Club News
Bariani Road Race - P12 Race Report
Date: March 17th, 2024
AVRT Racers: Grant, Andrea, Andrew, Jack, Flo, David, Nico, Austin, Nathan, PA
[Report written by PA]
The race started early, with anticipation high among our team. However, the first two laps were marked by misfortune as David, Nico, and Andrea all faced mechanical issues that forced them out. With our strategy shifting, I was now tasked with sprinting.
The race was intense from the start, with the breakaway struggling to establish itself. Nathan made a bold move and went solo, holding his ground for most of the second half of the race. The tension heightened when a threatening break formed, consisting of many of the expected contenders. Yet, Voler Factory Racing showed their strength and managed to reel it back in, keeping the peloton together as we approached the final stretch.
As we neared the finish, Tyler Williams launched an attack on the climb three miles out. I pushed hard to stay with him but found myself in a second group. Shortly after, we were joined by a third group that included Grant, who made a daring move with a late flyer. He was caught just before the end. In the final sprint, I gave it my all and secured a 10th place finish on the day.
Race Report: 2024 Tour de Bloom - Men’s P/1/2
Race: Tour de Bloom - Men’s P/1/2
Date: 5/02/24 - 5/05/24
AVRT Racers: Flo Costa, Greg McCullough, Jon Wells, Nathan Martin, PA
Top Result: GC: 6th - Nathan, Stage 4: 13th - Flo, Stage 5: 4th Nathan
Nathan Martin wrote the report
Stage 1: Joe Miller Road Race
Course: https://www.strava.com/routes/3233990851528525698 A few short laps followed by three times up a ~20 min climb.
Nutrition: ~200g of carbs from bottles, ~50g of carbs from 2 gels
Summary: I was feeling good for this stage, and our goal was to get me in good position to the bottom of the first time up the climb, since it started on a 90 degree turn from a wide road onto a one lane road. On the small loops, we were going to try to get PA some sprint points, but I think we underestimated how hard it would be in a large field to coordinate and move around. We did have radios, but I think it was a bit difficult to use them.
On the small loops we mostly stayed in the bunch, with PA trying to join a few breakaway attempts to get some points. Once we were on the last small lap, I started getting help from everyone to move to the front, and before the turn onto the climb I was right at 5th wheel.
Once the climb started, the pace didn’t pick up right away, so I went off the front a bit to try to look for people to go with me, but nobody did. Once we hit one of the first stair-step parts of the climb, the pace picked up quite a bit, so I tried to settle into the group.
It was an odd climb, with steep sections followed by flat sections, so it was a bit hard to get into a rhythm when climbing. The group continued to whittle down a bit as we went up the climb and summited.
On the descent the first time, three riders went off the front, all having been on the same pro team at one point, Wildlife Generation. Since I was now solo in this smaller group, I had no responsibility to chase and basically had to wait for someone else to do so.
At the bottom of the climb, we got joined by a second group behind us and now were about 40 of the original 100 or so starters. I had really poor position, being very close to the back, and so I had to close a lot of gaps going up the climb the second time, which resulted me getting gapped off a group of 8 or so at the summit and having to chase back on with a smaller group on the descent.
At this point, we had caught 1 of the 3 riders off the front, but the two were still going strong with practically no chase effort. I hoped that we’d be able to catch them on the last time up the climb.
Last time up, it wasn’t hectic from the bottom, but we settled into a really tough pace set by a Pacific Office Automation rider on the front. I was definitely starting to feel the effort at this point, but tried to hang on as best I could as our group of 20 or so riders at the bottom started being whittled down.
With about a quarter of the climb left, I lost my legs a bit and just settled into a pace a bit over threshold. It was a bit annoying, I kept the group at about a 10 second gap the rest of the way up, so going the same pace as them just missing that acceleration.
As we rounded the last turn to the finish, gave it everything I got to get as much time as possible, and 9th, only 13 seconds behind the group of 7 in front of me. Only one member of the original break remained, having about a minute on the group in front of me.
Overall, one of the toughest races I’d done. Even though it was under 3 hours, it felt brutal and was happy to finish inside the top 10 even if I lost a bit of time.
