Club News
Race Report: 2024 High Cascades 100 - Open Men
Race: High Cascades 100 2024 - Open Men
Date: July 20, 2024
Written By: Flo Costa
Result: 12/93
Course: 91 mile MTB race race with 8000 ft of climbing on epic singletrack trails in Bend.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11938583527
Race:
After a bit of rest following Oregon Trail gravel, my next objective for the season was to tackle the High Cascades 100 mountain bike race in Bend. Ever since I first heard about this race it’s been on my bucket list because of the amazing courses on the endless Bend singletrack. I figured after a few solid months of gravel prep I would have the endurance to carry me through the race. I was stoked to race on these trails and try out a marathon mtb event. The only problem was I didn’t have a mountain bike. Thankfully, I was able to borrow one from a buddy and put some miles on it in the 2 weeks leading up to the race.
Another big challenge for this race would be the heat. In the week leading into the race, it had consistently been 100 degrees and it didn’t look like it was going to let up for the race. As a result, the organizers reduced the race from 100 to 90 miles. We also had a 5:30 am start time which meant we could start in the cooler morning temperatures.
The race started out pretty chill until right before we entered the singletrack. This was expected since everyone wants to be in a good position before entering the trails. The first singletrack section led us up a steady 6 mile climb and here the race quickly blew up. The pace felt pretty tough so I dialed it back and stuck to my own rhythm, especially since I figured drafting would be less important. By the top of the climb I was still in the top 10 as we entered the first downhill and fast trail sections. This is where I realized how technically sharp some of these mtb racers were. Despite being able to hang on the climbs, the two guys in front of me effortlessly dropped me on the downhills and even the flats. Meanwhile I was accelerating out of every corner trying to close the gap, which definitely cost me a lot of extra energy.
At the second feed zone I grabbed some ice and food from my mom which greatly helped. Even at 7:30 am I could feel the sun beating down on us. At this point in the race the gaps were already fairly big and I was pretty much alone. All I had to do was keep pushing the pedals and keep eating. I had a lot of fun through the next few sections of hills and fast descents and was happy to have pre-ridden some of the trails in the weeks before the race.
About halfway through the race was the hardest climb of the day, which was steep, twisty, and rocky. There were a few sections that were quite challenging to clear and required more high bursts of power. After this main climb we were rewarded with over 30 minutes of downhill on a super fun trail that weaved through many trees and bushes. Next was the final climb of the day which was close to 10 miles at pretty low gradients. This was on some more super nice trails, but here I started fading. The combination of trying to accelerate out of every turn, not being able to eat as much on the technical sections, and the heat started catching up to me. Up to this point I had been able to maintain my position, but on this climb I was passed by 2 guys. I was struggling quite a bit until the last feed zone of the day where I picked up more ice and food.
This last feed zone brought me back to life both physically and mentally. All that was left was 15 miles of gentle downhill all the way to the finish. I had the next guy up the road (trail?) in sight so I was motivated to try to catch back up. This section was also probably the most technical, with a few pretty large boulders and rocky sections to clear. I tried to keep up a good pace all the way through to the finish, but wasn’t able to catch up to the guy in front of me.
Overall on the day I was 12th with a time of 6:57. It was a pretty long day on the bike, but I was decently happy with my performance given the circumstances and had a blast ripping through all the local trails. I was really impressed with how efficient the top guys were, and I do think I wasted a lot of energy trying to get back up to speed out of corners. Racing with these strong mtb riders really makes me want to practice more and get better technically. For the rest of the season I had a lot of road racing planned, but I definitely think I’ll be back one day for this race after some proper mtb training. Maybe by then I’ll even have my own mountain bike.
Thanks for reading,
Flo
Race Report: 2024 Cascade Gravel Grinder - Elite Men
Race: Cascade Gravel Grinder 2024 - Elite Men
Date: June 2, 2024
Written By: Flo Costa
Result: 5/16 (98 men overall)
Course: 90 mile gravel race in the Central Oregon Cascades with 9000 ft of vert. Chunky gravel with lots of climbing and great mountain views.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11559639468
Race:
Previously in 2023 the Cascade Gravel Grinder was a 3 day stage race, but in 2024 they decided to make it a single day event to put more focus on one big day. For me, this was an important training race in preparation for the Oregon Trail less than one month later. The idea was to get a sense for where my fitness was and what I needed to work on in my last training block leading up to Oregon Trail. After doing some solid openers the day before my body felt ready to go.
Things seemed to be going quite well in the lead up to the race until about 5 min into my warm up when my rear derailleur stopped working. The shifter was completely unresponsive. I pulled over to see what was going on, and in doing so I discovered my cable had completely snapped (thanks Shimano). Oh boy. An extra cable is not something I typically carry with me and even if I did, I don’t think I would have been able to fix it in time before the start of the race. This meant I was completely stuck with a single speed in the rear cassette and thankfully a 2x chainring in front. I was also thankfully able to adjust the derailleur to put it in a middle cog so at least I could make it up the climbs.
This completely changed my mindset going into the race. Now there was no pressure to perform and all I could do was give it my best shot. I’m also pretty sure people have done much harder races on single speed bikes, so surely this couldn’t be too bad. Overall, I would completely spin out over 18mph and would have to average 50rpm or less on the climbs.
I was able to hang with the front group on the first gentle climb of the day, while spinning out, but immediately got dropped on the first descent. I felt pretty helpless but didn’t give up. Over the next couple climbs I would go nearly as hard as I could to catch back up to people who previously passed me in the flats or descents. I was feeling pretty good overall, but every climb was a grind and it was only a matter of time before my legs exploded.
The implosion came after about 3 hours on the fourth climb of the day. Physically, my body didn’t feel cracked but muscularly my legs couldn’t produce power at threshold. The low cadence of each climb completely sapped my legs. At this point, the race had completely blown apart but I was still somewhere in the top 10.
After this fourth climb there was a very rocky 4 mile descent. It was incredibly difficult to pick a line without hitting these huge rocks that were scattered everywhere. Pretty much the limit of what I think is doable on a gravel bike. Thankfully, I had recently installed tire inserts which gave me more confidence. I was also still motivated and had nothing to lose, so I went full send. In this section alone I managed to pass 3 guys who either had completely flatted or were more hesitant in the downhill.
This small win gave me even more motivation to keep pushing on the final 7 mile climb. I made sure to keep eating and grinded all the way to the top. The final descent was long, technical, and super fun. It was still annoying to be stuck in an easy gear on the descent, which definitely felt less stable, but despite this I really enjoyed this rip on a beautiful red cinder gravel road. I managed to pass another guy on the descent, which meant I couldn’t let up the pace. After the descent there were a few final miles of flat which I powered through (while spinning out). I crossed the line with a time of 5:48.
Somehow I managed to finish 5th overall on the day, with 3rd place less than 3 minutes in front of me. On the bright side, this may have been the best result possible for me with a single gear. I ended up having quite a good day physically which also makes me wonder what could have been possible without the mechanical. Nevertheless, I was happy with the effort, the result, and the workout. Can’t ask for much more (except for maybe an electronic groupset)!
Thanks for reading,
Flo
Race Report: Oakland GP - P123
Date: September 15th
AVRT Racers: Jon, Jack, Flo, PA
[Report written by PA]
We wrapped up the crit season on a super cool course and had a solid squad with four of us lined up. I was all set to race hard and make it into a solid breakaway. Right from the start, it was intense with Mike's Bikes pushing to split the group. I was feeling sharp and jumped on any moves that looked like they could break away.
