Club News
AV Wednesday Intervals 02/08, by AC Coaching
Hi guys, another week of intervals, hoping it will be warmer!
Any level is welcome, come and do the effort at YOUR pace. I’ll be here to explain the training, help with pacing, give advice, and answer to any questions.
The meet up is at woodside intersection of Canada Road/84, in the parking of village bakery, at 7.15am
One warm up loop, Manuela/olive hill. After we ride to Kings for the intervals starting at 7.30am.
35min of workout to the top. 8.05.
Back down around 8.15am.
Session: Anaerobic work 4x (4x 40” Hard !)
High power work.
4 sets of 4 times 40" hard work, with only 30" rest. The 4th rep of every set will be hard, it has to be.
Full 5min rest between sets, you've got time to rest and recover! And keep pushing high power.
Build the power from 130% to 150%, depending on how you feel!
Very useful to build your anaerobic power, power efficiency, spinning fast, follow any moves and be ready to sprint!
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3049221988200414344?v2=true
Summary: 15 miles / Up&Down Kings. One warm up loop, Manuela/olive hill. After going on Kings for the intervals.
Start: Village Bakery Parking, Woodside. Intersection Canada Road / 84
(Woodside Intersection)
Time: Wednesday 8th February, Meet 7.10 a.m., Leave 7:15 a.m.
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Andrea Cloarec, AC Coaching
Race Report: 2023 Cal Aggie Criterium - Women’s Cat 3/Masters
Race: 2023 Cal Aggie Criterium - Women's Cat 3/Master's
Date: January 28th, 2023
AVRT racers: Chris Davis, Skyler Espinoza, Kristin Hepworth, Sue Lin Holt, Lora Maes, Sharon Marucut, Jennifer Steele, Gina Yuan
Top Result: Gina (2nd Cat 3, overall), Sue Lin (1st 40+), Jenn (3rd 40+), Lora (2nd 50+), Chris (3rd 50+)
Course: 40 minutes, 1.09mi loop (Strava). Two corners at the top of the course including a sharp left, one corner on the right, and a bit of a drag to the finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8467830683
Cal Aggie is the first crit of the year, and I was excited to finally shake off the racing cobwebs with the AVRT women in all categories that day. Sharon's cobwebs were from 2020, so it was great to see her out. Also, it was Kristin's second crit that day, and ever! The 8 of us went into the race with a plan to attack and tire out some marked riders, then organize a leadout for our sprinters. Since it's common for nothing to go to plan, we agreed that it would be important to communicate during the race.
Jenn and Lora set a fast, powerful pace at the start, discouraging any attacks while keeping it smooth. Eventually, the pace slowed down, and I attacked into the technical chicane. Four riders followed, including Jenn who covered. One of these riders was the best (non-AV) sprinter in the field, so while she was trying to establish the break, Jenn and I sat in until the field caught us.
I attacked again at the same location and ended up in a break with two other riders. The same Terun sprinter did 90% of the work to stay away and the other rider did the rest. I sat in just hoping to get caught, since I am not very confident in my sprint, but it seems my teammates are really good at blocking as the rest of the field just wouldn't catch us! Two laps to go, Skyler and Sue Lin made an effort to bridge to a group of 3 ahead...but it was just a group of lapped riders. They were able to see the break at that point, but it was too late. The break of 3 had just rounded the last corner and we had to start our sprints. Despite my feeble sprint, I was feeling pretty fresh, and managed to narrowly beat one of the other riders for 2nd! Skyler launched ahead, almost closing the entire gap, for 4th. Sue Lin followed close behind, taking the win in the 40+ category. Jenn, Lora, and Chris, despite racing for the team's overall result, still managed to round out the remaining podium spots in the master's categories.
I've definitely come a long way from my first crit race, exactly one year ago on this course, when I hated cornering. After the race, I couldn't stop thinking about all the different ways a team of 8 could play a race. I have never raced with so many teammates before, but I learned a lot and am excited to explore this aspect of bike racing more!