Stage 2: Waterville Road Race
Course: https://www.strava.com/routes/3233990989162804200
Nutrition: ~250g of carbs from bottles, ~50g of carbs from 2 gels
Summary: Overall flat stage, a few small climbs but nothing too major to split up the field. Most of the day would be spent trying to keep good position, especially towards the end as the wind was supposed to pick up a bit and there was some good spots for the field to get ripped apart by crosswinds.
PA tried really hard the first lap and a half to try to get in a break, but nothing was sticking. Just not windy enough and people would work hard to try to stitch things up. Jon also unfortunately got a flat and his race was done for the day.
Pretty much just stayed in the group until the last lap, when things started to pick up a bit and I went with a few attacks by other GC guys. We’d end up missing the move of the day, when about 5 guys went off the front and were joined by a few more to have 9 together.
I tried to solo bridge to the move, absolutely drilling it on the top part of the course for about 4 minutes, but they were moving too fast for me to be able to catch, so I pulled the plug and came back to the group.
There was some effort from teams who missed the break to bring it back, or at least cut the time gap down. Greg did a bunch of work here to help minimize the damage. But it became pretty clear they would stay away, so I tried to make sure I’d be in good position as the wind was picking up and there were some exposed spots near the finish where the group could split apart.
As we neared the last few Ks, Flo did a bunch of work bringing me up to the front of the group and let me stay out of trouble here, finishing with the main pack.
I lost 1 spot on GC and about 30s to a few guys on GC ahead of me, but we were still all a minute within 1st as he wasn’t in the break, so weren’t too down about it.
Stage 3: Palisades Time Trial
Course: https://www.strava.com/routes/3233991043397729256
Nutrition: Gel before warm up
Summary: Out and back time trial, pretty standard. Slightly uphill with a bit of wind on the way out, so that should have meant a bit more power there and ease off on the way back, but I didn’t want to risk blowing up, so settled to target my power of ~380w.
There were some small rollers at the start, I went too easy up them for fear of blowing up, and there were some nasty crosswinds on the short descent of the last roller, so bad I had to get out of the TT bars and steady myself. After that, it was simply staying in the bars and tapping out the watts.
My position wasn’t great, and I probably lost a bit of time with the poor start, but it was good enough for 10th on the day, bumping me up to 6th overall.
Stage 4: Wenatchee Downtown Criterium
Course: https://www.strava.com/routes/3233991260101157864
Nutrition: Gel before start
Summary: It had rained during the day before our race, which started just after the sun set, but it had stopped for an hour or so before our race, so not too wet for us. Which was good, because there was a ton of paint on the small climb part of the road as well as there being a bunch of brick on the downhill part of the course.
My goal was just to finish and not get stuck behind any crashes or splits. Flo and PA were aiming to get a result here. It got really fast really quick, but each time we went up the short climb to the backside of the course, it would slow up a bit and spread out wide, so you could make up some position there if you kept on the gas a bit and didn’t slow down in the corner at the top of the hill.
I didn’t maintain my position very well, and PA and Greg tried to help move me up a bunch throughout the race. Near the end I found myself close with some other GC riders and stayed with them as best I could.
Flo was ripping around the course staying super close to the front and finished 13th, which was a great result for a hard and fast crit with such a big field.
Stage 4: Plain Road Race
Course: https://www.strava.com/routes/3233991273467323368
Nutrition: ~200g of carbs from bottles, ~50g of carbs from 2 gels
Summary: The last stage was an interesting one. Mostly flat, with about a 4 minute hill climb at the end to make things fun. PA came down with some sickness, so was unable to start. Our goal was basically to get me to the bottom of the final climb in good position and for me to try to get some seconds, maybe to jump to 5th, but mostly to get a good stage result.
As soon as the race started, breakaway attempts started to go. Most teams were content to let a small break get away, and one with a couple guys not anywhere on GC was up the road for most of the day.
Otherwise, it was pretty relaxed in the group. I mostly rode near the front, making sure to go with any moves that had GC guys or strong riders in it, but I think everyone was mostly thinking about the final climb.
On the last lap, the intensity started to up a bit, with that early breakaway still out, I think some people wanted to try to bridge. There was a strong move that went about halfway through the last lap, with a couple guys up on GC and Cormac McGeough from Canel’s Java pro cycling that looked a bit dangerous, but it was brought back pretty fast.
