Club News
Race Report: 2024 Cal Aggie Criterium - Women’s 3 & Masters
Date: January 27, 2024
AVRT Racers: Kristin Hepworth, Lora Maes, Louise Thomas, Rachel Hwang, Steph Hart
Top Result: 2nd - Rachel HwangCourse: 3 turns, ~1 mile loop, 40 minutes
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10643495881
Race Recap (Rachel Hwang):
Going into it, our strategy was to lead me to win the field as I have the strongest sprint in the team. With that goal in mind, Louise and Steph traded attacks the entire race. While nothing stuck, this forced people on other teams to constantly chase them down and slowly tire out some of the riders.
As this was the first race back this calendar year, people were nervous and jumpy. There were a couple close calls and sketchy moments of people bumping elbows and cutting one another off.
I sat in the last few spots of the bunch for the majority of that race, until 3 laps left to go, when I wanted to move up and feel comfortable with people nudged up against one another. The idea was on the last lap, I would be in the first few spots out of that last corner, and Louise or Steph would lead me out.
With half a lap to go, Steph started leading out. I tried getting behind someone's wheel, but got caught in the wind which slightly burned me out, behind a couple Terun riders. By the last corner, I was able to find Steph. Steph was able to lead me out through the last corner, at which point 3 other sprinters were coming up fast behind and past me. I finished 4th in the field sprint, 2nd in Cat 3.
Nutrition: 1 cliff gel double espresso on the start line, 1 bottle liquid IV during the race
“Race” Report: 2024 Early Birds Week 4, Women’s Cat 4
“Race”: Early Birds clinic and practice crit series - week 4
Date: Sunday January 28, 2024
AVRT racers: Robin Kutner, Katie Monaghan, Katarina Zgraja, Ari Pascarella (mentoring)
Top Result: Everyone wins at Earlybirds
Course: 1 km square loop (right turns), closed to traffic, strava here
Strava: Katarina's, Katie's, Robin's, Ari's
Nutrition:
2x white chocolate macadamia nut cookies on the ride to the course. Snacked on Haribo rainbow worms during the 2.5 hrs of lessons and practice crits. 1 GU gel at the end of the training session to get me home. Total 3 bottles of pedialyte sport for the day.
Event Recap (Written by Katarina)
The focus for week 4 of Earlybirds was “Anticipation and Formation”. The Jan 21st early bird clinic was canceled due to rain, so we also touched on sprinting to make up for last week as well. For drills, we practiced switching different formations along the familiar square shaped course. We would first form into a “bunch”, and then after the 2nd turn we would move into 2-by formation, followed by single file at the 3rd turn, and then finally into a sprint after the final turn. After the sprint, we would all slow and get back into the “bunch” formation and repeat. We then lined up to do 3 x 10 minute practice races - the idea was to practice technical skills, and the three of us also wanted to practice different tactical scenarios.
For the first race, we decided that Robin and Katie were going to work the group via attacking/counterattacking, which could either stick as a break or serve to protect me for a field sprint at the end. It was definitely an enjoyable time for me, as I got to hang out in the group, behind someone’s wheel. None of their attacks turned into a break, but it had dropped some people and strung us into single file. On the final lap, one racer pulled ahead. I knew this was my chance, so as soon as she put the gas down, I was right on her wheel, Robin and Katie had done their duty (very well indeed). I kept on her wheel until the last corner, and then shot out in front of her for the sprint.
In the second race, we decided to try something different. The race started a bit slow and Robin and I ended up on the front chatting. Somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd laps, Katie, Robin, and I traded leading/attacking, none of which seemed to really stick, but I think we managed what we were trying to do in tiring out the 2-3 other riders in the front of the group. I remember swapping with Robin in the 4th lap, and then Katie broke away at the bell lap. As she went for the long sprint, Robin and I prevented any threats from bridging up to Katie. She kept her gap and ended up cruising over the line with plenty of space between her and the next up.
