Club News
Race Report: 2024 Golden State Race Series - Circuit Race Men’s Cat 3 & P123
Race: 2024 Golden State Race Series - Circuit Race Men’s Cat 3 & P123
Date: May 5, 2024
AVRT racers: Drew Mathews
Course: A 2 mile flat circuit with 8 turns. A mix of looping corners, fast square corners, and straightaways, all with wide roads. Classic business park circuit.
Nutrition: Many homemade oat + maple syrup energy balls before each race. Cat 3: no bottle / gels during race. P123: 1 bottle with electrolytes (1 packet Lyte Balance unflavored electrolytes) + 60 g organic tapioca maltodextrin, 2 Untapped plain organic maple syrup packets (27 g each).
Recap: (written by Drew)
First off, I have some relevant news to share. I got the test result a few weeks ago that I am rid of Lyme disease and the other tick borne infections I had. I was diagnosed almost four years ago in June 2020. The Sea Otter road and circuit races were the first races I did with that news. Sea Otter road race was the hardest race I’ve ever done and the highest level I’ve ever performed, but being the day after I got the news, I still had not ventured off the very limited diet I’ve been on since I was diagnosed. After the Sea Otter circuit race Saturday morning, I jumped straight in the deep end. I went to a wedding on the east coast while Berkeley Hills was going on and ate histamine and salicylates (look it up) galore. I even ate from restaurants in the airport (ridiculous). The week after I got home from the wedding, two weeks after I had gotten out of jail, the cops showed up at my door to give me my ankle monitor and tell me I was still on parole. I started reacting to foods with higher levels of histamine again, and I had to backtrack and figure out how to properly start eating normal food.
At the same time, things were coming a lot more easily on the bike. Interval sessions - way more easy to get done and finish strong. I had carbs in my bottles for the first time ever on a bike ride. I ran into David Domonoske on the same ride and told him that, and he replied “That’s insane.”
The race came Sunday morning, and as for most races this spring for me, the underlying goal has been to show up and be able to perform. Symptoms from mast cell activation syndrome (caused by Lyme & the cause of the histamine reactions) improve with exercise, so I knew that I’d feel better for the P123 race in the afternoon.
The team California juniors were the largest team in the Cat 3 race, with a couple Work Health riders and maybe another team with 2 or 3. The first half of the race passed, and I was happy to settle in and realize I was there, part of the race, and able to perform. Breakaway attempts went often. Primes helped encourage riders to sneak off the front. I went with a couple breakaway attempts that were brought back fairly quickly. Halfway through, a breakaway of six went 5-10 seconds clear of the peloton. A chase group of 4 riders established itself between for about a lap. I helped close the gap to the chase group, and eventually the breakaway was brought back with 10 minutes to go in the race. A bit strangely, no one countered, so I figured everyone was feeling the prior 35 minutes of breakaway and chase efforts.
I didn’t want things to come down to a sprint. My sprint is getting much better, but I knew without a lead out I wouldn’t win. I wasn’t in this race for minor placings either. My overarching goals for these spring races were to show myself that I belong in Cat 3 and figure out ways that I can win races. Thus, I was happy to make some high risk moves and see how they paid off. I had learned from my AV mentor in Cat 2, Jon Wells, that in Cat 3 and 4, late moves can be effective because teams trying to keep things together until the sprint aren’t always organized or on top of chasing back moves, at least not as organized in P12. With that in mind, I tried my luck with some late flyers. I attacked on the final straightaway before we crossed the start/finish line for one lap to go, and I was brought back pretty quickly. Things stayed together through the next couple of corners until a few more riders attacked with a little more than ½ a lap to go. I stayed in the group until a few moments after the initial attack a couple chasers went, and I went with them to try and bridge. Things were coming back together, so as soon as we bridged, I gave it one more try and went over the top of them. I was swallowed up after the next corner, and I knew I had burned all my matches. I rolled it in behind the group, but I was happy with committing to a strategy and risk in order to try and win (and learn).
Between races, I napped in my car, had some food, chilled on the grass and watched other races while the organizers bumped some tunes, and with a couple hours before the P123 start, went for a ride along the American River. The bike path along the American River is really nice, offers beautiful scenery, and is a 15 minute pedal from the race course - would recommend. It’s also where the Friday TT took place.
The last race of the day came. This was my first P123 race, so I told myself before the start that the goal was to make it with the group til the end. In order to accomplish this, I would need to save as much energy as possible, so I should have stayed in the wheels the whole time. In the past after I’ve told myself this, I’ve never actually behaved, and true to form, in the second half of the race, when I was feeling good, I went with a couple breakaway attempts.
The race was a good learning experience and gave me a lot of confidence. It wasn’t on another planet of difficulty from Cat 3 - it was just a bit faster, and I needed to be more energy efficient and more conscious of keeping on the wheel in front of me. The tactics were the same as I had learned in Cat 3 and 4, just more organized. Voler Factory was the main team there - Mike’s Bikes and our squads were both elsewhere, and they clearly wanted to bring it down to a sprint. Every breakaway attempt, one of their riders followed, made it in the group, and sat on the wheel in front of them until the group was brought back. There weren’t any big crashes. One guy went down at the start finish around the halfway point, and the race was neutralized by the moto for half a lap when we passed him the next time we came around the course.
After 45 minutes, the duration of the cat 3 race, halfway through this 90 minute race, I was truly realizing this race was a long one at a high pace. Fueling was therefore important, and this was where I came undone. I had one bottle with 60 g of carbs in it and two maple syrup gels, and I finished my bottle a little after halfway. I had a gel right while the race was neutralized as well.
While the race was neutralized, I had a second to catch my breath, appreciate that I was a part of this race, and feel inspired to try my luck in some moves. I tried to go with a couple of breakaway attempts after the race restarted, but they were brought back quickly just as had every other attempt prior. During this time, I made my way to the top 20 wheels for half a lap or so and for the first time got to appreciate what I’ve heard on Norcal Cycling YouTube videos for a while now - it was so much easier towards the front. We carried a lot more speed through corners and saved more energy, versus at the back, I was spiking above 600 watts after every corner. I tried to get into a move after this and then shuffled further back to recover, but being up there was a really good learning experience.
In the final 20 minutes of the race, the pace ramped up a bit. I was further back in the pack with 15 minutes to go, and I had one of those uh-oh moments where I knew it was over for me. I had that “my legs are about to stop working in 30 seconds” due to under-fueling moment, and I scrambled to gulp my last gel down. The fire had already gone out though, and I lost the wheel in front of me and fell to the last wheel in the pack. I lost the wheel, tried to catch back on after the pack seemed to have slowed before the last corner of the course, and then realized it was over.
All in all, it was a good Sunday at the Golden State Circuit race. Two high level races and a nice ride along the American river was a sweet way to spend the day, and I gained some good fitness, learning experiences, and confidence. Thanks for reading and perhaps learning some Lyme disease related jargon.
-Drew
PS Only dinguses (dingii?) forget to take their saddle bags off
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Race Report: 2024 Winchester Circuit Race - Men's 2/3 and 3/4
Race: Winchester Circuit Race - Men's 2/3 and 3/4
Date: May 11, 2024
AVRT racers: Drew Matthews, Henry Mallon
Top Result: Henry 4/23 (2/3), Henry 1/16 (3/4)
Course: 5 laps of a roughly 4.5-mile circuit with about 350 feet of elevation gain each lap. The main features are a safe but very fast descent and an undulating punchy climb to the finish that includes two sections above 15% grade.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11387541824 (2/3), https://www.strava.com/activities/11388742484 (3/4)
Nutrition: One bottle with 80g Skratch for each race.