As we started getting closer to the climb, the pace really picked up and people started fighting for position a bit more. I got washing machined back a little bit, but still was in the top 30 wheels or so. With about a mile or two to go, Greg pulled me up a few more wheels to 15th or so.
Nearing about 1k to the climb, Flo came flying up the side, and I jumped on his wheel, with him dropping me off at 7th or 8th wheel. There was some more fighting, getting a couple elbows to my rear end, as we pretty much took up the whole width of the road.
Once we turned onto the final climb, the pace slowed a bit, until Expeditors sat someone on the front to pace for Kent Ross. This kept it strung out a bit, and I was eating a little bit of wind trying to keep good positioning.
The climb felt super fast, and before I knew it we were seeing a 200m sign. I really misjudged where we were on the climb, thinking we had a lot longer to go I was keeping it pretty conservative, but quickly after the 200m sign Kent Ross started to light it up, and it was just all out from there.
I managed to pass a couple people, getting super close to passing for 3rd, but finished 4th on the day, and didn’t make up any GC, ending 6th
It was a really fun day and super fun week. I was happy to get both a good stage finish and overall result for the team, especially since last year I crashed on the final stage, so got a bit of redemption from that.
It was also a superb learning experience I think. We learned how to race as a team a lot more, especially in a huge 100+ person field, which was really valuable. Excited for us to go back next year!
Race Report: 2024 Winchester Circuit Race - 35+ 4/5 and 35+ 3/4
Race: Winchester Circuit Race - 4
Date: May 11, 2024
AVRT racers: Shai Traister
Top Result: Shai 3/4 (35+ 4/5), Shai 8/14 (35+ 3/4)
Course: 5 laps of a roughly 4.5-mile circuit with about 350 feet of elevation gain each lap. The main features are a safe but very fast descent and an undulating punchy climb to the finish that includes two sections above 15% grade.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11388943305 (4/5), https://www.strava.com/activities/11388944208 (3/4)
Nutrition: One bottle with 60g carbs for each race.
4/5 Race Recap:
This race was only 4 laps, but was combined with the Juniors who only did 2 laps. There were 5 pre-reg’ed racers in our field, 2 of them DNS and Greg Young (who won last year) was day-of.
First lap was uneventful, but going into the 2nd lap I was looking out for some moves from the juniors since this was their last lap. Indeed their attacks started and I decided to follow. The first junior had a mechanical up the final climb and we watched him first try to run up the hill, then after seeing he got caught, lift his bike and throw them in frustration to the side of the road.
We continued with our race. After the climb, Greg managed to get away on the descent. The PV guy and I took turns and brought him back after half a lap, and we continued as a small group.
Going into the finishing climb on the final lap, I knew that Greg had a good sprint, so I decided to go from the bottom of the climb at a high pace. I might have had a small gap, but by the time we got to the downhill section in the middle everyone was on my wheel. I slowed down a bit to recover before the final stretch to the line, and that’s when Greg started his sprint. Did my best to follow - including hitting all time high 30s power @645W! - but it was too late. On top of it I got peeped on the line by Luc from PV to finish 3rd.
In hindsight, I should have not started the climb at the front, and instead attack from the back all out. Also keep the power high through the downhill (easier said than done) and push all the way to the top. I believe that part of the reason was that in the back of my mind I knew I had another race starting in 50 minutes (possibly the more important race) so I didn’t fully commit and trust myself with half the climb still remaining. Finished 3rd/4.
3/4 Race Recap:
I did my best to recover as much as I could in between the races, but nevertheless, legs felt heavy as we rolled. This race was 5 laps, but was combined with E4 who only did 4 laps.
This race was considerably faster than the 4/5 race, and the front was setting a high pace on every climb. I was mainly trying to follow wheels and conserve energy as much as possible. On the 3rd lap I had to cross the yellow line due to safety reasons - just for a few seconds, didn’t pass anyone and didn’t do it intentionally, but still the moto relegated me to the back (and insisted that I go to the very back and not just “near the back”). Did some effort to pass several riders on the rollers to get into a good position before the main climb which was successful - I managed to get to the front group on time which was key because we were going full gas on the climb with many riders going off the back.
Lap 4 continued at a high pace, and I knew there would be attacks as this was the last lap of the E4 field. As expected the pace picked up, but the main climb wasn’t as fast as it was on lap 3.