Race Report - Low Gap Grasshopper 2023 Pro Men
Race: 2023 Low Gap Grasshopper - Men’s Pro
Date: Jan 28th, 2023
AVRT racers: Austin King, Florian Costa, Grant Miller, Cameron O’Reilly, Andrea Cloarec
Top Result: Andrea (19/44)
Andrea training for his No Hands skills
Course: 44 Miles, with the first part road, second part Gravel. One big climb of 20-25’ on each part.
It was cold!
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8467760870/overview
Nutrition: Two 500ml bottles with Maurten 320, total 160g Carbs (for 2h40min. Not enough)
Bike/Tires: Pirelli Cinturato Gravel M, 45mm wide, at 40 psi, on my home made gravel bike.
Recap:
So the race started directly with a 20’ climb… and we started fast! As expected, the field was quite strong, 6W/kg for the first 5’ if you wanted to stay at the front. Cam and Grant made that choice, with a very strong start! I preferred to stay lower, and pace the full 20’ more evenly. I finally caught Cam and Grant close to the top of the finish.
And I reached the top of the climb with Cam and two other Team Mikes Bike together.
One of the TMB, very good descender, directly left us. So we stayed as a group of 3 with Cam, me and the other TMB guy.
We did a good job together on the rolling roads part, and arrived together at the start of the gravel part.
Grant on the downhill section
The gravel part started with some small punchy climbs, from there I accelerated to follow a group of 3 with the TMB guy and 2 other guys. We kept riding together, pushing the uphills, and very fast downhill. And I put all my confidence in their lines, as I was not watching the trails at all, but just following the wheel in front of me and their lines, as I was sure they were better gravel racers than me. So they could choose the good lines!
Austin on the gravel part
Until I made a wrong turn.. Well, I went straight while I had to take a sharp right turn. Almost crashing with one of the guy.
I maybe just lost 10 seconds, the time to unclip, turn and start back. But I lost contact with the 3 riders. And 1 minute after, when trying to catch them, I unclipped, and didn’t manage to clip back in. Had to put the feet down. Just lost only 10 seconds again, but that was enough to not see the group anymore.
From there, I was alone for 1 hour until the finish line.
The long gravel climb felt awful. I wasn’t even sure I was still on the course, as a turn was VERY badly indicated, and I wondered if I made the right choice. I did. But a group not far behind me, with Cam, took the wrong turn.
I kept pushing as much as I could up to the top, to finally enjoy the last10 miles downhill on the road to the finish line. Keeping some power on the flatter parts, because I didn’t want anyone to catch me. And being careful on some muddy turns, because I didn’t want to have a stupid crash.
I crossed the line after 2h40min. Cam was already there waiting for me after an unlucky shortcut (course was definitely not indicated correctly!). (And he also didn’t have any post races photos! Sorry =/)
Grant followed shortly after, then Flo and Austin arrived all muddy =D <3
Flo finishing, easy.
That was a very great course, super happy with this first gravel race. And the Burritos after the race were so good, under the warm sun! Finally here.
Race Report: 2023 Cal Aggie Women’s 4/5
Cal Aggie Criterium, Sacramento CA
Alana Mari, Steph Hart, Alana O’Mara & Kristen Hepworth
Written by Alana O’Mara
Race: Cal Aggie Women’s 4/5
Date: January 28, 2023
AVRT Racers: Alana Mari, Alana O’Mara, Kristen Hepworth, & Steph Hart
Top Results: Alana O’Mara (2/24), Alana Mari (3/24), Kristen Hepworth (11/24*), Steph Hart (22/24*). *Got caught behind a crash in last lap
Course: ~1.2 mile flat crit with technical section at the back with one 270 degree turn and a few chicanes. 30 minutes.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8467461555
Report:
Coming out of team camp, we all felt very motivated and energized for the season. We were able to gauge each others strengths prior to the race. Before arriving, the womens 4/5 ( Kristen Hepworth, Steph Hart, Alana Mauri and I) chatted about goals - mostly for us as newer riders (Kristen’s first criterium!) it was to stay safe and finish. I knew I also wanted to make the race challenging as I’ve struggled in the past to enjoy criteriums as I spend most of the time noodling then getting out sprinted. So today on this sunny Sacramento morning, we briefly warmed up and then decided to play to our strengths of pushing the pace out of the gates. In addition to Steph and Kristen, Alana (pronounced ugh law nuh, not like my name 🙈) one of our teammates from SF was able to line up at the start line with us we quickly identified her from the orange jersey and knew she was on our side! It was a great group with more than twenty women on the line (unheard of for Women’s Cat 4/5). As the whistle went off the fun started, I applied some study pressure and the rest of the field followed. We kept this pace for the rest of the race and a few packs had to fall back.
