Club News

Alto Velo 10/29/23 Alto Velo 10/29/23

Race Report Oakland Grand Prix - WP1/2/3

Race Report: 2023 Oakland Grand Prix Women’s P123

Date: 9/17

AVRT racers: Ari Pascarella, Kelly Brennan, Niky Taylor, Gina Yuan, Louise Thomas, Sue Lin Holt, and Rachel Hwang

Race Report: 2023 Oakland Grand Prix - Women’s Masters

Race: Oakland Grand Prix - Women’s Masters

Date: September 17th, 2023

AVRT racers: Lora Maes, Sue Lin Holt

Top Result: Sue Lin Holt - 4th/10

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9870734076

Nutrition: Oatmeal for breakfast, an espresso gel on the start line, half a bottle of lemon lime SiS Go electrolyte

Course: Four corner crit with one narrow hairpin

Weather: Cloudy, 65F, significantly less windy than the 35mph gusts in previous years

I was excited to race the last crit of the season, which also happened to be the masters district championship for my age group. Lora had already won the masters championship for her age group at Giro di San Francisco and kindly offered to race Oakland to support me. Racing with a teammate is always more fun!

Conditions on the day were so much better than last year when it poured with rain. I was grateful for that.

Lora and I warmed up around Lake Merritt and discussed our strategy. We knew it would be a fast race as there were a lot of strong racers registered. We agreed that ideally we’d like the race to end in a bunch sprint and so she would try to chase down any attacks and I’d sit in and try to stay rested.

Apart from the hairpin, the course was fairly wide open. Except this year there were cones blocking the left lane of the road on the last straight towards the finish (more on that later).

The race started fast just as we had expected and there was never really a lull in pace. Lora did an excellent job of following some powerful attacks just like we had planned. These accelerations managed to drop 1 or 2 riders during the course of the race, but coming into the last few laps it was clear that it would end in a bunch sprint.

Coming into the last few turns, Lora and I were well positioned in the first 5 wheels. I was just behind and to the outside of her coming around the last corner. The rider in front of me (to the left of Lora) slowed more than expected around the turn and so I made the split second decision to go wide instead of braking, and try to come around her. That meant that I lost Lora’s wheel but I figured she had done her job at that point and now I just needed to execute during the final straight to the finish line. There was a line of riders on my right side and I started to accelerate and pass the rider ahead of me. At that point I realized with horror that the cones blocking the left lane were fast approaching. In a hopeless effort to get other riders to move a few inches to the right I yelled “coming through on your left!” but obviously nobody wanted to let me through and I had to stop pedaling and slot back into the group to avoid crashing into the cones. At that point I had lost all momentum and several bike lengths, but I put all the power I had back onto my pedals in a vain effort to make up some ground before the impending finish line. Ultimately I managed to pass 3 or 4 riders in the last few hundred meters, and crossed the line in 4th place.

This was a somewhat disappointing result as I felt like I could have done better if I had made a smarter decision at the end. I also felt that I had let Lora down after she had worked so hard to support me. But that’s the nature of bike racing - not all races go as planned - and it had been a fun and most importantly safe race (and season!). I’m definitely motivated to do better in this race next year!

As always, thanks to all our sponsors and club members for your support this season. See you out on the road!

Sue Lin

Alto Velo 10/27/23 Alto Velo 10/27/23

Race Report: 2023 Oakland Grand Prix Men’s P123

Race Report: 2023 Oakland Grand Prix Men’s P123

Date: 9/17

AVRT racers: Andrea Cloarec, Cam O’reilly, Drew Mathews, Flo Costa, Nico Sandi, J Evans, Jon Wells, Jack Liu

Top Result: Jack 16/67

Written by: Jack Liu

Course: 1 km rectangular course with the first corner being a slightly S-shaped chicane

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9870732624/

Nutrition: one bottle of scratch

Race Recap:

Oakland GP was the season finale as well as the district crit championship. Three-time crit national champion Luke Lamperti’s presence made it unsettling for everyone. Team Mike’s Bikes (TMB) brought a full squad of 8 people. A team of top amateur racers vs. one national champion: it was guaranteed to be a good show, and I was honored to have a front row seat.

The most tricky part of the course is a chicane that is almost a hairpin, which is narrow and allows at most 2 people going through together at the same time. The accordion effect would be maximal through this chicane and the race is deemed to stretch out from there. Anyone at the back of the group would have a hard time catching back. Therefore, my goal is to stay near the front and not be at the mercy of accordion effect.

When the race started, TMB fully utilized their strength in numbers and sent attacks one after another. It was relentless and made it one of the hardest races I’ve done this year! Hard racing made some exhausted cyclists and exhausted cyclists made bad decisions. Half way through the race, there were some unnecessary contact between riders on the start/finish straight (the easiest part of the course!) and one rider (Max from project 74) went down hard right in front of me. My front wheel narrowly missed his head, which terrified me for a second. That near-miss caused me to lose lots of ground, but fortunately teammate Flo brought me back to the front the next lap.

With the help from Flo and Nico, I was able to stay within top 20 the whole race, which saved me lots of energy instead of fighting for wheels at the back. Into the last lap, Nico brought me to a fantastic position behind TMB leadout train, Luke, Tyler Williams (Legion) and Quinn. While I was preparing to enjoy the final sprint of these super human in a close distance (and happily snatch a top-10 if I can follow their wheels), Quinn flatted in the penultimate corner, went straight to the wall, and created a gap behind him (which is directly Nico and me). This brought me from heaven to hell -- now that the first 5 riders were riding away with TMB leading out full gas at the front, and I’m at the front of the second group.

At that moment, I was faced with a crucial decision to make with ~400 m to the finish -- either I started my sprint early to try to catch the front, or I waited for someone to come over and use him as the leadout. Without hesitation, I started my sprint early as I naively thought I could catch a full-gas TMB leadout train. It was not the right decision and I became others’ leadout when I ran out of steam with 100 m to go and finished 16th.

While luck and bad split-second decisions played some role in that last lap, I was pretty satisfied with how I raced the whole race as I gave everything I had and fought till the end. The fact that Nico and I can be up there when it matters is really encouraging and it shows that we belong there. Looking forward to more crit racing next year!

It was definitely an exciting race to watch, and you can see it from a different perspective on NorCal cycling and also how it finished. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__S7wpYvbCo

Alto Velo 10/27/23 Alto Velo 10/27/23

Race Report: 2023 Patterson Pass Road Race - Men's 35+ 3/4

Race: 2023 Patterson Pass Road Race - Men's 35+ 3/4

Date: August 6, 2023

AVRT racers: Shai Traister

Result: Shai Traister (6/11)

Course: 2 laps. Starts with the 4-mile 1,100 ft climb of Patterson Pass, has a fast descent into the second climb which is 2 miles and 500 ft with varied grades. Then there’s a bit of a lumpy descent to the backside of the course which is flat for a bit before opening up to a fast descent all the way to the finishing straight, which is a mile long 200 ft kicker to the finish line. There is usually a powerful headwind as you get farther and farther up the Patterson Pass climb, but this year it wasn’t as much of a factor. The heat, though, was intense. Despite a pretty early start, it was in the 90s right from the beginning of the race and got to 104 at the end.

