Race Report: Tucson Bicycle Classic Mens 2/3

Race: Tucson Bicycle Classic, Mens 2/3

Date: 2/21/2025-2/23/2025

AVRT racers: Leo Minami

Top Result: Leo Minami: 13/87 Stage 2 Road race, 22/97 Omnium GC

Course: 

Stage 1a TT: Straight TT with squiggle in the middle Started early in the morning into a strong headwind. Sent the turns hard and accidentally pedal striked. Not great at putting down power in aero position but still managed decent power and good pacing 30/87

Stage 2a Crit: Stuck behind a crash right after the gun. Group got strung out and I was having trouble moving up. Having to sprint out of the stupid U turn every lap was not helping. Pulled halfway through. I need to work on crit racing

Stage 3 Road race: Mostly flat with some rollers. Best result of the weekend. Plan was to mark the top GC riders to see if I could steal a leadout. The end of the race was very chaotic but I was able to take advantage of this to move to the front. Rolled in for 13th. Was shoulder to shoulder and wasn’t really able to go around anyone during the sprint

Stage 4: Same basic plan as the road race. Moved up a lot in the last 2 laps. Unfortunately I chose the slow line going into the last corner and a bunch of people passed me. Had to fight to move up on the final climb. Got into my old teammate's wheel and moved up about 10 positions but got muscled out into the wind. Was able to find some wheels to follow but they were fading and I had to start my sprint super early. Ended up getting passed by a lot of people in the last 100 m 28/80

Nutrition: Fuelled with formula 369 mix and supplemented with carbs fuel gels. Aimed for approx. 100g carbs per hour. Road race was short enough that I was able to bring all of the fluids I needed to the start

Race Report: 2025 Grasshopper Huffmaster - Men’s Pro

Race: 2025 Grasshopper Huffmaster - Men’s Pro

Date: February 22, 2025

AVRT racers: Jon Wells

Top Result: Jon Wells, 38th

Course: 90 mile loop with 4800 feet of climbing and about 50% dirt. The front half is relatively flat and mostly road (with a couple dirt pinch points) until mile 40, when there is a ~12 min climb that kicks off the mostly dirt and much hillier back half of the course. The final tough climb comes 68 miles in and is ~5 minutes thru Huffmaster Ranch before gently going downhill back to the finish

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13699541766 

Nutrition: 400g of malto/gatorade/salt mix in 2 bottles plus camelback

Race Recap:

Race started out on fairly flat road sections and got off to a fairly chill start as no one wanted to spend energy on the easy part of the course knowing what was to come. There were a few pinch points on the gravel sections which had large mud pits that caused chaos in the pack. Into and out of each of these sections the pace would increase, just to go back to social pace again before the next one. I was caught behind some crashes and had to dismount to run around one but had no issues catching back on. 

Eventually we got to the crux of the course with the first real climb at mile 40 which comes as the course narrows to double track. I was able to start the climb near the front but the entire group blew up on this climb, leaving everyone in small groups for the rest of the race. The descent off this climb was on a winding dirt road that made for pretty high speeds.

The first aid station was at the bottom of the descent and I caught a group of 3 coming out of the aid as I was able to continue without stopping due to my camel back. Perhaps it had slowed me down on the climb but it definitely helped me get back into a group over the top. 

I held onto this group thru the second big climb, which topped out at mile 52, and into the slight downhill after. We caught a couple lone riders who tagged along, until after 61 miles, right at the 3 hour mark, my legs had had enough and I was popped.

I rode alone for a little while and was caught by another group of 5 coming into the Huffmaster climb who I stuck with until the grade pitched up towards the end. Eventually I was alone for the entire descent back into town. The technical, steeper part at the top was quite a bit of fun but the long slight downhill drag after was torture by myself.

A lone rider caught me with maybe 10 miles to go who I exchanged pulls with for a while until I started cramping quite badly with a few miles to go. I was ecstatic to see the 1 mile to go sign (see big smiling photo below)! 

Was definitely a bit outside my comfort zone on such a long race but was fun to get out there and try a gravel race! The grasshopper events seem to be very well put together and I would recommend trying to get out to one!

Race Report: 2025 Santa Barbara Road Race - Men’s P/1/2

Race: Santa Barbara Road Race - Men’s P/1/2

Date: 1/25/25

AVRT Racers: Henry Mallon, Nathan Martin

Top Result: Henry 16th

Nutrition: 2 600ml bottles w/ 100g of carbs each, 1 900ml bottle with 150g of carbs, took in ~100g/h

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13452992482

Recap (written by Nathan): 

Big field for an early season race, over 55 starters. Strong riders included Chris Blevins, pro MTBer, John Borstelmann, pro gravel racer, Jason Saltzman, former pro road cyclist, and a bunch of other names. There weren’t a ton of huge teams, most had 2-3 riders, so it was going to be a dynamic day.

I rolled off the front literally in the first mile and would spend ⅔ of the day in the break. I joined a small group that included Will Hardin, crit racer and YouTuber extraordinaire, and a few other strong riders.

We quickly got a 2 minute gap and started to really roll through with each other, even though we still had 3 hours to race.

First two laps were us just rotating, then just after the start of lap 3, Chris Blevins would bridge up to us as would John Borstelmann later, so we had a really strong group.

We would rotate really well for about a lap, then people started getting tired and skipping turns, this was a January race after all, and being in the break that long really wasn’t too fun.

We got caught just after the start of lap 5. I tried to put in a dig on the climb to get some separation, but it was to no avail and we got swept into the peloton.

On the start of the last lap, before the main climb, I made sure I was in good position as it was a bit of a crosswind on the climb and anything could happen. Sure enough, Chris Blevins would attack with a couple other strong riders and get a gap, which I would close down and stitch the group back together.

Going into the final straight, I was near the back with Henry, and decided to move him to the front and into good position. I took a decent pull up the side, bringing Henry into the front wheels, but my mistake was peeling off about 500m from the bottom of the final climb, where the finish was.

Henry would get swarmed a bit going into the climb, but still pull out a good finish given the depth of the field, and in his first P/1/2 race.

Overall a fun January race, was good to test the legs early and work on some positioning.

Race Report: Tucson Bicycle Classic - Women’s Cat 3

Race: Tucson Bicycle Classic - Women’s Cat 3

Date: Feb 21-23, 2025

AVRT racers: Maeve Roach, Louise Thomas, Steph Hart, Candice Lo

Top Results: Maeve (2/32 GC) Steph (14/32 GC) Louise (22/32 GC) Candice (24/32GC)

Stage 1 - 5 mi Time Trial

This was a point to point race with an S curve at the start. Wind played a key factor since it was on a flat and open desert bike bath. We talked before the race about aero positions and using the drops, and the plan for pacing was going out strong/at 10min-ish power effort and then increasing effort the second half to aim at increasing watts the second, finishing strong, and ending on empty. The pavement was super smooth and it was good to see the S curve before the race but would have been good to do a pre-ride of it just to see how fast you could take it and save some time. The W3 results were all so close, with only a couple seconds between the top 15 results!