We each turn turns around the front, keeping a steady pace but also recovering, attacking once or twice. Alana was incredible at communicating, signaling her moves and where we were in the back. I was not able to create a break with my first attack about midway through the race, but knew I had more gas left. With three laps to go, I sat in with the plan to attack with one lap left. I love 3-4 minutes of hard effort so it was ideal for me. With one lap I took off just as I felt a tail wind. Only one other competitor and Alana made the break. Steph and Kristen were right there but unfortunately a women went down bringing Kristen and Steph to a halt - luckily both stayed safe although Steph did have some road rash to show for it. I was able to keep a strong push and just kept grinding. I knew Alana and one other were on my wheel and that it was going to come down to the end. On the backstretch I tried to see if someone would pull, but competitor didn’t. I wasn’t sure how much time we had on the main pack and knew that I would get blown out if the others from the main pack approached if I left off the gas to let someone else pull at the very end. So instead of slowing down, I saw my pull as a lead out for my teammate Alana, either way I was going y to get an AV teammate an opportunity for a win. The line came and the UC Davis competitor was able to out-sprint me - yielding us second and third. In retrospect, I should have known the line was sooner and pushed or attacked a little more on the backstretch to get rid of the competitor, or I could have soft pedaled forcing myself to recover in hopes of having a little more of a sprint. But in the end, I think I played to my strengths and put myself in the best position to do as well as I could.
Overall we had a great day! Kristen went on to race again, Steph went out for an additional 40 mile bike ride, Alana and I confused the announcers with our names and I bolted to my favorite grocery store, Sprouts, to buy 5 pounds of trail mix. Will keep y’all updated on how long the supply of salty nuts and M&Ms lasts.
Race Report: 2023 Cal Aggie - Men’s P12
Race: 2023 Cal Aggie - Men’s P12
Date: Jan 28, 2023
AVRT racers: Jon Wells, Jack Liu
Top Result: Jack Liu 6/44 (overall), 2/17 (Cat 2)
Course: 1.09 mile loop in Land Park, Sacramento. The course features a technical chicane with a sharp left turn and a 90° turn into the finish straight. It is flat but has a very slightly downhill section on the start/finish straight and a slight uphill after that. There was headwind on the start/finish straight on the race day.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8468551828
Video: check out Jon’s commentary! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9HfEUsWmWc
Nutrition: a bottle of SIS
Race Recap:
ThristyBear and Terun seemed to be the big hitter for this race, both showing up with a team of 5. As the race started and attacks happened, Jon and I carefully selected moves that had both of the teams represented to follow; otherwise just relied on them to cover the attacks. Nothing really went away and we were happy that we didn’t waste too much energy chasing/attacking. Unfortunately, Jon got a flat midway through the race (and flatted again after fixing it…) so it’s down to me.
Fortunately, I was able to maintain a good position throughout the rest of the race as I found that taking a wider line through the chicane, which most people don’t do, allowed you to carry more speed after the turn and move up easily. ThirstyBear, apparently burning too many people covering attacks (or just tired from earlier races), was not seen in top10 position in the final laps. Meanwhile, Terun started their 5-men leadout with ~4 laps to go. Everyone was fighting for Terun’s wheel; it’s crazy! At one point when I was right behind the leadout train, 2 Ride Bikes riders sandwiched me and stole the wheel in a brute-force but effective way (good strategy though!).