2/3 Race Recap (Written by Henry):
This was my first race in a field with Cat 2s, and Drew’s second, so our plan was to let the larger teams control and try to survive until the finish. If we were both there at the end, Drew would help me with positioning going into the final climb.
Both Dolce Vita and PenVelo brought a team of four riders and used their numbers to keep the pace hard. Their presence on the front and high pace on the climbs discouraged all attacks and breakaway attempts.
My highest 5-minute power for the race came on the second lap during the main climb. This is where Drew wasn’t able to stay with the group and decided to pull out. With temperatures already in the mid-80s and hard surges on the climbs, this was definitely a super tough race.
Going into the finishing climb on the final lap, I was able to position myself in about 6th wheel. When we hit the first steep pinch at about 15%, someone attacked and two people followed. I spiked my power to about 500W for 20 seconds, but they quickly had a 5-second gap. I knew this was the race-winning move, but I didn’t fully commit and trust myself with half the climb still remaining. I think I made a similar mistake at Berkeley Hills RR (and Sea Otter to a lesser extent) where I didn’t respond to the first attack and then ended up chasing in the wind. Going into future races, I need to decide in advance to give it everything and follow the decisive attack, even if that risks blowing up.
After the top three got away, the group was shattered and I was next up with two guys on my wheel. I considered keeping the pressure up and trying to close the small gap to the leaders, but I didn’t want to tow the others on the flat and slightly down section of the climb. After freewheeling the short descent before the final 15% kick to the finish, I launched my sprint early at 200m to go and held off the other two for 4th. Overall, I was really happy to survive a tough race and still have a decent sprint at the end to win out of the second group. Also, it was encouraging to see that the next best-placed Cat 3 in the race was 7th, which gave me some confidence going into the 3/4 race later in the day.
3/4 Race Recap (Written By Henry):
The 2/3 race earlier was a big effort (I set a new all-time peak HR of 208 bpm), so I wasn’t sure how my legs would feel after waiting in temps approaching 90° for about three hours between the races. Drew went for a spin between the races and said he was starting to feel a bit better. So, our plan was for me to conserve energy while Drew chased any threatening breaks. Most notably, PenVelo had three riders—Charlie was our biggest concern for a breakaway, as we assumed he’d be trying to set things up for Leo and Niko, who are excellent climbers.
Contrary to the 2/3 race, the pace started leisurely with no teams controlling. Charlie (PenVelo) did try sneaking off the front a few times, but Drew was all over it and the group always came together very quickly.
On the gradual incline just before the fast descent, a TMB rider swerved and crashed himself into the curb. I was able to scrub most of my speed, but I still ran into the back of his bike and unclipped. I didn’t fall, but I did have to get off my bike to move around him and get going again.
I knew the group wasn’t working hard, so I stayed calm and made it back before the base of the main climb without exerting too much energy.
Last year, Drew successfully broke away in the 4/5 field at this race by attacking over the top of the climb going into the final lap. As we started lap four, Drew tried a similar move and got away solo. He stayed away for a few minutes, but no one attempted to bridge and the group eventually caught him.
As we crossed the finish line into the final lap, Charlie went to the front and ramped up the pace. Drew was on my wheel and just barely couldn’t hang on over the top. I considered dropping back to help him reconnect, but Charlie kept on the gas over the top, and the gap expanded. This group now contained five riders including all three PenVelo guys.
Even though I knew Charlie would likely attack to force me to chase and set up his climbers Leo and Niko, I still missed the moment when he snuck off the front. Once I realized he had a gap, I knew it was my responsibility to chase. Charlie is a great time trialist (he soloed Bariani RR from the first lap), and he would definitely win if I hesitated. With Leo and Niko sitting on, I wanted to close the gap on the rollers where there’s less draft and they would at least be doing some work. The fifth rider in the group was Peter (Team California Juniors), and thankfully he didn’t hesitate to take some pulls with me.
I put in a hard dig on the final roller before the long descent and caught Charlie just as we crested the top. The timing worked out really well because I think PenVelo would have counterattacked if I had caught him at any other point.
After the descent, Charlie stayed on the front and pushed enough to keep any chasing groups behind. When we reached the first ramp of the finishing climb, Charlie upped the pace and then pulled off. Leo paced the front until the final 200m steep ramp when I came around and started sprinting. This was surprisingly my best-ever five-second power of 977W, which usually isn’t worth a whole lot. But at the end of two hot races and at 15% grade, it was enough to hold off Niko and win the race.
Overall, I thought this was a really fun and safe race course with fast descents and steep, punchy climbs. There are no technical features and the pavement is nearly perfect. And, the circuit race format is a great opportunity to race multiple times or try racing with a higher category for the first time. I would definitely encourage everyone to come out to this race next year!
Race Report: 2024 Golden State Series Circuit - Women’s 3/4/5
Race: 2024 Golden State Series Circuit - Women’s 3/4/5
Date: May 5, 2024
AVRT racers: Hannah Chen, Janene Ostrow (guest racing)
Top Result: Hannah Chen (1st/5 cat 4, 2nd/7 overall)
Course: Nontechnical counter-clockwise 2.3 mi office park circuit, wide road with 10 easy corners and smooth pavement. Sunny conditions with a headwind on the 3rd section running parallel to the freeway before the finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11341597915
Nutrition: Banh mi for lunch :) Pre-race: Plain water and 1 Gu courtesy of The Feed. No water during the race.
Race Summary: I finished yesterday’s crit ahead on the sprint table and calculated that I just needed to win one out of the two sprint primes against Elisia(Terun) to get the green jersey. With the improved weather we had more women racing today (yay!), including a strong Cat 3 rider and fellow AV-er Janene.
Nothing happened on the first lap and I was happy moving places amongst the front and middle of the paceline. Some time during the 2nd lap a gap started to form and before I knew it three people in front of me were off in a break, including my sprint rival. As we came past the start line, I heard a bell. They announced back-to-back prime laps AND the lap card only showed 3 to go. Oh no! They were within eyeshot and I needed to catch them no matter what. I started chasing. It took me almost the full lap to finally bridge.
The last 200m of the circuit is a long S-shape with a left-right turn before the finish. I knew I needed to be first to the turns before the sprint but…couldn’t (prime order: Trang, Elisia, me). I used the next lap to recover and everyone played nice switching quick pulls. When it was my turn, I realized I was on the headwind stretch, aka the most important time to not be tired, and did the laziest pull then soft pedaled. I positioned better on the last turn and was able to get in front of Elisia for the prime. Final lap was a similar story: recover & position. I was feeling confident starting the final sprint but suddenly I got squeezed in! I slowed, scooted around and went as hard as I could, but it wasn’t quite enough.
Lessons learned:
Don’t feel guilty for not pulling.
Need to learn to sprint/time a sprint. I think I followed too closely going into the sprint and didn’t pay attention to my left side which is how I got squeezed in.