About 20 minutes in, I found myself in a two-man break with Jackson (Mike's Bikes). I wasn’t totally sold on our chances, so I held back a bit, but we still managed to get a decent lead and held it for about 10 laps. Eventually, Dolce Vita and a bunch of strong solo riders reeled us back in.
As soon as they caught us, Sean (Mike's Bikes) hit us with a counter-attack. He was quickly joined by Miles (Voler), Trevor (Enjoy), and Ethan (Subaru Santa Monica). We tried to bridge across to them, but by that point in the race, we just didn’t have the legs, and they got away. I still gave everything in the final sprint and managed to snag 7th place.
Race Report: Gateway Cup - Pro 1
Date: September 1st - September 4th
AVRT Racers: PA
[Report written by PA]
Day 1 - Tour de Lafayette
The last major US crit series of the year blasted off on a Friday night at a scorching average speed of 31.5 mph. With 130 riders jostling on a super-wide course, the race was set for a tricky finish with high-speed thrills and spills.
Flying solo for AVRT, I knew a field sprint was inevitable, so I played it safe for most of the race, sticking to good lines and steering clear of trouble. As the laps came down to seven to go, I made my move to 15th wheel, feeling strong and managing the chaos well—right up until the last lap. Trying to hold my high position, I was edged out in the first corner by Justin Williams. Outweighed and outmatched, I crashed into the curb at 35 mph, clipping a few spectators—thankfully, with no serious injuries. Battered but mostly unscathed, I was ready to tackle the next day.
Day 2 - Tour de Francis Park
After a day spent scavenging St. Louis for bike parts and a new helmet, I lined up already spent. The course was wide and primed for another sprint. My energy sapped and still shaking off yesterday's crash, I wasn't up to the vigor to challenge in the sprint, settling for a top-40 finish and setting my sights on better days ahead.
Day 3 - Giro De La Montagna
Day three’s profile—a narrower course with a modest hill—suited me better, disrupting the sprint teams’ rhythm. As part of the American Criterium Cup, the competition was fierce. Foregoing the sprint, I threw everything into breakaway attempts. Despite strong early efforts and joining promising breaks, I missed the decisive move eight laps out. I contested the bunch sprint and took 36th—a disappointing result, but I stuck to my plan.
Day 4 - Tour de Florissant
The finale on this brutal crit course—arguably the toughest of the year—featured narrow roads, two hills, and rough pavement. Learning from my mistakes in Chicago, I've gotten better at the silly line up game, and managed to secure a spot on the second row. The pace was relentless; the field of 130 was reduced down to about 45 by the half-hour mark, people were getting popped left and right. My legs felt good, but looking at my computer, I knew I couldn't sustain this pace for one hour, eventually, I got dropped with eight laps remaining. Still, finishing 31st was my best result of a frustrating weekend.
Race Report: Sand City Crit P12
Date: July 7th, 2024
AVRT Racers: Jon, PA
[Report written by PA]
Still feeling the burn from Saturday's race in Watsonville, I rolled up to the first 90-minute crit of the season in Sand City a bit wary but ready to tackle its technical twists and turns. I usually like courses like this, so I was quietly hopeful.
With the same fast crew from Saturday, the race kicked off intensely. Various teams were eager to dictate the pace, launching attacks left and right, aiming to break away early. Mid-race, I found myself in a dicey two-man break with a guy from Mike's Bikes. Given that it was just Jon and me from AVRT this time, I decided to roll the dice and push hard, hoping we could make it stick.
We gave it our all to stay out front, but with about 15 minutes left, Voler Factory Racing teamed up with Terun, and they reeled us in. After that, I did what I could in the field sprint, but my legs were shouting at me from the earlier effort. Looking back, betting so much on a two-person break might've been too bold, especially with so many teams itching for a chase.
I crossed the line 12th, and honestly, that last lap felt like it lasted two hours.
Race Report: Watsonville Criterium P12
Date: July 6th, 2024
AVRT Racers: Jon, Cam, PA
[Report written by PA]
This Saturday race kicked off a great weekend of racing crits in Monterey Bay. The course was a blast—had a neat little hill and some twisty corners that kept things interesting.
Right from the start, it was clear we were in for a fast one with guys like Tobin and Ryan pushing the pace. I thought a break might actually stick, so I hung at the front for most of the race, keeping an eye on the big moves while trying to save a bit for the end.
After about 45 minutes of all-out racing, it looked like we were heading for a group sprint. I was gearing up to mix it up in the final dash, but Ryan went for a super early sprint on the last lap. Caught me a bit off guard, and I just couldn't catch up to the lead group that sprinted for the win, ending up 6th at the line. Jon pulled off a strong sprint from the main group and snagged 8th.
What a day!
Race Report: 2024 Green Mountain Stage Race - Men’s P/1/2
Race: Green Mountain Stage Race - Men’s P/1/2
Date: 8/30/24-9/02/24
AVRT Racers: Nathan Martin
Top Result: 10th overall, 5th Stage 1
Stage 1 - TT:
Nutrition: 1 gel before
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12282803944
Recap:
My strategy for this was basically going all out for ~10 mins, then holding on for dear life the rest of the TT. I plugged the course into bestbikesplit the night before and generated some rough power markers for each section of the course. It was more for me to get an idea of where to go hard and where to ease up, because it’s a pretty tricky climb. Steep in parts, shallow in others, can be easy to go hard where you don’t need to.
Overall, not much to it beyond just sort of following the plan and gritting my teeth. I was super surprised to have a 5th place finish, I missed my power number by a bit and there were loads of strong riders, so was awesome to see.
Stage 2 - Circuit Race:
Nutrition: 3 bottles of mix, 1 gel
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12291205771
Recap: My goal for this stage was basically just to finish. There was some rain on the forecast, it’s a big group with center line rule enforced on narrow New England roads, and I learned last year that Stage 3 requires every bit of energy you can save, so wanted to do as little work as possible.
It made for a pretty uninteresting race for me. I basically sat in, and just tried to stay in the top 20-30 wheels or so. It was absolutely pouring with rain in the middle of laps 2 and 3, some odd weather due to the hills around us causing the rain to be on the same part of the course both laps, and then the rest of the course was dry. But the descent was pretty wet each time, and it’s fast with poor pavement so was a little nerve-wracking.
I think I did a decent job of saving energy and eating well. Didn’t chase any moves, didn’t take any solo fliers, and was lucky enough that everything that did slip off the front got chased back. Nice day for me.
Stage 3 - Road Race:
Nutrition: 3 bottles of mix, 2 gels
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12300384781
Recap: This was basically the stage I cared most about. Minutes of time for GC to be won or lost here, and I was hoping to do well. My plan was to stay with the main group up each of the first two climbs, but not go with any breakaways.
The first climb was a ripper of a climb. My heartrate was getting up there, the group was already splitting up, and I was really worried when I saw some other high up on GC riders slipping off the front towards the top, but I stayed patient and they were brought back on the flat top and the descent.
After the first climb and for the first 5-10 miles or so, there was a ton of attacking to establish a breakaway. I covered a few moves here I deemed dangerous, but generally stayed towards the front trying to not do much work, but it’s hard to avoid doing work with lots of sudden accelerations, so my power profile is a bit spiky here.