With 1 to go, the pace really picked up and I got shuffled back a bit. Through the chicane, I took probably the best corner I’ve done in the race and made up a lot of ground to be within top 5 after Terun’s leadout. It’s impossible to move up after the chicane as the pace was so fast. Out of the last corner, I sprinted with whatever I’ve left and finished 6th place (thought I got 5th at first cause it was really close…) I finished 14th in the P123 last year, and I’m really happy with my improvement and felt more confident racing in the P12. Looking forward to racing with the team in the upcoming races!
-Jack
Race Report - Low Gap Grasshopper 2023 Pro Women
Race: Low Gap Grasshopper 2023 - Pro Women
Date: January 28, 2023
AVRT racers: Niky Taylor
Top Result: 2nd
Course: Low Gap is a 44 mile mixed gravel and road course with a lot (5600ft) of climbing. It starts with a 7% (6mi, 2000ft) road climb, goes into a twisty road descent, then rolls on road and gravel with scattered climbs until the final climb at mile 28. That final climb is an 8% (3mi, 1400ft) gravel climb, which then deposits you on 13 miles of mixed terrain “descending” that involves a disappointing amount of pedaling but great views.
Report: TLDR: that was awesome.
This was my first race in a pro field. The day before the race I freaked out and texted a friend who races pro that maybe I shouldn’t have signed up. She told me the first step was to calm down. That was very helpful. Another friend told me my goal of “don’t crash” was boring and that my goal should be “attack Kate Courtney.” Weirdly, that was also helpful (spoiler: I didn’t get a chance). I also got great advice from so many other people about the course, mentality, nutrition, etc. Katheryn reminded me to stay within myself and enjoy the ride. Kelly walked me through how to do pretty much everything. My friend Jenny decided to do the race with me for fun, so we drove up together and met up with Kelly and Riley and crew to get ready the night before.
The day of the race I was nervous but excited. Kelly and I warmed up with Santa Cruz friends. But since staging started half an hour before race start and I wanted to get a good position, all the warming up I did totally evaporated. Staging was the most stressful part of this race. Kelly and Bernardo lined up with me at the front, and I was grateful to have people I knew nearby.
The race started and I followed a wheel to the base of the climb. When the climb started the field blew apart. I saw Kate Courtney and Anna Yamauchi taking off ahead and wanted to chase, but my legs felt absolutely terrible. I wasn’t warmed up at all. I started getting passed by men and women and it was so demoralizing and I felt like maybe I shouldn’t have tried to race this. I thought, maybe I’m actually not good at climbing? I reminded myself to just stay present and trust my body and do what I felt like doing. About halfway up I started to feel my muscles coming online and knew things were about to get better.
After a bit of rolling hills at the top of the climb I felt my body fully wake up. The views were beautiful and I once again resolved to just put everything I had out on the course and let myself just go.
The descent hit and the group I was with split in half. The better handlers pulled ahead, the more timid group fell back. I was right in the middle. Rough, cause then we hit the flat and I was all alone.
The canyon was really beautiful, but I was a bit disappointed about being on my own. Kelly and I had talked about how this was a great place to conserve energy by being in a draft. I thought about trying to catch the front group, but didn’t want to commit. Lucky for me a couple guys came along and I got in a group with them. They didn’t seem to want me to pull. I spent some time trying to decide if this was sexist or not but ultimately decided I didn’t care and was happy to just sit in and snack while I could. Other riders merged into the group, including Maude Farrell and one or two other women whose names I don’t know.
Another road climb hit and then we were onto rolling gravel. I dropped Maude and the other women on the climbs. I knew I was behind at least Kate and Anna and probably a few other women, but I didn’t actually care very much. I felt great. Everything was so beautiful. I like looking at the tops of trees when I ride. I was so happy. I felt like I’d been holding in energy and I was finally free to just let it out and I felt like I could fly.
For a while I tracked a guy in a MAAP jersey, so I will call him MAAP guy. When we came to the reroute around the bridge, we went down and around and then I sped off in the wrong direction. I wouldn’t have noticed except I was trying to get MAAP guy to work with me and he wasn’t, so I looked back in exasperation and saw him riding up the correct way a couple hundred yards back. I slammed on my brakes and turned back, really glad to have realized my mistake. Turns out a lot of other people also missed this turn and took what was actually a shorter route to the finish.