Closing thoughts: I was on the fence to race this weekend because of the low sign up numbers but am very glad I did. It was small enough that I could practice awareness during the race; I felt pretty anxious in the pack during the previous bigger races. The pace and competition still challenged me. Lastly, the new experiences were worth it, such as learning to get ready and race in the rain (it’s not as bad as you think it’ll be!), making a rough race plan and actually following through with it, feeling confident in cornering, and my first podium 🙂. The weather Sunday was amazing too.
Race Report: 2024 Berkeley Streets Criterium – Women’s 3
Race: Berkeley Streets Criterium – W3, Master’s 40, 50, 60+, Collegiate A/B
Date: April 27, 2024
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Rachel Hwang, Steph Hart
Top Result: Rachel 1st
Course: 0.6mi rectangle, slight incline on the front side, slight decline on the back side
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11287098546
Race Recap: (Rachel Hwang’s perspective)
I’ve ridden with Steph and Louise multiple times at this point, and in many crits, so felt comfortable going into this race with them. As always, Louise and Steph were going to attack and make the crit interesting and try leading me out for the sprint.
The course was pretty simple – a rectangle, with the start/finish side on a slight incline, up to 3.7% according to Strava, and the backside a similar profile decent. In addition, the front side had a headwind, while the back had a tailwind. Very quickly into the race, I realized the strategy (at least my strategy) was to draft up the hill which made the incline barely noticeable, and coast and draft down the back side which meant no pedaling at all.
Also, very quickly into the race, people were pushing the pace already. A few girls switched off attacking which picked up the pace of the ride. While I let most other people chase the attacks, I wedged myself into 4th or 5th spot each time so as to not get dropped off the back. The only attack I did was on lap 5 for the prime which created a small break and a girl followed behind. While we did switch off for a lap, I knew I wanted to reel the group back in as I could tell my throat was closing up. On that note, Louise did come up to me near the end of the race asking how I was doing to which I responded, “I’m feeling pretty tired, I’m going to save my energy.”
Louise and Steph also attacked a couple times, and were lifesavers for chasing down attacks for me. I just wasn’t feeling 100% this race and am so glad I had teammates there.
Around 2 laps to the end, Louise said she would try to lead me out. On the final lap, she got trapped against the gutter and couldn’t get into position to lead me out. Going into the first corner on the last lap, I couldn’t find Louise, and it was time for me to get into position. Generally, my tactic is to get in 3rd or 4th position going into that last corner, but recently I’ve felt pretty confident in my sprint that I decided to go for it out of that last corner. It’s a pretty long sprint so that decision was not smart by any means.
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.
Race Report: 2024 Winchester Circuit Race- Women’s Cat 4
Race: Winchester Circuit Race- Women’s Cat 4
Date: May 11, 2024
AVRT racers: Kristin Hepworth- 1st
Course: The course is a ~4.5 mile road loop with excellent pavement and a series of rolling hills. There are only two 90° turns on the course. Though steep in some sections no hill is longer than a couple minutes, and are all followed by fun, fast, and safe descents, so momentum can be carried into the next climb. The biggest descent (segment title “Tuck and Lol”) is a bit over 1 minute and is fast! A series of undulating climbs (~350ft gain total) takes you up to the finish, which is located roughly half way up the steepest and longest climb.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11386719689#3224412165218688092
Nutrition: Oatmeal 3-hours before the race. One Ucan energy gel 10 minutes before the race. The race is only an hour, so I didn’t eat anything during. One bottle of water during the race.
Recap
The race started with a 3 minute neutral roll up the steep hill from the parking lot to the course. The group of eight riders stayed together for the 1st lap. I was the only AV racer in the group with two teams represented. The biggest team was Super Sprinkles with 4 riders. A couple of the sprinkles took turns attacking on the first two laps, but I was fairly confident they were just trying to tire out the group. I tried to play it smart and conserve my energy while keeping my eye on any moves that may stick. I tried to always be second or third wheel from the front without doing any work. I was trying to read the group dynamics and identify which riders may be protected and concluded that it was Sophia from Super Sprinkles based on the process of elimination on who appeared not to be attacking or covering any moves by a Sacramento Golden Wheelmen rider who appeared to be working for her teammate.
Just before the last climb of the 2nd lap, Liz from Super Sprinkles attacked hard and looked like she had interest in getting away. This threw me off a bit because she was not the presumed protected rider I had marked. No one seemed motivated to chase her down and I became increasingly uncomfortable as I watched her get further away. I decided it was too risky to let her go and since I didn’t have any teammates I knew I needed to either take the bait and chase her down or make my move to join the break. I bridged up to her before the top of the climb but I didn’t know if she would be willing to work together to stay away. She kept up the pace and I followed her wheel to the crest of the hill. We had a meaningful gap from the field and I was feeling pretty jazzed.
On the first descent of the third lap I got out in front of her because I was feeling good and wanted to increase the gap and test out her willingness to work with me. She stayed right on my wheel despite my efforts to move and get her to take a turn. When I looked back for the field I couldn’t see them, but I knew they couldn’t have been too far back. Because of the nature of the course (hills and turns) I knew they could catch up if I wasn’t pushing harder. On the final climb of the 3rd lap, I picked up the pace to try to shake Liz off my wheel. It worked and I was now in what looked like a promising solo breakaway.
I descended quite a bit faster than Liz and was able to increase my gap. I completed the 4th lap in a solo breakaway. (It was a really cool feeling to have the motorcycle guy following only me – it was a constant reminder that I was where I needed to be.) When I looked back I could see Liz farther behind me on parts of the course that were more open, but she was not close enough for me to feel threatened. She picked up her pace nearing the final climb and decreased the gap. I rolled over the finish line first, Liz finished ~30 seconds later and the field finished a minute or two after her.
I was glad that I chased Liz down when I did and was able to stay away – at the time I wasn’t sure if it was the right move. In retrospect it’s clear that it was the right move, especially given my strengths and not having teammates to help. I had a chance to have a friendly chat with many of the women after the race. I was honored to hear that the super sprinkles team had marked me and had strategized to wear me down with their attacks. Their plan A was to wear me down and their plan B was to have Liz breakaway if I didn’t chase. It worked out and this race was yet another learning experience that I am grateful for.
Fun times!