Strava: Patterson Pass 35+ 3/4 - Strava

Nutrition: Had some food before the start and brought one bottle of mix, one bottle of water.

Race: One guy attacked from the gun (to be able to sag the climb).
Another guy chased, and I saw the gap open and realized it might stick even though this was right from the whistle. I decided to bridge and join.
The 2nd guy caught the first, and I was about 10-15 seconds behind. I didn't panic and trusted I could catch on the climb. Even took a bottle from the feed and poured it over myself to cool down.
The first guy got dropped on the climb, and I continued chasing after the 2nd guy.
We climbed the 1st time up Patterson pass road with pretty much the same gap. When we got to the top the first guy managed to pass a couple of riders and I assumed he rotated with them on the descent, because I couldn’t see him anymore.. Kept on pushing on the descent and then on Flynn - basically 1st lap in an all-out TT mode. I knew it was hot and kept drinking (malto + water) - finished about 1-1.5 bottles after a lap, which wasn't a lot, but I thought it was reasonable.
Passing through the finish line, I started feeling the legs complaining but decided to ignore it. Kept drinking and pushing on.

Up on the second climb up Patterson legs started cramping really badly. pushed it as long as I could until I got to the steep part on top. Both legs were completely shut. I knew I was in 2nd with a pretty healthy margin over the group behind, so decided to walk to the top and see if I can shake the legs on the descent.
It worked until I got to Flynn - same story. This time I laid down on the ground unable to move. Riders passed me, and one angel even gave me a water bottle (it was that bad). at some point the guy who I thought was ahead passed me (Not sure how, starva flybys and segment timings confirm he was behind me, so maybe I was first OTF chasing ghosts?), and others from my field as well. I looked for a sag car, but couldn't see one.
After ~6.5 minutes of rest (plus drinking a full bottle of water), the legs started feeling a bit better so I decided to continue.
Somehow managed to finish and came in at 6th.

Alto Velo 10/27/23 Alto Velo 10/27/23

Race Report: 2023 University Road Race - Men's 35+ 1/2/3

Race: 2023 University Road Race - Men's 35+ 1/2/3

Date: August 20, 2023

AVRT racers: Nat Green

Result: Nat Green (5/8)

Course: 14 laps of a circuit through UC Santa Cruz featuring a 1.2-mile climb followed by a 1.4-mile descent. The climb averaged 5.5% with a short 8% kicker at the top.

Strava: University - 35+ 1/2/3. Fifth | Ride | Strava

Nutrition: Had some food before the start and had two bottles with me. Weather was cool so that was all I needed.

Race: This had a small but strong master’s field, with two ThirstyBear riders (Brian Schuster and Rob Whittier), two Work Health Solution guys (Andrew Conley and Adam White), and a couple of strong individual riders, David Fidler and Art Rand.

I had no teammates in this one, so my plan was to sit in and then try to go with a strong move if one was made (e.g., a break with both a ThirstyBear and WHS rider). I had done this race before and each time it was full gas from the start, with fast laps around VO2 max and “easy” laps around threshold. This one, however, was much more tactical. We took two easy laps to start, getting passed by both the Men’s P/1/2 field and some of the 50s riders. Art Rand made a move on lap 3 or 4 and the pace picked up, and we did one of our few sub-five minute climbs of the day. We caught Art 2-3 laps later and the pace calmed again. There were occasional attacks after that, including Adam White going hard a few times after the turn back on to the climb, and a few guys tried to make moves over the top of the climb into the descent, including one by Art Rand that got caught up in the P/1/2 field and was a bit chaotic, but ultimately the field came back together for the last few laps. I didn’t see any real opportunity to get away from the field at that point and no one else tried to form a break, so it came down to the long uphill drag to the finish line on the last lap. I put out 420 watts for two minutes and beat a couple of guys, but Adam (anther win), Brian, Andrew, and David were ahead of me, so I rolled in fifth. I had no shame about standing on the podium in fifth by the way. Never know how many chances one will get.

All in all, I was satisfied with the race, and felt like my fitness was on par with the field. It was much more tactical than prior years, and I think with a teammate, I could have participated in more of those tactics rather than sort of being along for the ride, so I’m looking forward to trying again in 2024. If you are an AV master’s guy, please join me. By the way, this is an awesome race to come out and hand out bottles or just support the team, even if you’re not racing, since everyone goes by 12-20 times.

Alto Velo 10/27/23 Alto Velo 10/27/23

Race Report: 2023 Patterson Pass Road Race - Men's 35+ 1/2/3

Race: 2023 Patterson Pass Road Race - Men's 35+ 1/2/3

Date: August 6, 2023

AVRT racers: Nat Green

Result: Nat Green (DNP/19)

Course: 3 laps of this. Starts with the 4-mile 1,100 ft climb of Patterson Pass, has a fast descent into the second climb which is 2 miles and 500 ft with varied grades. Then there’s a bit of a lumpy descent to the backside of the course which is flat for a bit before opening up to a fast descent all the way to the finishing straight, which is a mile long 200 ft kicker to the finish line. There is usually a powerful headwind as you get farther and farther up the Patterson Pass climb, but this year it wasn’t as much of a factor. The heat, though, was intense. Despite a pretty early start, it was in the 80s by lap one, and high 90s by lap two.

Strava: Patterson Pass 35+ 1/2/3 - DNF | Ride | Strava

Nutrition: Had some food before the start and brought two bottles of mix. Picked up a third bottle on lap two.

Race: This had one of the bigger master’s fields of the year, with the usual strong teams from ThirstyBear (Brian Schuster, Piers Barry, Ariel Hermann, Rob Whittier), Velo Kings, and Work Health Solutions, including Adam White, who has a close to perfect record of winning master’s races this year. Other strong riders in the field included Eugene Chan from PenVelo, Will Riffelmacher from the Olympic Club, and former Australian continental pro and YouTube guy Chris Miller.

I had no teammates, so my plan was to sit in as long as I could and save energy, since I thought this would be a battle of attrition, given the heat and very tough course. I think that was the correct strategy – unfortunately, I was one of the people who fell victim to that attrition (along with about half of the people on the day).

First lap the pace was high up Patterson Pass, but I didn’t have much trouble staying up near the front. I found myself drifting towards the back of the field on the descent, despite my speed being in the high 40s. I was near the back at the bottom when we took a right onto Flynn Road to begin the second climb, and noticed the group surged a bit there. I closed the gap pretty easily, but failed to make a good enough note to remember that for lap two, which was costly.

The pace up Patterson was a little faster the second time around. I was still near the front but was really feeling the heat towards the top of the climb and starting to cramp, and despite having had three water bottles by that point, was beginning to worry about completing another two laps. I again found myself towards the back of the field down the Patterson descent before the turn on Flynn Road. This time there was an even bigger surge out of the turn and a few of us were gapped off the back. What was easy to close on lap one then became tremendously difficult on lap 2, as I realized I was cramping and dehydrated. A couple of us tried to work together, but the group was getting farther, not closer, and I was putting out less and less power as I was cramping.