A bit more rolling, and then the final climb hit. Some guy tried to talk to me and I asked him to not. I buckled in for the climb. It was a blast. It was really fun. I don’t know what else to say about it.
When I got to the top, the feed zone people yelled at me to turn. In the real world I’m technically a Geographer, so you’d think I’d be better at navigation but I guess not. Also my Garmin refused to work correctly all day, so my route guidance was frustrating at best and distracting at worst. The feed zone people also told me I was in second, which surprised and confused me but was exciting. I wondered who was in first and if I could catch her.
Then came the final descent. The gravel was great. Then came a lot of road descending that wasn’t quite steep enough to coast, but was steep enough that occasionally I’d spin out. So I sort of time trialed my way down but my gearing wasn’t quite up to the task. Luckily, in the last 5 miles a person fully decked out in unicorn kit caught me. I started drafting them but couldn’t tell what their gender was, so I asked their pronouns. They said he/him and I said cool glad to know I’m not racing you. He told me he was impressed to see a woman this far up in the race. I told him women can be fast. He agreed. I decided he was cool, mostly because of the outfit.
I drafted unicorn guy for a while and did some occasional work when my gears weren’t spinning out. Then in the very last mile I hit a bump and my chain fell off. I really didn’t want to stop, so I then did the COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE ON A BICYCLE and reached down and put my chain back on without stopping. I was so proud of myself. I know everyone thinks it’s cool I podiumed but on-the-go chain fixing was the cooler thing that I accomplished that day. I stood up, absolutely thrilled to bits with myself, and pushed as hard as I could to the finish.
I was so stoked crossing the finish line to know I had given everything I could in this race (and to have fixed my chain while riding, did I mention that???). I pedaled around slowly for a while in the sun feeling so grateful for my body and my bike and everything and everyone that has come together to allow me to do something like this, then headed back to find friends.
I was the third woman to cross the line. Kate absolutely dominated despite getting crashed into. Anna Yamauchi had an incredible ride but took the accidental short cut and was disqualified. So I got 2nd in my first pro race and I kind of can’t believe it. Riley and Kelly finished strong as well, Riley taking third in his age group and Kelly winning hers!
In the future I’ll test out my navigation before race day to make sure the route gets along with my Garmin. I’d maybe run a 2x, or at least take Riley’s advice and run a chain guide on a 1x. I’d like to learn how to warm up faster or stay warmed up during staging. And I’m going to practice riding on flats given that somehow on a 44 mile course with 5600ft of climbing, I thought “ugh this is flat,” at least 3 times.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8468611812
Nutrition: I started the race with 2 waffles, 2 sleeves of clif bloks, a syrup “gel,” and a small Kate’s Bar, also 2 large bottles of skratch+water. I had the syrup and the bar at staging. I ate most of the waffles in the canyon and a bit at the rolling gravel section. I went through most of 1 sleeve of clif bloks throughout the race. I also drank 1.5 bottles.
AV Wednesday Intervals 02/01, by AC Coaching
Hi guys, 2nd week for the AV intervals. Thanks to the people joining last week!
Any level is welcome, come and do the effort at YOUR pace. I’ll be here to explain the training, help pacing, give advices, answer to any questions.
The meet up will be at woodside intersection Canada Road/84, by the parking of village bakery, at 7.15am
One warm up loop, Manuela/olive hill. After going on Kings for the intervals by 7.30am.
35min of workout to the top. 8.05.
Back down around 8.15am.
Session: Over-Under + fun, 4 sets of:
2' @100%, 30" @110, directly back into 2' @100%, 30" @110. Finishing with 20" fun hard effort.
3' rest, super easy.
Repeat for 4 total sets.
Very useful to learn how to go back into your threshold zone after doing an hard effort (VO2max effort). Keep the first reps in control. You’ve got 4 sets to do. And always finish strong with a 20” at the end of each set, sprint for the win!
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3049221988200414344?v2=true
Summary: 15 miles / Up&Down Kings. One warm up loop, Manuela/olive hill. After going on Kings for the intervals.