Stage 2 - 61mi Road Race (3 laps)

The Women's Cat 3 and 40+ were in the same group so we had a strong showing of 5 women! Whitney, Steph, and Louise kept things interesting, making attacks and pushing the pace during the first two laps, and Candice made sure I was good on water and nutrition. Some other women in the field made attacks throughout the race as well but the peloton eventually closed the gap on any breaks. There were bonus Omnium points the first lap, and luckily I don't think many people knew about those so I (Maeve) sent a little tempo effort to secure some extra points in the GC, with the lead woman right behind. With about 5km to go tensions started rising in the peloton, and with 3km to go the tempo was still rising. With 1km to go Steph was going strong at the front of the Peloton, working hard to set up a lead out. Whitney helped play defense on a woman who was trying to box me in, and at 800m I decided to send it. Looking back, this was totally not the move! I went way too early and the woman leading the GC was right on my wheel. With 500m to go I was really questioning why I went so early, and actually down shifted because I didn't think I had much left in me. With 200m to go I heard the woman behind me shift and knew she was about to make an attack. With how hard the team had worked to get me in a good position for a stage win, I found the extra motivation to shift up and get out of the saddle to give the sprint everything I had. Thanks to the wheel throw practice we had at early birds, we secured the stage win! Earning enough points to also secure a leader's jersey in the GC thanks to how hard and smart the team worked!

Stage 3 - 45 min Circuit (~2 mile loop with an incline on the back half)

This stage was hot from the start! It wasn't a technical course but everyone was pushing the pace and accelerating after corners to try and make a break. I got confused with when the bonus points were and went a lap early, and then missed the attack the next lap and worked the whole fourth lap to catch the break. After yesterday I was in my head about going too early, which led me to go too late on the last attack and not have enough of a kick to catch the leaders before the finish. Definitely a fun and challenging final stage of the weekend, all the women really gave it their best and secured 2nd in the GC!

Race Report: Tucson Bicycle Classic - Women’s P12

Race: Tucson Bicycle Classic - Women’s P12

Date: Feb 21-23, 2025

AVRT racers: Robin Betz, Thialor Mize, Whitney Post

Top Result: Robin Betz (17th/59 in the TT, 41/60 GC)

Race context: With DNA Pro Cycling folding last year, there is really only one major women’s pro team in the US: the Olympic development team, Twenty28. They were at this race and unsurprisingly absolutely dominated, sweeping every podium and winning nearly every winnable intermediate sprint or lap. Every race they were on the front in a line just drilling it and keeping the pace high, with the rest of us bunched up behind competing for scraps. I’m not sure if this is fun for them but it would have been more interesting with some competition. At least it made it easy for me to predict there wouldn’t be a breakaway.

This was my second time doing this race, having previously finished in 2023 for 38/43 in GC (12th percentile).

TT

Course: 4.5 mi of flat bike path with one swoopy curve near the beginning and a headwind.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13688410594

Nutrition: 400kcal bottle on the ride over.

Recap: Since the course was short, I wanted the longest warmup possible. It was only an 18 mi ride from our Airbnb so I enjoyed a calm morning on the bike path with a tailwind for a good hour, then rode around on the road to add a bit more intensity before my start. This was an ideal warmup for me and I felt good at the start. There was a 10 mph headwind on the entire course, which, while feeling slow and bad, was to my benefit as I am proportionally more aerodynamic than other riders and I knew I could hold my road bike max aero position for the duration of the effort without significant power penalty. I’m always down about 20 watts on race day because of nerves, so I focused on really holding the position and doing my best.

I paced by feel and passed my 30 second and then my 1 minute rider and knew I’d done pretty well! I ended up 17th/59, my best result yet at a big race and finally making my goal of a top 20. I also beat triathlon Olympic gold medalist Gwen Jorgenson because I guess she is not aero on a road bike.

Crit

Course: 0.75 mi with four corners and a U-turn, with the worst pavement imaginable (think Copperopolis) on the back stretch.

Recap: I rode to this one too, with Thialor, which was about 10 miles of not as nice bike path due to proximity to downtown. Given the course and the number of riders, I knew that position at the start line was crucial, and lined up for the start pen very early to get a good spot. I ended up ideally positioned in the second row, but then the organizers got confused and told us to take a free lap. It was a 400+ watt, all elbows, max aggressive free lap as everyone was thinking the same as me, but I didn’t realize I should have cheated and cut the course before the U-turn, which is what the majority of the field did. I ended up at the back and pulled (too early) after 6 laps along with everyone else who started at the back and placed 55/58. I was pretty upset about this as it was a failure of the officials to ensure a fair race and I was confident I would have finished if I’d had my original start position, and now I was out of GC contention. Oh well, that’s bike racing.

RR

Course: 80 miles, 5 laps of a 20 mile loop with rollers at the beginning and a gradual 2-3% climb at the end.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13698726152

Nutrition: 2.5 bottles of Robin’s 400kcal drink mix, 1.5 sleeves Clif Blocks. I didn’t want to deal with the feed so I kept a bottle in my pocket and discarded one of my original ones in the feed zone. In retrospect, the weather was mild enough that I could have started with just 2 big bottles as I ended with over half a bottle remaining.

Recap: I was a bit nervous in the big group, having been crashed out of this race two years ago, and still grumpy from the crit, but decided early on that if  I was going to be here anyway, I was going to have a good time and make the most of my fitness, training, and preparation.

Thialor’s positioning was great and I tried to find her wheel whenever possible, and slowly built confidence as the day went on. The pack was needlessly aggressive, but I was able to identify opportunities to move up and mark wheels that were especially sketchy. On the rollers we’d bunch up and if I was further back, I would have to brake and then sprint up the other side, and if I opened up a gap to try to smooth it out, someone would just scoot into that space instead. I got used to anticipating this by shifting down and being able to spin up the other side of the hill in an easy gear at 120 rpm, which is a lot less tiring and more aerodynamically efficient than standing and mashing. This worked quite well for me and was very repeatable.

I found I could move up before the last climb in the section before the turn where there was a cross/headwind, by taking the turn into that section on the inside and ending up on the sheltered side of the road. I tell myself “I only move up for free” but even easy pedaling would gain me spots here even without a wheel, so I would move up here quite reliably without a lot of effort.

Lap 3 had an intermediate sprint that Twenty28 unsurprisingly won, but I was pleased to find I was able to stay in the group. I actually was able to pass people on that back climb, which was a new experience for me as last time I was fighting for my life there. Unfortunately Thialor lost contact with the group somewhere in this section.

In the last lap I started thinking about how I’d do well, and began to move up in the downhill section opposite the final climb. I found it pretty easy to move up here as everyone wanted to stay out of the wind but I could just get low and move up easily. I got on the end of the Twenty28 train and prepared myself for a fight for position. It was a battle on the back stretch but I maintained my spot into the final corner, but on the final section got pretty swarmed. I was a lot better in the group here compared to earlier in the race– willing to be aggressive, bump elbows, and assert myself to get wheels. But, I was a bit too obsessed with staying out of the wind, and ended up pretty far back because I failed to move up. I ended up finishing in the bunch sprint for 38th/57. In retrospect I made a big tactical mistake here as I wasn’t particularly tired and could have spared the energy to be in the wind for the last 3-5 min to get a better position.

Circuit Race

Course: 2.7miles 4 corner circuit, with the finish line midway up a 1 mile climb, 190 ft climbing/lap

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13709421547

Nutrition: Pre-race, two vanilla frappes with extra whip cream as I watched other races (not the best idea but still very tasty). During, half a bottle of Robin’s 400 kcal drink mix

Recap: I was nervous about this one as I remembered the course being difficult and my teammates in the earlier races were telling me it was super difficult. My other P12 teammates had also decided to leave early, leaving me to race solo. But it was the last day and I was just happy to be there.