That was basically my day, as I called it after lap 2. I felt like my climbing ability was fine for the field, but my heat acclimation was nowhere near enough (noon rides have been more like 60-70 degrees this year, not 90-100). Next year I might try pre-hydrating more and seeing if I can go out of my way to get more heat acclimation in before the race. Adam White ended up outsprinting Chris Miller to take the win, by the way.

Alto Velo 10/23/23 Alto Velo 10/23/23

Race Report: San Ardo RR - Men’s Cat 3

Race: San Ardo Road Race - Men’s Cat 3

Date: 8/19/2023

AVRT racers: Flo Costa, Daniel Fonyo, George Wehner

Top Results: Flo 4/19, Daniel 7/19

Course: 69 miles, 2000 ft vert - 3 mostly flat 23 mile laps. Notoriously bad section of pavement on a bridge about halfway through the lap. Finish is on a small uphill.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9681276391

Nutrition: Clif Bloks and gels with malto + gatorade in the bottles.

Race Recap: Our plan going into this race was to be patient the first lap and control any threatening moves, be more aggressive the second lap to try to stick a break, and work together for a sprint finish if things were still together on the third lap.

From the start there were a lot of attacks as other riders seemed pretty motivated to make a break. Given that we had a smaller field and everyone was fresh, none of the moves got much separation from the main group. During the first half of this lap, George did a great job responding to moves and getting Alto Velo represented up front. Some riders from other teams were also chasing down their own teammates for some reason. My mindset was more to conserve as much energy as possible at the beginning and only close down the most threatening moves.

These attacks continued for a while as George, Daniel, and I worked together to follow moves and threw in some digs to test the field. Midway through the second lap still no break had formed and I wasn’t feeling great. It was looking like it would be a sprint finish, so mentally we prepared ourselves for a bunch sprint.

With around 7 miles to go, a few seemingly non-threatening riders got off the front. These guys had been attacking all day, so I felt confident the pack could bring them back before the finish. This was fine until another rider, who already had a teammate up front, bridged up to them allowing them to go all in and work together. George put in a big effort to bring them back, but the gap wasn’t moving.

At this point it was classic group two syndrome as everyone looked at each other to chase. Another rider took advantage of this stalemate between teams and attacked the group and once again, no one wanted to spend energy.

With a couple miles to go, the group of 5 ahead had increased their gap making it unlikely for us to be able to catch them. Attacks finally came from the group as people gave one last attempt to bridge. We ramped up the pace on the final hill and started closing down the gap. A rider in the main group launched his sprint anticipating the final left turn and everyone else followed. In the sprint, we managed to catch 4 of the 5 breakaway riders in the last 100 meters. I finished 4th with Daniel in 7th.

We were a bit disappointed with how the race played out after being in control for much of the day. Personally, since I wasn’t feeling great I think I was too set on saving energy for the sprint, resulting in the break slipping away. This outcome was a good reminder that we can’t be afraid to take risks - being passive sometimes ends up just being a greater risk. As simple as it sounds, putting ourselves in winning positions is the key to winning.

Thanks for reading,

Flo

Alto Velo 10/16/23 Alto Velo 10/16/23

Race Report: 2023 CA Dirt MTB Series #4

Race: CA Dirt MTB Series #4 XC – Cat 1 F

Date: October 15, 2023

AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang

Top Result: 1st (XC and ST) – Rachel Hwang

Course: XC - 5 laps around a 3.16 mile course; ST – 20min + 1 lap around a 0.62 mile loop

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10046702841, https://www.strava.com/activities/10040162861

Race Recap: (Rachel Hwang)

XC (October 15, 2023 11:00am)

The first half of the course was climby, and the second half of the course was technical. The climbs were steep and the technical parts had lots of steep dips, some rocks, some mud and puddles, sand, and lots of tight turns. The ruts got deeper each lap, and there were quite a few people who got flats from the course.

The race was formatted to have all Cat 1s and single speeders start in the same wave. There were lots of junior boys and men, and there were 4 women total in Cat 1, all in different age groups (15-18, 19-29, 30-39, 40+). Different age groups, all the women together, and all single speeders started one minute apart.

The air was thick with smoke when we started, and with the single speeders at my tail, I managed to PR my first lap at 22:08, where the next four laps were right above and below 24 minutes.

Things went smoothly the first two laps, but then in the beginning of lap 3, my chain started making noises. The air was so dry, and with riding across the sand on the beach section, my chain sounded like it was going to break, so I stopped a few times to spray water on my cassette and splashed through the puddles as hard as possible to wet my drivetrain.

A few of the younger male racers lapped me, but I took it nice and steady for the last three laps.

I had poor planning on nutrition this race and ran out of water by lap 5, did not have hydration in my water, and barely scarfed down a gel in lap 3, but I managed to finish the race without any mechanicals and am happy about my result. I finished 1st of the 4 women, where only 2 of the 4 women completed the course.

Nutrition: Breakfast - Oatmeal; Race - 1.5L Hydration Pack of water and 1 GU birthday cake gel

ST (October 14, 2023 5:40pm)

Like XC, all Cat 1s raced in the same wave. There were a total of 8 people total, (6 junior kids and 2 adults) and I was the only woman. We did a mass start at the start line. When the whistle went off, they took off so fast I had no chance of keeping up with them.

The course was 0.62 miles, where the first half had a climb, all on the asphalt, leading into the second half of the course, which was a mostly flowy descent back to the start of the course. The race timing was determined by the race leader. Once the race leader hit over 20 minutes on the clock, he had one more lap to do, as did all racers unless the leader finished his final lap first.

I liked the course a lot because the climb was short enough to push as hard as possible, knowing you’ll be completely tired by the top, and recover enough from the downhill to do it all again, and again, and again until the race was over.

By the end, 6 of the 7 guys lapped me, and I completed 8 laps. While I liked the format of the race and the course, I wish there were other women I could compete with and not just get annihilated by the boys, but in a way, that did push me to go harder to avoid getting lapped.

Nutrition: Lunch - Tacos provided at the event; Race - water

William Hakim 10/10/23 William Hakim 10/10/23

AVRT Recruiting Rides - Sat 10/14/23 and Sun 10/15/23

A quick reminder about our upcoming AVRT recruiting rides this weekend!

Saturday 10/14 WTFNB coffee ride: Relaxed pace, no-drop, ~40 miles, finishing with a coffee/pastry stop, no men. Route (UPDATED): https://www.strava.com/routes/3147292596588205324. Ride leader: Lora Maes.
Sunday 10/15 Team Recruitment ride: Social but spirited, with regroups and/or ride splits as needed so everyone can ride hard, ~60 miles, followed by pizza party. Will take the place of this weekend’s A Ride. Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/3138174267060363650. Ride leaders: Gina Yuan and William Hakim.

Interesting in racing next year? Fill out an application today! Questions about the team? Email avrt (at) altovelo (dot) org (Cameron O’Reilly, Sue Lin Holt, Gina Yuan).

Alto Velo 10/7/23 Alto Velo 10/7/23

WTFNB Coffee Ride - Sat 10/14/23

Saturday, October 14, 2023
9:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Summit Bicycles
392 California Ave, Palo Alto CA 94301 (map)

The Alto Velo Racing Team is recruiting for the 2024 road racing season! Interested in racing your bike next year? Come join us for a ride and get to know the team. Saturday's ride will be a women’s ride, conversational pace, ~40 miles, finishing with a coffee/pastry stop.