For the third race, the mentors suggested those of us who had been in the front (choosing our lines), this time practice the technical aspects of being in other positions within the peloton (more at the mercy of others’ movements). So the three of us intentionally let others control the race. It started very slowly, and then a Sprinklersrider pulled away from the group very early on. Once again, Katie, Robin, and I (since we were the only team that had multiple players racing), controlled the remaining group. We switched off leading, and kept an eye on the racer ahead of us. We didn’t take her effort seriously at first, but with two laps left, we traded pulls and slowly closed the gap to the solo rider. Then on the final lap Robin pulled me until about the 3rd corner, in which I began a “middle length” sprint. I still had legs and I knew that the girl who went solo was probably cooked. I managed to catch her, but was nonetheless super impressed with her awesome effort.
Race Report: 2024 Cal Aggie Crit - Women P/1/2/3
Date: January 27, 2024
AVRT racers: Sue Lin Holt, Rachel Hwang, Louise Thomas, Steph Hart
Top Result: Steph (2/13); Sue Lin (3/13); Rachel (4/13)
Course: 60 min 1.09mi loop. Two corners at the top of the course including a sharp left, one corner on the right, and a bit of a drag to the finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10643398019
Nutrition: Clif bar between races, salted caramel gu 5 minutes before the race start
Part 1 (Stephs perspective): Rachel, Louise, and I were last minute adds to the start list after doing the cat 3/masters race earlier in the day, so AV had a minimal plan for this race. Louise and I were pretty tired from animating the cat 3 race and planned to sit in, while Sue Lin and Rachel were both relatively fresh and prepared for a field sprint.
From the start it was clear that everyone was expecting Terun (here just Alex and Kate) to control the race. They did, with both trading attacks in the opening laps of the race. For the most part these were covered by the field (primarily Gwen and Marcie from Revolution, Shannon Gaffney, and Sue Lin), and didn’t get more than a 3ish second gap. ~10 minutes into the race one of Alex’s attacks stuck for half a lap and Rachel and one other rider went with her, but this was brought back by solo riders in the field. ~20 minutes in Alex attacked again and went solo for half a lap or so before the field reeled her back to a ~2 second gap. I was feeling pretty rested from just sitting in and found myself second wheel in the group with some momentum, so bridged up to Alex, thinking I’d bring the rest of the field with me. The few other front riders must have been tired from chasing, so when I caught and passed Alex and gave a hard ~30 second pull, I was surprised the field didn’t follow and only Alex was on my wheel (she seemed equally surprised). We started trading efforts at a pretty hard pace trying to grow the gap. ~3 laps later we had maybe a 10 second gap on the field and were taking relatively long ~60-90 second pulls.
At this point, the pace was unsustainable for me given there was ~30 minutes left, but I figured I was there to get a workout in, and I was certainly getting a cornering clinic following Alex through the technical section each lap so I might as well keep rolling. With 8 laps to go Alex said we had enough of a gap and we should just hold pace and shorten up the pulls to ~20 seconds. The field seemed to give up the chase with 5 or 6 laps to go, and by 3 laps to go the moto told us we had a 35 second lead. At just over 1 lap to go the moto came by again and told us the field was no longer a factor. By this point I had been pulling for the last ~2 minutes, as Alex was clearly playing the tactical game for a last lap attack- I found this a little hilarious as I was 100% at my physical limits after 35 minutes in the break and had no intention of contesting a sprint finish with her. At the bell Alex attacked and went solo for the win, and I tried to convince my legs not to cramp too hard as I rolled in for 2nd place.
Part 2 (Louise’s perspective): Having a teammate in the break was super nice because it meant we could just chill and let other people tire themselves out. In the field, the only ones chasing were Marcie (Revolution), Shannon Gaffney, and Karen Edwards (both solo). All three of them had raced in the Cat 3 / masters race earlier in the day. With six laps to go, after putting in a good effort but being unable to close the gap, they gave up on chasing and we lost sight of the break.
Since me, Steph and Rachel were late additions to the race, we hadn't discussed beforehand what our endgame should be. Sue Lin and Rachel are both great sprinters and I am not, so I decided to try and lead one of them out. With half a lap to go, I got to the front hoping one of them would be on my wheel, and pushed up the pace coming into the final stretch. Sue Lin (who was on Marcie's wheel) and Rachel (from my wheel) both ripped it into the finish line, taking 1st and 2nd in the field sprint (3rd and 4th overall).