I lined up well at the start and it was fast from the beginning and never let up. Twenty28 held a really brutal pace on the front and I made it my goal to stay with the bunch at least through the intermediate sprint on lap 3.

I ended up tailgunning a bit and moving up at the corners, since the group would slow there, but I think I should have been trying harder to move up to where it would be smoother. I managed to judge where the wind would be quite well and ended up on the sheltered side for the hill every time, and I’d also pass about 20 people in the corners each time, which felt good.

The first few times up the hill weren’t that bad. My power meter said I was doing big watts but I try not to look at it during races and I was able to hold the wheel in front of me and even move up. It felt like a less steep Egan hill, but the crosswind helped me out since I was on the sheltered side.

After the intermediate sprint I was hanging on to the back for dear life, and was going to move up and catch back into the group on the corners, but the wheel I chose passed me and then braked to about 15 mph and I lost all my momentum. This was basically the end for me and I enjoyed a good TT until I got pulled. It was great having my teammates cheering me on every lap.

I didn’t even mind getting pulled after 6 laps because I had just been redlining it the whole time. I got a 3rd best all time 20 min heart rate and ended up 32nd!

Overall

41/60 in GC (32nd percentile), primarily due to my crit result, but nonetheless a big improvement from last time!

Stage races in the P12 field are very difficult, with a high level of competition and field sizes and dynamics that are challenging to practice at home. Every year I’m rewarded with steady progress and about 10 steps up in placings, and this year was no exception. I felt a lot stronger, more durable, and able to contemplate contending for a result instead of struggling to survive. There also were obvious areas to improve– timing positioning before sprints, and being less conservative with my watts when it matters for positioning. I think top 20 in GC is not an unreasonable goal for me next year in this race, and I’ll be back.

Race Report: 2025 CBR Dominguez Hills Criterium Series #1 - Women P12

Race: CBR Dominguez Hills Criterium Series #1 - Women P12

Date: January 19th, 2025

AVRT racers: Sue Lin Holt, Thialor Mize, Whitney Post

Top Result: Thialor Mize - 5th/26 in the P123 combined field

Course: Four corner crit, 0.9 miles per lap, fairly flat, headwind on the back straight. Our race was shortened to 45 minutes because they were running behind with earlier races.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13401288206

Written by: Thialor Mize

Our first race of the season was a cold one. Our plan was for Whitney and Sue Lin to chase down any attacks and try to set me (Thialor) up for the sprint. The race was cut short by 5 minutes so I was anticipating an aggressive race. After multiple attacks, the field got complacent and let a small but well represented move roll off the front at 6 laps to go and I made the mistake of not bridging to it. Most of the break came back but a solo rider stayed away.

Heading into what we thought was the final lap, the announcer and lap counter both said “2 to go” while ringing the bell. This resulted in a pretty chaotic/confused bunch sprint for 2nd place and onwards. Whitney and Sue Lin did a good job of keeping my legs protected, so I’m happy with a 5th place for our debut together, but next time they work that hard for me I’d like to get on the box for them.

Oh and I had to sprint twice (as nobody was sure if there were actually 2 laps to go, not one) and I won that sprint just to make sure, so that was a really good feeling. I like cramping :)

Race Report: [Tucson Bicycle Classic – Women’s Cat 4]

Race: Tucson Bicycle Classic – Women’s Cat 4; Time Trial Prologue, Road Race, Circuit Race

Date: TT – Friday: 2/21/25, Road Race – Saturday: 2/22/25, Circuit Race – Sunday: 2/23/25

AVRT racers: Katie Monaghan

Top Result: Katie Monaghan: 5/24 for TT, 5/26 for the Road Race, 5/24 for Circuit Race, 5/24 GC

Course: TT: 4.4 mile point to point bike path, smooth pavement, two sharper turns; Road Race: 2 laps of a 20.3 mile mainly flat loop with some rollers (853 elevation per lap), good pavement overall; Circuit Race: 2.8 mile 4 corner circuit, race starts and ends midway up Musette Road which is a 1 mile uphill climb, bumpy pavement on the bottom of the Mussette climb that flattens out, each lap has 190 feet of climbing

Nutrition: Nothing during the TT; Two bottles with electrolytes and carbs for Road Race; Had a bottle with electrolytes before Circuit but nothing during

To start: thanks for reading! Hoping to keep this as concise and interesting as possible since I’m combining three days in one report.

TBC consisted of three stages: first the TT prologue, then the Road Race, then the Circuit Race. I actually arrived a day early for the Women’s New Racer Clinic lead by Lauren Hall and Cecile Lejeune. In the clinic we did grass skills including bumping, cornering and emergency stops. We then road two practice laps of the circuit race. It felt good to know that all of these skills were familiar to me (mainly thanks to Robin Betz who I’ve learned from either during team camp or on group rides.) It was also nice to be familiar with the circuit course prior to Sunday.

Friday was the TT prologue. I had never done a TT before. Like every stage in this race, I got 5th. A few post-race reflections:

1.    You aren’t actually supposed to be titled slightly sideways by the man holding your bike for the start. I watched my women’s Cat 3 teammates correct him later in the day when they were tilted. I’m too type B and just assumed I was supposed to be titled slightly right.

2.    Knowing the corners on the bike path was incredibly helpful. Thank you to Leo who showed me these on his phone prior to racing! He explained which ones I could pedal through and when to expect them. I definitely would have entered the first corner too hot if not for this.

3.    Knowing my 10-minute power would have been helpful. I just got a power meter in December so I was guessing for what I thought I could maintain.

Saturday was the road race. Lap 1 was coffee paced for 20.3 miles. I was mainly bored but not about to attack without teammates. Beginning lap 2 one girl attacks. I noticed she was one of 4 girls I marked because she beat me in the TT. The 3 other girls I marked from the TT followed her, so I worked like heck to not miss the break. Eventually I caught the break and brought one rider with me. At this point we were split in two groups: two off the front and my chase group of 4 including the two girls I caught and the one girl who I brought along to the break. My group of 4 worked together for a while to try to catch the two off the front. Once we realized that wasn’t happening, our pulls got shorter and more strategic as it became clear this group was racing for 3rd. Ultimately two of the girls out sprinted me (I have lots of reflections on what I could have done better here - if you’re actually curious ask me on a group ride) and again I got 5th.

Sunday was the circuit race. This one was the most fun. I like going hard for a short amount of time with lots of cornering and then being done. Two laps into the race a break again formed of the top 4 girls. This time I was unable to work to bridge to them. However, I was strong enough that I dropped the rest of the pack in my attempt so I started riding alone. One girl eventually caught me. I could tell I was stronger than her since I felt very relaxed when she pulled. I still had her pull some because she was strong enough to hold my wheel. I didn’t want her to do coast with me until the end and then out sprint me to the finish. I surged from her on the last uphill climb for the finish, leaving a pretty big gap and finishing alone. That was a brutally long solo sprint. And believe it or not, I again got 5th. This gave me 5th in GC and some upgrade points, so a very solid weekend of racing!

Overall TBC was a super fun weekend! It was great to just be an athlete for 4 days. I don't think I’ve done that since playing collegiate field hockey. Other major wins on the weekend included:

1.    I built my bike all by myself including taking off/putting on the rear derailleur. (This actually isn’t hard but it is when it’s your first time) Thanks to Kat Zgraja for helping me pack it/showing me how on the way out!