Ride Leader: Lora Maes

Pace: Relaxed pace, no-drop

Route (UPDATED): Strava Route

Alto Velo 10/6/23 Alto Velo 10/6/23

Race Report: Patterson Pass Road Race - Men's Cat 4

Race: Patterson Pass Road Race - Men's Cat 4

Date: Sunday, August 6th 2023

AVRT racers: Maxime Cauchois, Michael Fryar, Drew Matthews

Top Result: Maxime Cauchois (8/32)

Course: 3 laps of a ~23 mile loop totaling 65 miles with ~6500’ of elevation. Here’s a course breakdown by Jeremy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EimAPKne5_zoPfqbCKgzwS5Z2m6p-BeURk1C_V-SI8I/edit.

Briefly, each lap consisted of the feed zone at the base of Patterson Pass, (3 mile climb at 5.5% with minimal wind) followed by a fast, nontechnical descent. A sharp right onto Flynn Rd (2.2 mile climb at 4.3% finishing into a headwind). This is followed by ~9 miles of gradual descent (cross headwind becoming cross tailwind as the road turns from north to east). There’s a very tight left turn that requires significant braking just after cresting Flynn. Each lap ends with a right turn onto Midway Rd and a 0.8 mile climb (finish at the top on lap 3) followed by a fast descent (laps 1 and 2). Wind was from the NNW at 10-15mph, mostly favorable on Patterson Pass. Temperatures ranged from 80 and bearable at the start to 100 and insufferable at the finish.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9596026490

Nutrition: Three bottles with a mix of Skratch and cyclic dextrin during the race (~80g carbs/bottle), one feed bottle at each lap, not nearly enough hydration and too many carbs per bottle given the conditions

Race Report: The fact it took me about two months to process this race and finally get myself to write a race report already hints at the physical and mental toll this race had inflicted on me.

To summarize it, it was plain brutal, a course of attrition where the pack wouldn’t necessarily even hit insane numbers up the climb, but where the heat and dehydration would remove riders out of contention little by little.

I actually felt somewhat okay during the first 1.5 laps, staying near the front the first two times up Patterson Pass, but even at that point I could see my heart rate was much higher than it should be given the power. I even ended up somewhat inadvertently in a two-man break on Flynn road on the second lap, but we got brought back relatively, first because it was clear we would only waste our energy going into a headwind, and also because my break companion unfortunately crashed out of the race right in front of me going into that tight left turn after cresting Flynn. I somehow managed to avoid him and continue racing, so it is undeniable that my day could have been worse.

Nevertheless, I could feel the intense heat getting to me even as I tried to stay hydrated as much as possible. Unfortunately, I could only manage to retrieve one feed bottle per lap, which turned out to be not nearly enough. In retrospect, it seems clear that I should have targeted at the very least two full bottles per lap, but it is easier said than done: the feed zone was located at the bottom of Patterson Pass climb, and the group would invariably surge as we would approach it, making the full bottle collection fairly technical and possibly sketchy — one guy even crashed in the process.

In any case, I found myself with leg cramps and energy depleted at the end of the second lap, at which point I knew it was only a matter of time before I exploded. It was invariably the case shortly after starting the last ascent of Patterson Pass, despite renewed efforts to hydrate myself. My whole body completely shutting down, it was pretty clear to me that I would just DNF and head back down, but I then met another rider from the P12 field who encouraged me to keep going, stating that I only had one lap to go when he still had two remaining. His indisputable math as much as my relatively clouded mind kept me pushing to the top, at which point I thought I might just keep going and try to finish the race. It was probably not the right or smart decision—I was dehydrated, heat exhausted and my heart rate was near his maximum, despite only producing Z2 watts—but I still tried to make my way towards the finish line. It was a highly unpleasant experience, especially with no water in the last 45 min, but I did eventually reach it, probably a bit delusional at that point.

I quickly learned that I’d finished 8th, which came as a complete surprise as I thought there would have been more people ahead. I was lucky and relieved to find a few teammates at the finish line as they handed me about 2L of water. I then proceeded to stop at a Starbucks and drink another 2L of fluid on the way home. If you must ask, when I weighed myself after I came home, I was still about 2 or 3 kg lighter than my usual self, and the leg cramps took a few days to dissipate. Overall, it was one of if not the hardest race I have done, even more so with my inadequate preparation, but I do question whether it wouldn’t be better placed earlier in the year.

Thanks for reading!

Alto Velo 10/6/23 Alto Velo 10/6/23

Race Report: 2023 Mt. Diablo Challenge – Women

Race: Mt. Diablo Challenge

Date: October 1, 2023

AVRT racers: Lora Maes, Louise Thomas, Rachel Hwang, Robin Betz

Top Result: Rachel Hwang 1/15 (Age Group) 6/126 (Overall Female), Louise Thomas 2/15 (Age Group), Robin Betz 3/15 (Age Group), Lora Maes 3/16 (Age Group)

Course: 11.2 miles, 3249 ft hill climb

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9959486695

Race Recap: (Rachel Hwang’s perspective)

My goal going into this race was to get under 1 hour, and to use my heart rate and RPE to measure how hard I should be going.

With that said, I got to my wave start (Wave 3) 1.5 minutes late, and so booked it in the beginning trying to catch up to the mass and draft behind them. I saw Louise on the way up.

While I did want to draft behind others and help others around the same speed pull each other up, as I caught up to people, I did exactly that, and kept going if I had the energy. What I liked about this race was that at some points, I could draft and pull as I wanted, but could keep going and constantly chase people down. However, I do not think I did a good job drafting on the flat parts. Because this is an individually timed race, I pulled more than I wanted to and did not conserve energy well in the sections I could have done so. In addition, it was really windy with lots of crosswinds and headwinds, so I should have tried drafting more, and there were many moments of me smashing uphill against the wind by myself.

I honestly had no measure of how I was doing on time the entire way up, and kept looking at my heart rate on my Apple Watch. It stayed around 173 (goal of averaging 177) for the most part when I checked. Around 1100ft left, I was watching the elevation profile on my Garmin.

When I got close to the end, right before the wall, there were a ton of people standing and cheering, and I got a bit of adrenaline so sped up, however, the wall got me and I STRUGGLED hard up that. I was wheezing and going at a snail’s pace trying to make it up. When I crossed the finish line, I almost felt like puking.

When I saw my result for the first time back at the bottom, 59:52.5, I was both happy that I was under an hour, but thought I could have done better. In retrospective, I could have pushed harder through the entire race. But this is by far one of my favorite races and I will definitely be back.

