Club News
Race Report: Cantua Creek - Men's E3
Race: Cantua Creek Road Race - Men’s Cat 3
Date: 2/18/2023
AVRT racers: Conor Austin, Flo Costa, Daniel Fonyo, Nico Sandi, Josh Worley
Top Results: Flo 1/22, Nico 2/22
Course: 24 miles out and back on flat road. Two 180 turnarounds. Our field did this 3 times totalling ~70 miles. The finish is on top of a hill made up of a few rollers, with the final 1k being uphill. Cool scenery with green hills and almond blossoms.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8583655618
Nutrition: Clif Bar, gels, shot blocks. 2 bottles of rocket fuel (malto + gatorade). Basically tried to eat and drink as much as possible. I made myself eat every time I saw someone else eat or even think about eating.
Race Recap:
Our team for this race was me (Flo), Conor, Daniel, Josh, and Nico. We had all previously discussed that the plan would be to use our numbers to our advantage to control and tire out the rest of the field, before leading things out for Daniel in the final sprint.
The race started pretty chill (and pretty chilly). Around 15 min in a solo Pen Velo rider went off the front. I bridged up to him hoping to get a free ride off the front and force teams behind to work. We rotated a bit but he was not too thrilled by my short pulls so he attacked me. I didn’t want to spend too much energy this early in the race so I dropped back and waited for the main group to catch me.
For the rest of the first lap Nico, Conor, and I rotated with a few other guys on the front to keep the gap to this solo rider in check. When we reached the finishing hill we quickly closed the gap. With the guy caught the pace settled down again and Nico spotted me for a pee break. Baller.
Soon some attacks started up again, mainly with Conor dishing out some pain. Nico and I helped control while we made sure Josh and Daniel continued to sit in. After the turn around about halfway through the race, I saw the pace about to slow down as Nico pulled off of the front. I took this opportunity to make a move and was followed by another dude.
We spent the next hour and a half rotating really well together as our gap to the field slowly increased. We took strong pulls but I had just enough time to recover and force myself to eat/drink after every pull.
Meanwhile in the group, only about 8 other guys were working to chase us back but Nico, Conor, Josh, and Daniel made it impossible for them to get a good rotation going. With one lap to go Daniel said he wasn’t feeling great so we decided to lead it out for Josh. Nico and Conor continued to patrol for the second half of the last lap.
Our two-man break reached the base of the final climb with a solid gap to the field, but I knew the group would carry their speed a lot faster up the hill. With about 1km to go, I saw the field quickly gaining on us. There would be no time to play games – I took the front again and ramped up the pace, distancing myself from the other guy. Behind my teammates were lined up for the sprint but were being careful not to chase the break. Attacks started to come which unfortunately dissolved the team leadout.
I continued my effort and with 400m to go I put my head down for one last sprint to the line to finish the job. I managed to hold off the main group to secure the win. Behind, Nico was able to follow moves as others started their sprints too early. He was patient and managed to outsprint the rest of the field for second place.
This was definitely a team win, and only one of many over the course of the weekend. I am very thankful to be part of such a strong and supportive team. I was stoked on the victory and really surprised myself with my final effort after working hard in the break. The weekly AC/AV Wednesday interval ride on Andrea’s program have been paying off ;)
Looking forward to more racing!
Race Report: 2023 Cantua Creek Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Race: 2023 Cantua Creek Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Date: February 18, 2023
AVRT Racers: Drew Matthews, Fraser Bulbuc, Ian Twamley, Jeremy Besmer, Logan Allen, Maxime Cauchois, Michael Fryar, Steven Li, Will Hakim
Top Result: Fraser 1/38
Course: Approx. 70mi and 2000ft of elevation. The course consists of three out-and-back laps along a two-lane road with good to excellent pavement. The section of road is mostly straight and flat with some rolling hills near the start/finish. The finish is slightly uphill with a ~2-3% gradient.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8583318306
Nutrition: Approx. 50g of carbs and 250ml of water per hour. I planned to consume more carbs and water but my second bottle bounced out of its cage on the first lap. Fortunately, the temperature was low (~45-55F), and in my role as our protected sprinter, I wasn’t doing much work so this was enough.
Recap: AV was the largest team in the race. We had 9 riders in the field of 38. Our plan was to have Drew/Ian/Logan/Maxime/Michael/Steven/Will attacking and covering attacks, myself as protected sprinter, and Jeremy as race captain. We were prepared to win from a breakaway or bunch sprint.
The race started slow, and the first two laps were largely uneventful. There were a few attacks but we covered them and nothing stayed away for long.
Near the end of lap two, Jeremy attacked on the uphill section going into the turnaround and caused a split. This reduced the field down to ~25 riders for the third lap, though 2 AV riders were caught on the wrong side of the split.
During the first half of lap three, Will attacked. He was committed to staying away or making the non-AV riders work if he was to be brought back. He was out front solo for about 30 minutes but was eventually caught midway through the second half of the lap.
Shortly after Will was brought back, an unattached rider attacked and Ian followed. The pair continued to gain time on the bunch, since we weren’t going to chase our teammate, and it appeared that they would stay away. However, with about 5 miles remaining another unattached rider attempted to bridge to the group of two. We liked our odds of Ian against one rider on the rolling uphill finish but not two. So Jeremy made the call to bring them back, at which point Jeremy, Logan, Maxime, and Michael drove the pace on the front and caught the bridging rider with about 2 miles remaining. Because of the increased pace, we anticipated that the break containing Ian would be caught and the race would end in a bunch sprint.
We practiced lead outs the weekend prior at team camp and attempted to organize ourselves on the front, but our leadout in the race did not go as planned. The final mile was chaotic. The pace was not fast enough to prevent late attacks, and I got swarmed and lost Jeremy’s wheel. I found myself boxed in until the ~800m mark when things opened up and I was able to find the wheel of two other sprinters. I stayed in their draft until the ~200m mark then pulled out into the wind and sprinted past them. I didn’t have a particularly strong sprint on the day, but my timing was better and it was enough to take the win for AV.