2.    I drove a Dodge Ram. As a proud Honda Fit owner, I was very intimidated when the rental car agency told me they didn’t have a minivan and this was my only option. But I did great and only had to call Louise once to park it in a small parking space. (=

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

Race Report: 2025 Pine Flat Road Race - Men's Cat 3

Race: Pine Flat Road Race - Men's Cat 3

Date: February 16, 2025

AVRT racers: Jeremy Besmer, Ryan Dyke

Top Results: Jeremy 4th, Ryan 7th

Course: The 62-mile course has about 4,500 ft of elevation gain. It starts with a rolling 26-mile out-and-back stretch overlooking Pine Flat Lake, followed by a 2-mile descent into a flat 16-mile valley. Next is an 11-mile climb that starts gradually before steepening into a key 3-mile section at 6%, with a final mile nearing 10%. A fast, non-technical 6-mile descent leads into the final 1-mile climb, which starts at 6% and steepens toward the finish.

Nutrition: Two bottles of super Skratch with 80g carbs each and two sleeves of caffeinated shot blocks (50g carbs each)

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13647636011

Recap: I went into this race nervous and a bit anxious—I previously raced Pine Flat in 2023, but left the race halfway through in an ambulance after a very hard crash.  

This was a relatively small field and we were outnumbered by Dolce Vita, which had four riders, so we knew we couldn’t do much to control the race. I knew one of their riders was a strong climber (Zac), along with a few other riders in the field (Aiden, Fenton). Our strategy going in was pretty simple: sit in for the first 50 miles until the main climb. For that climb, I planned to attack at the steep part, try to get a gap, and then hold that to the finish. Meanwhile, Ryan would sit in with the rest of the field through the main climb and descent, and would be well rested to contest for the finish climb if I got caught. 

The first 50 miles of the race played into that strategy, as not much of consequence happened. The Dolce squad rotated at the front of the field for most of this, which kept the pace steady but not too high. I didn’t fully understand their strategy, but I wasn’t complaining! Thereafter, miles 30-50 felt like a chill Sunday group ride, with friendly banter and enjoying the beautiful scenery. It was clear everyone had the same plan to wait for the main climb. 

As we neared the start of the climb, I noticed that the wind was coming from the opposite direction as predicted, which meant the climb and the descent that followed would have a headwind. I knew this would somewhat neutralize the shallower part of the main climb, so I made sure to position myself well in the field to get a good draft. As we made the turn leading into the main climb, the Dolce riders at the front raised the pace into the first steep roller. I was 5th wheel at the time, but then 3 of Dolce riders successively pulled off the front on the way up the roller. This left me 2nd wheel behind a Terun rider, with the other strong riders behind. I knew this wasn’t ideal, as they could attack and get a gap before I had time to respond. I focused on following the Terun rider’s wheel while looking for opportunities to drop back. However, he stayed on the front and drove a very hard pace for the entire shallower section of the climb, which slowly whittled the lead group down to 6 as we approached the steeper section. 

Still second wheel, and just as feared, Zac (Dolce) attacked hard ~50m before the steep part, which caught me by surprise as it was earlier than expected. He got a small gap, but I stayed patient in the draft until the climb got steeper. Once it pitched up, I locked in at a steady max effort for the next  3’ of the climb and slowly closed the gap to him. As we neared the top, I eased off a bit for the last minute of the climb so that I would catch him right at the top of the hill. This worked out perfectly to get a little recovery while forcing him to pull through the flat section at the top. We had a 5s gap to the next rider (Finton), and 25s to the next (Aidan). 

We traded pulls a few times, but I was pretty dead from the climb effort, and I was also clearly out-powered since he weighs more than me. After one of these pulls, Zac attacked hard and dropped me…I was surprised and unable to respond. I looked back and saw Fenton approaching, and I hopped on his wheel as he passed me. I stayed in his draft for a minute and knew there was an uphill roller approaching, so I pulled through and made a very hard effort on that to close the gap to Zac. My legs felt trashed after that effort, so I skipped turns for a couple minutes while Zac and Fenton traded pulls. Meanwhile, I looked back and saw that Aidan was ~10s behind us and closing quickly. I let Zac successfully bully me into taking a couple pulls. After one of those he attacked again, Fenton followed, and I was toast. Then Aidan blew by me and I had nothing left to latch on, and I watched him join with the other two and disappear out of sight. I had another half mile to the finish climb, and then a mile up that, and there was no one in sight behind me so I just locked in at threshold to finish off the race finishing in fourth—Aidan won, pretty wild! He closed a 25s gap riding solo for most of the descent and then dropped both of them on the finish climb. Meanwhile, Ryan rode a steady effort through the climbs to finish just behind the lead group in seventh.

In hindsight, I should’ve sat in behind Zac/Fenton the rest of the way to the finish climb, knowing that they would keep working to hold off Aidan, and whether or not Aidan caught us  it wouldn’t matter because I was the fastest climber in the group. In spite of that strategic error, it’s hard to be disappointed after a decent result in the first race of the season, and having fun racing on a beautiful course!

Race Report: 2025 Tucson Bicycle Classic - Men’s Cat 4

Race Report: 2025 Tucson Bicycle Classic - Men’s Cat 4

Race: Tucson Bicycle Classic  - Men’s Cat 4

Date: Feb 24, 2025

AVRT racers: Clark Penado, Jack Lund

Top Result: Jack (9th GC)

Stage 1 - Time Trial : Short TT of 4.5 miles, flat. No TT bikes allowed.

Push watts while crouched down in aero.  Jack 10:34 (10/50), Clark 10:48 (17/50).

Stage 2 - Road Race: Two laps totalling 41 miles, 1700ft elev.  Rolling terrain ending in a gentle 3% grade finish

Clark and I were feeling pretty good going into the day.  This was a pretty large field of 56, but there were no large or dominant teams controlling the race.  While there were a few antsy riders occasionally causing the pace to surge, there were no real breakaways except for the prime lap bonus.

With such a large field, maneuvering was challenging within a single lane.  Unfortunately this resulted in a small pile-up on the flat backstretch of the last lap.  Clark got caught behind this, but fortunately he emerged with the bike and body mostly fine.

As I turned the corner and started the final 4 mile gentle climb to the finish, there were a series of attacks whittling the field each time.  With 1k to go a rider sneaked off the front.  I saw this happen, but I was close to the limit and wanted to save my last match.  I was hoping someone else would push hard to reel him back.  Instead one other rider launched an explosive bridge, and suddenly the break was two.  After this move they wouldn’t be caught again and I used the rest of my energy for a field sprint for 7th.

Stage 3 - Circuit Race 30 mins.  2.7 mi loop with a gentle-grade hill – 170 ft elevation per loop. 

This was pretty full-gas since it was such a short time.  I had guessed that we would probably drop half the field on the first lap, so I tried to position near the front.  I was correct. For the remainder of the race I hung on as several riders pushed the pace and we continued to drop riders.  We rolled in for a final sprint and I didn’t have much left in the tank, ending 11th.

All in all it was a fun weekend and a well-organized event.