Berkeley Hills Road Race- Women’s Short Race
Date: April 27, 2024
AVRT racers: Hannah Chen, Chris Davis, Rina Fujieda (guest rider), Steph Hart, Kristin Hepworth, Robin Kutner, Claire MacDougall (racing collegiate), Katie Monaghan, Emily Selman, Niky Taylor, Louise Thomas, Katarina Zgraja
Top Result: Kristin Hepworth 1/23 (Cat 4) 6/51 (overall), Niky Taylor 2nd (Cat 2) 7/51 overall, Chris Davis 1st (50+)
Course: Roughly 1.8ish laps of an 18.7 mi loop with 1,650 ft of elevation gain each lap for a total of ~34 miles and ~2800 feet. The main feature of the course is the “Three Bears,” which is a sequence of short climbs in the second half of the loop. “Mama Bear” is the first and takes about 2-3 minutes to climb; “Papa Bear” is the second and takes about 3-4 minutes to climb; and “Baby Bear” is the third and takes less than a minute to climb. There’s a short descent between Mama and Papa and a longer descent between Papa and Baby. The rest of the course is mostly flat with some rolling hills.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11278213549
Nutrition: One Ucan energy gel at the start line, ½ stick of vermont maple syrup during the race, and two bottles of water (1 bottle had a scoop of Perpetuem malto mix)
Recap: This was a huge local women’s race! P/1/2/3/4/5 and Masters all raced together totaling 51 women. I had been training for and targeting this race as an A race. The team decided the day before that Robin, Katie, and I would be the protected riders in the cat 4 field and Louise would be the protected rider for the cat 3 field. All other AV racers were racing to help. I had a really late flight back into town the night before and only got 4 hours of sleep, I didn’t know how much that would affect me or if the adrenaline would be enough. I missed the pre-race strategy meetup in the morning but managed to chat with Niky as we were waiting for the rollout to begin. My goal was to be more aggressive/assertive with my placement during this race and stay up in the front third of the field. Last year I wasn’t focused on positioning and got too far back. Niky’s health wasn’t great going into this so she was racing to help teammates this year and I knew I could count on her wheel. The race officially started at the corner of Bear Creek and San Pablo Dam roads following a neutral rollout from the Orinda Bart station. I was pretty far back at the official start line, but Niky and I got to the front within the first half mile. Emily and Chris controlled at the front for most of the descent which was awesome, and then Hannah and Katarina took over on the back flat stretch. Really great domestique-ing by all of them!
The field stayed together until the first mama bear climb where one rider attacked. I pushed hard to keep up. At the top I thought I went too hard and wouldn't be able to recover in time to do it again on papa bear. It was then that I looked back and realized we had a gap from the field and I was in a break with Niky and 5 other riders. We were the only AV riders in the break. We took papa bear at a more steady pace and I was feeling recovered. At the top Niky and I made eye contact and I gave her a big smile to communicate that I was feeling great and I was ready to go for it.
From Louise in the chase group: Going up mama bear Shannon Pidd attacked. I tried to hold on for dear life and stayed with her over the first hump of mama bear (getting a new 2 min power record in the process) but then blew up on the rollers and dropped back as Niky and Kristin bridged up to the breakaway. A chase group formed with me (Louise), Claire, and five or so other riders but there wasn't much of a coordinated effort to chase. Since Niky and Kristin were up ahead I sat in and let the others do the work, but then no one else seemed to want to work either.
Our breakaway stayed together on the fast descent after papa bear. When we got back to San Pablo Dam road our pace slowed down and I started to worry that we would get caught. Just then Niky yelled out that we needed to pick up the pace or we would get caught. Niky knew she wouldn’t have the energy to finish the race at full gas, so she asked me if I would prefer for her to 1. work hard on the front to pick up the pace to keep the gap, but then not have her for the climbs or 2. allow the field to catch us, but she could help me up the climbs. I chose option 1. Niky rotated with a couple other riders to pick up the pace and I tried to conserve my energy by mostly sitting in.
From Louise: In the chase group we also slowed down, so there wasn't much to worry about. On San Pablo Dam Rd another group, which included Steph, caught up to us increasing our numbers to 12 or so. Me and Steph chatted briefly about what the game plan should be, but decided it was better for Kristin and Niky to stay away and so sat in for a fairly relaxed second lap.
When Niky felt like she had given it all she had, she encouraged me to follow Shannon Pidd because she wasn’t working at all. After mama bear I didn’t see Niky anymore and thought she was done, but she recovered and caught up and got in front of me to lead me out again. Near the base of the final climb/papa bear the group took off fast. I had waited too long to kick and the rest of the group attacked past me. I gave it my all and I rolled over the line 6th/51 and Niky came in shortly after 7th/51. I was the only cat 4 in the break, so the first one across the finish line. I learned so much from watching and following Niky during this race and I experienced first hand what teamwork felt like as a protected rider. I learned how to be assertive, position myself better and how to really be selfless and help/protect a teammate. It was sooo much fun!
Race Report: 2024 Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men's Cat 3
Race: Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men's Cat 3
Date: April 27, 2024
AVRT racers: Maxime Cauchois, Henry Mallon, Jeremy Besmer
Top Result: Henry 3rd, Maxime 5th
Course (from Fraser’s 2023 report): Roughly four laps of an 18.7 mi loop with 1,650 ft of elevation gain each lap for a total of ~74 miles and ~6200 feet including the neutral rollout. The main feature of the course is the “Three Bears,” which is a sequence of short climbs in the second half of the loop. “Mama Bear” is the first and takes about 2-3 minutes to climb; “Papa Bear” is the second and takes about 3-4 minutes to climb; and “Baby Bear” is the third and takes less than a minute to climb. There’s a short descent between Mama and Papa and a longer descent between Papa and Baby. The rest of the course is mostly flat with some rolling hills.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11278238684
Nutrition: 3 bottles with 80g drink mix each and 1 gel.
Race Recap: Written by Henry. Our plan going into this race was to support Jeremy. His training has been targeting this race, with excellent power at threshold and 2-4 minutes that’s key for the hills on this course. Despite having food poisoning the previous week, we all felt confident that Jeremy could win the race.
For the first two laps, we maintained a comfortable position near the front going into the climbs. The pace was hard at about 5-5.5 w/kg, but the climbs were all short and fairly draftable, especially Mama Bear where it felt like a slight headwind.
Each time after Papa Bear, everyone who made the front group of ~20 completely sat up. For nearly 40 minutes from the top of Papa Bear after lap 1 to the base of Mama Bear on lap 2, we slowed to a recovery ride pace (I averaged only 128W). I think everyone wanted to conserve energy for the climbs and didn’t expect a breakaway to make it to the finish. This dynamic meant that everyone dropped on the climbs made it back easily.
On lap 3, Max and I went to the front on Mama Bear and Jeremy asked us to push the pace. Max later told me that he was pulling at about 380W (6-6.5 w/kg), and I was only doing about 330W on his wheel, despite weighing a similar amount. After Max pulled off, I paced the flat middle section and the second part of the climb. Despite our efforts, the group was still large going into Papa Bear.
Once down the descent for the final time, a few riders attacked and quickly formed a strong breakaway. Unfortunately, we weren’t in this group. For the next ~30 minutes, there were many surges and attempts to bridge, including big efforts by Jeremy and Max up Garbage Hill. Finally, Charlie from PenVelo went to the front and singlehandedly brought the breakaway back for his teammates. On this lap before Mama Bear, we were ~7 minutes faster than the first lap.
I think everyone was either tired from the chase or thinking about the finish, so Mama Bear was relatively easy. We took the opportunity to position ourselves near the front and gameplan for the finish. Jeremy told me to focus on positioning myself and follow Jack, an Alto Velo teammate riding for Stanford in the combined field for this race. Jack is an experienced rider and a great finisher, so I quickly jumped on his wheel.
Going into Papa Bear, I put myself in about 5th wheel hoping that Max and Jeremy would be behind. Surprisingly, no one wanted to pull and we rode the first 90 seconds of the climb at an easy tempo. Then, an El Cerrito High School rider attacked and got a huge gap. Three other riders responded and I ended up chasing just behind them. I looked back and saw some orange/blue behind me and figured Max or Jeremy must be there. We were gaining on the next group of three until they started sprinting at the 100m sign. I crossed the line in 5th place overall and 3rd in Cat 3. Unfortunately, Jeremy wasn’t feeling the best after being sick last week. So, Max was on my wheel at the finish and hung on for 5th in his first Cat 3 race!