-Fraser
Race Report: 2023 Pine Flat RR W P1234
Race: Pine Flat RR W P1234
Date: Sunday, February 19, 2023
AVRT racers: Kelly Brennan, Skyler Espinoza, Lindsey Raven, Gina Yuan, Niky Taylor
Top Result: Kelly and Niky 1-2, Gina 4th, Lindsey 5th, Skyler 6th
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8590318926
Nutrition: 1.5 bags of Skratch chews during the race and 1.5 bottles of water+superfuel
Course + Recap: Pine Flat is ironically hilly, and is the most beautiful course I’ve ever done. We rode about 20 miles on a curvy, flowy, fun out and back road. Then, we descended into the Fresno Valley for the next 20 miles, and looped back towards the hills with a 3 mile climb, 6 mile descent, and final climb to the finish. ~61 miles total.
We had the same strong team as at Cantua Creek the day before! Because it was the five of us on AV and two other ladies, we decided to keep it as a fun, fast team ride together until the climb. Our goals were to continue getting experience riding with each other to practice for Tucson and have fun! One of the other ladies, Sarah, was really strong at Cantua Creek, and had done better than me at Low Gap, which was hilly, so I thought she was our biggest threat and I was most concerned about her on the climb.
The race started out as we had imagined - a fast group ride. We were carving through the turns and enjoying the beautiful lake view. Lindsay did a great job getting on the front, continuing to push the pace, and we dropped one non-AV rider. As we started the descent into the valley. Gina and Niky got to the front and Gina used her amazing descending skills to gain a pretty significant gap on Sarah. Lindsay, Skyler and I sat on Sarah’s wheel and let her pull us back to Gina and Niky.
Once we were all back together, Skyler got everyone organized so that her, Lindsey, and Gina took turns on pulling on the font. This was invaluable teamwork because it allowed Niky and I (and Sarah) to rest before the climb. They set a swift pace along the river, and then we turned back towards the hills. Before the climb while Sarah was on the front, I chatted with Niky in the back and asked what she wanted to do. She told me to go for it, which surprised me - I didn’t think I could do it - she had pre-ridden the course and I knew she could. Once I thought about it more, I realized that I had nothing to lose by going for it and trying.
From a team strategy perspective, I think Niky’s intuition was spot on. If Niky went ahead, I wasn’t super confident in my ability to do well against Sarah - we have similar riding strengths and styles. But I was very confident in Niky climbing and descending faster than Sarah. That was a match I felt really good about. So if they caught me, then Niky could launch.
At a little kicker initiating the climb, I just kept the pressure on and realized that I had a gap. I pushed hard to extend that gap up the climb. Fortunately, lots of twists and turns in the climb kept me hidden. The climb was hard not only because it was long, but also because it was really steep (8-10%) at the top. I tried to climb as fast as I could without blowing up. The descent was relatively flat, so I time-trialed as much as I could. And then the finish was a little longer and steeper than I imagined based on the Strava profile.
At the finish, I was pleased, and not surprised, to see Niky not very far behind me. 😀She had climbed with Sarah for most of the climb and then attacked up and over the steepest part of the climb! She gained more time on the descent, and had a healthy lead to come in right behind me.
Overall, it was really fun to work as a team to get the best result we could for AV! We were really grateful for our teammates keeping us protected to be able to launch our attacks effectively. And it was great to have some strong competition to keep us on our toes and execute some strategy.
Race Report: 2023 Cherry Pie Crit - Women's P/1/2/3
Race: 2023 Cherry Pie Crit - Women's P/1/2/3
Date: February 20th, 2023
AVRT racers: Ari Pascarella, Gina Yuan, Jennifer Steele, Lindsey Raven, Sharon Marucut, Skyler Espinoza
Top Results: Gina 3rd, Skyler 4th
Course: https://www.strava.com/routes/3062575108007079228 ~16 corners, 60 minutes. Two technical sections which I call the squiggles (top) and loop (bottom), connected by a 300m straightaway on the left and a 700m straightaway on the right. The finish is about 500m into the right straightaway.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8594731161
Nutrition: Bottle with SIS and clif bloks on stand-by.
The night before the race, Ari with all the intel from having raced Cherry Pie gathered us for a Zoom call where we shared our thoughts and feelings. This was going to be a stacked field including four strong riders on Monarch Racing and some day-of registrations including two pro crit racers Dani Morshead and Melanie Wong. We made a plan knowing that previous years had been won in breaks instigated (by Dani) near the start of the race, and had each of us mark a rider we deemed a threat with similar strengths.
I figured out all the best lines during the previous race and was ready to rip it. At the end of the first lap I moved up along the right straightaway and flowed through the squiggles. The first few laps are chaos because people don't know the course yet. Coming out of them with me were Dani, Melanie, and Skyler. The field was not together. Dani and Melanie put in some hard pulls (attacks?) and when we reached the right straightaway Melanie yelled at AV to do more work. The break was in our favor with me and Skyler, and we had to strike the right balance between keeping everyone happy and setting up the end game. I put a dig in through the right side and squiggles. We all worked to various degrees, but I was happy to work to establish this break without Monarch and other non-pros. The first 10 minutes were really hard.
Monarch needed to chase. Some tried to attack and bridge, or make up time in the corners which forced their less technical teammates to surge, and otherwise tow all of AV through the straightaways. Ari, Jen, and Lindsey were amazing at staying near the front, communicating with each other, marking riders, and shutting everything down. Must be frustrating to do an epic attack just to see AV on your wheel. Sharon fell off the pack in this chaos, but still finished the race strong. I could use the loop turnaround to gauge the gap, which the announcers called to be 20 seconds. The gap grew to a minute and more.
30 minutes into the race with enough of a gap, Dani and Melanie had no desire to bring two AV to the line. Dani attacked on the left straightaway. It was hard. Every time we entered the straightaways I anticipated another attack. Skyler dropped. Dani and Melanie rotated in front of me knowing the situation. Then they would be quite mean and yell at me to work, "at least the corners". They were so persuasive I led the squiggles once (I couldn't see Skyler anymore), but then Dani attacked from behind and I could not trust again. I passed Skyler at the loop turnaround and she yelled at me NOT to work. I needed that reminder!