Race Report: 2025 Pine Flat Road Race - Men’s P/1/2

Race: Pine Flat Road Race - Men’s P/1/2

Date: February 16th, 2025

AVRT racers: Greg McCullough, Devin Wilson, Nathan Martin, and Henry Mallon

Top Results: Henry (4/25), Nathan (5/25)

Course: The 62-mile course has about 4,500 ft of elevation gain. It starts with a rolling 26-mile out-and-back stretch overlooking Pine Flat Lake, followed by a 2-mile descent into a flat 16-mile valley. Next is an 11-mile climb that starts gradually before steepening into a key 3-mile section at 6%, with a final mile nearing 10%. A fast, non-technical 6-mile descent (interrupted by a few cattle guards) leads into the final 1-mile climb, which starts at 6% and steepens toward the finish.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13645927827 

Nutrition: I fueled with two large bottles (1.75 L total) of homemade malto/fructose mix and two gels, totaling around 250g of carbs (~100g/hr).

Race Recap: Written by Henry. This one had a stacked startlist. CycleSport had a squad of five, including Quinn Felton, Mattheus Johnson, and Ryan Gorman. VFR brought six, with Bradley Wiggs and Victor Perez-Abela Maldonado as their top climbers. Plus, there were strong solo riders like Chaz Turmon, who’s won this race before and is now on Skyline, a UCI Continental team.

Our plan was simple: shut down early moves and set up Nathan and me to follow the big hitters on the main Wildcat climb.

The race started spicier than I expected, with teams rolling attacks on the out-and-back section. I stayed patient, trusting my teammates to cover the dangerous moves. Just before the turnaround, a strong break got away with representation from all the major teams—including Nathan for us. But our goal was to keep things together for the final climb so I’d be in contention for the finish and some upgrade points.

Right after the turnaround, Devin hit the front to keep the gap in check. He was on his gravel bike (not exactly optimal for a 30mph chase), but he put in a big pull. I took a turn, then Greg pulled through hard. Even so, no one else in our group wanted to help, and the break was packed with motivated guys who were likely gaining time. I knew I had to jump across. I wanted to wait for a slight uphill to avoid dragging passengers, but when Greg finished his pull, I couldn’t afford to wait. The bridge effort was about two to three minutes full gas—and, unfortunately, I towed a couple of riders with me. Still, I was glad I recognized the danger and made the move. Plus, it was a nice “opener” for the harder efforts to come.

Once I got across, the pace settled slightly, and it was clear this was the early selection. After the fast descent, things calmed down in the valley. One or two dangled off the front, but Nathan controlled the pace with some long pulls, keeping everything manageable. With the final climb approaching, I was feeling good.

As soon as we hit the climb, CycleSport started a leadout for Mattheus and Quinn. Nathan told me to stick right on Quinn’s wheel. There was a small battle for that spot, and eventually, I let Bradley Wiggs in rather than fight for it. Even on the relatively shallow 4% section, their pace was dropping riders. I was sitting in at around 5.5 w/kg, which felt quite hard.

Then the road pitched up to 9%, and Quinn launched. I followed, along with Bradley and Mattheus. After a couple of minutes, I knew the pace was beyond what I could sustain to the top, and when Quinn kicked again, I let the wheel go and settled in. Mattheus dropped too. By the top, I had clawed back to him, and Nathan—who had paced the climb more evenly—was rejoining us. He barely hesitated before blowing past and yelling at me to get on.

Despite briefly getting stuck behind a truck, Nathan was flying down the descent. He singlehandedly reeled in Quinn and Bradley, giving me a shot at the win instead of just going for third.

Quinn and Bradley had already dropped me once, and Mattheus is way punchier than I am in a finish like this. I still gave it everything, especially after Nathan’s massive effort, but I crossed the line fourth, with Nathan right behind in fifth.

I was a little disappointed not to capitalize on his work, but looking back, I set an all-time best power for the final two minutes. I just got beaten by stronger guys.

Still, it was fun to race with new (and old) teammates and grab my first wide P/1/2 podium. Can’t wait to come back next year and try to do one better. And in the meantime, I owe Nathan some wicked pulls in an upcoming race.

Thanks for reading!

—Henry

Race Report: 2025 Snelling Road Race - Men’s Cat 4

Race: Snelling Road Race - Men’s Cat 4 

Date: March 1, 2025

AVRT racers: Wil Gibb (7/27)

Course: Approx. 60 mi and 2800 ft of elevation. We did five laps of the Strava segment linked below. There are several rollers but nothing so significant to cause a selection. The pavement is bad throughout, especially so on the back half of the lap towards the finish. I was extremely grateful to have 32mm tubeless tires at 60 PSI as I know many people got flats. 

Strava: https://www.strava.com/segments/1030145

Nutrition: Two bottles of 90g Skratch high-carb, 100g caffeine PowerBar gummies (150mg total)

Recap:

This was my first time racing solo, and there were two large, strong teams: Dolce Vita (5 riders) & Velo Trap (4 riders). Both teams have been well represented on podiums this year. Given this, and the fact that the course didn’t really seem to have selection points, my goal was to chase attacks if both teams were represented to see if something stuck. 

The attacks started almost right away, and there was little motivation from the peloton to chase. I brought the first few back with some other solo riders. After this, a Dolce Vita rider (Adam - who won all the early bird crits) attacked and no one followed. I probably should have jumped in this move, but I needed to recover and thought Velo Trap would organize a chase. They never did, and early in the second lap we were already racing for second. 

On the third lap, on the biggest “climb” of the race, there was a wheel touch behind me that sent 4-6 riders down in a crash. Not five minutes later, the peloton approached the sketchiest corner on the course – downhill, sharp, and covered in sand from an oil spill earlier in the morning (is this Mario Kart?!). I thought being second wheel going into this corner was smart, but the rider in front of me wiped out and blocked the entire narrow strip of road. I slowed into the gravel shoulder to avoid him, but still had enough speed to hit the deck, get some road rash, and derail my chain. 

Dusty and bloodied, I still had the peloton in distant sight given the long, straight road ahead. This motivated me to chase back on. After a 10 minute solo effort, I had a chance to recover for a good while. For those keeping score, the Dolce Vita rider was 90 seconds ahead at this point. Late into the fourth lap, a Velo Trap rider attacked and I followed. The VeloTrap team did a good job of blocking, and we had a nice gap right away. 

After about five minutes, we had probably 30 seconds on the main peloton and our gap was growing. Unfortunately, we came up on a small group of riders from a different category and inexplicably the moto made us stop and rejoin the peloton instead of easily going around them on the closed roads (which we had been doing in other parts of the course). Not only did this cripple our advantage, but it also slowed the entire peloton down as they were also going to pass this group at their speeds. 

After the post-crash solo effort, and the neutralized breakaway, I had limited matches left to burn. Towards the finish, I wasn’t able to get into the Velo Trap lead out and took a lot of wind. I missed the first sprint group and came in just behind for 7th. Overall, I’m proud of the way I was able to come back after the crash, and am continuing to learn more and more about race strategy – both what I can and can’t control. 

Thanks for reading! 

Wil 

Race Report: 2025 Snelling Road Race - Men’s Cat 3

Race: Snelling Road Race - Men’s Cat 3

Date: March 1st, 2025

AVRT racers: George Wehner

Top Result: George 4/26

Course: 5 laps of a rolling 20-km course with generally mediocre pavement that became quite bad on the back half of the course, especially Figmond Ave and Fields Rd.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13762331893

Nutrition: I ate a packet of Skratch energy chews (40g carbs, 50mg caffeine) on the start line, then drank 3 full bottles during the race with 90g carbs each (30g fructose, 60g maltodextrin).