Race report: Cal Aggie Criterium 1/2/3
Race: Cal Aggie Criterium, Men’s 1-2-3
Date: 1/27/2024
AVRT racers: Andrea Cloarec, Jon Wells
Top result: Andrea Cloarec 17th/60
Course: 60 minutes, 1.09mi loop (Strava). Two corners at the top of the course including a sharp left, one corner on the right, and a bit of a drag to the finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10643510423/overview
Nutrition: One Bottle with electrolytes and Maple syrup in (around 60-80g per bottle). One Maurten gel just before the start.
Event recap: The full race was quite easy, as the 3 main teams (Terun, TMB, Voler), had all decided to control the race. Meaning every time a solo rider or 2 riders were attacking, they would let them a few seconds ahead, just keeping them in check. But none of the 3 big teams tried to go in a break and attack.
With Jon we mostly stayed in the pack. I think nothing was possible.
Trying to attack would have been a joke for the 3 main teams, as they could easily play with us. (except if you have a power very very high that could threaten them)
At some point a -strong- solo guy managed to get a good gap (20+ seconds), with one lap to go I really thought he would get it. But the peloton really went fast on the last lap and got him on the last 300m.
The idea to get a good result was to fight for position on the last lap. However the last lap was definitely fast, and as the race was pretty easy, the full field was still here, with everyone fresh. So fighting for position was even harder. I was certainly too “scared” to try fighting for position and take risks. So I got at the chicane not in a position to fight for a top10. I still kept pushing through the line, but couldn’t actually compete to the sprint.
A good race, very tactic, where everything happen in the last lap. So there is no room for mistake, and you need to not be scared pushing early to get into position.
AC
2024 Early Birds #2, Men’s 1-2-3
“Race”: Early Bird Crit 2, Men’s 1-2-3
Date: 1/14/2024
AVRT racers: Andrea Cloarec
Course: The course is a 1km square loop and is closed to traffic. Good pavement. Botts’ Dots down the middle. Four right turns.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10515399603
Nutrition: Bottles with electrolytes and Maple syrup in (around 60-80g per bottle)
Event recap: Warning - Early birds are a TRAINING Race. Winning or beating someone doesn’t mean anything. Everyone comes here with different objective…
For this second week of the early bird, I arrived with slightly more fatigue, so I wanted to be more conservative, trying to save energy.
And when this happens, racing without being aggressive at the front, you cannot decide how the race will go. Quick enough, I missed the good break, that formed after 10 minutes. I was hoping that the peloton would catch it. It didn’t, and I didn’t help to catch them.
So it was just 45min relax in the peloton. I avoided the huge crash that happens around 45min mark, at least I’m happy for that.
I still wanted to go for the field sprint for training, however I didn’t get the good line, got “boxed” before the last turn. Once again I should have been more aggressive in my position to hope for anything.
Still a good training for crit racing, and a reminder on how to race.
Andrea
Race Report: 2024 Early Birds #1, Men’s Cat 4/Novice
Race: Early Birds Clinic and Practice Crit - Men’s Cat 4 and Novice
Date: January 7th, 2024
AVRT racers: Clark Penado
Top Result: N/A, We’re all winners at Early Birds
Course: Four corner 1 km course. Strava segment can be found here.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10515123315
Nutrition: Two bottles of electrolyte mix and a clif bar on hand.
Event Recap: We did some practice loops trying to focus on cornering for a while with some discussions about protecting your front wheel. After this we were told we'd go and do some "mock races" of 6 laps around the course.
During the first race, the pace was fairly consistent, and I tried to stay at the back of the pack until I felt I could make a move. On the second to last straight of the fifth lap, I wanted to move up a bit in the group, but I wasn't able to find any space further up, so I figured it might be early enough to launch an attack into the last lap. I ended up on the front pushing the pace as much as I could, but lost my position going into the final corner of lap 6. Coming out of it into the finish, I wasn't able to push enough power compared to the two or three people who overtook me on the final corner.