The pros did not know who I was, so they were maybe a little concerned I'd be a threat at the end, but still more concerned about each other. Apparently they had entered the race with a plan to work together, and when that was done then they could work against each other. A few more attacks flew and since I was at the back I could see them coming and tell the other person to chase... I didn't really have an end game. I was pretty settled for 3rd since I can't outsprint Dani's 1100W and Melanie's 800W. Maybe I was hoping they would attack each other enough to be tired? Actually I should've convinced each one to drop the other with me and I could've instead gotten 2nd in a sprint. That could've been fun.
Anyways, after the race (Dani won for the 3rd year in a row), they complimented my cornering and told me I did the right thing in ignoring them and they aren't actually that mean. It was really cool to ride in a break with these two pros. I'll try to beat them next time. We all congratulated each other, then I celebrated with the team and took some pictures with pie.
Notes about cornering on this course:
I almost never pedalled through the corners, preferring to go into them with speed and lean hard.
I really trust my bike and its tires to just roll over things like metal plates, bad pavement, gutters, and flecks of gravel. This helps me corner with confidence through more adverse road conditions. I think this comes from drafting fast people and doing my intervals on a variety of terrain.
You don't really get line choice in a blobby group so technical skills are more beneficial in a break, and if your breakmates have similar technical skills.
Race Report: 2023 Cherry Pie Crit - Women's Cat 3/Master's
Race: 2023 Cherry Pie Crit - Women's Cat 3/Master's
Date: February 20th, 2023
AVRT racers: Gina Yuan, Lindsey Raven
Top Results: Gina (3rd overall), Lindsey (5th overall, 4th Cat 3)
Course: https://www.strava.com/routes/3062575108007079228 ~16 corners, 40 minutes. Two technical sections which I call the squiggles (top) and loop (bottom), connected by a 300m straightaway on the left and a 700m straightaway on the right. The finish is about 500m into the right straightaway.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8593714669/
Nutrition: Bottle with SIS and clif bloks on stand-by.
This course is a technical ~16 corner crit. The Strava elevation on the course map is pretty accurate for a bunch of weird lines in a parking lot. Lindsey and I congratulated each other for simply showing up this early after a weekend of racing in Fresno. We were both so mentally fried from all the race-analyzing this weekend that we agreed on the simple strategy of not working against each other.
Lindsey wanted to warm up and can go fast through the technical parts of the course, so she flew through the first part of the race and I sat on her wheel. There was all sorts of skidding and pedal striking going on in the field, but no crashes fortunately. Even though gaps were opening up, I didn't want us to pull super hard on the straightaways since they were long and it seemed the field could always close the gap.
At one point, Ilan (Terun) had a gap on the field, and I tried to form a break with her. But it was just not a good match since she couldn't follow my wheel through the technical sections and I didn't want to wait up every time. I guess I could've tried to hammer solo for 30 minutes but I was not feeling that, so we all rejoined the group and chilled for the second half. Everyone knew the course better now so we made our way through the chicanes together with no fuss. People tried attacking on the straightaways but they were so long and all attacks were quickly shut down.
One to go, I asked Lindsey to go to the front and set a sustainable pace because I thought it might be hard to move up otherwise. She did a great job all weekend setting a hard, steady tempo at the front when it mattered. As we entered the loop, I let her wheel go and yelled at her to GO since it would be hard for the pack to move up in the technical section. It kind of worked, but Lindsey was tired from pulling so much and that finishing straightaway is just so long. Two people came around me as we exited the loop and I tried to use them as a leadout, but I was not able to catch on. We caught Lindsey right before the line. I finished just ahead of a strong rider who had beat me in the sprint at Cantua Creek, so I was happy about that. Now that Lindsey and I were experts in the course, we got ready for our second race.
A-ride 2/26/2023
This week’s A-ride we’re doing the “World’s best route” according to the very objective Strava Segment named like that. 3 famous climbs, Old La Honda, West Alpine and we’ll finish with Kings.
Pace will be nice and easy (the day before a lot of us will race at Snelling a long 100 miles race). So we’ll regroup at the top of each climb.
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3061058783889183860
Summary: Summit - Sand Hill - OLH - Down West OLH - Climb West Alpine - Down Page Mill - Ride Portola to Woodside - Climb Kings - Coffee Stop AC - Skyline to 84 - Down 84 - Back Palo Alto through Portola, Arastradero.
Regroups: Top of OLH, Top of West Alpine, Top of Kings
Start: Summit Bicycles, Palo Alto
Time: Meet 9 a.m., Leave 9:10 a.m.
Ride etiquette: https://www.altovelo.org/ride-rules
Ride Leader: Andrea Cloarec
Race Report: 2023 Livermore Criterium - Men’s E3
Race: 2023 Livermore Criterium - Men’s E3
Date: 2/12/23
AVRT Racers: Conor Austin, Josh Worley
Top Results: Conor (3rd/33), Josh (8/33)
Course: Flat 3-ish corner biz park crit with heavy winds.
Nutrition: Gu salted lime gel w/ 35mg caffeine about 10 mins before the start and used one small half-full bottle of water during the race.
Race Recep: This was Josh and I’s first race as teammates. After racing for a year and a half solo, we were finally able to convince Josh he’ll have more fun with a team, and what an addition he has been so far! Check out Nico’s Pine Flat E3 race report to see what kind of engine he’s got. American Muscle at its finest.
Livermore is probably as straightforward a course as we’ll have all year. Three wide 90 degree turns with a long bend many consider to be the 4th corner. Other teams were well represented and we had identified who their protected riders would be as well as who strong solo riders were. Our plan for the day was to sit in near the front and follow any solid moves that form but never be the ones to chase, close gaps, or initiate moves. We wanted a bunch finish where we could go for a win from a sprint taking advantage of another team’s leadout.
After going in circles for 30ish minutes with no moves sticking, it became clear that the well represented teams would just chase each other and their own teammates to bring the race to a sprint finish. Josh won a prime lap for himself and from there we were fine with sitting in and making sure we were well positioned for the finish.