Nutrition: 1/5 of a bottle of tailwind and a gel halfway up because I didn’t have time to take it at the start

Alto Velo 10/3/23 Alto Velo 10/3/23

Race Report: 2023 Oakland Grand Prix - Women’s 3/4/5

Race: 2023 Oakland Grand Prix - Women’s 3/4/5

Date: September 17, 2023

AVRT racers: Jennifer Steele, Louise Thomas

Top Results: Louise 3/13, Jenn 4/13

Course: four corner crit in downtown Oakland. Each lap was around 0.6m with a hairpin on turn 1 and a ~3% hill going into turn 3

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9869304247

Nutrition: a gel on the line and part of a malto bottle during the race

Recap:

The main feature of the course is a hairpin on turn one, with manhole covers and potholes scattered on the exits of corners one and two. At least one guy slid out on the hairpin during the race before ours, and the race after ours was completely stopped for a couple of minutes to get an ambulance to another guy that came off there. Luckily the women’s fields are much smaller and more sensible though, and I figured at least this would be easier than last year when we had to race in heavy sideways rain

We started the race assertively - Jenn shot off the front from the start and I followed. Coming out of the second corner we had a small gap on the field, but of course everyone else wasn't going to let that go so caught us almost immediately. It was fun to get the party started though. Eclipse had three riders in the race and used their numbers to send repeated attacks. Jenn and I settled back into a defensive strategy, between us effectively making sure any moves were shut down. A couple of the solo riders were also chasing everything, which made our job a lot easier.

By the middle of the race Eclipse had calmed down and weren't sending any more attacks. One of the solo riders would repeatedly attack on the hill, but then sit up as soon as we got to the downhill section shortly after. It wasn't the most effective strategy. At some point, the marshals near the hairpin started waving us to one side of the road. At first I wondered whether someone had crashed, but that didn't make sense because the peloton was still together apart from a couple of individual dropped riders and I'm pretty sure I would have noticed if someone next to me went down. Turns out it was just a homeless guy that had wandered onto the course and wouldn't leave.

When the lap cards came out it seemed inevitable that the race would end in a field sprint. Me and Jenn decided we should try for a lead out and, since I don't have much faith in my sprint, Jenn would be the designated sprinter. At that point Eclipse started attacking again though, and we had a burn a couple of matches chasing. I almost got in a breakaway with Pam when I was the only one that chased her, but in the end everything stayed together.

The last few laps were mired by confusion. We switched back and forth as to who should be the sprinter since we were both getting fatigued from chasing, but settled on the original plan of me leading out Jenn. During the final lap I stupidly started doubting whether or not it was actually the final lap because I couldn't remember hearing a bell on the previous one. I decided to go for it anyway so got to the front and pushed the pace up the hill, but I think the niggling doubts in the back of my mind meant I wasn't 100% committed so it wasn't as fast as it should have been. On the final stretch I was waiting for Jenn to come around, but then Paula and Gwen did instead and Jenn yelled to sprint so I chased but unfortunately couldn't catch them. While sprinting I could see from the corner of my eye there was someone just behind me so pushed even harder. It was only after I crossed the line I saw it was Jenn, and turns out I'd accidentally taken 3rd from her. Whoops.

Overall our communication could have been a bit better at the end, but I feel like we worked well together in the middle of the race to cover attacks. Getting 3rd and 4th wasn't too shabby either.

Thanks for reading,
Louise

Alto Velo 9/29/23 Alto Velo 9/29/23

Race Report: University Road Race 2023 - Men's E3

Race: University Road Race - Men’s Cat 3

Date: 8/20/2023

AVRT racers: Flo Costa, George Wehner

Top Results: Flo 4/23

Course: 40 miles, 5200 ft of climbing - 15 laps around the UCSC circuit, featuring a 5 min climb followed by a 3 min descent. Essentially a 15 x 5’ min threshold workout.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9688243169

Nutrition: Clif Bloks and gels with malto + gatorade in the bottles.

Race Recap: After racing at San Ardo the previous day, George and I lined up at UCSC ready to test our climbing legs. Our tactics for University RR were straightforward: follow the group, survive the climb, and don’t blow up. We had a decent sized field with 23 riders at the start, many of whom were strong climbers. As tradition for University RR, we were on the lookout for any junior w/kg monsters.

The first couple laps were relatively calm with a few riders taking flyers up the final kicker on the top of the climb only to be caught within the first 30 seconds of the descent. In an effort to preserve my legs, I tried to smoothen my power as much as possible every time we went up this last kicker. My gameplan was to conserve as much energy as possible for the final laps.

On the third lap, there were attacks from the base of the climb which strung out the group. This time up the climb was an especially painful VO2 effort knowing we had 12 more laps to go. Thankfully these moves were brought back and the pace eased up for the next few laps as we settled into a low threshold pace. We dropped a couple riders here and there, but overall the group stayed together during the middle part of the race.

With 8 laps to go, solo rider Josef took the front and started pacing the climb. The pace wasn’t infernal, but it was enough to string out the group. Josef continued to set the pace for the next few laps, each time pushing slightly harder than the previous. At the top of every climb, I looked around to assess everyone’s level of comfort, which deteriorated as we repeated this effort.

With 3 laps to go my legs started feeling really heavy. At this point the pace had increased quite a bit.. Thankfully the descents served as an excellent opportunity to catch my breath and eat/drink. With 2 laps to go, the group was down to maybe 8 riders. As we started the climb, the group accelerated once again at the base of the hill. At this point I was well positioned in third wheel, but was giving everything I had to follow the riders in front of me. Halfway up the climb, Josef launched an attack which completely shattered what was left of the group. I tried to go after him but couldn’t follow. Only a junior from Team California was able to follow the move, and in a few moments the two of them were out of reach. In the descent, I was joined by two other riders.

The three of us worked together up the final climb, but weren’t able to make a dent in the gap to the two riders ahead. We were also too gassed to attack each other, which meant we would be “sprinting” for third place. In the finishing straight, the Pen Velo rider found himself on the front and launched his sprint a bit early. I stayed in his wheel until the other rider opened his sprint and came around us. I quickly launched after him, but didn’t have the punch to come around him. I finished fourth on the day, missing out on the top 3, but was still proud with how the race played out for me at this painfully fun race.

Thanks for reading,

Flo

Alto Velo 9/28/23 Alto Velo 9/28/23

Race Report: 2023 Shea Center Criterium – Women’s 3/4/5

Race: Shea Center Criterium – Women’s 3/4/5

Date: September 24, 2023

AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Rachel Hwang

Top Result: 1st – Rachel Hwang

Course: 45 minutes around a 0.6mi crit course. Very flat and square shaped.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9914106449

Race Recap: (Rachel Hwang’s perspective)

Going into the race, Louise and I swapped what we wanted to work on/what our goals were for the race. I told Louise I wanted to work on my sprint at the end, and Louise said she could lead me out for that sprint, and attack periodically to keep the field interesting.

The course itself was very straightforward. It was very flat, very square, very small of 0.6mi, making right turns going clockwise, and with lots of yellow bumpy things in the middle of the roads which were something to look out for on every corner.

There were 10 racers total to start. The race started tame, but after a few laps, Louise and another girl, Christina, started taking turns attacking up front. Louise had me as a teammate, and Christina had two other teammates in the field. I let the rest of the group chase, staying in the back saving my legs. I did chase down two attacks when it seemed the rest of the group was tired and wasn’t sure if they were going to successfully chase down the group, and when I did, Louise told me to save my legs for the sprint, so I went reverted back to drafting in the peloton.