During the second race, the pace definitely picked up for a bit, but in the middle of the third lap the pace dropped considerably. I think most of us were playing a bit of a game to see who would take a pull, but I ended up launching an attack here hoping I could create a breakaway. Coming into the final corner again, a couple people overtook me on the final corner (after the last race there was some advice given from the mentors that corner was critical if you wanted to win the race), but I sprinted through with about the same result.
The final race of our day I missed my initial clip-in, but just pushed through to get into position before sorting it out. Towards the end of the first lap I saw someone making a move, and figured that was my potential ticket into a potential breakaway. I got onto his wheel coming through the last corner of the lap, and stayed on it through the first turn. He flicked his elbow so I went up to take a turn, but unfortunately we didn’t stay ahead long and got caught later on in the same lap. I sat in the middle of the pack after this for a couple laps. Going into the final lap, I saw another attack happening with someone chasing, and followed on the opposite side of the pack. The person chasing ended up moving over in front of me blocking me from moving up, and I stayed behind him until the final turn. At this point the entire front of the pack was attacking going into the final corner and through the finish, since the mentors heavily emphasized it was the most critical moment of the course. Coming through the finish, it became abundantly clear my sprint could use some more work.
“Race” Report: 2024 Early Birds Week 2, Women’s Cat 4
“Race”: Early Birds clinic and practice crit series - week 2
Date: Sunday, January 14, 2024
AVRT racers: Emily Selman, Katie Monaghan, Katarina Zgraja, Robin Betz (mentoring - thank you!!)
Top Result: Everyone wins at Early Birds! (But I’m pretty sure Kat won)
Course: 1 km square loop and is closed to traffic. Good pavement. Botts’ Dots down the middle. Four right turns. (Same course as “Shea Center Criterium” that took place in September 2023)
Strava: Emily’s, Katie’s, Kat’s, Robin’s
Nutrition: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich before and a granola bar between the clinic and “race”
Event Recap (written by Katie): Week 2 of early birds was focused on cornering! The WTFNB group was about half the size of last week (14 or so). We spent the first part of the clinic with some verbal instruction followed by drills to work on our cornering skills. Similar to last week, the group then set out for three 5 lap “races”.
In the first race, one solo rider went out of the start fast, creating a large gap from the rest of the peloton. Emily chased her down and caught her draft for the first few laps. Kat and I were in the front of the second group and took turns pulling until we caught Emily and the other rider. This race ended with Kat in a sprint with two other solo riders and Emily and I close behind.
In the second and third race, Kat, Emily and I started to talk more about how we could help each other better during the race. We began to trade pulls more and quickly realized Kat was our best sprinter. The cornering was becoming smoother and overall the pace was faster than last week. We mainly were in single pacelines due to the small size of our field, which also probably helped our cornering skills.
In the third race, our group started out more conservatively and rode closer together. I decided to pull ahead to see if we could stretch out the field some. My thought was to make a bit of a gap for the three of us away from the other riders. However, the attack was likely a little premature because I suffered on the last lap. We spent a lot of time between races hypothesizing the best strategies to race better as a team, so please share with us any of your tips! Safe to say, I think we all caught the crit bug and had a lot of fun.
2024 Early Birds #1, Men’s 1-2-3
“Race”: Early Bird Crit 1, Men’s 1-2-3
Date: 1/7/2024
AVRT racers: Andrea Cloarec
Top Result: Andrea, 1st
Course: The course is a 1km square loop and is closed to traffic. Good pavement. Botts’ Dots down the middle. Four right turns.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10515399603
Nutrition: Bottles with electrolytes and Maple syrup in (around 60-80g per bottle)
Event recap: Warning - Early birds are a TRAINING Race. Winning or beating someone doesn’t mean anything. Everyone comes here with different objective…
My objective was to win =)
Mostly solo riders and one team with 7 guys, Work Health Solution (WHS). After the first lap I quickly felt it could be a messy race, breakaway could go at any moment, separation in the peloton could happen very fast. So I directly tried to stay close to the front, ready to go if a break looks interesting.