The finish was a bit more hectic than we expected given how wide the road was. As we came into the bell lap there were 3 or 4 different lead outs forming across the road. Josh and I lost each other in that moment and were not able to lead each other out. We found ourselves on the back end of two different team lead outs. With three turns to go a group of three riders found themselves up the road with a gap. I snuck across the gap quickly without allowing anyone to find my draft and latched onto the small group. We hit the headwind with one turn to go and the field made its way back to us but was stretched out enough that I felt comfortable making a go at it from where I was. A lone rider made his way up from the middle of the field taking an outside line through the final turn and found himself right next to me before launching his winning sprint. I hopped onto his wheel in the hopes that he would bring me all the way past the two riders in front of me with enough room to spare for me to sneak past him at the line. It was not to be and I came across the line 3rd.
I should have hit the gas pedal earlier and gone for it on my own without relying on the drafts of others. I certainly had the power for it at that point and my sprint is in good form despite it being early season. Hopefully I can still find myself at the pointy end of things as I make my way up to the P/1/2’s!
Best,
Conor
2023 Pine Flat Road Race - Women's Cat 4
Date: February 19, 2023
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas
Top Result: Louise (2/3)
Course: (copied from Ian and Nico's reports) 62 miles, 4,000ft. Rolling for the first 26 miles on an out-and-back overlooking Pine Flat Lake. 2 mile fast, non-technical descent into a 16 mile valley with minimal features, then the main 11 mile climb that starts with rollers, gradually getting steeper until the last mile averaging about 10%. 6 mile descent into a 1 mile climb to finish the race.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8589899595
Nutrition: a banana and yogurt before the race, 2 bottles of malto/fructose/sodium citrate mix + a singular cliff blok during the race
Race Recap:
There were only four women pre-registered for the race and one didn't show up, so the race started with just three of us. Christina and Natalia (the other two riders) had both been in the break with me and Steph at Cantua Creek RR the day before, so I knew they were strong and willing to work together.
Since it was unlikely for an individual rider to be able to stay away on the rollers, we decided to work together for the first part of the race. For a while it turned into a fun group ride - the scenery was amazing, I was slowly starting to warm up from the frosty morning, and we all working hard in a pace line to keep the speed up.
We stayed working together until about mile 50, where unfortunately Natalia got a flat. After briefly checking to see if she had a spare tube (she said she did, but we later found out it was the wrong size), me and Christina decided to push on. It was a race after all.
We continued working together for a bit, but as we reached the main climb I could hear Christina starting to struggle so decided up the power and see if I could drop her on the climb. I managed to get a gap of 10 m or so and thought I had her for sure, but Christina just wouldn't give up and managed to catch me just after the crest of the hill.
This was followed by a 6 mi downhill section before the final climb. Christina tried attacking a couple of times but was unable to make anything stick either, so we went into the final climb together. I pushed to try and get a gap like I did on the previous climb, but this time Christina stayed right on my wheel. With maybe 30 m to go she launched into a sprint. I tried to respond but my legs refused to cooperate and go any faster, so I ended up with 2nd place.
Overall I really enjoyed the course, it's just a shame there weren't more women to compete against.
-Louise
2023 Livermore Crit - Womens 4 & Novice
Date: February 12, 2023
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Steph Hart
Top Result: Louise (7th/11)
Course: 40 minutes of a flat .94 mile, 4 corner crit course
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8552055171
Nutrition: half a water bottle of maltodextrin/fructose mix and a caffeinated cookie dough bar before the race, a few sips of the rest of the bottle during the race.
Race recap:
Having crushed it together at the Early Birds crit training a couple of weeks prior, I was excited to be racing with Steph for my first crit of the season. Eager to get started, I spent the first couple of laps on the front before realizing that tactically probably wasn’t a good place to be. In my attempt to get other people to pass I dropped the speed down to coffee ride pace, but no one else seemed to want to take a pull.
Eventually I got off the front, but the pace stayed pretty low. After a few laps of sitting in I launched an attack to spice things up a little but didn’t manage to get any separation. I guess everyone’s legs were still pretty fresh at that point. A few laps later Steph also launched an attack, but again didn’t manage to get any separation. In hindsight we should have been more coordinated with our attacks and then maybe would have had better luck getting one to stick.
The rest of the race was fairly unanimated. There was one other woman that attacked, but apart from that everyone seemed content to sit in. Going into the final few laps it looked like going to be a sprint finish, which historically has not been my strong suit. To try and maximize my chances I positioned myself as the second wheel, but then just before the final corner got swarmed from either side. Not seeing a way to go between the other riders, I decided to back out and go around the pack but unfortunately didn’t have enough time to make up the lost ground so ended up coming in 7th. Overall it was a bit of a frustrating result, but I’m grateful for the support from the rest of the women’s team in debugging how to avoid situations like this in the future.
- Louise
2023 Cantua Creek Road Race - Women 3/4/5 & 40+
Date: February 18, 2023
AVRT racers: Steph Hart, Louise Thomas, Chris Davis (Friend of AV, Robin was also racing)
Top Result: Steph (1/10 overall), Louise (4/10 overall), Chris (6/10 overall, 1st masters)
Course: 24 mile flat(ish) road race (out and back with 180 degree turnround, uphill finish)
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8583112987
Nutrition: Banana and coffee pre-race, ~half a bottle of water during the race.