Once the break got established, however, the group eased up quite a lot, and I was able to take in the scenery a bit. GMSR is a tough race, hard to get to, and just generally a lot of effort, but man the scenery here was amazing. We’d rip through open valleys with hills on either side, then dive onto a windy twisty road in a narrow canyon with a river right below us, cutting over covered bridges and ripping through small towns. It was pretty fun.
We hit the second climb, the feed zone was right at the bottom and was able to get a bottle, I expected it to light up a bit on the climb but it was reasonably steady, nothing too crazy. We could see the break still, so I think people weren’t wanting to overdo it or anything.
The descent right after the top was a little technical and fast, navigated it safely, and then was more of the same, just sort of staying in the group trying to conserve energy for the final climb.
We got some time updates as the miles ticked over that the break had about 3 minutes on us at one point. There really weren’t any teams large enough to organize a chase, some small teams were doing some work, but really people weren’t working that well together.
As we hit Baby App Gap, there was still a really big gap, and at that point it was pretty obvious the break would stay away. On this penultimate climb, I did some work staying on top of some accelerations, maybe this wasn’t the smartest move, but I felt they were dangerous and did some work to cover them.
We hit the top of Baby App Gap, and from there it’s just a descent to the start of App Gap. I had decent position at the top of the descent, but got swarmed a bit on the downhill and filtered back a bit.
Once we hit the climb, I ate a bit of wind trying to hold position and move up, and think this really hurt me a bit. When the climb started to get steep and accelerations started going, I had nothing to follow them and just had to try to go my own pace the rest of the climb.
I would end up losing a couple minutes, finishing 22nd, and dropping to 13th overall. Not too sure what went wrong, didn’t do too much work the whole day, maybe a little bit much right in the fight for position, but nothing crazy. Just a lot of strong people out there who could ride bikes really fast.
Stage 4 - Crit:
Nutrition: 1 gel before, some of a bottle of mix during
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12308929327
Recap: My nemesis. Last year, I lasted about 5 minutes in this crit before being pulled. It was a different course this year, but in many ways harder than last years. Technical, bad pavement, and the bottom of the descent had a weird corner where the edge of the sidewalk sort of jutted out into the apex of the turn, so you had to really slow down before taking it.
I had a decent starting position, about 50th or so. Some people had waited 45 minutes to get a good spot, and for good reason. This would string out fast, gaps would open up, and people would be gassed early.
The race started fast, people stringing it out early just as expected. I was hanging on well, closing some gaps, but still nowhere near the front.
My goal was to make it 15-20 minutes. It seems every hard crit ever is excruciatingly hard for about that long, then it lets up. Sure enough, about 15 minutes in, the pace started to ease up and I could breath.
Still, I was not near the front. I probably only ever got up into the top 15 wheels or so, staying most of the time near the back. I’d keep looking back and the group would be getting smaller and smaller. Eventually at the finish, we were only 35 or so of 100 starters.
Because it was such a tough crit, some GC riders were dropped, and I was able to sneak into the top 10! Overall, super happy to finish the crit and finish top 10 overall. Disappointed that I fell apart on Stage 3 and maybe could have finished even higher, but improved over last year and had fun, which was the goal. Excited to go back next year for sure!
Race Report: 2024 Giro di San Francisco - Men’s Cat 4/5
Race: Giro di San Francisco - Men’s Cat 4/5
Date: September 2nd, 2024
AVRT Racers: Clark Penado
AV Club Guests: Wil Gibb
Top Result: Clark Penado - 26/75
Report Author: Clark Penado
Course: A fast paced somewhat bumpy L shaped criterium with a small hill and a flat wide finish
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12309143934
Nutrition: 1 caffeine gel before hand, 1 bottle of high carb drink mix
Event Recap: This was a fast course, and the category 4/5 field was the biggest of the day with a sold out registration of 75 people.
At the start we were offered a warm up lap to get a feel for the course, which I opted not to take to get a spot on the line. I wasn’t the only one who had this idea, so there were ~3 rows lined up excluding those who took the warm up lap. Notably, Dolce Vita had a strong presence for this race, so strong teamwork from them was expected.
Off the start, getting a good clip in and surging was critical, and from what I heard there was a crash off the line and a lot of commotion through the first turn. Into the small hill, things settled a bit, and continued through the back stretch of the course. Coming through the final turn of the first lap, the pace picked up quite a bit, and the speed carried through the line and into the first turn of the second lap. After this, I recognized a pattern that the group was slowing down a lot through each corner.
The rest of the race was fairly uneventful, and followed a strong pattern of surging through the final straight, losing some speed through the corners, and rolling through the back straight. The back straight did not feel as intense in terms of effort compared to the rest of the lap, however at one point I tried to move up here and this was certainly an area where being in the draft was a huge benefit. For the most part, I was able to move up where I could by maintaining as much speed as I could through each turn.
With a few laps to go, the pace picked up as one might expect, and I tried to hold my position/move up as much as I could. On the final lap I saw someone farther up make an attack off the front just before the final two turns, which they were able to carry through to the line. Coming into the finish I gave as much of a sprint as I could, edging off a few others for a bunch finish at 26th.
This was definitely a fun one to end the season on, and had a great environment with a lot of spectators.
Race Report: 2024 Winters RR Men’s Cat 4
Race: Winters Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Date: August 25th, 2024
AVRT Racers: Clark Penado
Top Result: Clark Penado - 6/11
Report Author: Clark Penado
Course: Three 24 mile loops of country roads, with one interrupted climb and a narrow twisty fast descent. short uphill gravel stretch.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12241419508
Nutrition: 4 energy gels, 2 bottles of high carb drink mix and 2 bottles of plain water
Event Recap: This year featured the same classic course, with a small gravel bit to mix things up. With that in mind, I threw on some 30mm tires and dropped the tire pressure accordingly.
The start rolled out fairly conservatively, with some commentary from some of the other riders asking if it was a coffee ride. After the first turn, there were a couple attacks, but nothing particularly stuck. At one point a gap opened in the group with a Dolce Vita rider leading a small second group I was also in. Since there was a rider from the same team in the group ahead, I opted to close the gap with the assumption there may have been some tactics involved with forcing the break in the group. From here, we stayed together through the gravel section until the one climb on the course, which immediately attracted a surge in pace. A small way into it I didn’t feel like it was a pace I could maintain for the climb, and opted to ease up slightly and try to make up the lost time on the descent immediately following.
Coming off the descent, I was able to catch back up to a Dolce Vita rider, but there was a larger gap up to the main group of about five. We agreed to work together, and spent the bulk of the race taking turns trying to chase back up to the group of five. During this I was extremely diligent to pay attention to my nutrition, and not to exceed a heart rate of ~185 when I was pulling. This continued through to about the gravel section of the final lap.
From here I was able to accelerate into the final climb solo. About halfway through this climb, I noticed one of the riders from the pack that we had been trying to chase back on to. This gave me a second wind, and coming off the descent I was able to catch onto their wheel. From here we traded turns a bit until the finish, which got a bit gamey between the pair of us. Going into the finish, a little over 200m the other rider got the jump on me, just edging me out in the sprint putting me in 6th for the day.
Overall this one had a lot of fast bits, and it was a bit of fun being able to come to an agreement with someone from another team to share the work.