Recap: I was racing solo, so my plan was to let the major teams dictate the flow of the race, be very selective with what moves I followed, and conserve as much energy as possible for what likely would be a field sprint. Dolce Vita brought 7 riders, and Terun had 4 of their own, so I figured those two teams would be responsible for controlling the race. As I couldn’t follow everything, I planned to only follow moves that had both Dolce Vita and Terun represented.

Things were going according to plan for the first 1.5 laps - the race was pretty hard, but nothing too out of the ordinary. I was mostly trying to sit in and conserve energy, sagging the rollers and letting others burn their matches. However, I sagged a little too far, and towards the end of lap 2 I ended up behind a split where about 10-12 riders went off the front, including 3 Dolce Vita and 2 Terun riders. I got to the front of the second group, but I was being left out to dry by the other riders (Dolce Vita was blocking others from joining the effort), and the gap blew out to about 45 seconds as I filtered back.

I didn’t want to give up, but I also didn’t want to give anyone a free ride, so I attacked the group hard enough to snap the elastic. Two others followed, and we quickly caught another rider who had attacked a minute earlier, forming a group of 4 chasers who were all committed to bridging to that front group. It took us a hard 20-25 minutes of chasing, but we successfully bridged the gap and joined the front group about 2/3 of the way through the 3rd lap.

I was pretty gassed after this chase effort, so I focused on conserving energy at least until the final lap. For most of lap 4, this front group was still very dynamic, with plenty of attacks flying, but I stayed calm and sat in as much as I could. At the start of the final lap, there was a brief period of calm, as I’m pretty sure everyone else in that front group was as cooked as me, but my strategy was still to conserve energy. About 3km from the finish, Zac from Dolce Vita sent a flyer, but I just let this go as I figured we’d probably catch him and it wasn’t my responsibility to chase. That said, I made sure to stay close to the front, and I was positioned in 5th or 6th wheel going into the final corner. Because of the sketchy pavement, I was a bit timid and let a small gap open through the corner, which isn’t ideal with 400m to go. We caught Zac just before the line, and my sprint still ended up being good enough to place 4th, missing out on 3rd by just a bike throw.

I think I raced a pretty good race, but there are definitely a couple things I need to improve on. First, with the race being as hard as it was, I probably should’ve been more careful with sagging to avoid the split, although this is easy to say in hindsight. Second, I think being more confident through that final corner would’ve helped a little bit. The guy who won, Chaz from Data Driven Athlete, was very assertive through that corner, and that got him into perfect position to take the W. That said, I’m happy with my result – it’s never a bad day when you win $7 and a Velo Promo T-shirt.

2025 Cantua Creek Road Race - Men's Cat 3

Race: Cantua Creek Road Race - Men's Cat 3

Date: February 15, 2025

AVRT racers: Ryan Dyke

Top Result: DNF (or 1st, depending on who you ask)

Course: Three laps of a 22 mile out and back. Chilly but not very much wind. Finishes with a 3% 0.8 mile climb

Strava: https://strava.app.link/fNnJjX2hnRb

Nutrition: Just water

Recap: This was my first race of the season, so I had low expectations going in. Unfortunately even those expectations didn’t include flatting in the first 12 minutes of the race. Luckily I brought a flat kit for some reason, so I pulled over and fixed it on the side of the road.

At this point, rejoining the group was not going to happen, so I rode back to the start, told the officials what happened, and accepted my DNF. After picking some stuff up from my car, I went back on the course between packs to get a bit of a ride in and then called it a day. Overall, great ride and nice course but bad luck.

Later that night, I was chatting with a teammate on Slack when he congratulated me on my win. I was like, “I flatted out lol, definitely didn’t win”, but then I checked ontheday.net and realized that the officials counted me at the end of my solo ride. I cleared it up with them the next day, but the moral of the story is that you need to remove your number or cover it when you pass the officials. At the start of Pine Flat the next day, every racer really wanted to know who I was and why they hadn’t seen me at all during the previous day’s race.

2025 Cantua Creek RR - Women’s P1234

Race: Cantua Creek Road Race - Women’s P1234

Date: Feb 15, 2025

AVRT racers: Robin Betz, Steph Hart, Lousie Thomas

Top Result: Robin Betz (3rd/9)

Course: Approx. 48 mi and 1250 ft of elevation. The course consists of two out-and-back laps with good pavement. The section of road is mostly straight and flat with some rolling hills near the start/finish. The finish is 0.8 miles with a 3% gradient.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13636128515

Nutrition: Two 400kcal bottles of Robin’s race fuel: cyclic dextrin + country time lemonade

Recap:

[Robin]: Alto Velo and Terun were the two represented teams, each with 3 riders. My goal was to get an upgrade point, which required placing in the top 3, and my best chances of that versus this group would be to get in a break or at least make the race really difficult before the final finishing climb.

About a quarter of the way into the first lap, attacks started going. We had some great teamwork with a counterattack ready to go, and it was fast and furious for 3-4 attacks before settling down. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself ready for another counterattack each time with energy to spare. This dynamic continued through the turnaround at the first lap.

At different times all of us ended up off the front either solo or with a Terun rider. I was surprised to find Terun would chase when we both had riders off the front but guessed they wanted to go for a podium sweep or something.

At one point I found myself off the front with a fair gap with a Terun rider Sarah and convinced her to work with me a bit. I felt pretty good and convinced her to work with me to grow the gap. We traded pulls for a while until the climb at the end of the first lap. On the way back I saw we had a good gap to the field but Jen Tave was trying to bridge.

[Louise]: In the “chase” group we kept the pace fairly easy once Robin and Sarah got away; since both Alto Velo and Terun had someone in the break and the solo riders looked tired the breakaway seemed like it would stick. However, as we approached the hill at the end of lap 1 (of 2), Jen attacked. It’s extremely difficult to keep up with Jen going uphill on a good day, but this was made even harder by getting caught up with a different field at the turnaround point and so Jen got away from us. 

[Robin again]: Sarah entirely stopped working with me at this point. I tried to encourage her by saying she would almost certainly win vs. me, but not vs. Jen, but she was just coasting. I had forgotten a key piece of information which is that Jen is (somehow) a cat 3 and they need to get her upgrade points so she can race Redlands, so she was the protected rider that day.

After it flattened out I wasn’t sure what to do, but I knew if the group caught me there’s no way I was going to be able to get top 3. Jen catches us and we keep working together, so I am okay with it. After the last turnaround I think about how to maximize my odds of doing well and start pretending to be tired – moving my upper body more, taking shorter pulls, and making loud breathing sounds when I fall back.

This worked well as they attacked me a few times but I’m impossible to drop on the flats and wasn’t actually too tired. At the final climb I do my best but they both gap me easily and I roll in for third.

I was very happy with the outcome of this race and our teamwork. The only thing I would have done differently is going harder on the flat when I saw Jen chasing, even if it meant giving Sarah a free ride to first place, as a flat TT with wind is where I’m proportionally strongest.

2025 Cantua Creek RR - Women’s 3/4/5 & 40+

Race: 2025 Cantua Creek RR - Women’s 3/4/5 & 40+

Date: 2/15/2025

AV racers: Kathleen Bortolussi, Hannah Chen, Janene Ostrow

Top Result: Hannah Chen 2/9 

Course: 1.5 laps of a 26mi flattish out-and-back course. The 1st half lap turnaround was ~7mi in and the last few miles to the finish are rolling with a slight uphill finish. Not much wind overall, but a tailwind on the way out.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13656777395 

Nutrition: 1 bottle of water and a gu

Race Summary (by Hannah):
I was on the fence about racing because I was sick and fatigued all week, but eventually felt OK and was already there to support Ryan (he got a flat 10 min into his race, boo hoo). I found Janene and Kathleen and we didn’t have a strategy - mostly suck wheels, don’t crash with a new rider, and see how things go. 