With 1 lap to go, our strategy was for me to jump behind Louise’s wheel and have her lead me out for starting two corners before the final straightaway sprint. However, because everyone is fighting for position at that point, I found it equally difficult to fight for position behind Louise. On the second to last corner, up front the peloton was Louise taking it wide, with two others on her wheel. I was on the inside of them stuck behind another girl, and could not make it behind them. Halfway through the second to last flat, I managed to get behind the train of riders riding 4th wheel, but at that point we had reached the last corner for the sprint. While Louise went wide to peel off, I took the opportunity to corner on the inside to get away and pass as many riders as I could. I heard her scream “Go Rachel!!” as I sprinted as hard as I could for the finish line to secure 1st place.

Overall, our team tactics went to plan. It was a team effort with great pulls and leads and attacks from Louise to stretch out the field and launch me for the sprint.

Nutrition: 1 bottle of water with a stick of liquid IV, and a Cliff Double Espresso flavored shot on the start line right before the race.

Alto Velo 9/27/23 Alto Velo 9/27/23

Race Report: Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder 2023

Race: Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder - Open Men

Date: 6/21- 6/25/2023

AVRT racers: Flo Costa

Top Results: GC - 16/71

Course: 5 day gravel stage race in Central Oregon totalling 360 miles and 30,000 ft of climbing over the five stages.

Stage 1: Sisters → McKenzie (75mi / 7200 ft // Strava) - 22nd

The Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder was one of my target races for the year. Leading up to the race I was able to put in a solid block of specific training, followed by a taper week that left me feeling pretty good on race day. With a lot of strong riders showing up, I didn’t have goals tied to a specific placement and instead was “simply” focusing on getting the best out of myself by riding as hard and fast as I could.

The beginning of stage 1 started out relatively flat, with no one wanting to drive the pace up front, on smooth red lava rock gravel roads. But as the road slowly tilted upwards, the group pushed harder and harder. This eventually turned into full-on attacks as people tried to break the field up every small hill. By the time we reached the bottom of the first climb, the group was completely strung out and I was fighting to stay in the top 10. On top of the climb, we turned onto the old Santiam Wagon Road, which turned out to be the 6 sandiest miles of the entire week. I felt pretty comfortable on this section despite my bike squirreling underneath me, but this required many repeated spikes of power. The sandy old Santiam Wagon Road ended with a rocky and tricky descent, which also ended up being the most technical part of the entire week, followed by a smooth, speedy descent on champagne gravel. A few minutes into the descent my heart sank as I felt my rear wheel going flat. I prayed for it to seal as I continued following the rider in 7th place ahead of me, but by the time we reached the bottom of the descent, it was completely flat. I suspected it had gotten sliced by the sharp lava rock on the technical descent. I quickly hopped off, put a CO2 in, and tried to get it to seal. By the time it finally sealed, I ended up using another half of a cartridge to reinflate the tire. I felt helpless as a handful of rides passed by, but had “only” lost 3 minutes on this 4+ hour day.

The second climb was less steep than the first and offered us amazing views on the snow-capped cascade mountains. Unfortunately, I didn’t have too much time to soak in the views since my only focus was to catch up to the riders ahead, one by one. I soon caught a couple of very strong triathletes, and together the 3 of us settled into a nice tempo while working together. After passing a couple more riders, we reached the top of the climb and I took the front. I dropped them in the descent and upped the pace on the penultimate climb to make sure I was out of sight and out of mind.

I had clawed my way back into the top 10 and was feeling really good on the day. Now all I needed to do was get over the real challenge of the day: the final 8 mile climb. I could slowly feel my efforts throughout the day creeping up on me. About halfway up, I caught a glimpse of 6th & 7th place up ahead. My motivation was higher than ever, but both of my legs were starting to cramp. I slapped them and kept going, giving everything to keep pushing. For some reason I thought of Gino Mäder, who had passed away in the Tour de Suisse the previous week. He, his family, and his friends would give anything for him to be racing through beautiful mountains like these. I was extremely lucky to be in this situation. Keep pushing.

At the top of the final climb I had 6th & 7th in sight. I was confident I could catch (and even pass) them on the final descent into the finish. I was ready to bomb the descent, which started out pretty techy. Approximately a minute down I had gained a lot of speed and opted for a rocky (but faster) line. I lost a bit of control and hit my front wheel pretty hard on the final big rock. A few seconds later it was completely flat. Shit. I hopped off, tried to get it to seal, and used the rest of my CO2 from my previous flat. By the time it sealed, it was too flat to ride so I hastily whipped out my hand pump. In this process I somehow broke the hand pump, which left me without a means for air. Luckily there was an aid station at the top of the climb about a mile back. I had no choice but to hike my way back to the top of the climb (seen in the elevation profile). Eventually I was able to fix the flat on top with some help from volunteers and was finally back on the bike. I was too frustrated to try to make up any time and descended gingerly to the finish. I finished in 22nd, 40 minutes behind 7th, upset and exhausted.

Stage 2: McKenzie → Oakridge (61mi / 5800 ft // Strava) - 19th

I woke up the next morning in my tent with my legs more sore than they’d ever been after a race. I had been over-eager the day before which led to poor decisions and bad luck. I had to be more patient and race my own race in order to make time up on the riders ahead of me in GC. Stage 2 started with a 15 mile climb, followed by a series of small hills before a final 3 mile climb. Similar to the first day, the pace was directly correlated with how steep the road was. About halfway up, I was pretty close to my limit so I had to ease up in order to have any hope of surviving the stage. Unfortunately, the group ahead still had over 15 riders left. I continued at my own tempo and was passed by a few more riders before reaching the top. Despite feeling like I was losing positions, I ended up setting a 1 hour power PR up this first climb. With the main feature of the stage complete, the rest of the stage was straightforward with a few descents and smaller climbs.

After the first descent, I started climbing the next (deceptively steep) small hill. As I started going up, my legs felt empty and I immediately knew it was going to be a long day. I struggled to push power and had run out of energy after only the first climb. I kept eating, hoping I could find some energy to carry me through the day. I got passed by more riders, but no longer cared. My only goal was to make it to the finish. I was in a hole and was still mentally frustrated from the previous day. In hindsight, I’m bummed that much of this day was a blur, but these gravel roads were awesome.

I slogged along until the final 3 mile climb, where I finally started feeling better. I was able to push a little harder and settle into a nice rhythm all the way to the finish, coming across the line in 19th place, 30 minutes behind the leaders. The result was not as bad as it felt, but I knew I hadn’t performed to my potential. Luckily, stage 3 would be much shorter and would provide an opportunity for much needed rest.

Stage 3: Oakridge → Oakridge (48 mi / 4100 ft // Strava) - 11th

The third day was a “rest” day featuring two timed segments: a 7.5 mile uphill and a 10 mile downhill. The climb started after 20 neutral miles around the Oakridge reservoir. After an easy start, we regrouped and we were off for the hill climb. Knowing that the second half of the climb was the steepest, I planned for a negative split meaning I would conservatively pace myself for the first half. This also meant that I had to drop myself from the group earlier than I would’ve liked and had to be strict about maintaining a pace I knew I could hold for 45 minutes. As the climb got steeper, I slowly increased my power and saw that I was catching back up to riders that had started out too hot. With 15 minutes left in the climb, I had been able to pass a few riders and was still feeling pretty good. I upped the pace one last time and focused on completely emptying the tank. In this final effort I overtook a few more riders and finished with the 12th fastest time on the day, with a solid 45 minute power PR. Negative splits are fun.