Race Report: 2024 Winters Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Race: Winters Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Date: 8/25/24
AVRT Racers: Nathan Martin, Greg Mccullough, Cam O’Reilly, Flo Costa, Jon Wells
Top Result: 7th - Nathan
Course: 4 laps of this. Some ripping crosswinds to start, a short but steep at times climb, fast and technical descent, then some flats to the finish.
Nutrition: 2 bottles of mix, 3 gels, partial neutral water bottle
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12241763562
Race Recep (written by Nathan):
Winters hadn’t been run since 2019, so pretty much everyone was coming into this race having not done it in a while, aside from the people from Sacramento who do a group ride on the same roads sometimes. Regardless, it was going to be fresh and new for most.
The leadup to the climb the first time wasn’t super eventful, but Erik from Dolce Vita would attack on the climb and go solo. Nobody chased him, there wasn’t much panic since it was a long day, but perhaps we would regret that.
I would push it a bit at the top of the climb, break up the group a bit, and there would be a small group formed after the climb, where we had a gap for a few miles, but eventually we got caught by the main group since it was still pretty early.
Soon after the start of lap 2, once the wind started, attacks would start flying. We did a pretty good job of moderating our efforts, and we got Greg, Jon, and Flo up the road in one break or another. I was in the back group with Cam, along with some strong riders from other teams, so figured we did well.
Rest of lap 2 was pretty tame for us in the rear group, but it sounds like the breakaway was tough on the climb and the descent, where people who had ridden the road many times before had an advantage and really could push it.
On lap 3, we started catching some people from the break, so I knew it was getting tough there. Jon and Greg had dropped from the break along with some others from other teams, but Flo was still up there for now. Still nobody was organizing a tough chase from the group, but some people like Ryan and Sean were taking some hard pulls.
After the 3rd time up and over the climb, we would catch Flo, and I was in a tough position now where I would be expected to work since I had nobody ahead. I would take some hard pulls from here to the start of the 4th lap.
When we were on the 4th lap on the southbound straight, the wind really started to hurt the group, it felt like there was nowhere to be safe. People from our group would keep popping off, and when we neared the bottom of the course I flicked my elbow, only to see nobody was behind me.
It was then me, Ryan from Voler, and Jack and Sean from Mikes’ left chasing the main break. At this point I was gassed and just trying to hang with them.
Once we hit the climb, we could see the breakaway just ahead, and we would catch them about halfway up the climb at the feedzone. However, as we caught them Miles would attack, and I’d also find out that Erik had been caught by them after his solo move lap 1 and attacked on the bottom of the climb the last time.
We were then essentially riding for 3rd place. Everyone was too gassed to chase up and over the climb, just sort of had a hard pace.
Unfortunately for me, after the descent I noticed that my di2 cable plugging my rear mech into my battery was unplugged, and basically I could not shift. I stopped to fix it, but took too long and the group rode away from me. I’d ride in with another rider to finish 7th.
Disappointing that a mechanical cost me a fight for a 3rd place finish, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. I was happy to stay with some strong riders in the rear group and stick with it, bit of a bummer the way things ended though. Fun race all around!
Race Report: 2024 Winters Road Race - Men's Cat 3
Race: Winters Road Race - Men's Cat 3
Date: August 25, 2024
AVRT racers: George Wehner, Henry Mallon
Top Result: Henry 2nd
Course: The course consists of three laps around a 25-mile loop starting in Winters, CA. The key feature is the Cantelow East climb, a 3.35-mile ascent averaging 3.2%, with the final ⅓ mile ramping up to over 9%. After a twisty descent, there are roughly 10 miles of flat before a slightly uphill finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12241468946
Nutrition: Two bottles of high-carb drink mix, one bottle of water, and a few gels.
Race Recap:
My goal for this race was to make it as hard as possible on the climbs and hopefully shed the more power sprinters before the finish. This is easier said than done, as the full Cantelow East climb is only 3.2% average gradient and summits about 10 miles from the finish.
I’m normally much more patient, but for the first two laps, I actively followed moves and counterattacked when the race was hard. I would have welcomed a breakaway, but my primary goal was to soften riders before the final ascent of Cantelow East. I was happy to see others contribute to a hard pace on the climb, and gaps were forming on the final steep two-minute section before the descent. There was always a regrouping after the climb, but I knew the motivation of the last lap would allow a group to stay away.
By the final ascent of Cantelow East, the climbers were eager to make a difference and drop the more powerful sprinters. I crested the top of the climb with one other rider, and the race splintered behind. After the descent, a small group bridged up to us creating a final selection of about eight. At this point, there was still one rider off the front solo, and the group worked seamlessly together to bring him back.
I was hoping for a smaller group going into the sprint finish, as some of the more powerful riders did a great job making it over the climb and bridging back to the front. I managed to finish second in the sprint, which I think was the result of positioning, the slightly uphill finish, and high fatigue from a hard race.
Overall, this was one of my favorite races of the year. The climb’s profile and distance from the finish allow for almost any type of rider to win, which creates really exciting race dynamics and opposing strategies. It would be equally fun to race for a sprinter—pacing them up the climb and then trying to bridge back to a front group of climbers in the final 10-mile stretch to the finish.
Thanks for reading,
Henry
Race Report: 2024 San Ardo Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Race: San Ardo Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Date: 8/17/24
AVRT Racers: Nathan Martin, Greg Mccullough, Cam O’Reilly, Flo Costa
Top Result: 5th- Nathan, 7th - Cam
Course: 4 laps of this. One short/rolling climb, then a fast descent, a poorly paved bridge, and a long flat backside often with some crosswinds.
Nutrition: 2 bottles of mix, 3 gels, partial neutral water bottle
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12173629721
Race Recep (written by Nathan):
San Ardo is always a fun race, usually there’s some heat, wind, and a little climbing. It’s interesting, usually. This year it wasn’t going to be nearly as hot, and the field wasn’t as big as previous years, but it was still going to be fun. There weren’t any huge teams entered, everyone had 2-4 people, so it was going to be dynamic and fun. Main goal was to try to get Flo to the finish and have him sprint, with Cam going for any moves early, me going for any moves later, and Greg helping Flo with the leadout.
First lap was pretty tame. A couple attacks here and there, but nothing really got away, and the wind wasn’t super strong yet. Greg would drop his chain and have to burn a match to catch back on, but all was well otherwise.
Second lap is where the fun began. The climbing section was fine, and after the descent there was a pee break. After the drama at Patterson Pass, I decided to stop, some people kept going sorta slow rolling. The group that stopped then rolled together, the people who didn’t stop were decently close. However, we noticed that our gap was staying pretty similar even as we were upping our pace, and soon they were putting time into us.
Attacking the pee break! How rude. We’d rotate and pull them back for about half a lap. Once we caught them, people were putting in more attacks since the wind had picked up, and it was a really dynamic end of the lap, but nothing stuck. Unfortunately on this lap, Flo would flat out, which was a bummer since this was a good race for him.
Lap 3 a couple solo moves, but nothing crazy, until towards the end of the 3rd lap Cam was able to slip off the front and was soon joined by a couple strong riders for a good breakaway.
The chase in the main group wasn’t super organized. Terun would work, then Dolce would work, but ultimately nothing worked well and the gap would start growing after the poorly paved bridged.
The last time on the crosswind straight, I was on “mark any attacks” duty, since we still had Cam in the break. Mikes’ Bikes also had someone in the break, so me and Dylan were marking each move. Until one time, we marked a move, and there was a gap, so I kept on the gas a bit. We looked back, had a bigger gap, Dylan attacked, and I stayed with him. Pretty soon we had about 20 seconds on the main group.