Going into Cantua Creek, Louise and I had raced a few times this year, but had yet to pull together a really cohesive team effort. Glad to be joined by an experienced racer, Chris helped craft a pre-race plan. Louise is a fan of long-ish climbing and TT efforts, and with relatively few technical sections of the course, the plan was for Chris to soften the field by launching short lived attacks in the first half of the race, and then Louise and I would attack and try and make a break stick at the 180 degree turn around point. After rolling off the start line for a few miles, Chris launched her first attack….and nobody responded (unclear if this was because the bulk of the field was not in the masters race or if people were just not interested in chasing). After a few more round of this with minimal chase efforts, the group settled into a smooth rhythm with friendly group ride vibes for the remaining 6 or so miles to the turn around. Sitting at the front of the field, Louise then attacked exiting the turnaround and I went with her, where we initially established separation but were quickly joined by 2 other riders (one from eclipse, one unknown). Given the lack of other places to attack on the back half of the course until nearly the end of the race, we decided to keep the break rolling with the four of us. However, in classic cat 4 fashion, our well-intended efforts to take strong pulls and maintain a gap led to a pretty surgey pace for the first few miles, and unfortunately Louise fell off the break that she established. I waited a few seconds for her to catch back on, but having already fallen back, Louise waved me on and from then, it was just the three of us. The ~2 miles into the finish consisted of rolling hills, which made me a little nervous given that the other two riders looked quite a bit lighter than me, but we made it through most of the rollers without any animation. As I haven’t really figured out how to sprint on a bike yet, I attacked with ~0.4 miles to go up the final incline and managed to keep separation from the other two riders until the finish. Louise rolled through in 4th less than a minute later, having held a solid solo effort for almost half the race. Robin then rolled through (absolutely crushing her first race) followed by Chris, mentioning that they got bored sitting in the pack after the break went and decided to attack the field on the way back to the finish. All said, this was the first time that I’ve been part of a planned and well executed team strategy, and it was pretty cool when it all came together for the win.
AVRT Opening Weekend Recap
Alto Velo,
The 2023 racing season has officially kicked off in northern California! AVRT women and men had a huge weekend across Cantua Creek Road Race, Pine Flat Road Race, and the Cherry Pie Criterium. Let’s take a minute to celebrate the team’s success, and look forward to what’s next.
Let’s start by congratulating our eight race winners Florian Costa, Fraser Bulbuc, Niky Taylor, Otto Jolanki, Steph Hart, Nico Sandi, Kelly Brennan, and Daniel Fonyo. That is quite a statement to kick off the season, and doesn’t even count the dozens others that claimed podium spots.
The team raced hard and worked together across fields, with more than thirty AVRT participants. No matter where you looked, the Eliel orange-to-navy fade was impossible to miss.
Weekends of this magnitude are made possible by the generous financial support of our sponsors Dave Keefe and Action Properties, Mark Bailey/B5 Capital, Palo Alto Concrete and Construction, and Summit Bicycles.
Thank you to everyone who helped make the logistics for this weekend click, including Jeremy Besmer who organized three Air BnBs in Fresno. Some of the best parts of race weekend are getting to know people outside of biking while sharing copious amounts of home-cooked food.
For all the ups this weekend, we also had our share of struggles, but we appreciate everyone pitching in and supporting their friends and teammates through some scary and difficult situations.
Next up - Snelling Road Race and Merced Criterium this Saturday and Sunday, where the team looks to build on our fast start. If you’re in the area, please come out and join the fun!
Thank you,
Cameron
2023 Cherry Pie Crit - Elite 3
Race: Cherry Pie Crit - Elite 3
Date: February 20, 2023
AVRT racers: Josh Worley, Drew Mathews, Daniel Fonyo
Top Result: Daniel - 1st/33, Drew - 15/33, Josh - Mechanical issue
Course: Flat crit with a bunch of somewhat tight turns around a parking lot, connected by 2 straight sections. Good road conditions with a couple of dusty corner apexes that you had to be careful about.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8596069391
Coming to this race Josh and I were feeling pretty depleted and unenthusiastic after two intense days of racing in Fresno, and being only us two from the 3s squad to be able to show up. Luckily Drew joined us to race again after he already raced earlier in the day in the Cat4s so that brought our squad up to three.
The biggest team was Dolce Vita bringing a full squad of 8, and then a few smaller teams who we noted each had some strong riders we recognized. With the course consisting of tight and technical turns, our number one goal was to stay near the front the entire race to avoid any crashes and gaps that may come with the dynamics of such a course.
We opted to pre-ride the race course a couple minutes before the race started to get a feel for it which led us to start at the back of the field. I treated the start as a CX race start and when the whistle blew went all out in the first lap to work our way to the front of the race. In the first few opening laps Josh and I put quite a few digs in coming out of corners to gauge how the legs were feeling after the past two days and to try to see what the limits were in each corner. Unfortunately Josh suffered a mechanical to his front wheel and had to pull out. After the pace lulled, around lap four, a single Dolce Vita rider attacked and immediately got around a ten second gap going into the first Prim lap. I continued to stay top three wheels and took turns on the front, controlling the gap and also made sure the pace stayed fast in the turny sections. After about 25 minutes of this and the single Dolce rider still off the front, we were coming to three laps to go. I was a bit worried because I spent a lot of time on the front and thought everyone was still fresh sitting in behind me.
With Dolce unwilling to work, me and a few solo riders took a couple strong pulls on the straight sections and brought the gap back down to where we could see the Dolce rider about two-to-three turns ahead. Coming into the last lap, the fight for the first corner kicked off. It was a tight and fast switchback that you did not want to come three or four wide into. With a little bumping and getting the elbows out, I stayed third wheel going into the corners and then dived into the next corner to get on the front. Coming out onto the back straight away with just under a mile to go I noticed a 2 bike length gap form behind me and I decided to just punch it. In the next few turns I pushed my tire grip to the edge, leaning in and carrying as much speed as I could. With 500m to go I was coming into finishing straight, digging as hard and aero as I could going full gas. At 150m I caught the single Dolce rider that’s been off the front the entire race and used him as a slingshot to throw down a final sprint to the line just as the chasing group was catching me to seal the win!
The 3s squad came to this race as underdogs after 2 days of hard racing against much fresher riders, and still pulled out a win which I think speaks to the level of effort and dedication we’ve been putting in all off-season. Over the last 3 days, 3 different riders each won from our squad on a flat road race, a climby road race, and a crit.
With a very busy race calendar for the next month and a half I’m so stoked to see what more the AV Race Team can accomplish after such a great season opener!