After refueling at the aid station on the top, we were sent off for the 10 mile downhill segment individually in 30 second intervals. The downhill was a bit bumpy and had some loose gravel corners, but wasn’t too steep. The segment itself was 20 minutes long and had a lot of sections you could pedal through. I definitely should have pushed harder out of every corner and on the flats. I did catch my 30-second man, but it wasn’t my best descending. I finished with the 14th best time, 1:10 down from the winner. Surprisingly the time gaps were pretty small on this long of a segment.

The combined segments put me at 11th on the day, my best placement out of all the stages so far. The shorter stage was also by far the most productive off the bike - I had extra time to sleep, eat, stretch, wash my bike, and jump in the river at camp. The camp vibes on this day were great; we had plenty of down time to hang out with other athletes and were even treated to a beautiful Oregon sunset.

Stage 4: Oakridge → La Pine (95mi / 10,200 ft // Strava) - 11th

This was the queen stage, with all of the climbing front loaded in the first 50 miles. We had a 15 mile climb, followed by a 5 mile climb and a 3 mile climb, before flattish rollers to the finish. After an easier stage the day before, I was mentally and physically ready to bury myself on stage 4. In a similar fashion to the other days, the pace of the group slowly ramped up as we began the first climb. About 10 minutes in, the top 5 riders broke away. Given the difficulty of this stage and given that the first climb was well over 1 hour, I made sure to ride within my limits. The chase group slowly whittled down as most people rode at their own pace. We made our way up this gravel road along a cliff which offered us incredible views on the surrounding mountains and forest. My legs were also feeling pretty good and I managed to beat my 1 hour power PR I had previously set on stage 2. Over the summit I found myself in a group of three fighting for 10th place.

The three of us worked together for a bit as we started the next climb. One of the guys who was clearly stronger took off, leaving me with one other guy now fighting for 11th. Midway up this climb I caught up to Simon, a fellow Alto Velo rider and Eganeer, who had started in the early wave of riders. It was nice and quite motivating to exchange cheers as we suffered up the climb. I continued riding with the other guy, Ulisses, as we worked together up the third and final climb summiting at mile 50. The hardest part was done, but we still had 45 miles to go. We stopped at the aid station for water and food, and continued our way on the next section on a technical “pioneer” road where we weaved between patches of snow, rocks, trees and puddles. Somewhere in this descent I dropped Ulisses and pushed on, hoping to power through the rest of the day.

The rest of the stage was uneventful as I trudged along alone through the flats and rollers. In order to stay motivated, I kept telling myself that the next rider was just up the road, just around the corner. Despite being able to take in a decent amount of food, I felt like I was slowly fading. My brain was getting foggy as I became a mindless creature pedaling as hard as I could through the forest. A true out of body experience. Was this real life? About 5 hours into the ride, Ulisses caught back up to me and woke me up from the haze, which proved to be life-saving. We worked together and kept each other motivated the rest of the way, while I was on my absolute limit. I finished once again in 11th, but I was wrecked.

Stage 5: La Pine → Sisters (83mi / 6300 ft // Strava) - 9th

The morning of stage 5 was really, really tough. My legs were sore, my body was tired, and my head hurt. Thankfully the food at camp was good and I was able to make it to the start line, fueled mainly by coffee and the fact that this was the last day. Stage 5 featured two main climbs - a sandy 7-miler followed by a 9-miler that started pretty steep and crested around 6700 ft. The first 20 miles were relatively flat, but the racing was on from the gun. People looking to make up time and get a head start on the climbs were extra motivated to attack, which made the first hour of the day feel like a road race. The roadie in me found this really fun, but I questioned how long I would last with still the two main climbs to come. Eventually a break of 5 riders got away and I began the next climb in the chase group of about 10 riders.

The first climb was quite sandy and immediately split the group up. Riding uphill in sand is pretty discouraging, as you move so slow despite having to push even more power. I continued at my own rhythm and carried on, just outside the top 10. The first descent took us down some fun dirt roads close to the forest in Bend where I caught up to Simon once again, who I was really happy to see as we cheered each other on. In the rolling hills before the final climb I was joined again by Ulisses, which was awesome since it seemed like we were really close in strength.

Just like the day before, we worked well together and made our way up the final climb. Together we maintained a solid tempo as we managed to pass a couple more riders who had perhaps started off too hard. After clearing the steepest section, the climb felt endless but we made it to the top nearly an hour later. I felt empty but was motivated knowing the end was near. I also had an opportunity for a top 10 finish since we were gaining on another rider ahead. I attacked through the final downhill and rollers and was able to pass the other rider ahead in the final mile for a 9th place finish. I was stoked on the result and even happier to be done.

These five days of racing were a rollercoaster of emotions. Despite a rocky first couple days that put me out of GC, I turned things around and finished strong. I surprised myself with my fitness and found new levels of perseverance I did not know I was capable of. The event was really well organized, with food, tents, and showers provided by the organizers. I was so stoked to meet new people and ride through these backcountry roads with amazing scenery. If anyone reading is interested, let me know, I would highly recommend this event. I’m already looking forward to coming back stronger in 2024.

Thanks for reading,

Flo

Gina Yuan 9/20/23 Gina Yuan 9/20/23

2024 AVRT Application NOW OPEN!

The 2024 application for new and returning team members for both Local and Domestic Elite (travel) teams of Alto Velo Racing is now open!

<<<< https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdQcvGQLhF0X8oRmqM3WfBtecL17_AXAzn5WULnQZkCSICCVA/viewform >>>>

Applicants are required to participate in one of our recruiting rides. Routes, also linked below, and ride details are now posted under Events > Event Calendar. These rides start at 9am at Summit Bicycles Palo Alto on the following dates. If you are unable to make any of these please make other arrangements to ride with the team.

Sunday 10/1: https://www.strava.com/routes/3139270961876513154
Saturday 10/14 (WTFNB Only): https://www.strava.com/routes/3137260913584816136
Sunday 10/15: https://www.strava.com/routes/3138174267060363650

Applications close Friday 11/10/23.

Alto Velo 9/13/23 Alto Velo 9/13/23

Race Report: 2023 University Road Race - Men’s P/1/2

Race: University Road Race - Men’s P/1/2

Date: 8/20/23

AVRT Racers: Andrew Ernst, Cam O’Reilly, Conor Austin, Grant Miller, Nathan Martin

Top Result: 1st - Nathan

Course: 20 laps around part of UCSC. Up a hill, down a hill, repeat. Link

Nutrition: 2 bottles of mix, 1 gel.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9687575847 (missed first 3 laps)

Race Recep (written by Nathan):

In preparing for the race, we had Quinn Felton as the strongest rider who we’d have to make work as much as we could. We were planning on having me stay fresh for the end or the break and everyone else would try to tire Quinn and other hitters like James Kinney.