Last lap. My legs were starting to complain. On the rollers just before the last climb I got gapped with one of the accelerations. Rolled it in for 8th but made sure I wouldn’t get passed but anyone else who got dropped earlier.
Race: Berkeley Hills Road Race — 35+ 3/4
Race: Berkeley Hills Road Race — 35+ 3/4
Date: April 27, 2024
AVRT Racers: Shai Traister
Top Results: Shai (14th/40)
Course: Three laps of an 18.7 mi loop with 1,650 ft of elevation gain each lap for a total of ~53 miles and ~4000 feet including the neutral rollout. The main feature of the course is the “Three Bears,” which is a sequence of short climbs in the second half of the loop. “Mama Bear” is the first and takes about 2-3 minutes to climb; “Papa Bear” is the second and takes about 3-4 minutes to climb; and “Baby Bear” is the third and takes less than a minute to climb. There’s a short descent between Mama and Papa and a longer descent between Papa and Baby. The rest of the course is mostly flat with some rolling hills.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11278654389
Nutrition: 2 Gu gels, 1 bottle of water with 60g of carbs
Recap
Lap 1. Started near the front to keep an eye on anyone slipping away and riding with the group that started 2 minutes in front of us (like happened last year). Everything was clean. Pretty chill pace through the first lap until we got to the bears which were climbed at a high yet manageable pace. A few people got gapped on the climbs but were able to catch on the descends.
Lap 2. Pace picks up a notch, but overall we ride as a group without any attacks or other incidents, until we got to the climbs. Really fast pace up Mama bear and then on papa bear as well. I managed to stay with the front group and continued down papa bear following wheels. Another kick up baby bear and we’re off to the 3rd lap (last).
Lap 3. We got to mama bear where the pace was again very high. I managed to get through most of the climb, but as we crested the first top I had a 15 feet gap and I found myself in the wind. Didn’t have it in me to continue at that pace, and decided to slow down a bit. As I got to the bottom of papa bear another rider came from behind and passed me. I took his draft for ~half the climb, then decided to attack and not let him get in front of me. That worked even though it made no difference at all (14th vs. 15th place). A small encouragement after getting dropped from the front bunch.
Race: Snelling RR Men’s M35+ 3/4
Date: June 8th, 2024
AVRT racers: Shai Traister, Daniel Choi
Top Result: Shai (7th/21) Daniel (9th/21)
Course: The original Snelling course - 11.7 miles of rolling farm roads with decent to bad pavement. The final sprint is 300m after a tight right-hand turn. The road was very bumpy, with sketchy turns partially covered by gravel.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11607878557/
Nutrition: Two bottles (one frozen) with 60g of carbs. 2 bottles from the feed - one with 60g of carbs one just water, 2 gu gels with 25mg of caffeine.
This year Snelling was postponed from its usual spring date to June. The weather was warm (afternoon race) with highs in the upper 80’s or even lower 90’s. Remembering the horrors from last year’s Patterson pass, I paid special attention to hydration. Drank a full bottle before the race started, started the race with 2 full bottles (one frozen), and was determined to pick up bottles from the feed zone.
The race started at a rather slow pace that picked up on every small hill. People kept attacking right from the first lap, but all attacks were of solo riders and I knew there was no way a solo rider would go all the way (esp. so early in the race, where everyone was relatively fresh) so I didn’t bother chasing and just sat on wheels. The first part of the course had a slight headwind, which would also make it very hard for a solo rider to stay away. As I expected, every single attack was brought back and the pace would slow down again. Especially weird was PenVelo that had 4 riders that tried attacking and counter- attacking again after each of their riders was brought back, all for nothing.
After one lap, when we passed through the feed zone for the 2nd time I grabbed a bottle, put it in my cage and continued racing. About 2km later the road was very bumpy and that bottle shot out and fell to the ground. 2nd time through the feed zone I grabbed another bottle of cold drink which was awesome, and another bottle of water which I poured over myself - very refreshing. Unfortunately, the cap on the malto bottle was leaky so with every sip I took about half of the malto mix would spill over me (and the bike 😂).
On the third lap, on the left turn the rider on my left didn’t keep his line and swerved right to the outside. That would have forced me making a sharp turn into a huge gravel pothole, so I decided to keep going straight off the road and onto the gravel bank which allowed me to drop my speed and make the turn safely. I also had to go around the motorcycle which stood on the side of the road. Got back on the road, but since the pack wasn’t going super fast I closed the gap pretty quickly.