The pack stayed together with a few people reluctantly switching off at the front. The turnarounds were laughably slow; one girl even had to unclip. Two unlabeled riders would attack/surge when they were in the front. I and others chased them back each time and the rest of the field would catch up. This repeated…many times and got annoying. At one point Janene was like “notice purple jersey who hasn’t done any work??? Let’s just follow her lol”. 

Coming into the last lap, Kathleen took the front so she didn’t have to deal with how poorly we did turnarounds. We had a slight gap and I asked if we should go harder. She replied with the best advice of the day: this race was all about patience. Sooo true.

At some point the moto ref neutralizes us for the men’s 1/2/3 to pass. Green jersey girl is like see ya suckers and attacks. We all continue in our single file line waiting for the men to pass and complain about how she sucks. Then we complain about her some more and let her dangle. Eventually we coordinate our rage and paceline to bring her back. It was fun to go fast! 

Nearing the finishing rollers, as expected, no one wanted to pull anymore. At the 1k mark, one of the Terun girls surged in front of us and started going harder. Purple jersey and I were right on her wheel. I thought Terun went too early and expected her to blow up. That was my big mistake because ultimately that caused me to react too slowly to go around purple jersey when she got gapped. I didn’t have enough time to catch up to Terun before we got to the finish line.

Race Summary (by Kathleen):

Adding to Hannah’s race report: This was my first road race with AV and teammates Hannah and Janene. I signed up for the W40+ category, racing alongside the 3/4 women, and was excited just to be in a road race. My background recently is in cyclocross and gravel—nothing beats unpredictable interval training for building fitness like a real road event.

The race started at a crawl, with no one willing to take the front. It was cold, so I went to the front to pull, keeping my effort controlled to warm up without burning too much energy. As soon as I pulled off, two riders in unmarked green and gold jerseys took over, clearly working together. The rider in green called the shots while gold followed, launching attacks to see what would stick. Hannah, Janene, and I covered moves, while green-gal spent a lot of time pulling. I waited for them to tire.

At mile 20, a motorbike neutralized our race to let the Pro 1/2 men pass. As we moved over, green-gal attacked. I called out that it was illegal to launch an attack while neutralized, so everyone sat-in and watched as she ended up in the middle of the road, swarmed by the men’s group—super dangerous for everyone. She got swept up the road and eventually spit out.

That’s when the race surged. I reacted too slowly, missed the back of the group, and just like that, I was no longer in the peleton. I dropped into TT mode, and after a while, I heard a voice—it was Janene. Sorry she was off the back too, as I slowed so we could work together. We traded pulls, and as we neared the turnaround, in the opposite direction came the peloton and we spotted green-gal off the back but we were too far behind to catch her. We made our own way to the finish, and I managed to pass one man who had also been dropped. It was great to have teammates and am grateful for the experience. 

Race Report: 2025 Copper Valley Circuit Race - Women’s Cat 3/4/5

Race: Copper Valley Circuit Race - Women’s Cat 3/4/5

Date: February 23, 2025

AVRT racers: Alex Cameron, Chris Davis, Hannah Chen, Sam Dewees

Top Result: Hannah 4/10 (Cat 4), Sam 5/10 (Cat 4), Alex 6/10 (Cat 4), Chris 1/2 (Masters)

Course: The race was 3 laps on an out-and-back 5.2-ish mile course. The roads were dry and well-paved, and the course was flattish with some mild hills that didn’t dramatically affect the pace. It was warmer than expected (mid-60s-low 70s) and wasn’t noticeably windy. The only technical sections were the two 180-degree turn-around points, which slowed the pace.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13708297471/segments/3329007177598663282

Nutrition: Since it was such a short race, there wasn’t a feed zone or water on course. Most riders carried one bottle of water and did not eat during the race. I had a fig bar about 45 minutes before the race and drank some water with Skratch during my warmup. I did not eat or drink during the race.

This was Alex’s and my first race, so Chris and Hannah put together the strategy for our team. The aim was for Chris and Hannah to control the pace, attacking often and bringing back other riders who attacked, while Alex and I kept ourselves in position on other riders’ wheels to conserve energy and hopefully find ourselves able to sprint to the finish.

Since the race was only 40 minutes, we anticipated riding 3-4 laps around the course. However, there was some confusion throughout the race as to the total number of laps we were expected to ride, as the start and finish were at different locations on the course.

Chris and Hannah followed the race plan, and attacked throughout the race. Sometimes other riders immediately responded to their attacks and the pace increased, and other times, the group let the attacker ride solo for a while off the front, before they were eventually pulled back into the group. A breakaway never formed, and we rode almost the entire race in one group. The turn-around points significantly slowed the pace each time, and riders would often try to surge out of the corners, but then would slow down enough that no one was dropped for long and the group would reform.

I went into this race with no expectations, as I didn’t know how I would compare to the other riders or how our strategy would play out, but I was hopeful to have a good result and finish on the podium. My intention, at the very least, was to not get dropped and to stay on the wheel of another rider as much as possible until the finish. While I achieved this goal, I finished the race feeling like I was a little overly cautious with conserving energy. I also misjudged how many laps we had remaining, so I found myself a bit farther back than I wanted to be as we were approaching the finish, and I scrambled to make up places, when I had hoped to have a strong, properly timed sprint to the line. I finished the race happy to take 5th place but feeling like I had more to offer.

Overall, I really enjoyed this race and I felt it was a great first race experience. I learned a lot about race dynamics and about my own abilities as a rider. It was so much fun to have Chris and Hannah to show us how it’s done, and I am excited to keep improving this season!

- Sam

Race Report: 2025 CCCX (XC MTB) Race #4 - Men’s Cat 2/Sport

Race: CCCX (XC MTB) Race #4 Men’s Cat 2/Sport Age 35-44 

Date: February 16, 2025

AVRT racers: Michael Matthews

Top Result: Men’s Cat 2/Sport Age 35-44 1st/9 (Men’s Cat 2/Sport Overall 7th/47)

Course: ~3.4 mile lap completed four times for Cat 2. Minimally technical course elements aside from a few sections of sequential banked 180 degree corners that you can easily dump too much speed in. Three key separation climbs spread evenly across the lap. Easier passing opportunities were at mid-to-late lap. Trail conditions were dry but soft sand in areas affected by the recent rains. Really short finishing straight, so a late move would have to be done sooner. There were two long straight sections that were fast and easier to make moves on. The course had some new elements as the configurations in this part of Fort Ord are almost endless. Wind and weather were not a factor. 

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13646134907 

Nutrition: ~100g of carbs in a bottle for pre/during race nutrition. Not a lot of opportunity to even grab a drink based on the course layout. Even the straight sections were rough enough that eating/drinking would be tough. 