2023 Cantua Creek RR Women P123
Race: Cantua Creek RR W P123
Date: February 18, 2023
AVRT racers: Kelly Brennan, Skyler Espinoza, Lindsey Raven, Gina Yuan, Niky Taylor
Top Result: Niky and Kelly 1-2, Skyler 5th
Course + Recap: Cantua Creek is actually fairly pretty. It’s a 12 mile stretch of road that you ride out and back. The start is a little bit up in some rolling green hills, then the road goes down to some very flat stretches next to almond fields. Then there’s a very slight up to the turnaround and you get to do it all again in reverse. Lucky you.
We had a strong team going into this race and we knew it and I was excited. I told my teammates before the race that they should just put me where they wanted me and I’d send it. Gina and Kelly (our fearless race captains) talked us through some strategy the night before. Basically we were expecting attacks from Terun who had 4 riders registered. We’d cover them in the first lap, then go aggressive on the second lap. Kelly and I would try to “go bananas” as Skyler phrased it, and if that didn’t stick Lindsey and Gina would lead Skyler out for a sprint.
Day of the race we found out Terun actually only had 2 racers. So that’s nice for us. The race started and things stayed pretty calm. Then some attacks started. I think we all collectively decided that we should just go ahead and be aggressive. Kelly did an attack that got brought back. Gina did an attack, then I solo bridged up to her and we stayed off the front until the turnaround. After the turnaround, Lindsey attacked and stayed away for a while. Alex (Terun) and a solo rider were doing all the work to bring us back in. I’m always so impressed by how strong Alex is, and I didn’t want to give her opportunities to rest. As we came up to Lindsey, I attacked again. Alex shut that down, then I ramped it up a small roller just to try and tire people out.
When we got to the climb (it’s not an intense climb but it actually is very useful turns out), Kelly set a fast pace up. Gina told me to go up and stick with Kelly in case anything happened. The group started to fracture a bit. Coming up to the start/turnaround Kelly was on the front and could tell the riders around her were tired. Then Skyler yelled “go go go!” Kelly looked back at me and took off. I jumped past Alex to catch Kelly and we hit the turnaround to start the second lap. This was awesome teamwork and communication by Skyler, because she had a perspective that Kelly and I didn’t. Her timing in telling us to go was key for the success of our attack.
Alex and a couple solo riders were still pretty close behind, but Kelly and I committed. Kelly said we should blast every roller. So we did that. It was cool. We established a solid gap. Then we got into a groove and started grinding.
As we started the break I was feeling a bit antsy, wondering if we’d get caught. Kelly was super calm and just had us focus on communicating and staying steady. She is so physically and mentally strong and totally was the driving force of our break, calmly telling me what to do and where and when. I wasn’t sure how to stay consistent for the 20 miles of flat we were about to embark on. Then I remembered I have a power meter! And a computer! So I looked at data! For like the first time ever in a race!
I remembered from riding/talking with Jack that 250 W is a fairly sustainable number for me, so I decided to try to keep 230-250 W on my pulls. I probably actually wasn’t that consistent and kept it somewhere between 200-250 W. In Kelly’s draft I was at about 170-180 W. This kept us at about 22-25 miles per hour. Wow, data.
When we hit the turnaround we realized how far out ahead we were. We had about a 2-minute gap on the field, and our teammates cheered for us as we passed going the other way. We celebrated briefly but kept the power up. And that’s how the rest of the lap went. It was awesome.
We chatted on the final climb about who wanted to take the win. Neither of us cared very much so we decided to cross the line together. I have always wanted to do that. So we did that. So that was pretty special.
Strava: https://strava.app.link/4qiVbZiaxxb
Nutrition: 3 clif bloks during the race and 1.5 bottles of water+skratch
2023 Pine Flat Road Race - Men's Cat 4
AVRT racers (7): Logan Allen, Jeremy Besmer, Fraser Bulbuc, Maxime Cauchois, Michael Fryar, Ian Twamley
Top Result: Ian Twamley, 5th/29
Course: 62 miles, 4,000ft. Rolling for the first 26 miles on an out-and-back overlooking Pine Flat Lake. 2 mile fast, non-technical descent into a 16 mile valley with minimal features, then the main 11 mile climb that starts with rollers, gradually getting steeper until the last mile averaging about 10%. 6 mile descent into a 1 mile climb to finish the race.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8589554499
Nutrition: Failure! I did NOT stick to the fueling plan that Andrea helped me map out. I only had 1.5 bottles of Skratch (60g/bottle), and 2 Spring Energy Gels (30g total). That’s entirely insufficient.
Race Reacp:
Nico’s recap of the Men’s 3’s was how we wished our race played out. Instead, a combo of terrible luck and bad decision making lead to a difficult race. Lots to learn for newer racers below!
We had the biggest team in this race, and after Fraser’s win as our designated sprinter at Cantua Creek the day before, it was Jeremy’s turn to be our protected rider and punish people on Pine Flat’s brutal climbs.
Logan, Fraser, Maxime and Michael kept the peloton together through the fast out-and-back section, reeling back a lone early break and keeping the pace high. We then lost Max to a puncture, and were down to 5 AV riders. On the long descent into the valley, a rider managed to gain a 20 second gap on the field and committed to it.
Then disaster struck. A softball-sized rock took out Michael, Jeremy, and another rider while going about 35 MPH. We are extremely thankful that nobody sustained serious injuries, but at the time we knew teammates were down and probably hurt, and it wasn’t until almost 20 min later that the moto ref let us know everyone was alert and OK, which helped us focus. I was next-rider-up to go for the win.
During the commotion, the solo rider opened his gap to about 40 seconds. Then a minute.
Nobody seemed interested in reeling him back, so I made the call to get Logan, Fraser and I to alternate steady pulls to close it before the climb, worried he could lose us again on the next descent.
Mistake 1: That was the wrong choice. Plan A should have been to convince other teams to work in. Plan B would have been to send Logan and/or Fraser to attack and attempt to bridge to the rider, with the goal of waking up the field to chase.
Logan and Fraser worked extremely hard until the pitch picked up. Logan pulled up, and Fraser kept working for the shallow portion of the climb to help keep me out of the wind. It was also at this time that the breakaway rider was caught and teetered of his bike into a grassy patch, so mission accomplished, but at way too big a cost to our team.