2 notable events (and missed opportunities?):
On the 3rd lap - one of the 2 DelceVita riders tried attacking. I was on his wheel so I follow him, and pretty soon we got a ~5s gap. Not huge, but something. When he slowed down I should have rolled through and try to make it stick. I didn’t - as I was trying to recover from following his attack - so we slowed down and the pack caught us. In hindsight I probably should have given it a chance.
On the last lap 3 riders managed to get away on the rolling hills. This seemed to be a dangerous move so I decided to bridge across. Another rider decided the same, so I slid behind him and waited for him to close the gap while being ready to jump across if he blew. He made it across, which was a good opportunity for me to counter attack, after getting a draft across the gap. I believe that the entire field was following us so it’s not like this was a big opportunity, but in hindsight probably would have been better to give it a try.
Going through the feedzone for the last time Daniel who was just in front of me grabbed the drink from Drew, so I planned to grab a bottle from Roger - but I ended up with an ice sock which I stuck in the back of my jersey - super cool (literally). Also grabbed another bottle of water.
Pace picked up with more attempts to break away, but nothing stuck, so we got to the final right-hand turn and 300m to the finish line. I slotted behind one of the DolceVita riders but got pushed away from that wheel. Made the turn and started the sprint. The road on the last stretch is super bumpy and my bike and rear wheel bounced all over the place. It was hard for me to push full power on such a bumpy road, I passed a couple of riders, and was passed by one. Finished 7th. Daniel was behind me and got peeped on the line and finished 9th.
Thanks to Drew, Roger (and everyone else) for all your help in the feed zone - you guys were life savers!
Race Report: 2024 Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men’s 35+ 1/2/3
Race: 2024 Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men’s Masters 1/2/3
Date: April 27, 2024
AVRT racers: Nat Green
Top Result: Nat (6/19)
Course: 5 laps of this. First quarter is rolling/flat with a fast downhill, turning onto a road with a small kicker before another fast downhill. There’s then ~4 miles of false flat before hitting the main feature of the route, the Three Bears. Mama Bear is first, about a 3 minute climb, then Papa is about 4 mins, and last is Baby, less than a minute.
Strava: Berkeley Hills RR 35+ 1/2/3 6th of 19 | Ride | Strava
Nutrition: Two bottles of Skratch mix and some stroop waffles (should have gone with gels like I usually do – waffles are too hard to eat when going fast and I almost ended up choking a few times).
Recap: I have done this race a number of times, and knew it was going to be hard, given the course and the strength of the field. I was racing solo. Major teams were ThirstyBear (Brian Schuster, Blaine Ashley, Ariel Hermann), Work Health Solutions (five riders) and Dolce Vita (three riders). Strong individual riders included Dana Williams, Michael Machado, and Italo Ciccarelli).
My plan was to conserve energy for the hills so I could go with any threatening, well-represented moves then, or have enough energy for the final climb up Papa Bear if it came to that. Based on past experience and the length and difficulty of the course, I was not expecting much action until at least Mama Bear on the first lap, but Italo ended up going after the first turn, eventually being joined by a couple of other guys. I had no desire to join a break that early, and thankfully no ThirstyBear or WHS went with them, so I was certain the break would eventually be caught.
The pace was fast but manageable in the group for the next couple of laps, with occasional attacks, but no one really seriously threatening to get away. Finally, on Mama Bear on lap three, the group shattered, with two WHS riders getting away, followed by Brian. I was in a smaller group with Blaine, Ariel, and Dana behind them. We eventually caught Brian on Papa Bear on that lap, after it looked like he cramped. So there were five of us going into the final lap, chasing five riders up the road (the original break of three plus the two WHS guys), having dropped everyone else. We formed a paceline that was moving really well throughout the final lap. I started to tire around this point, but managed to (mostly) keep pulling through on my turn. We ended up catching two guys from the original break just before/on Mama Bear, but didn’t catch up to the three leaders by Papa Bear, so we were racing for fourth. Blaine got it, followed by Dana, and I nabbed sixth.