The race started steady, then at the bottom of the first lap I took a little flier off the front to get things going. University is always a battle of attrition, and I wanted to try to get people dropping as soon as possible.

I was pretty quickly brought back, however, and then the attacks started to fly.

There was a lot of activity, and Cam was very quick to jump on any moves early in the race. On lap 3, he would get into a break with a couple riders that stuck for a few laps, but a Team California rider was drilling it on the front and brought them back.

Once they were back, another group broke off the front, again with Cam in it, but this time it was him with Quinn, James, and Eric Colindres. These were all exceptional riders and it was obvious that we needed to get me up to the break since Cam did a ton of work already today and the day before.

Grant and I let other riders try to chase for a lap, before Andrew got to the front and turned up the pace at the bottom of the climb to start to bring them back.

When we hit the twisty bit on the first half of the climb, Grant motioned for me to follow and he started to bridge. We took turns pulling, catching the break about a full lap later again just before the feed zone.

Here, I went straight to the front and started pulling in the break. In the process I dropped Grant and Cam, but I knew I’d have to do some work or else the break would be reabsorbed.

We were comfortable with this group because I could do the least amount of work since I had plenty of teammates, and Quinn and James were solo so would be incentivized to work.

We worked for a few laps, until with 6 to go Quinn put in the first of his attacks to try and thin the group. I jumped to catch his wheel, but wasn’t able to and he had a bit of a gap as we came through the feed. Once it flattened out a bit I was able to finally catch him before the steep finish of the climb.I did bring Eric and James with me, but keeping with Quinn was well worth it.

On 5 to go, he tried the same thing in the same spot, again a similar result, but I took a bit longer to catch. It made me a bit nervous, how much power Quinn still had, but for now I was with him.

4 and 3 to go had similar attacks, but this time I let others follow to try and save a little bit of energy. It was a bit risky, as if Eric or James didn’t have the legs it would be game over, but my gamble paid off and each time one of them followed.

2 to go, no attacks. On the last lap, however, he put in a dig at the top of the climb, but we could again catch him.

As we hit the bottom of the climb for the last time, I knew from last year that someone always tries to attack at the bottom of the climb. Sure enough, after the turn, James put in a huge dig, but we stayed with him. As we caught him, he put in another dig, but again stayed with him.

Coming into the chicane the order was James, Quinn, Me, Eric. Perfect placing for me. Last year I went from about 400m to go, and I figured I’d try the same again.

I leapt out from the group and hammered. With about 300m to go I could see Quinn gaining on me on my left side, found a second wind, and with about 100m to go he pulled the plug and I was able to win it.

Overall super happy to defend the win from last year, with some super strong riders in the field. Loads of work from everyone, to either sit in breaks or chase down groups or bridge me to the move that we needed to be in. It was a great team effort, and a good way to get some redemption after San Ardo didn’t go as to plan as we would have liked.

Gina Yuan 9/13/23 Gina Yuan 9/13/23

2024 AVRT Recruiting Rides

The Alto Velo Racing Team is recruiting for the 2024 road racing season! Interested in racing your bike next year? We are recruiting at all levels, from first-time racers to those with national-level race ambitions. Come join us for a ride and get to know the team. All rides start 9am at our sponsor bike shop, Summit Bicycles in Palo Alto. Application and ride details coming soon.

Sunday 10/1 Recruitment A ride: Typical fast A ride pace, limited regroups, mostly men. Ride leader: Cameron O’Reilly.
Saturday 10/14 WTFNB coffee ride: Relaxed pace, no-drop, ~40 miles, finishing with a coffee/pastry stop, no men. Ride leader: Lora Maes.
Sunday 10/15 Team Recruitment ride: Social but spirited, with regroups and/or ride splits as needed so everyone can ride hard, ~60 miles, followed by pizza party. Ride leaders: Gina Yuan and William Hakim.

Questions about the team? avrt (at) altovelo (dot) org (Cameron O’Reilly, Sue Lin Holt, Gina Yuan).

Gina Yuan 9/11/23 Gina Yuan 9/11/23

Race Report: 2023 Il Giro di San Francisco - Women's P/1/2/3

Race: 2023 Il Giro di San Francisco - Women's P/1/2/3

Date: September 4th, 2023

AVRT racers: Gina Yuan (4th/20), Sue Lin Holt (5th/20), Lora Maes, Chris Davis, Serenity Marshall (guest rider)

Course: L-shaped 6-corner course with a small bump. Pavement is bad on the backside stretch, and the second corner has tracks on the road.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9785007541

Written By: Gina Yuan

Our plan going into the race was to set up Sue Lin for a sprint with her killer track legs, or for me to follow small late race moves. Lora and Chris competed in (and won!) their Master's Crit District championship categories earlier that day, and Serenity was guest riding with us the first time, and their roles would be to support and be more active especially in the first half of the race.

The pace was pretty fast in the first half, and there were no real lulls. Lora contributed to that as planned and I felt chill when I could see Lora and Sue Lin in good positions. I may have gotten a bit too complacent as I had fallen to the back of the group, and while I was waiting for the pace to slow down again before moving up, the move of the day went off the front.

Jamie (Monarch) had attacked with Ilan (Terun) and Jacqueline (ROXO). Chloe (Monarch) bridged up and attacked through them, going off solo for the rest of the race. I actually didn't see any of this in detail because I was still frantically trying to bridge. I was in no man's land with Kate (Terun) who wasn't particularly helpful since Ilan was up there.

I took a few pulls to try to catch Chloe. We're joined by people from behind and the other three in the break. After a few attempts, I dropped back to see what had become of the group. There were ~10 of us and none of my teammates. It was going to be a dsyfunctional chase. I thought about attacking the group but honestly I didn't have the kick in my legs after the initial chase effort. So it became a race for 2nd.

We catch a few lapped riders, including Lora ~5 laps to go! The officials tend not to pull dropped riders from these women's races, likely so people can have a chance to still race their race as long as they don't pose a significant safety risk. Kind of weird, but the rules are that lapped riders can re-join the field and even participate in race dynamics, just that they will be considered a lap down at the finish. Lora was doing pretty good as she had dropped back intentionally to rest and rejoin, so as the field was getting antsy, she took the front and kept a pace just fast enough to keep us in-line. I sat comfortably on her wheel without having to fight for position.

Then the swarm came with 2 laps to go. And woah there was Sue Lin! And a bunch of other people! Reunited teammates catching up after some time apart. The announcer did say something about the field being back together. But it just didn't cross my mind in the chaos. The field had actually become a mix of the two chase groups, lapped riders, and riders a lap down from dropped chains.

Face palm moment for not communicating more with Sue Lin. I was now focused on navigating the pack solo for the sprint, but I'm glad Sue Lin found her own way on my wheel for a lot of this journey. I think I generally pedaled up the side to the front when the group was spread out across the road, slotted in the front when the pace went up, and focused on keeping momentum if the pace fluctuated. Gwen started a leadout for Marcie (Revolution) on the backside of the course. The finishing stretch after the final corner was pretty long, so people burned out, and Sue Lin and I made up so many positions in the final lap! We finished 4th and 5th overall.

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