When the climb truly started, the eventual rider launched his attack, and I managed to hold his wheel. Three minutes later, I realized he was way out of my league, and he opened up a minute gap on me over the top, while I carried at least a minute on the field. To me, it was now a race for second.
Mistake 2: I over-committed when I should have been conserving energy for the final shorter climb. Instead I kept the power up to try to hold my gap on the field through the final descent/valley. It didn’t work because my ego is dumb.
I was caught in the valley by 3 riders. At 1K to go I tried a final dig to lose them, but didn’t have it (remember when I outlined my terrible fueling strategy above?).
At 200m to go, all 3 launched, and I watched them cross the line ahead of me. I know I have the power profile for a finish like that, but it’s useless if I race poorly!
HUGE THANK YOU to Fraser for helping get Jeremy’s partner to the hospital, and for getting a very ill Will home. And thank you to Will for donating your car to them for the day to get them home to San Francisco. The races are pretty meaningless once someone is injured, but it’s the unflinching support of teammates that keeps me coming back.
Please wear and upgrade your helmets regularly (Jeremy might need a KAV now)
Brand-new Princeton CarbonWorks took the brunt of a 35mph front-flip.
2023 Pine Flat Road Race - Elite 3
Race: Pine Flat Road Race - Elite 3
Date: February 19, 2023
AVRT racers: Josh Worley, Conor Austin, Daniel Fonyo, Nico Sandi
Top Result: Nico - 1st/19
Course: 62 miles, 4,000ft. Rolling for the first 26 miles on an out-and-back overlooking Pine Flat Lake. 2 mile fast, non-technical descent into a 16 mile valley with minimal features, then the main 11 mile climb that starts with rollers, gradually getting steeper until the last mile averaging about 10%. 6 mile descent into a 1 mile climb to finish the race.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8589490298
Earlier in the week this was our plan (copy/paste from Slack):
Josh - Be aggressive in the first out and back. Initiate shenanigans. Be stupid :) Hopefully a small break sticks with you and we have climbers work to chase on the flats.
Conor and Daniel - Bully others into chasing Josh. If he gets caught you counter. We want a group up the road on the flats to make climbers work. Expect to get caught on the climb but it will cost people a lot of energy to do it.
And this was Josh’s approach to the race the day before the race:
“My goal is to ride solo for as long as possible. Just relentlessly attack.”
And that is exactly what happened. Josh had an unlimited amount of oats the morning of the race and absolutely smashed it. He attacked 20 minutes into the race (20seconds at 960W) and we didn’t see him for another 2 hours.
He brought with him two other riders who we deemed as threats on the climb but were happy to let go and have them get tired working on the break.
In the main bunch Daniel and Conor were patrolling the front making sure bridge attempts were shut down and the rest of the riders were working hard to try and catch the break. It was very surgey on the rolling out and back which meant some riders could not hang with so many attacks and high pace.
By the time we came down to the valley the gap to the break was over a minute and there was only 9 riders left in our group. At this point Daniel, Conor and I started helping with the chase a little bit. Just taking turns to encourage others to keep working. We knew that the two riders with Josh in the break were stronger climbers.
As the gap got smaller we were able to see in the distance that the break was now only two people. Josh was gone. Flat? Mechanical? Crash? Wrong turn?
Nope. Legend has it he told his breakaway friends “sorry boys”, accelerate and dropped them dead. He would spend another hour solo. And with no main engine the break was way easier to catch.
Once we caught them it was no longer our responsibility to help the chase anymore. If they chased Josh we would get a free ride to the bottom of the climb. If they didn’t chase, Josh would win the race.
Once the climb came around I got close to the front and just followed attacks and didn’t pull through. Eventually the pace picked up and we found Josh near the steep part of the climb. As soon as we passed him I started to turn the pace up a little higher and got some separation. I knew that the descent was long and not that steep so I wasn’t actually that ready to commit to a 15 minute solo effort. I crested the climb solo and didn’t fully commit to the descent. I was hoping to get caught by one or two more riders to help me pace the flatter sections of the descent because I knew I could beat them on the final climb.
I was caught by one rider (one of the riders who spent all race in the break with Josh) and we traded pulls to the bottom of the final climb. I knew he was tired from being in the break all day and that all I had to do was keep the pace relatively high on the final climb and that my fresher legs had a better snap that his for a sprint finish.
I kicked away with 150m to go and crossed the line first.
This kind of racing and teamwork is what excites me the most about racing with Alto Velo. We have a great season ahead!
Nico
AV Wednesday Intervals 2/22, by AC Coaching
Hi guys, lot of 2s this Wednesday! Vo2 and anaerobic work to beat the cold, still there…
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 7.15am
Back down around 8.15am.
Session: Vo2/Anaerobic work - 8 reps of (2’ @112% - 20” harder), 2’ rest
8 repeats of 2' effort @112%, directly followed by 20 seconds harder. then 2' rest.
5' rest after the 4th rep.
Build power slightly higher from 5th rep if you feel good.
If you are in a week between races, keep the 2 minutes easier (90-100%), and focus on the 20” harder. Keep a good technique, efficient cadence, play with your gears, fuel well!
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 22nd 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 Livermore Criterium - Women’s P123
Race: 2023 Livermore Crit - Womens P123
Date: February 12, 2023
AVRT racers: Skyler Espinoza, Alana O'Mara
Top Result: Skyler 1/14
Course: 60 minutes of a flat .94 mile, 4 corner crit course
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8551442066
This was Alana's first P123 race since upgrading to a cat 3 (she was a lil nervous) but I know how strong she is and I was sure she could execute in the race (even if she wasn't sure) so I was really excited to race with her since there were some strong women’s teams represented in the race and it was going to be impossible to win alone. Our plan was for Alana to try to neutralize strong attacks off the front and have me try the same tactics I employed in the earlier race of staying towards the front of the field and riding strong wheels.
