attacks, counter attacks, and finally a small group of 5 gets 10-20sec ahead with less than 6 miles to go.
Maybe impatiently I feel that no other team wants to do anything, and I decide to bridge this small group of 5. I managed to do the bridge with a big effort, and join this group with 2 miles to go. However the peloton is just 10 seconds behind.
I decided to go on the front to pull the small group, after asking for another guy to pull, and they all told me they were done, or just didn’t want to pull.
I think I made the mistake of staying at the front of this group, and finally the peloton catch us with 1 mile to go.
I do my best to stay close to the front, but I spent too much energy on the last miles to be able to have a good sprint finish, or any kind of sprint…!
I finally finished 10th behind the guys able to sprint.
Maybe one day this bridge would be successful, but on this day it was not the good option.
Anyway it was a good race in this p12 field with the AV team. There should be more to come next year where Alto Velo can have a very good impact in this field with a very good team.
Looking forward for the next season!
Andrea
2022 Suisun Harbor Crit - Men’s Cat P12
Race: 2022 Suisun Harbor Crit - Men’s Cat p12
Date: Aug 14, 2022
AVRT racers: Cameron O’Reilly, Andrea Cloarec
Top Result: Andrea (17/45)
Course: Simple 4-corner and super flat course (https://www.strava.com/segments/621954).
And very hot, 102 F under the sun..
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7639330587
Nutrition: One 500ml bottle with Maurten 320 (not enough…)
Recap:
It was quite a big field with 45 riders and the big teams here in a very fast course, position would be super important
Cam started the first 15 minutes at the front, setting a very high pace, while I was sitting at the end of the peloton, saving energy.
From 15’ I decided to move up, it took me 7-8 laps just to get to the top 10 wheels, just when they rang the bell for the preem. So I decided to give it a go, no one really fought for it, and I got the 10 USD preem..! With a good effort haha
Laps keep going, I stay around the 20th position, focusing on my fuel and corners.
Every mistake costs a few positions, and gaining a few positions back costs a lot of power and energy.
From 25’ I start to feel SUPER thirsty. I made the mistake of taking just one bottle with Maurten 320, 80g in 500ml, that’s super dense and not hydrating at all. Next race I’ll definitely have a second bottle of just fresh water.
35’, I need water, but I still have 15 laps to go.
So I did not take any risk as I knew I couldn’t fight for top position, as I didn’t have the power, I was too dehydrated.
I just wanted to finish, focusing on my lines, not having any crash.
So I finished the race at the back of the first group, 17th. Over 45 riders starting, and only 30 finishing the race.
Quite happy for my first race in the p12 field, as I didn’t feel any lack of power or fitness. I’ll just need to keep racing, building experience.
And can’t wait to race with other AV members in this field as we start to build a strong team able to compete with the other big teams of California!
Next stop next weekend, San Ardo and University Road Races.
See you!
Andrea