I knew Cam was still up there, but I figured that even if I pulled Dylan up, we were in some crosswinds, so it wasn’t like he was sitting on easy, and he’d be hurting. Soon though, I saw Cam up ahead and he had dropped off the breakaway, so I basically just kept pushing to the line.
We didn’t catch the main group, but I was able to hold Dylan off for 5th.
Bummer that Flo flatted, Greg dropped a chain, and that the breakaway Cam was in was doing all sorts of stupid stuff, but nothing ever always goes to plan and I was happy to salvage a 5th place out of everything.
Race Report: 2024 Winters RR M35+ 3/4
Race: 2024 Winters road race Masters 35+ Cat 3/4
Date: August 25, 2024
AVRT racers: Shai Traister
Top Result: Shai (9/26)
Course: 2 laps of ~23miles. Mostly flat with one star-stepped climb of 3.5miles, followed by a quick descend. This year there was a short (50m) gravel section at the earlier parts of the climb.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12241939087
Nutrition: 2 bottles with Skratch, 1 gel immediately before the race + 2 more gels during the race
Race Recap
26 riders in my field, so pretty sizable group. The most represented team was Dolce Vita which had 5 riders.
The race started at a pretty manageable pace. I guess everyone waited for the climb which came soon enough. In previous years when I raced this race there was a selection going up the first climb, so I was attentive and made sure I started the climb in good position. We climbed fast, and I maintained my position towards the front. A few riders went off the back, but the group was still pretty sizable.
Going down the descent and onto the 2nd lap, attacks were flying left and right. Being a solo rider I had no choice but to follow as much as possible and either close gaps or try to follow moves. Attacks continues and by the time we got to the 2nd climb 2 riders had a 10 seconds gap OTF. I went to the front and tried to bridge. Even though I was going at what I thought was a good pace, riders started passing me. By the time we got to the flat/down hill section a small gap opened. I thought we got to the top and believed I could catch up on the descent. Then I realized that I still had to climb the last bump. At that point I didn’t have much left and the gap opened quite significantly.
I got to the top and rolled down the descent. I could see one rider in front of me and started chasing. The back stretch had a headwind so I didn’t gain much time. 2 riders passed from behind and we started working together taking turns. Pretty soon we caught the guy in front, and the 4 of us worked together.
2 riders of the 4 were Dolce Vita and I expected them to play team tactics, but nevertheless they all cooperated and took turns with no attacks. We got closer to the finish. Pace picked up and as we got to 200m to go we were 2 wide - the 2 DolceVita riders were on the right, and I was behind the rider on the left. The guy in front of me pulled to the left, which left me exposed to the headwind. I decided to open my sprint, even though ideally I’d have waited longer (headwind). I was going side-by-side with one of the DolceVita guys, and at the end he got ahead by half a wheel. Finished 9th.
This is one of my favorite races on the calendar and I wish more people will sign up.
Race Report: 2024 Leadville Trail 100 MTB
Race: Leadville 100 MTB
Date: August 10, 2024
AVRT racers: Kelly Brennan, Rachel Hwang, Riley Chapman
Top Result: Rachel Hwang 5th women but Riley finished overall before me
Course: 105 miles of dirt and road combined over 12,000 feet elevation gain, highest point of 12,500ft; out and back
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12114938576
Race Recap: (Rachel Hwang’s perspective)
I started in the green coral, 6:35am sharp. I stayed pretty far back in the coral as I had a feeling I would be passed by a lot of the people. My assumption was correct, and I never stopped getting passed. Every time someone passed me, I told myself there was 105 miles of this, and to not make the mistake of burning myself out too early. My goal was to get under 9hrs for a large belt buckle, and learnings from Tahoe Trail, to pace and not cramp. By the way the cramping has only happened to me during races on this new saddle so I’m certain at this point it’s the saddle. To the last point, I had been making minor adjustments to my seat all the day before and it still didn’t feel good with a lot of pressure on my sit bones, and so at this point was hoping for the best.
I was doing pretty well in the beginning. The weather forecast was mostly sunny, no rain – the most important part – and good temperature for climbing and descending. The terrain was XC style, with one rocky section, some road, a small bit of flowy single track, before the big 3000+ ft climb in the middle of the race. I had started out with 23/25PSI front/back and was so extremely saddle sore. When I got to the rest stop before the large climb, I let out about 5PSI per tire and it felt infinitely better and comfier. Definitely running 20s from the start next time. The best part of the race was probably when I saw the first riders descending as I was climbing. Keegan came down first on his drop bar mountain bike, and everyone cheered. It was a while before anyone else followed, and a while after that I saw the first group of women.
The climb was brutally long, but not difficult. About halfway up, Riley passes me (and I’m very surprised as I didn’t know he signed up, and he says, “You’re doing a lot better than at Tahoe Trail!” I chuckled because yes. Asked him where Kelly is and he said she flatted out about 10 miles into the race and is far behind. RIP. Near the top, was some of the most beautiful views I have seen in a while, mainly due to the never ending line of mountain bikers going up the beautiful mountain backdrop. I love taking pictures, but opted out to know I gave it everything I had, but now I wish I had just taken a picture. Anyways, near the top of the climb, the air was thin, my legs were cramping, and I got off like most of the people around me to walk up the chunky loose rock climb up, single file, as people one after another came racing down right next to us. When I made it to the top, all I could think about was getting some calories and carbs in me, scarfed down one of their sponsored gels, chugged half a coke, and half a banana in hopes of uncramping.
The downhill was fun. It wasn’t anything technical, and was just trying to keep upright and not crash and stay focused. When I finally made it to the bottom and to the rest stop area, I was yelling out Clay’s name, my support crew, frantic, calling him frantic on the phone, other family support members offering me food and hydration, my pedaling up and down that stretch, only about 5 minutes later realizing I was in the wrong rest stop – SMH.
When I finally made it to the rest stop, Clay smothered some stuff on my legs to help me from cramping, and gave me a bottle of water mixed with liquid IV. Quick stop, and I kept going. I was starting to lose interest in the race at this point when I started following a guy’s wheel with three of us in a line, two in front of me. He helped me get to the next rest stop where Clay and his two friends were waiting for me. Immediately I jumped off the bike, Clay said “you’re kicking Lance’s ass,” I ran to the porta potties, and said to Clay, “I don’t want to do this anymore.” Then, “There’s Lance, with the yellow bag.” That was cool but I didn’t give it any more thought than that but wanting to finish the race. By that point, I wasn’t thinking of nutrition anymore. My bottle an hour turned into maybe a bottle every 2 hours. I was already under fueling, and after that, severely behind, but my mouth could not stomach any more hydration mix so had a bottle of just water on my bike.
I kept going. I had about 20 miles left, and as I read somewhere, every mile after 80 was the worst. It actually wasn’t that bad, I just zoned out and pushed and thought about seeing Clay and that was all I could think about. At this point, I also knew I wasn’t hitting my 9 hour goal and I was ok with it. Time to hit 10 for the hoodie, which I never got by the way. Hmmmm. There was another relatively large climb after that last rest stop which mainly was just steep as hell and definitely had to be walked – I had done it the day previously as a preride and totally doable then but not after 80 miles with my legs on the constant verge of cramping. On that climb, it started hailing on us. I hate rain. I’m like a cat, but in those few miles, I soaked it all in – specifically in my legs. It drastically helped with the cramping from that point on and it didn’t feel like I was constantly on the verge of cramping anymore.