15 min: Eugene (Pen Velo) goes, follow by two WHS guys, and a Voler factory guy, Colin. Looking like a good composition, two other guys of WHS are at the head of the peloton, which is a very good position for me to bridge, as the WHS guys in the peloton should not chase me, so I can create a gap quickly with the main pack to bridge alone.
I quickly bridge, then do a big pull directly in the breakaway group. So they know I want to go, and am ready to work. Organization is pretty good, and I keep pushing hard when it’s my turn. From there, breakaway was gone, we would be 5 to go for the win.
To be noted: after 10minutes one guy managed to bridge us. I wondered how he did… He got dropped 2 laps after, as he certainly had to do a -very- big effort to bridge.
For 20minutes in the break my objectives was to save energy when I could, work on my crit technique. Taking effective pull, cornering, going back into the draft… And trying to fatigue the other guys, doing some attacks, just to make the others work harder from time to time.
minute 40: We lapped the field. From there it’s even more a mess, other WHS guys start working for their teammates (which is allowed). I decide to just be patient.
5 lap to go: One WHS goes for it alone. Perfect for me. I decide to let him 5-10 seconds ahead of us. Telling Eugene to work with me to keep him in distance. Knowing the Voler guy Colin is hiding behind, letting us do the work, but he’ll come at some point… For now, this WHS guy is just burning his match.
1 lap to go: Colin finally appears when we got into close reach to the WHS guy at the front. He launched a big attack. As I was ready for him to come, I directly jump in his wheel. We quickly create a gap with the field, catch the WHS guy, directly pass him.
From there Colin is blocked. I’m behind him, but he cannot slow down or the field will come back. I wait until the last turn. He’s ahead, I start my sprint with 150m to go, Colin is tired from the last lap, so I can take the win.
Overall it was a very nice training, I think I managed my effort very well in the break, still pushing enough to make this break successful.
For the numbers of this 58min crit. 354W average, 376NP. We did put some power in the break.
A few more Early birds to practice before the start of the season!
AC
“Race” Report: 2024 Early Birds #1, Women’s Cat 4
“Race”: Early Birds clinic and practice crit series - session #1
Date: 1/7/2024
AVRT racers: Robin Kutner, Katie Monaghan
Top Result: Everybody wins at early birds!
Course: The course is a 1km square loop and is closed to traffic. Good pavement. Botts’ Dots down the middle. Four right turns. (It’s the same course as the “Shea Center Criterium” that took place in Sept 2023).
Nutrition: The event went from ~11am-3pm and I snacked on mini Lara Bars and dried mango throughout. I wasn’t treating any of it like an actual race (in fact I’d done hard intervals the day before), and I’m trying to eat less “bike food” and more “real food” on non-performance-oriented rides.
Event recap (written by Robin): Each week of Early Birds has a different focus area, and session #1 was about protecting your front wheel and gaining comfort in a pack on a crit course. It started with a generic, verbal clinic combined with the juniors (TIL they make bike kit/equipment for very tiny children). Then the WTFNB group split out for more relevant instruction and skills/drills/riding.
Finally, our WTFNB group of ~30 split in half, separated by “no experience” and “some experience”. Katie and I were in the latter group, and we set off for a few mini practice crits. We didn’t do anything in the way of strategy, but we got to practice “racing” fast in tight squares. We were mostly led by two Sprinkles riders (who I know well from SF running/riding) who are aerobic machines and strung us out quickly. Katie and I bounced around mostly in the middle-back of the front group. I found myself essentially doing hard intervals coming out of most corners to close the gap in the line that had formed by my poor cornering. The southern leg of our crit square was very headwindy and I was hitting ~700 W to close that gap, oof. I didn’t care to make a real race of it, so I was happy for 1-2 people to come around me and close those gaps. However, due to unpreventable competitive brain, I did find myself sprinting them down once we got to the final straight. Yay.