I think we had an excellent overall strategy going into this race. But, we could have adapted better as the race progressed based on how we were all feeling. For example, it probably would have helped our chances in the punchy finish if Mama Bear and Papa Bear were paced harder on the last lap. Also, missing the breakaway that formed at the beginning of the last lap meant we had to spend a lot of energy that could have been saved for the final hills. Still, it was a super fun race, and awesome to come away with two top-5 finishes!
Henry
Race Report: 2024 Sea Otter Circuit - Women’s B/C/Masters/Collegiate
Race: 2024 Sea Otter Circuit - Women’s B/C/Masters/Collegiate
Date: April 20, 2024
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Hannah Chen
Top Result: Louise 5/22
Course: 30 min circuit race on Laguna Seca Raceway. Each lap is 2.2 miles, featuring a 0.55 mile climb at 5.6% and a fun corkscrew descent. The road surface was the best I’ve ever ridden on.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11226553219
Nutrition: a few sips of malto/fructose mix. It was such a short race that I probably didn’t even need that
Recap (Written by Louise): Having never done the circuit race at Sea Otter before, I was excited to try it this year. With such a big festival area, the first challenge of the day was getting parked, registered, and finding my way around to the circuit race. It definitely felt like mountain biking was the main focus of the event with a couple of the help desk people not even knowing where the circuit start line was.
Eventually I managed to find my way to the start where Hannah was also waiting, and after a shortened warm-up we lined up along with all of the women from all of the categories (apart from elite/A). It was nice having such a big group but difficult to see who you were actually competing against.
The first lap was pretty easy. Since we didn’t get any practice laps it seemed like everyone was just scoping it out and enjoying being on the super smooth track (would highly recommend trying it). The descent was also a lot of fun with banked corners that you could lean into and pedal through. Not everyone was taking them smoothly though so positioning was still important; unfortunately Hannah was forced to brake multiple times after being stuck behind another rider on the downhill, and then waste energy to catch back up.
On the second lap, a couple of the collegiate racers attacked on the hill and I went with them. We ended up with a breakaway of five; three of us from the B’s and the two collegiates. We were taking turns on the front to stay away, but coming up to the start/finish line I felt like we were going too slow with other racers still in sight behind us, so I told Shantelle to rotate off the front so I could push the pace up a bit. That was a critical error. I stayed on the front until the start of the climb, at which point the others attacked and I got jettisoned off the back. Note to self: don’t do more work than necessary, and definitely don’t do more work than other people who are stronger than you.
For the final lap and a half I hung out in no man’s land, unable to catch back up to the breakaway but far enough away not to get caught myself, and finished the race solo. Hannah then finished not too long after. I definitely should have played it smarter, but honestly it was still so much fun; it’s not very often you get to race on a race track like that.
Race Report: 2024 Copperopolis Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Race: Copperopolis Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Date: 3/30/24
AVRT Racers: Grant Miller, Nathan Martin
Top Result: 6th - Nathan
Course: 5 laps of this. Very poor pavement throughout the climb and descents on the course.
Nutrition: 4 bottles of 60g malto+20g gatorade, 3 gels
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11072056992/
Race Recep (written by Nathan):
Our plan going in was basically to have Grant and I sit in and let the course take its toll on people. We figured we’d have decent endurance and be able to put in some attacks late to break things up further.
Lap 1 I went to the front on the climb and started doing just below threshold, mostly because the pavement was bad and I wanted to be at the front to see anything. Unfortunately, right at the top of the climb, I got a puncture, so I had to stop to plug it.
I caught back on quickly, but my tire still felt low, so I stopped again and then had to do about ten minutes at tempo since people were attacking after I stopped. A break of about 5 or 6 went during this time, Tobin Ortenblad was probably the biggest threat in the group.
The descent was fast and very bumpy. I was running 32s, but still took it quite cautiously, having to burn a bit of a match to catch back on at the bottom.
Lap 2 was more of the same, with the pace pushed on the climb a bit. Grant also suffered a puncture and stopped to grab a quick pump in the feed zone.
At the bottom of the descent and start of lap 3, Tim McBirney from Mike’s Bikes attacked, so I went with him. I just sat on his wheel, since I knew he had a teammate in the break, so me doing any work would be silly since I would be basically giving Mike’s a perfect breakaway.
On the climb, we were joined by Ryan, Gavin, and two more Mike’s riders. We rolled turns the rest of the lap.
On the lap 4 climb, Gavin started putting in some digs, which I was able to follow but my legs were definitely starting to feel it. At the top of the climb, the group was reduced to Tim, Ryan, me, and Gavin. After the climb, we started to catch some members from the original breakaway.
After the lap 4 descent and start of lap 5, Ryan started to put in some digs and I was unable to follow. I got shelled from the group as did James Yang from Dolce Vita, who was in the original break, so we worked together for the rest of the climb and on the flats at the top. He would drop me at one point on the flats, and I worked solo for the rest of the race.
Overall it was just a super grueling race. It was a good test of endurance, nutrition planning, ability to conserve energy, and mental toughness. Ultimately us each getting flats and having to chase back on didn’t help, but I think we learned a lot.
Golden State Crit and Circuit Races 2024
Race: 2024 Golden State Series Criterium - Women’s 40+ P123
Date: May 4, 2024
AVRT racers: Chris Davis
Top Result: Chris Davis (4/4 for 40+)
Course: Clockwise 0.9mi office park loop. Flat, smooth, 3+ lane road with five wide, gentle turns. Rain had stopped by the time we raced, but the roads were still very wet with puddles.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11334665129
Nutrition: Fluid Performance and Beet Elite Powder
Race Summary:
I signed up for this weekend a month early in hopes that it would be well attended as it usually is. The rain put a kabash on that. Turn out was super low and those that did sign up shifted back and forth from P123 to 40+. There were eight of us total, split evenly between the two fields offered (P123 and 40+). The race started out with a bang since Shannon Gaffney has plenty of bullets to shoot. Every lap or so she would attack the field with Karen from Chico quickly following. They both had signed up in the P123 so I was sure to jump on that train, hoping for a break. After about eight attacks and the last of the primes, the pack settled into conserving for the sprint since nobody could get away. My derailleur was making my chain jump in the back cogs when I applied pressure so I was nervous about standing up to sprint the whole race. Therefore, I did not even sprint for the finish and came in 8 out of 8. After the race I took my bike to VeloFix to have a look. The mechanic tried a couple of adjustments, but was obviously limited in what he could with my DI2 shifting given he was working out of a van. I took a couple of sprints afterward to see if it was better and the chain did not jump so I thought I would be good to go for Sunday’s Circuit.
Photo Credit: Greg Beliera
Race: 2024 Golden State Series Circuit - Women’s 40+ P123
Date: May 5, 2024
AVRT racers: Chris Davis
Top Result: Chris Davis (4/4 for 40+)
Course: Counter Clockwise 2.9 mi office park loop. Flat, smooth, 3+ lane road with ten wide, gentle turns and a chicane. Bright sunny day, but chilly!