The last 10 miles were a blur. I kept passing a young girl and she kept passing me because her chain would drop. There were quite a few small steepish climbs but I just gritted my teeth and did it. I was going pretty fast (relatively to myself) for those last 10 miles because I just wanted to finish this race. All I thought about was giving Clay a hug. Last few miles, they had a sign up every maybe 400 meters of the previous years winners, from 2023 all the way to the first year. This was the 30th year and they made a big deal out of this year.
The last sprint. It was straight, and it was a climb. I sprinted. I sprinted all out. But it was so much longer than I thought it was and ran out of gas after about 20 or 25 seconds. I ran out of gas and instead of crossing the line victorious, I crossed it thinking I was going to faint or yak or something. Clay was waiting at the end of the finish line with a crowd filming me cross the finish line. That entire second half of the race thinking about just finishing and giving Clay a hug went out the window as I crossed the finish line completely gassed. Headed straight for the barriers, got off my bike, and couldn’t even wave and stand straight. I ended up getting a trophy for that sprint haha… so yes, I was gassed.
Ended with an official time of 9:44:33. Wish I did better, but as my Strava description says, I gave it everything I had and if that’s the result I got, that’s where I stand in my endurance, skills, athleticism. Honestly, for not having a structured training plan, and always making last minute adjustments to my bike, I did pretty well. I would do it again, if only I could work remotely and not have to take a whole week off to come out and acclimate. I’ve never been a fan of finisher medals, but in this case, was so happy to take it home as well as the handcrafted belt buckle.
A while later, I saw Kelly roll past the finish line, asked her how it went, gave her a hug. For having flatted out early in the race, she crushed it physically and mentally.
It was a bucket list item and we did it.
Nutrition: attempted one bottle per hour of ~30-35g carb drink mix (Torq and Tailwind) with one gel every hour (Torq, SIS, sponsored Precision Fuel), + aid station banana, coke
Race Report: 2024 Oakland Grand Prix M35+ 3/4
Race: 2024 Oakland Grand Prix Masters 35+ Cat 3/4
Date: Sunday September 15, 2024
AVRT racers: Shai Traister, Daniel Choi
Top Result: Daniel (8/31)
Course: The first right hand turn is a sharp hairpin, followed by another right hand turn, then a long straight section that goes slightly downhill, then slightly uphill, into another right hand turn, and then the final right hand turn to the final straighaway to the finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12420132636
Nutrition: 50 minutes race - so only one gel immediately before the race and 1 sip of electrolyte water during the race.
Race Recap (Written by Shai)
I don’t normally race crits - normally only racing road races, but I decided to give this one a try as a learning experience.
As far as teams - Monster racing had 4 racers, Dolce Vita had 3. A couple of teams with 2 riders (us, Penvelo) and the rest were singles/unattached.
The race started off super fast, right from the beginning (as expected). It took me a couple of laps to get used to the corners and find my position in the pack. After a few laps where I tried to follow wheels and find good lines through the corners I decided to try and move up. I made some accelerations on the straightaways but the most effective way was to maintain speed (as much as possible) through the corners where the entire field slowed down. I managed to get to about 5th wheel, and I felt the race was a bit more consistent than further in the back.
Few attacks but nothing held - either the field was chasing it down, or the people who got away realized they were alone and didn’t give it full effort. The problem was that no single team was controlling the race, so it ended up being super chaotic and almost too slow. The front was slowing down before the corners (especially the hairpin) which allowed riders to squeeze through and advance. I could gain - or lose - 10-15 positions going through a single turn, so I kept bouncing between ~5th to 20th wheel and was constantly fighting for positions.
With about 5 laps to go, a rider in front of me crashed going through the hairpin. As he crashed towards the outside, I kept my line on the inside and didn’t lose too much time. A group of ~6 riders that were in front kept pushing the pace and I did an effort to chase them through the back straightaway. I closed the gap and we had a slight separation with other chasing from behind. Unfortunately, things slowed down after about a lap and everything came back together.
i maintained my position near the front until ~1 lap to go, but on the hairpin turn many riders dove the inside and passed me. After that corner the pace picked up all the way to the line and I couldn’t move up. Finished 17/31.
I was disappointed in my finish for sure. In hindsight, it would have been good to try and push the pace when we had that little separation, or maybe try a flyer on 2 laps to go (when the pace was still fairly manageable) and try to get to the last hairpin with a gap.
Was definitely a good race and I’m glad I participated.
Race Report: 2024 Truckee Gravel Race 70
Race: Truckee Gravel - 70
Date: June 29th 2024
AVRT racers: Kelly Brennan, Drew Mathews
Top Result: Kelly (7/81 all women), Drew (8/31 U30, 30/378 all men)
Course: 66 miles of chunky gravel. I was on 42 pathfinders and I wish I ran bigger, knobbier tires. (Drew: Same, I ran 38’s and was getting tossed around in the middle of the race). 6 mile steady climb at the beginning of the route, but otherwise not a relatively flat gravel course. Headwind the last 20 miles.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11771536005
Nutrition: 4 Neversecond gels, 1 homemade coffee + maple syrup gel that I lost, 2 large bottles of Skratch Superfuel, 1 bottle of pure water. It was close to enough, but I could have used another gel and bottle of water.
I started behind Drew, and used his wheel to move up in the neutral mass start to get into the middle of the 100-mile group that had started ahead of us. After 6 miles of road and eventually losing Drew’s wheel, we turned onto a dirt climb. I started climbing, passing people, and eventually found my friend, Camille. I had fun talking to her on the climb, eventually edging a little ahead.
Near the top of the climb, about 14 miles in, I was cruising down a pretty smooth gravel road. I’m not entirely sure how, but I think I hit a rock that tossed my front wheel and I couldn’t save it. I hit the ground on my right side, hitting my helmet on the ground.
I sat up, taking a moment - did anything feel broken? No. At the same time, I saw my friend slowing down and said, “oh kelly!”. I was grateful to see a friend, told her I was okay, and encouraged her to keep going.
I knew I hit my helmet, so I was concerned about a concussion. The next aid station was 2.5 miles away, and so I slowly rolled to the aid station to get checked out. At this point, I thought my race was over and that I would need to get back to the venue.
At the aid station, the medic cleaned and wrapped up a large scrape on my elbow. He asked concussion symptom questions, and I didn’t have any. He encouraged me to at least continue going to the next aid station a close 7 miles away and monitor any symptoms - I could step out of the race at anytime.
Overall, the 8 minutes of stoppage time and 9 minutes of slow rolling cost me the race. I believe I was in the front of my age group at the top of the climb and watched a group of collegiate and other ladies riders pass me as I was getting checked out. I tried to identify who I would need to pass.
I was feeling pretty good at the next aid station and still had no symptoms, so I decided to try to finish the race! Taking descents easy, I tried to push hard on the flats and climbs. I passed all the women who passed me, except for the group of 3 collegiate riders and finished 2 minutes behind the last one of them! So close! I wish there was more climbing on this second half of the course. I’m stoked that I finished and was able to still use this race as a training race.
I loved the course and atmosphere, so I can’t wait to come back to Truckee Gravel again, and hopefully do better next year! Now, time for a new helmet, skin suit, and some rest!