Our final practice crit was with the recombined WTFNB group. It went out slowly, I got bored, and I didn’t want to mix in corners with the giant pack, so ~1 lap in I went to the front for a bit and then barked at some other riders to help me string it out. We did, it was fun, and I felt myself cornering a bit cleaner and faster than in the previous practice crits.
After each of the three practice crits, the group would reconvene with mentors to talk about any “interactions” in a totally shame-free and educational way. For instance, during the second race, a Sprinkles rider was leading and Katie was in line behind. On the last lap, Katie tried to pull ahead by passing on the inside during a turn. This caused surprise in both of them when Katie pulled up alongside Sprinkles inside the corner. Everyone stayed upright, and we got to talk about risk/reward and safety in such a scenario.
After the clinic, practice races, and recap sessions, we were free to go! A few of us rode some more on nearby Collier Canyon Road, which was surprisingly scenic and nice.
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
Top Result: Ari Pascarella (4/15)
Written by: Ari Pascarella
Course: A rectangular course, 1 km in length, with a tight chicane for the first corner.
Strava: https://strava.app.link/HqVowiJKgEb
Nutrition: Pre-race bottle of Nuun, 15 min before 1 SiS gel, and a race day bottle of Heed (Hammer Nutrition).
Race Recap:
The Oakland Grand Prix criterium is the season finale (for P1/2) as well as the district criterium championship, for me personally it marked the end to my first year racing with Alto Velo. Our team brought a full squad of 7 people, which made for an engaging pre-race chat and warm up. Included in the race were Louise and Sue Lin who had raced earlier in the day and came to the chat with some perspective on the course. They highlighted the cones blocking half of the road going into the final straightaway (insightful for positioning coming out of the last corner) and they prepared us for the chicane (basically a hairpin turn), which would be sure to pinch you if you weren’t in a good spot.
On the start the wind whistled and the air buzzed with race day jitters. Within a few laps of the start of the race, a breakaway had formed with a combination we did not like (1 Terun, 1 Monarch, and Gina). Gina had prepared us that if this match up occurred we should bring it back (lesson 1: get a finisher into the breakaway). As the protected rider, I hung back and watched as Louise, Sue Lin, Niky, Kelly, and Rachel rotated through attempting to close the gap (lesson 2: the longer, lap-long pulls with teammates dropping to the back was fruitless and we would have been better served to keep the pulls short and the rotation tight). Before long, Gina was dropped from the breakaway (from her side, she did her best to conserve and hang on, but the dynamic was too challenging to stay along for the ride). With Gina back in the bunch, 2 still off the front, and several teammates feeling burnt out from trying to reel the breakaway in, we needed to re-evaluate. After a few laps, I made the gut decision to organize a lead out in an attempt to bridge to the breakaway (lesson 3: probably doing this with a 2 minute gap was not realistic). I directed Rachel and Gina to lead me out after the next pass through the chicane, then I jumped. They executed exactly as I’d asked and I felt strong! Unfortunately, 2 Monarch were quick to follow and 1 counter attacked after I clipped a pedal. Though I recovered and tried to go with her, I couldn’t follow (lesson 4: only try to bridge if you can go solo or bring a teammate; read: look around). So now, in an even worse position than before (1 Terun and 2 Monarch up the road), we re-evaluated again and decided to make the most of who we had left in the peloton and get organized for our lead out and the field sprint.
With only a few laps to go Gina needed to pull out of the race with a mechanical. Meanwhile, Niky and Kelly got together to form my lead out and Rachel positioned herself to sweep. Niky played it perfectly with a steady, hard pace for 2 laps, immediately followed by Kelly, right on cue, on the final lap, and once we rounded the final corner I got to do my favorite thing in criteriums - sprint! I came out of it with the field sprint win (4th overall). Afterwards, the team re-grouped, gave lots of hugs, and warmed up afterwards with some pho, and we discussed the lessons learned from the day. (Lesson 5: Even when you don’t win, racing is best with friends by your side).
I was so greatful to get to play the role of designated sprinter, and even though it wasn't the top step for the day, it felt awesome to race with this team and stand on the long podium representing Alto Velo for the first time this year.
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
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
Photo: Greg Beliera
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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).