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11334665129
Nutrition: Fluid Performance and Beet Elite Powder
Yeah this was pretty much Groundhog’s Day! Same people, same time, but different course. The circuit course is fun because there are about 10 turns with a chicane. I thought it would go better for me since my bike was not skipping. I sat in and decided to try something after Shannon fired off all her shots. With just one and half laps to go, I decided to motivate Shannon while some of the Masters were having a conference. I was able to get a jump, but was chased down and my chain jumped AGAIN! So no sprinting for this race either. Therefore I came in last again, but was able to stay with the pack until the last KM. Yes, my bike is with my mechanic now. It was great seeing Hannah Chen there racing like champion!
Race Report: 2024 Golden State Series Criterium - Women’s 3/4/5
Race: 2024 Golden State Series Criterium - Women’s 3/4/5
Date: May 4, 2024
AVRT racers: Hannah Chen
Top Result: Hannah Chen (1st/3 cat 4)
Course: Clockwise 0.9mi office park loop. Flat, smooth, 3+ lane road with five wide, gentle turns. Cold and wet but not too windy; it rained all morning and did not let up until after our race finished.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11334665129
Nutrition: Pre-race: Plain water and 1 Gu courtesy of The Feed. No water during the race.
Race Summary:
I wanted to use this race to practice efficient cornering and getting comfortable moving in a pack. Unfortunately the horrible weather conditions made for an even smaller than expected field.
The first lap was slow as we were all a bit cautious to see how fast to take the wet corners. Within minutes my socks and gloves were drenched. Anna pulled first, Elisia pulled a bit, then I dutifully took my turn. They rang a bell for a sprint prime and Anna suddenly started gunning it. It felt premature. We casually increased pace before passing her and rounding the final corner for a sprint-off.
The remainder of the race consisted of me/Elisia taking turns pulling and racing the last two corners for the sprint prime (four total). I only heard 3 prime bells, so I was surprised to hear a bell and see the final lap card go up. I surged hard, never looked back and when I hit the finish line, no one was behind me.
The race director gave us the option to shorten the race by 10 minutes. We all agreed we wanted to do the full 40 min, but perhaps the race was so uneventful that they eventually did cut us off a short.
Lessons learned:
Pedal through every corner. The road was so wide that cornering wasn’t an issue at all and most importantly I never used my brakes.
Pay attention to lap cards! Afterwards Elisia shared that she thought we had 5+ minutes left and was still racing after our final lap, may be why she didn’t chase me.
I wish I thought of this: put your feet in bags inside your shoes to avoid sloshing socks in the rain.
Race Report: 2024 Tour de Bloom - Cat 2/3
Race: 2024 Tour de Bloom - Cat 2/3
Date: Friday 3 to Sunday 5th May, 2024
AVRT racers: Andrea Cloarec
Top Result: GC: Andrea 1st / 84 . Stage 1: 18th, Stage 2 TT: 2nd, Stage 3 Crit: 23rd, Stage 4 RR: 1st
Course: 4 stages Race
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11341163358/overview
Nutrition: I fueled at 100g/h for every stage. Mix of Malto/mapple syrup in bottles, and GU gels
Race Recap:
I decided to not race the p/1/2 with my teammates to race solo in the cat2/3 instead in order to maximize the upgrade points for my cat1 objective. With a TT on Road bike and a small 4' finish on the last stage, the course of this stage race suited me quite well.
Stage 1 - 56 miles pretty flat road race
Nothing happened, it was quite relax and easy. I managed to grab 2 bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint. And the final sprint was a very short one, so I stayed calmly in the pack, finishing 18th/84.
5th on GC thanks to the bonus seconds.
Stage 2 - TT, 8.5miles, Merckx style
I estimated it would take me 18 minutes if I road at 45km/h. So I set my power at 400w, trying to stay low and aero (I tried at least, see photo).
I finished in 18'06", for 402W. Now 2nd in GC 9 seconds behind the leader. I was pretty happy with my position: without the responsibilities of the leader, and still super closed to him.
Stage 3 - Crit, 45min
Just a rectangle, but.. It was raining, wet, and the guys up there in Washington/Canada have no problem riding under the rain and racing crits.
I quickly understood that my only objective was to hold it for 45'. Even if I didn't have the best lines, I wasnt taking any risks, which made me push more power. I was able to finish safely with the pack, 23rd.
Still 2nd GC before the last stage, 11" behind leader.
Stage 4 - 86 miles Road race. 3 loops rolling / flat for 85 miles, then 1 mile uphill at 6.5% finish
I had one objective : do nothing for 3 hours, and go hard for 4 minutes at the end.
Quickly I realized that the leader and the big teams were controlling the course. Perfect situation for me. I was safely staying at the back, moving right or left depending of the wind. 3 hours thinking of saving energy. My competitors did not see me at all, I was at the back, averaging 200w, fueling 100g/hour.
So I moved up with 5k to go, feeling pretty fresh and confident.
Before the final mile, I managed to get into a lead-out from another team, 4th wheel, perfect for me.
As soon as the climb started, I went. A short acceleration to quickly create a gap with the group, and after that it was 4 minutes of pacing to the end. I knew the watts I could do in this situation. So I averaged 525w for 4min10 and won the stage. The previous leader arrived 34 seconds later.
So I got the win of the GC in this cat2/3. Got a bunch of upgrade points toward the cat 1. Everything went according to plan.
Very good weekend with the team.
The guys in the p12 did a crazy effort, with races way way harder than mines. Congrats to them!
Also a huge thank to Roger, Nathan's dad, for his precious help.
Alto Velo could not race these stage races as well without his help and support!
Andrea
Race Report: 2024 Berkeley Streets Criterium - Women’s Cat 4
Race: 2024 Berkeley Streets Criterium Women’s Cat 4
Date: Sunday, April 28, 2024
AVRT racers: Claire MacDougall (racing collegiate), Hannah Chen, Katie Monaghan
Top Result: Katie Monaghan - 3/15 (Cat 4), 3/17 (overall), 3/9 (2024 Women’s 4 Omnium)
Course: 0.60 mile, 4 corner rectangular course across two city blocks in Berkeley. Start at McGee Ave and Hearst Ave, extending to Grant Street and California Street. Slight uphill on Hearst Street, slight downhill on Berkeley Way. Some uneven payment on Berkeley Way on downhill.
Strava: Katie’s Strava
Nutrition: Peanut butter and banana sandwich on ride over. A few dates before start
Race Recap:
Going into the race I was super excited to try what felt like my first criterium of the season. (I did race Cat’s Hill but that barely felt like it counted because I was timid from the start and consistently dropped on the hill.) Hannah, Claire and I discussed a little before the race about strategy. We decided since Super Sprinkles had 7 of the 17 riders, we would let them dictate the race. Our thought was to try to keep a good position, not burn too many matches and be ready to sprint.
I targeted Stephanie on Eclipse because I knew she had won both Cat’s Hill and the Santa Cruz Criterium this year. I felt if I kept her in sight and close, I was probably in a good position. The race itself didn’t have any significant breakaways or attacks. The Super Sprinkles girls seemed to switch off and have someone push the pace for a little. Stephanie would almost always follow right behind and each Sprinkles rider seemed to slow down after a turn or two on the course.
Due to the small size of our field, we were almost always in a single paceline. I would occasionally move up a few positions during the downhill on Berkeley Way because it didn’t seem to use too much energy. I was able to corner strategically to get back into the draft as we headed up Hearst Ave.