Race Report: Tahoe Trail 100
Date: July 20th, 2024
AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang, Katarina Zgraja, Kelly Brennan, and Riley Chapman.
Top Result: 8/38 women. 1/9 in the 20-29F group.
Course: 61 miles, 7500ft. 2 laps of dirt roads and single track around Northstar Resort. The start is fast, hard, and uphill. It’s very easy to go too hard for the first lap of this course. There are a couple of punchy short climbs. The final climb of the course is a 3 mile, 2000ft climb.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11938263322
Nutrition: 1st lap: 2L pack of 200g superfuel + 1 bottle of water. 2nd lap: 2 bottles of too strong superfuel.
Riley and I arrived at the start just as the national anthem was playing, with no time for a proper warm-up - That’s when you know you’re cutting it a bit too close! We managed to sneak in from the side, but our positioning wasn’t ideal.
The day before had been an adventure in itself. We endured 111-degree heat in Central California without air conditioning, dealt with car software issues, and at one point crawled along a two-lane section of I-80 at 20 mph - the semis were passing us! We had left the Bay early to make it to the Friday night packet pick-up, but with all the delays, it took us 6.5 hours to reach Truckee, and we missed the packet pick-up window. Our main goal was for Riley to perform well enough to secure a spot at Leadville, as I was already registered. However, after such a long day, we adjusted our expectations to simply finishing the race and hoping Riley might get lucky in the lottery for a Leadville spot. In this race, you either earn a spot by being one of the top riders in your age group or by having your number drawn in a lottery.
With no warm-up, I decided to use the start of the race as my warm-up, maintaining a Zone 2 to Zone 3 pace up the first climb. At the first pinch point - a steep, sandy hill-, I practiced patience and slow-pedaled praying the person in front of me would stay on their bike. I witnesses many people trying to pass too eagerly here, only force themselves off the bike, slowing everyone else down. After clearing this, I continued climbing at a steady tempo pace.
As the course descended and transitioned into a long, mostly flat single-track section, I found myself pedaling at about 100 watts, stuck behind lines of riders. I used these calmer moments to eat and drink, then surged at appropriate times to pass groups of 5-10 riders. Throughout the lap, I kept an altitude-adjusted Zone 2 pace on the flats and Zone 3 on the climbs. By the time I finished the first lap, I realized my water bottle cage had rattled loose and was about to fall off!
At the drop bag station, I ditched my hydration pack and picked up two water bottles, taking a moment to fix the loose cage. When I started riding again, I took a sip from one of my bottles and I nearly choked – it was way too concentrated! Determined to stick to my pacing strategy for the second lap, I started passing other women. On the long single-track section, I caught up with Rachel, and we rode together for a bit.
In the last 10 miles, I found myself riding with a fast woman on a hardtail. She climbed so quickly, and I wondered how I would manage to beat her. By this point, my overly concentrated bottle was undrinkable, so I made a quick stop at an aid station. A volunteer refilled my bottle with a pitcher of water, and I raced to catch up to the hardtail lady again. I passed her on a long descent, and by the time I looked back, she was nowhere in sight. I kept pushing, knowing the hardest part of the course – a 3-mile, 2,000-foot climb – was ahead, and I was determined not to get passed. As I powered up and over, my feet were aching from the heat and tight shoes, but I pushed through, descending straight to the finish, just 3 minutes behind Riley, who had bonked a little on the second lap.
After the race, we went swimming at the Truckee river to wash off and change clothes. We came back to the post-race celebration for Riley to participate in the Leadville lottery and he won a spot!!
Race Recommendations:
Try not to overextend too much in the first lap because most riders bonk on the second lap.
While it’s possible to do this course on a hardtail, most hardtail riders were too worn out by the second lap. The course was pretty rough this year.
The aid stations have pitchers of water. These pitchers and the volunteers are super fast at refilling bottles! Stopping for a refill has never negatively affected my race (and has always helped me!).
Bring a swimsuit and change of clothes to hangout for the post-race celebration.
Remember your drop-bag! We almost forgot ours!
Race Report: 2024 Fremont Bank Crit - Men’s Pro/1/2
Race: 2024 Fremont Bank Crit - Men’s Pro/1/2
Date: September 23, 2024
AVRT racers: Jon Wells
Top Result: Jon Wells, 6th of 31
Course: 1 km square in Livermore. Its a 4 corner office park crit with almost no elevation gain (finish is maybe 1% grade) that can be exposed to the wind. The same course was used for the earlybird crits back at the beginning of the season and the Shea Center crit about a month ago
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12480206106
Nutrition: a pre race Redbull and 60g flow bottle during the race
Race Recap:
I thought I was already done with my road season but after seeing the soft prereg numbers for this race, I decided to sign up for one last crit for the season as a last ditch effort at scoring a few more upgrade points. There ended up being about 30 guys in the race without any big teams present. Terun had the biggest squad with 3 guys and strong individuals included Trevor from Enjoy. My plan was to race aggressively for a breakaway with all the big teams missing, thinking it would play out similar to the 4th of July crit.
Race started pretty aggressively from the whole field with lots of attacks getting sent and immediate bridging. I wanted to be in a move with Terun and Trevor, but it quickly became apparent that everyone wanted to be in a move with Trevor as he had several shadows wherever he moved in the pack. After being in a couple of small groups that got brought back, I made it into a move with Matt from Terun plus a couple others, but notably no Trevor. We committed and fell into rotation almost immediately as a few more guys bridged across the rapidly expanding gap until we had a group of 8. This would end up being the selection for the day (~15 min into the race), without Trevor and everyone racing alone without a teammate in the move.
I thought 8 guys might be too big of a move to work well together, but everyone fell into rotation without any skipping pulls and really committed to the move. The only exception was a team swift junior who felt the need to attack the group solo (happened twice) who we let blow all of his watts while he dangled by himself just off the front of our group both times. After his second hopeless try, he fell back into the rotation and ended up being a nonfactor in the rest of the race.
Around the 45 minute mark, our gap ballooned out from ~25 seconds to 45 seconds in only a couple laps, indicating the field had given up. Just as the field came into view in front of us, the officials decided to pull the field before we could lap them, which is sort of weird. Usually the field is left in during a crit but maybe since our group sizes were similar they decided to pull? Either way, with now only our group of 8 left on the course, the pace dropped rapidly. People started playing games with skipping pulls and letting wheels go since we could no longer be caught by the field.
I decided I wanted to field sprint once the field had been pulled. I think going early was my chance to win the race but I wanted guaranteed upgrade points so going for a hero move to win posed the risk of rolling in last in the group and getting nothing. Everyone else apparently made up their mind for sprinting as well. There was one effort from a masters racer 2 laps to go that we very quickly shut down as a group. The finale came down to our whole group sprinting together from maybe 250 meters to go. I came into the last corner in 5th but had to brake slightly as I was coming into the wheel in front of me too quickly at the apex. This slight braking cost me enough momentum to make my sprint pretty worthless (despite being one of my highest max powers ever in a race) … remember, speed >> watts in races!! Ended up in 6th place on the day, taking home 2 more upgrade points and also a $2 dollar bill worth of prize money.