Overall, I was very happy with the result in a really strong field. I was able to conserve energy so I had enough to stay near the front on the hills and to push hard on the final lap. Ideally I would have gone with the WHS guys at the end of lap 3 maybe, but I’m not sure I would have made it at that point and might have ended up in no man’s land and not have had enough to hang with the group that I ended up riding the final lap with, which allowed me to stay away from everyone behind me and pass a couple of riders ahead of us.
Nat
Race Report: 2024 Bariani Road Race - Men’s 35+ 1/2/3
Race: 2024 Bariani Road Race- Men’s Masters 1/2/3
Date: March 17, 2024
AVRT racers: Nat Green
Top Result: Nat (11/26)
Course: 4 laps of a 20-mile course for about 80 miles total. The course is mostly flat or mild rollers, with a short hill on the back stretch before a right hand turn onto a section with terrible pavement, and then a (sandy/gravelly) left hand turn shortly before the finish that pitches down and then right back up. Wind was not a major factor this year, at least for early start times. Weather was chilly, warming up by the later laps.
Strava: Morning Ride | Ride | Strava
Nutrition: Two bottles of Skratch mix and a bunch of gels.
Recap: I was racing solo for AV in a field of 26. There were a number of strong teams, including ThirstyBear (Blaine Ashley, Brian Schuster, Michael Claudio), WHS (five strong guys), and a few teams with two riders (CoreTechs, Data Driven Athlete, Creative Blue). There were also a number of strong individual riders, including Will Riffelmacher (Olympic Club), Tony Little, and Alex Yermolovich (PenVelo), among others.
My usual strategy when racing alone is to conserve energy as much as possible, and stay smart about covering attacks by only going if multiple teams are represented, and even then following others who are covering rather than doing it myself, if possible. There was a different course last year, so I hadn’t done this longer loop, so I was hoping to use the first lap mostly to scout the course rather than to go hard. There were attacks right from the gun, however. Some were quite threatening, but all were brought back.
Eventually, however, a group got away near the beginning of lap 2. It included riders from ThirstyBear and WHS, so those teams stopped working, and the pace really slowed. A few individual riders tried to get a chase going, but we couldn’t really get a sustained paceline going and it seemed like the break was gaining time. About halfway through the second lap, a Data Driven Athlete rider went up the road to chase solo. I decided to follow him a minute later or so, and Alex Yermolovich quickly jumped, as well, and he and I caught the Data Driven Athlete after about five minutes. The three of us worked well together for the next lap or so, averaging about 25 mph and keeping the break at maybe 1-2 minutes up the road, but not gaining really gaining much ground, and the pack was slowly catching up to us.
They caught us near the end of lap 3. The break was not in sight at that point, and I assumed they were gone and we were racing for sixth, but improbably we ended up catching them with 2-3 miles to go in the race. That meant that the almost everyone was together going until the final hill and final turns. I tried to move up during the hill, but with the centerline rule in effect, it was very difficult and I really needed to have been farther near the front before then to have a chance. I was able to move up several positions during the bumpy and somewhat chaotic stretch right before the final left turn. I was maybe 8-12 going into the final corner, and ended up 11th.
Overall it was a good early season race and excellent training in a fast group (80 miles at about 25 mph). I was also happy with our hour-long chase effort in the group of three. Nevertheless, racing solo is very hard because you really have to pick and choose which moves you cover, since you only have so many matches to burn, and have to get lucky to get in the right one, so I’m hoping to get some teammates out there with me at some point this season.
Nat
Race Report: 2024 Snelling RR Men’s P12
Race: Snelling RR Men’s P12
Date: June 8th, 2024
AVRT racers: Andrea Cloarec, Cameron O'Reilly, Grant Miller, Nathan Martin
Top Result: Grant (6/46), Nathan 9th
Course: The original Snelling course - 11.7 miles of rolling farm roads with decent to bad pavement. The final sprint is 300m after a tight right-hand turn.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11607408999/
Nutrition: Started with three frozen bottles with 80g of carbs. Got a few bottles from the feed with 60g of carbs and had 3 guu gels with 25mg of caffeine and one 150mg SIS gel
This year Snelling was postponed from its usual spring date to June. The weather forecast didn’t look pretty, with highs in the 90’s. While it wasn’t as bad as I expected, the heat played a huge factor in the race. We planned to try and beat the heat by having frozen water and ice socks in the feed which were a life-saver. Thanks to Nathan’s dad Roger and Drew for helping out! I started the race with three frozen bottles, two of which I shoved in my jersey to keep me cool.