The final lap is a little fuzzy in my memory. I knew it was going to come down to a field sprint and I didn’t know how soon I should start. One of the Sprinkles girls took off at the bell lap. Stephanie followed and I got on her wheel. The true sprint didn’t really start until the final turn off California onto Hearst. Stephanie was in the lead and I got caught on outside behind the Sprinkles rider who had made the bell lap move. I was able to get around her but a different Sprinkles rider took an inside line on the final corner for second.
Overall I was very happy with 3rd in this race. Crits are fun, excited to do more where I don’t have to climb a 23% hill multiple times. (I joke about this but actually Cat’s Hill is a very cool race and I would definitely try it again next year).
This result also gave me 3rd overall in omnium for the weekend. I definitely wasn’t expecting that. Huge shoutout to Katarina Zgraja who worked with me for 85% of the Berkeley Hills Road Race after we got dropped from the lead group at Mama Bear.
Race Report: 2024 Sea Otter Classic Fuego XL
Race: Sea Otter Classic Fuego XL – Women’s Elite
Date: August 19, 2024
AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang
Course: 2 laps totaling 70 miles, 8500 ft gain
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11219707025
Race Recap: (Rachel Hwang’s perspective)
Coming off being sick, I hadn’t been able to train for long distance and my respiratory system had taken a hit. I entered with the women’s elite field, and I felt like I had no business being there.
As soon as the beep went off at 9:05:30, the 40+ women sped off, and already I could barely keep up. The first bit is on the track road to thin out the herd, up a steepish incline, headed straight into singletrack. I managed to tag on the end of the pack when we got to the singletrack, and stay behind the same people up and down hill for a bit, but I could see glimpses of the field in front of me, and the women up front were already out of sight.
First lap went ok, finishing in about 2 hours 55 minutes. The course was very much XC style, with the singletrack being very mellow, hard packed dirt, and flowy with nothing technical, and with decent gravel roads. While the first lap went ok, as soon as the second lap started, I bonked. When my legs were pedaling with the power it knew it could on the first lap, my lungs felt closed and I couldn’t breathe fully, and because I haven’t been able to do a long ride in the past month, on the second lap, my legs weren’t up to the challenge and I started cramping. I also crashed early on the first lap from a rut where multiple people crashed and I have to give a shout out to the Eliel kit for not ripping. That hurt, and my Garmin snapped right off the mount.
As the second lap started, mentally I was done and physically I was capping out. I pedaled slow as when I started putting power down my right quad would cramp. I went really slow for 2/3 of the lap until a women passed me, and I paced with her the rest of the way to the end. While we didn’t say a single word to one another on the trail, we exchanged a few words at the end and agreed it’s definitely more fun and enjoyable with a fellow rider.
In addition, for the first time, my stomach started rejecting the nutrition, probably because I was still sick(?) but that was an interesting note I took with me from this race.
With long mountain bike races like these, there is nothing that makes me happier than passing the finish line, with the strong feeling of accomplishment. I finished around 6 hours 15 minutes, about an hour slower than what I predicated I could do, which was a let down, but that just means I’m ready to come back next year.
Nutrition: ~500ml per hour of nutrition, and a gel per hour, and half a bar after lap 1
Race Report: 2024 Cat's Hill Classic - Men’s Cat 4
Race: Cat’s Hill Classic - Men's Cat 4
Date: March 25th, 2024
AVRT racers: Zachary Berger, Maxime Cauchois, Clark Penado
Top Result: Maxime Cauchois (2/21 Cat 4, 3/52 overall)
Course: 1 mile with a punchy 20% hill that lasts about 10-15s, fast corners, the course was a bit wet during the race.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11023003487
Nutrition: One bottle mix of Skratch and cyclic dextrin (~50g) during the race
Summary of the race (written by Maxime):
With wet pavement and intermittent rain, positioning was bound to be a key element of the race. Evidently I had missed the memo since I started pretty far back, enough to not see a guy break away on the first climb, and to have to chase for a couple laps to regain positions.
Once established towards the front of the pack, and once Zack had managed to fight an early mechanical to make his comeback, we started working together to train and chase the solo rider back, not getting much from the rest of the group.
After Zack unfortunately flatted out of the race midway, it was pretty clear that the field had become uninterested in chasing the break, and that I could only race for second. I settled in and decided to wait for the right moment, which came when a rider launched a hard attack getting into the final climb.
Only one other rider was able to follow, and we had a sizable gap at the top, meaning we wouldn’t be caught before the finish line. Despite a pretty ideal position into the final rider, right behind the guy who had attacked, I made the mistake of getting into the wind too early and had to settle for 3rd overall, 2nd in my category since the rider who outsprinted me won the collegiate field. Not too many regrets out of this race, as the winner was significantly stronger than the rest of the field, if not that it would have been nice to see how things would have unfolded without our early mechanicals.
Thanks for reading!
Race Report: 2024 Sea Otter Classic Road Race - Men's B
Race: Sea Otter Classic Road Race - Men's B
Date: April 18, 2024
AVRT racers: Drew Matthews, Henry Mallon
Top Result: Henry 2nd (2/118 overall)
Course: 5 laps of a 7-mile loop with a steep 3-minute climb at the start of every lap. After lap 9 the course turns onto Barloy Canyon Road for a final 7-minute climb that steepens to 9% in the final half mile. The full race was about 40 miles with 4,000 ft of elevation gain.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11214013410
Nutrition: 1.5 bottles with 80g of Skratch in each bottle.
Race Recap: Written by Henry. With 118 people in the combined field, I knew positioning into the first climb would be critical. So, I used the first 7 minutes of neutral descending to move into the first 10 wheels. Once we turned onto the main climb, the moto ref pulled away, and… nothing happened. I didn’t want to descend for the first time with 100+ people or respond to everyone’s fresh attacks over the top, so I carried my momentum to the front and started riding at threshold. Halfway up the climb, another rider took over the pacesetting and by the top, the group was strung out and reduced to less than half.
This same basic pattern repeated for the rest of the race: 1) smash the 3-minute climb at VO2 max, 2) try unsuccessfully to get a small group to work together over the top, 3) a larger group of riders rejoin the front, and 4) repeat.
Given the possibility of a small group staying away, I spent extra energy on the climb each lap to be in the first few wheels over the top. However, we needed more cooperation to keep chasers behind, and a group of 10-20 made it back every lap but the last.
I wasn’t too worried about this dynamic because I knew any riders dropped on the 3-minute climb probably wouldn’t be a factor in the final 7-minute climb to the finish. Also, Drew was riding super strong and was always one of the first to make it back after the climb.
Just before the start of the final lap, our small lead group was caught by about 15 others, including Drew. When they made the catch, I got shuffled back and a rider named Daniel attacked. I was stuck in a position where I couldn’t follow, and no one else in the group responded.
He quickly got a 20-30 second gap before the base of the final 3-minute climb. I paced the climb hard and crested the top with 3 others on my wheel and about 10 seconds to the lone leader. I kept pulling over the top and then asked the others to rotate through, but they refused.
Once down the descent, two riders started helping while one mostly sat on the back. At first, this situation looked perfect—possibly the strongest climber was spending extra energy dangling only 10-20 seconds ahead of a (mostly) motivated chase group. It seemed like we would catch Daniel, and then he’d probably be tired for the final climb to the finish.
As we approached the end of the lap, cooperation completely ended in our group. I would guess Daniel’s advantage grew to about a minute going into the finishing climb.