During the first 15ish min of the race Alana was still getting comfy and I was covering some early attacks. After the first 10 minutes there were attacks all throughout the race! Alana really started to come through once she was able to maneuver towards the pointy end of the field we were able to be in constant communication, and decide what breaks to chase, what attacks to make others chase, good wheels to get on etc. When Alana got to the front to bring back moves she was unstoppable! It was so awesome!! With 5-6 to go I knew we could keep it to a field sprint and I would have a good shot for the win. With 1 to go I asked Alana to try to get to the front between turns 2-3 and drive up the pace but another rider did that so I got on her wheel and wheel surfed a bit between turns 2-3 and then attacked midway through the stretch between 3-4 to control my line around turn 4. This sprint was much closer than earlier because I chose way too big a gear and was grinding, and was being gained on by the field. It was really fun to be able to to get the win and convert on the great work from Alana! Alana had a super strong finish coming in 9th, and overall just crushed it throughout!
Race Report: 2023 Livermore Criterium - Women’s Cat 3 & Masters
Race Report: 2023 Livermore Crit - Womens Cat 3 & Masters
Date: February 12, 2023
AVRT racers: Skyler Espinoza, Janene Ostrow
Top Result: Skyler 1/17 (1/6 Cat 3s)
Course: 40 minutes of a flat .94 mile, 4 corner crit course
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8550824181
It ended up just being me and Janene in this race, Janene's goal was to get her feet wet and get her first race of the season done, and mine was to try to go for the win and we both crushed our goals!
I focused today on staying towards the front of the race and staying glued to the wheels of other strong riders in the pack, keeping the race together and doing as little work as possible to try to bring it to a field sprint. I knew my best chance of winning was to prevent a break from forming, like it did in both of the Cal Aggie crits! In the past I’ve done a lot of work in the race and burned all of my matches before the sprint, but because I was racing against bigger teams I held it in and didn’t get pressured into doing more work than I needed to! I attacked going into turn 3 in the last lap because I knew I wanted to control my line through turn 4 and it worked! I was able to tempo on the front from 3 to 4 and then turn on the gas through the corner and to the line. First win for me of the season and I was excited to be able to have a safe and smart race.
Janene was able to hang in the race longer than she thought she would, and did a great job getting out there and doing the first race of the season! The beginning of the race was much faster/harder than either of us anticipated so it was a tough day to have your first race!
AV Wednesday Intervals 02/15, by AC Coaching
Hi guys, 3rd week of intervals, we’ll go with a training that will become a “classic”. A standard training that we will repeat every 6/8 weeks so you can assess your progress.
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 7.15am
Back down around 8.15am.
Session: 1’ VO2 max - 16* 1’ (@110 to 120%)
16 repeats of 1' effort, with 1' rest. Start conservatively at 110-115%
5' rest after the 8th rep. Re assess how you feel, keep the same power, or go and reach 120%.
Stay at a comfortable effort of 110/115% if you have a race this weekend ;)
This training is easily repeatable, and you can assess your improvement. If you do this training @300W this week with a RPE of 9/10. And re do this training @300W in 6 weeks but with a RPE of 6/10. You knew you progressed. And that’s what training is!
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 15th 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 - Womens Pro/1/2/3
Race: 2023 Cal Aggie Criterium - Womens Pro/1/2/3
Date: January 28, 2023
AVRT racers: Robin Betz, Chris Davis, Skyler Espinoza, Sue Lin Holt, Lora Maes, Jennifer Steele, Gina Yuan
Top Result: Robin - 5th/19
Course: 60 minutes of a flat 1.09 mile loop with a chicane
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8468492549
I haven’t raced a criterium for almost a year so I had no real goals for the race other than be aware of where my teammates are in the field and do my best. With 7 AV riders in the field, we decided to only let a break go if it had at least two of us, and my role as captain was to yell to chase or not. There were quite a few other strong riders and other teams represented.
Lora set a good pace for the first few laps and I stayed near the front to get the best line through the chicane. At the straight stretch near the finish, the eventual race winner attacks. We bring her back and per our team strategy, I go all-in on a counter attack. Chaos ensues and when the dust settles I find myself in a group with 6 other riders, including Sue Lin, 2 Revolution riders, 1 Terun rider, and 2 others who are very strong.
Great, we have 2 riders in the break! The others are very motivated to keep it away and we take pretty hard pulls. At this point I decide I am working for Sue Lin so I take reasonable pulls and tell the others to make sure Terun is working too. Sue Lin smartly sits on the back and I rotate through a bit extra but don’t go super hard. A spectator tells us we have 40 seconds and at this point I know the break is going to stick.
The eventual race winner attacks again pretty hard and we all chase with the knowledge that she’s strong enough to get away solo. We bring her back but unfortunately Sue Lin, who an hour ago had won the 40+ race, lost contact. The break has too much time on the field to be brought back given the technical chicane and so I become determined to survive and get the team the best result I can. I also thought “oh nooo now I have to write the race report so I’d better make it good.”
We work together well and I keep sampling the best lines for the first almost U-turn corner and can’t get it quite to my satisfaction. Eventually we see the back of the field and my life dream of lapping the field is within reach! My teammates have been chilling to deliberately let the break lap the field. As we approach I attack in an attempt to create confusion, but it doesn’t work and they just let us through. I think a better approach here would be to link up with my teammates again, as the rules say lapped riders *can* help someone in the break, but no one in the race knew that rule.
With one to go the pace is surprisingly sedate and I think about how I’m going to win. I ended up as the last rider coming into the final stretch and plan on letting everyone lead me out, but the final sprint is only 25 sec and the group shatters apart and I sprint in for 5th. I’m a good but not outstanding sprinter and that’s a lot of bike lengths to make up in time versus actual sprinters, and I could have got on the podium here if I’d been smarter. As a good descender and cornerer I should have attacked right after the U-turn and tried to hold it to the line, as my 30+sec power is great and I was gaining on third and fourth place at the finish. Nonetheless, fifth place was enough to get me my first 2 upgrade points as a cat 2!
Sue Lin rolled in for 7th in between the break and the field after chasing hard the entire race, and Skyler won the field sprint out of 12 riders for 8th! We have such a strong women’s team this year and I’m so excited to see what we can do together.