Start: Village Bakery Parking, Woodside. Intersection Canada Road / 84
(Woodside Intersection)
Time: Wednesday 1st February, Meet 7.10 a.m., Leave 7:15 a.m.
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Andrea Cloarec, AC Coaching
AV Wednesday Intervals, by AC Coaching
Hi guys, the Alto Velo group ride for intervals starts this week! And will be running every Wednesday morning.
Any level is welcome, come and do the effort at YOUR pace. I’ll be here to explain the training, help pacing, give advices, answer to any questions.
The meet up will be at woodside intersection Canada Road/84, by the parking of village bakery, at 7.15am
One warm up loop, Manuela/olive hill. After going on Kings for the intervals by 7.30am.
35min of workout to the top. 8.00/05.
Back down around 8.15am.
Session: 11 times (1' @110 - 20" @125) - Repeats of 1' @110% directly followed by 20" @125%. With 1’30” rest, easy spin.
Be careful for the 20". Don't go all out, go harder, but still in control.
Or you might find the training too hard from the 6-7th rep. I’ll always advise to finish stronger, never “crash” a workout by starting too hard. You will always have time to empty the tank by the last reps if you want ;)
So start conservative, finish strong, feel good and enjoy!
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3049221988200414344?v2=true
Summary: 15 miles / Up&Down Kings. One warm up loop, Manuela/olive hill. After going on Kings for the intervals.
Start: Village Bakery Parking, Woodside. Intersection Canada Road / 84
(Woodside Intersection)
Time: Wednesday 25th January, Meet 7.10 a.m., Leave 7:15 a.m.
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Andrea Cloarec, AC Coaching
Review: Princeton Carbonworks Wake 6560
The following review was written by John Janetzko. Alto Velo would like to thank Princeton Carbonworks for their generous sponsorship. If you’re not a 2023 Alto Velo member, join today and take 45% off any wheelset this holiday season!
Hey Alto Velo,
After quite some anticipation, a couple months ago I got my PCW wheels in the mail! I had ordered the Wake 6560s (Strada) which were something deeper than my previous carbon rims, the Roval CL(X)50s that came with my SL6 Tarmac.
Some context: the Rovals were my only wheels for that bike so I rode them all the time. With the exception of a couple of instances I had never felt like crosswinds were a problem, they handled well and were pretty durable and responsive.
My hope with the PCW wheels was for 1. something more aero optimized; 2. something that would keep the good handling and snapiness. I'm a rider who likes to ride in the break and eat a lot of wind, so having good aero wheels was going to be important.
My first impression when I took these out of the box was that these were some GLAM wheels. I had ordered the glossy silver decals. I also noticed that they felt very light, especially given their depth.
When I got them on my bike they were snappy, not dissimilar from the Rovals, but they had a lot more wooshing sounds than I was used to. My Roval wheels always felt like they were solid. It's not to say the PCW wheels aren't sturdy (more on that later), but they definitely feel a bit more dainty than my Rovals (if you'd consider this a negative).
So what can I say about performance? Well, they're pretty amazing. As I mentioned, they are stiff and responsive. They are also very light for their depth.
I got mine with the Carbon Ti hubs, which have been smooth as anything. My free hub is loud, which you can count as a pro or con, but I like it. The engagement is great, as a result. The frequency is not annoying for me, and if anything it motivates me to just keep pedaling.
From a speed perspective I can't really give you any quantitative metrics here, but they do feel at least as fast as the Rovals. Where I can comment on is their stability. These wheels have the sinusoidal rim profiles, said to improve handling in crosswinds. I can't speak in super quantitative terms here, but I can say that I've been impressed by how well they have handled in the wind. I've not felt any less stable than I had with my Rovals, which I'll remind are ~10-15 mm shallower. I can definitely feel when the wind catches them, but it has never felt like I was going to lose control. I've always felt like I can still keep focussed on my riding and expect the bike to do what it's told.
I guess lastly, I'll wrap up with: "and they look hot". I'm not sure everyone will be stoked to have a bike that draws maximum attention, but if you don't mind it, these wheels will definitely grab people's attention.
Thanks for reading,
JJ
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