Event Recap: Mixed feelings about my readiness for this race. I was coming off a recovery week but also came off a flight the night before. My registration was a little messed up. My USAC racing age is 35 but I was placed in the 19-34 age category. So, I lined up at the front of my registered age group (19-34) but halfway through the field I was starting with. The U19 and 19-34 started together. Half of the U19 was very strong and took off quickly. I jumped about three wheels before the second separation climb but couldn’t get out from behind one wheel until it was too late. The leaders, all from the U19 age group and one from my (19-34) age group were out of sight before the end of the first of four laps. I would catch glimpses of them at certain points of the course so I decided to settle in and set a strong pace for the remaining laps. I slowly started catching and passing riders. After a big push on lap 3 of 4, and by halfway through the last lap I’d caught two other riders in my wave (not age group though). Anticipation of a three-up sprint for 5/6/7th was looming. I was third wheel into the last third of the lap. One descent and one sharp climb remaining before a fast singletrack descent into the finish. The youngest/smallest rider jumped on the descent at the base of the climb. I hesitated to do the same seconds earlier, but didn’t. Turns out I had burnt all my matches before the last climb and was distanced before the top anyways, but it was great to have battled back into a group. Overall fun and challenging race with a great result!

2025 Pine Flat Road Race - Men’s Cat 4

Race: 2025 Pine Flat Road Race - Men’s Cat 4

Date: February 16th, 2025

AVRT racers: Matin Massoudi, Jack Lund, Wil Gibb

Top Result: Wil Gibb (12/18)

Course: This course has a lot of variety. It begins with some out and back rollers for 25 miles before a 10 mile descent → flat section. Starting at mile 40, the road starts gradually ramping up, until you reach the main feature - a 3.5 mile climb (https://www.strava.com/segments/635567). This 3.5 mile climb averages 5.5% but gets steeper as you go, up to 10-11% (https://pjammcycling.com/climb/1766.Wildcat-Grade). This is also the most sun-exposed portion of the course. After this climb, there is a 6 mile fast descent with some rollers as well. The finish of the race is on a 0.5 mile kicker at 9.4% - basically a slightly “easier” version of Moody (https://www.strava.com/segments/31080757).

Strava: https://www.strava.com/segments/1008724

Nutrition: Two bottles of 100g carbs courtesy of Skratch Super-High Carb mix from The Feed, 100g carbs from Power Bar caffeine gummies, 60g carbs from Trader Joe’s dried oranges.

Race recap:

There was a lot of anticipation going into this race, because Jack and I felt we could work to give Matin a shot at victory. As you’ll see, sometimes the best laid plans don’t always work out. 

The first third of the race is an out and back section with some rollers and amazing views. Nothing happened until the turnaround, when one of the riders took the slowing peloton as an opportunity to break away. This was easily covered however, and Jack and I took some turns on the front because we wanted to make sure to be in a good position for the descent. Since I was particularly nervous about getting dropped on a fast, possibly technical descent I’d never done before, I opened up a gap on the final climb that another rider was able to match. The two of us took the descent together before being caught on the flats. My effort here was probably a mistake as the descent wasn’t as technical as I thought and it would have been easy enough to catch back on if I got dropped. 

Once on the flats, two unaffiliated riders started floating away as the front of the peloton slowed – almost as if they were blocking for the break. It took a few minutes for a paceline to organize, but eventually we were humming along and cut the deficit to the break in half.

I noticed that not everyone in the group seemed super comfortable with a rotating paceline, and the speeds on the receding line varied a lot, sometimes requiring harder braking. Unfortunately, Matin and Jack got caught up in one of these events and crashed. I stayed back to make sure they were ok, before eventually carrying on with two other riders who crashed but were relatively unscathed. Despite being delayed for 20 minutes, I was able to catch a few of the other riders – giving credibility to the idea that Matin may have been able to win the race. Given our history with pacelines, next year he might just have to win it from the break. 

Thanks for reading!

Wil Gibb 

2025 Cantua Creek Road Race - Men’s Cat 4

Race Report: 2025 Cantua Creek Road Race - Men’s Cat 4

Race: Cantua Creek Road Race - Men’s Cat 4

Date: Feb 15, 2025

AVRT racers: Jack Lund, Wil Gibb

Top Result: Jack Lund (1/23), Wil Gibb (3/23)

Course: Approx. 70 mi and 2000 ft of elevation. The course consists of three out-and-back laps with good pavement. The section of road is mostly straight and flat with some rolling hills near the start/finish. The finish is 0.8 miles with a 3% gradient. The flatness and lack of features contributed significantly to the race dynamics.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13636666489

Nutrition: Three gels, and two bottles of high carb maltodextrin/fructose

Recap:

Wil and I reviewed the course ahead of time.  We determined that being in a break for such a long course would be very difficult and we would rather contest the last mile.  Apparently every other rider had the same idea too.

The pace was very mellow in the first two laps, as we were all determined to save energy.  At one point in the first lap, two riders tried a break.  They didn’t get more than a 20 second gap before the peloton was able to form a paceline and reel them back.  I think the ease with which we brought them back discouraged any future attacks for the remainder of the race.  

Three hours in, at mile 65/70 I had averaged just 170W.  I was getting a little bored of all the chit chatting we were doing, but we were all determined to race smart and save energy.  We even had a pee break during lap 2.

Finally as we neared the end, the pace picked up dramatically.  Wil and I positioned ourselves near the front, ready to hop on any attacks.  We surfed wheels for a bit, always staying near the front.  Wil then launched a monster attack with a little over a mile to go. I latched onto his wheel and Wil pulled us to a 5 second gap ahead of the rest of the field.  Coming out of the final roller, I launched a sprint to finish first, and Wil followed in for third.

This was a big strategic success for us.  In the final mile I was close to max HR (even though I was second wheel to Wil).  I have no doubt that I would have faded if I had attempted this solo.  A good lead-out with just a two person team can be really effective, and ultimately took the day.

Race Report: 2025 Cal Aggie Crit - Men’s Pro/1/2

Race: 2025 Cal Aggie Crit - Men’s Pro/1/2

Date: February 1, 2025

AVRT racers: Jon Wells

Top Result: Jon Wells, DNF

Course: 1.1 mile loop in Land Park, up in Sacramento. The course runs clockwise around a loop with a single chicane and one final corner. The rest of the course is one long bend that works around the loop. No real elevation but the wind would be a major course feature.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13514965483/ 

Nutrition: a pre race Redbull and 60g flow bottle during the race 

Race Recap:

Coming into this race, I was flying solo as the wind and rain had kept everyone else home. There were only about 30 people in the field and only Mikes and Terun had more than 3 riders on any team. I was expecting a break to roll at some point with both of them represented and then the rest of the field would lose motivation to chase as the break rolled away. In anticipation of this happening (Spoiler alert, thats exactly what happened), my plan was to only cover moves with those two teams represented.

The race got off to a rather slow start as everyone felt out the wet corners on the first lap. It had rained pretty hard all day but was just a drizzle once racing had started. The wind was still blowing pretty hard, probably 20mph, right in your face down the home straight. You had to be constantly alert to the wind direction when making moves as it could cost you lost of extra energy to attack in the wrong place.

I pretty easily covered a couple moves in the first 15 minutes that had both big teams, but on the third move when a counter went over the move I was in, I was tired from attacking and really not in a good spot to respond. As I tacked onto the back of the field, the move at the front had shattered the field into groups of 3-4 riders due to a combination of the crosswind section, wet corners, and big attack. Unfortunately the group I was in at the very back never made it back into the race and we got pulled. 

Ultimately a group of 6 stuck together from that final surge when I was dropped, and it included 2 Mikes and 2 Terun riders, leaving almost no firepower in the remaining groups to chase. Glad to have racing back for this season and certainly looking forward to the next one for some redemption.

-Jon