After getting advice from Nico and Grant after the Men’s A race, I stayed patient for the first half of the climb where the gradients were more shallow. No one was setting a hard pace, and I knew we were likely losing more time to Daniel ahead. Fortunately, one rider attacked super hard out of our group with about 1 mile remaining. I tried to follow but couldn’t get across to his wheel. Now that it was steep, I was all in trying to close to the two solo riders ahead, with one guy still glued to my wheel.
By the 1-kilometer sign, I was finally gaining on the guy who had attacked and suddenly the leader was within sight. With 200m to go, everyone was coming together and 1st through 4th were all possibilities. In the final 50m, I held off the guy on my wheel, flew past second place, and missed catching the leader by about 5 seconds. Another 100m and Daniel likely would have been caught and passed by me and at least one other.
This race was a great example of how a handful of small decisions can determine the outcome of a race. For example, I think everyone in our chase group could have passed Daniel on the final climb if we had shared the work in the lower section. Also, if the other rider had waited 20 seconds to attack out of our group, he probably would have held me off and finished second.
Despite not catching Daniel, I think staying patient on the final climb was the right call. There was very little difference between any of us, and if I had paced the first half of the climb and caught Daniel, I’m sure the other two would have sprinted around me in the finish. To win, I probably would have needed a bit more power in the final few minutes, another rider to pace harder from the bottom of the climb, or the finish line moved 100m back :)
Thanks for reading!
Henry
Race Report: 2024 Land Park Criterium - Women P/1/2/3
Race Report: Land Park Criterium 2024 - Women P/1/2/3
Date: March 16th, 2024
AVRT racers: Gina Yuan, Sue Lin Holt
Top Result: Sue Lin Holt (5th/10)
Written by: Sue Lin Holt
Course: 60 minutes on a flat 1.1 mile loop through William Land Park in Sacramento. Prominent features are a long, smooth right-hand turn just after the start, a chicane on the back side, and one sharp right turn leading into the finish straight.
Strava (Sue Lin): https://www.strava.com/activities/10975279622
Nutrition: Maurten Gel 100 Caf 100 at the start, half a bottle of SiS Go Electrolyte during the race.
Race Recap:
Gina and I knew this was going to be a tough race before it even started. We were outnumbered by strong Terun riders - they had four, and it was just the two of us from Alto Velo. We anticipated that they would attack repeatedly to wear us out, so we approached one of the stronger solo riders (a former national champion) from another team to persuade her to help us chase down their attacks. She didn’t seem entirely convinced, but said she would try to help.
Sure enough, the attacks started soon after the gun. The four Terun riders took turns attacking and I lost count of how many times either Gina or I chased them down. It seemed relentless and at one point I saw a group of four get a gap including two Terun riders, Gina and our adopted teammate. Alto Velo was definitely outnumbered in the break, but by that point my oxygen-deprived brain couldn’t do the analysis on whether I should chase or sit up. Either way, they soon got caught and I resigned myself to the fact that more attacks would be coming soon.
About 20 minutes into the race one Terun rider attacked hard and got a gap. Both Gina and I were tired from chasing and not ideally positioned, and didn’t manage to jump on her wheel immediately. Nobody else seemed motivated to chase. Gina went to the front and put in a solid effort to try to close it down. I tried to stay on her wheel ready to rotate, but of course the other Terun riders also tried to position themselves behind her to disrupt any organized chase. The other rider we had tried to team up with (as well as one SJBC rider) took a few pulls to start with but soon disappeared to the back of the chase group. We assumed she was tired, but as soon as we had the break in our sights, she attacked and tried to bridge! Her attempt was unsuccessful, and killed any kind of organized chase effort after that.
Suddenly a few laps later another Terun rider attacked from behind and got a gap. Disaster!
Lap after lap went by and after I took a long pull, Gina asked me if I was sure I wanted to be working. I interpreted that as meaning I should save myself for the sprint. I was tired and relieved to sit in the pack, but also felt bad for my teammate as she sat on the front doing all the work while other racers were happy to sit in. I tried to persuade other riders to help chase but to no avail. The two Terun riders in our group were looking especially fresh and happy.
Despite Gina’s heroic effort, the two Terun riders off the front were working together to stay away - a stark contrast to the lack of coordination in our group. As the number of laps counted down it became clear that we were not going to catch them. I tried to rest as much as I could for the sprint, but was painfully aware that I had done more work than all the other racers in the group except for Gina. Now, heading into the final lap, it became a battle to get on the wheel of Alex from Terun, as everyone knew she was the best sprinter in the group. Her teammate managed to hold onto it though as we accelerated through the chicane one final time and leaned into the final turn to the finish. The pace ramped up and as hard as I tried, sprinting into the wind on the left side of the group, I couldn’t manage to get around them, and the two Terun riders crossed the line ahead of me leaving me 3rd in the bunch sprint and 5th overall.
We were clearly outnumbered and outplayed by Terun this time, but at least we beat all the other teams! We’ll be back to battle it out again soon, hopefully with more teammates 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Sue Lin
The First AV Photo Contest - $300 worth of prizes!
Today at 6pm EST (Egan Standard Time), we will launch the first AV Photo Contest! Join Christophe on Altamont to take pics of the AV and Egan riders at sunset! Photo contest runs through July 4th!
1. Eligibility:
The contest is open to all current members of Alto Velo.
Each participant may submit a maximum of 20 photos per category.
2. Categories:
Category 1: Promoting the Racing Team and Sponsors.
Category 2: Promoting Social Rides and Members Having Fun.
3. Photo Content:
Photos must feature members or activities related to Alto Velo.
For Category 1, photos should highlight the racing team, sponsors' logos, or events affiliated with the racing team.
For Category 2, photos should showcase the camaraderie and enjoyment experienced during social rides and club events.
4. Submission Guidelines:
All submissions must be digital photographs.
Photos must be submitted via email to photos@altovelo.com by the submission deadline
Photos must be posted on IG and tag @altoveloracing @altovelosocial @eganrideclub and promote all the AV Sponors.
Each photo must be accompanied by the participant's name, contact information, and a brief description of the image, including the location and the names of any identifiable individuals.
5. Submission Deadline:
All entries must be received by July 14th 12pm on Bastille Day!
6. Judging:
A panel of judges appointed by the club's board will evaluate all submissions.
Photos will be judged based on creativity, composition, relevance to the category, and overall impact.
The decision of the judges is final.
7. Prizes:
- Three prizes will be awarded in each category:
- 1st Prize: $75 Gift Card
- 2nd Prize: $50 Gift Card
- 3rd Prize: $25 Gift Card
Winners will be announced and prizes will be awarded at the club's annual BBQ.
8. Usage Rights:
By submitting photos to the contest, participants grant Alto Velo Cycling Club the non-exclusive right to use, reproduce, and display the images for promotional purposes, including but not limited to the club's website, social media channels, and promotional materials.
9. Promotion:
Participants are encouraged to share their submissions on social media using the hashtag #altoVeloPhotoContest and tagging Alto Velo @altoveloracing.
10. Disclaimer:
Alto Velo reserves the right to disqualify any entry that does not comply with the contest rules or that is deemed inappropriate or offensive.
By submitting photos to the contest, participants acknowledge that they have read and agreed to abide by these rules.
Alto Velo Photo Team
Christophe, Jack, Jerome and Rachel