-Jon
2024 Oakland Grand Prix Women’s 3/4/5
Race: 2024 Oakland Grand Prix Women’s Cat 3/4/5
Date: Sunday September 15, 2024
AVRT racers: Katarina Zgraja, Hannah Chen, Katie Monaghan
Top Result: Katarina (8/25)
Course: The first right hand turn is a sharp hairpin, followed by another right hand turn, then a long straight section that goes slightly downhill, then slightly uphill, into another right hand turn, and then the final right hand turn to the final straighawayt to the finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12418615239
Nutrition: I could barely get any food down before the race, for some reason. 1 cup coffee, ½ slice toast with peanut butter. 1 Sis gel on the start line. 1 sip of electrolyte during the race.
Event Recap (Written by Katarina)
I knew this was going to be another very challenging race, due to the large field filled with many stacked racers. There were many repeat racers from the SF Giro (Helena, Sophia from Sprinkles, Hannah from Terun, and then additionally some other really strong riders like Gwen from Revolution, and Stephanie Hayos from Eclipse). I knew it was going to be another really hard race to do well in, so I wasn’t sure how well I would do.
We had Katie, Hannah and I representing Alto Velo. We planned to cover attacks, and hope for one of us to be in a good position at the end of the race. Since we weren't in the first race, we didn’t have an opportunity to warm up on the course. Katie and I scouted the course from the sidewalk,then went to warm up on surrounding streets.
The race started off super fast, right from the beginning. Some other racer mentioned in her strava report that it started fast and never let up. I felt that was the case as well. It took me a couple of laps to get used to the corners. I struggled in my last race on positioning and cornering well, so I focused on that in this race. I started to find good positions to be in (especially going into the hairpin turn), so that I didn’t fall behind in the pack. That was a spot where separation often happened.
Pretty much right in the first couple of laps, Sprinkles started throwing attacks. I remember looking down at my computer, we had only been riding for 5 minutes, and there was already a solo Sprinkles rider up ahead. No one had chased her down. I wasn’t worried since the race had just started, and figured there was still lots of time left. However, as another lap went by, I started to worry, as it seemed that she was gaining time on us, probably due to the tricky corners. So after a while, I decided I was going to try and bridge. I sped up to the front of the group, asked Gwen to help me chase Helena down, and we sped away. It was a tough effort catching up to her. Gwen mostly stayed on my wheel, and then as soon as I caught Helena, she sort of did an attack, which did not amount to much. We did not pull away from the main group enough, and at some point on the straight away, everyone had caught up to us.
The race continued with a high tempo, some attacks (mostly Sprinkles). In the end, nothing held as long as that first attack. I remember chasing down Sophia as well sometime later in the race. Probably why I was so dead by the end of the race…
My main focus towards the end of the race was to make sure I was in a good position, and cornered that hairpin turn well. I knew if I screwed up that corner, especially on the last lap, I (or anyone else) would be screwed positioning-wise. I found cornering on the outside for that turn worked well, it allowed me to keep my speed, and I usually ended up passing people, rather than being passed.
Back to the last lap: I positioned myself near the front of the group, focused really hard on executing a good corner. It was OK. I held my position, but I heard a noise behind me, there was definitely a crash of sorts. I continued trying to stay up front. The pace was so high and honestly I was redlining super bad already. Hannah (Terun), in the same move as the SF Giro, pushed the pace more on the back straightaway (½ way through the lap), and I was just struggling to hang onto the front group. And then right before the 2nd to last corner, Gwen attacked. I just struggled to stay close on someone’s wheel, and the group spread out a bit. I came out of the corner, and found myself with a gap. I knew it was too early to sprint (the final straight away is pretty long), but I didn’t have any options. I was pushing as hard as I could, I caught up to Stephanie and we battled it out for a bit, she ultimately pulled ahead. Sophia turned out to be drafting my wheel, and pulled ahead of me as well.
Hannah unfortunately got separated from the main group on that very first corner of the race, and unfortunately Katie was caught up in that last hairpin crash.
I was disappointed in my finish for sure, especially since I at the very least should have held that 6th place position. But at the same time it was good to do another race combined with Cat 3 racers to get a feel for the harder pace and to challenge myself. It’s always good to ride with people who are better than you :)
Race Report: 2024 Gorge Gravel Grinder - Elite Men
Race: Gorge Gravel Grinder 2024 - Elite Men
Date: April 28, 2024
Written By: Flo Costa
Result: 5/23 (151 men overall)
Course: 100 mile gravel race in northern Oregon with 8000 ft of vert. Fast-rolling, hilly course with one major climb at mile 83. Champagne gravel apart from one technical section early on.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11287427709
Race:
This was the first of 3 races in the Oregon Gravel Series presented by Breakaway Promotions. I was stoked to make the trip to Oregon for this race on my way to the Tour de Bloom in Washington one week later. I was also excited to be back racing on my gravel ride after a busy early season on the road. This was my second gravel race of the year after Low Gap and would be my first preparation race for the Oregon Trail in the summer. In addition to testing my legs, I was also looking forward rocking my Schwalbe G-One RS 35mm semi-slick tires that seemed ideal for this course. The majority of these roads were fairly hard-packed gravel, with a few paved sections, which meant the speeds would be pretty high. A few racers even opted for road bikes with fully slick tires.
The race started with a peaceful neutral rollout, which was a nice opportunity to warm up and spin the legs. This didn’t last long, however, because as soon as we started the pace was hard (which seems to be quite normal in gravel races these days). As we hit the first set of hills, the field blew up; after 10 miles, the lead group was down to 8 riders. I was glad to have made the first selection, but knew that it was a big match to spend early on, requiring a peak power of 400w for 5 min.
Next was the main technical section of the day - 2 miles on a pretty rowdy jeep trail. I was confident in my technical skills and made sure to enter in good position to not get caught behind a split. After a navigating a few rocks, puddles, and mud puddles, I exited the technical section with only one other rider and a small gap to the next group. Seeing this gap, I continued to stay on the gas, but didn’t fully commit because we still had a lot of racing left. On a side note, Breakaway Promotions does a great job with route design, and I’m glad they included this section to make the race a lot more dynamic.
Shortly after, the lead group reformed with now only 5 riders as we entered the next section featuring more rolling hills with a pretty strong crosswind. As soon as we entered the crosswind, we got in a rotation and started hammering. Even in the wheels, I was pushing near threshold power which didn’t bode well for the 80 miles remaining. I soon decided to drop myself and dial it down since it wasn’t sustainable for me - a decision I don’t regret!
Thankfully I was joined by a second rider from the lead group (of now only three), and we were soon joined by another chase group of two. We immediately got into a solid rotation as a group of four. We worked really well together for the next 30 miles as I continuously reminded myself to eat and drink. By mile 50 it was just three of us and at mile 60 we dropped another guy on one of the longer hills. It was now just me and another racer named Austen working together, with the original lead group of three still up the road.
My legs were still feeling surprisingly good after such a start hard to the race. Austen and I continued to work together until the base of the main climb at mile 80. Here Austen ramped it up again and dropped me. I pushed a solid tempo up the climb, but was starting to feel pretty cracked. Being alone definitely makes it feel harder, at least mentally, but I continued to tell myself not to quit. Thankfully there was a decent descent after the climb where I could rest my legs a bit before the final 2k climb to the finish. I emptied myself on this final climb with what I had left (300w for 10min) and rolled through the finish in 5th on the day with a time of 5:11.
Overall, I was quite happy with my fitness, feelings, and fueling over the race. I also really enjoyed this scenic and fast-rolling course. This made for a proper early season gravel race!
Thanks for reading,
Flo