The race started out with two riders slowly rolling off the front. Our plan was to be represented in any breaks, but not to overcommit and burn ourselves out. Cam jumped across later in the lap and soon two more riders did. At this point Dolce and ourselves were represented, but the biggest teams of Mikes, Voler, and Terun were not. I figured they would organize a chase or launch a counter-attack but for the rest of lap one and most of two nothing happened. At this point the break probably already had a 2 minute advantage when Mike’s called for a pee break which the field obliged. Once we were moving again, the break probably had another minute advantage.
In the next 30 minutes all the teams who weren’t represented made attempts to get across to the break which Nathan and I covered. It was pretty hard and there was one moment where I thought the elastic would snap but Voler stopped pulling and the field came back. The pace stayed pretty fast through the headwind but no major attacks went. As we turned into the cross/tailwind section again Ryan and Miles from Voler started ruthlessly attacking the field. Every time one of them got brought back the next would go. Nathan and I did our best to cover each attack, but eventually a small group with Ryan started to go away. I knew that could be the last chance to get across so I asked Nathan to try to close the gap with me in the draft. We started bridging across and there were only a few riders left in our draft. Eventually I attacked with one other rider until we caught the second break. At that point everyone sat up and the field came back, again. At this point I felt like this was the only time to make a counter-attack, but I was pretty tired and the break was nowhere in sight. I felt like if I attacked, no one would come and I would just slowly overheat in no-man’s land before getting caught, so I decided to just sit in. Andrea also had a mechanical during this part and was out of the race.
At this point Voler started to organize to chase, but all of their supporting riders were pretty gassed from the attacking. The pace stayed steady for about an hour, but we couldn’t gain any time on the break. As we came into the last lap, we started catching riders popped from the break including Cam. Even though we weren’t represented anymore, we only had two riders left while Mikes, Terun, and Voler all had 3 or more. The break was still more than 3 minutes up the road, so we decided not to help chase and wait for a late race break to race for best of the rest.
As we hit one of the rolling parts, a group with several Mike’s and Voler riders started rolling away. I jumped across and joined them but the pace immediately dropped and the field started coming back. We turned into the crosswind section and the group started taking hard pulls and I pulled through one or twice to see if we could keep our gap. The field came back and a Mike's rider immediately attacked. I saw that no one moved to cover them so I jumped and bridged across with one rider. The group sat up and I thought this might be the move so I put in one hard pull but the others were pretty gassed. As we made the turn, a reduced field caught us.
The last 10 minutes of the course are a pretty fast false-flat tailwind section and we kept a high pace. There’s one significant kicker followed by some rollers and a tight gravely turn before a final right-hand turn and 300m to the finish line. I fully expected Ryan to attack the kicker so I kept him in my sights but no major moves went there. Nathan made a perfectly timed attack as the pace slowed and forced Mikes and Voler to chase. I followed as Ryan attacked right into the gravely corner and watched him ride off the road into some gravel, somehow managing to keep the bike upright. This attack brought back Nathan and I immediately tried to counter-attack, but Ryan and Eamon were in my draft so I sat up and the field came back.
At this point Eamon jumped off the front solo and Ryan started pacing to keep his lead in check. As we approached the last turn, Nathan found me and yelled for me to get on his wheel. I managed to slot in around 5th wheel from the front which was perfect. We made it through the turn cleanly and then half the guys just sat up. I navigated through them and jumped onto the Terun sprinter, but the pavement was super bumpy and my chain almost bounced off, so I couldn’t come around him. I rolled across for 3rd in the sprint, but 6th overall since there were 3 guys up the road.
Overall I felt the team executed really well. We were represented and raced to our plan, we just didn’t account for the other teams not taking the break seriously. We also prepared for the heat and managed to perform well. Thanks to everyone in the feed zone for helping out!
Race Report: 2024 Sea Otter Classic Gravel Race
Race: Sea Otter Classic Gravel Race
Date: 4/20/24
AVRT racers: Grant Miller (Pro/Elite), Andrew Ernst (Age group)
Top Result: Grant 10th, Andrew 16th/1st AG
Course: Two laps of a punchy parkour featuring mostly fast rolling gravel with a few technical pinch points. The main technical feature is a 2.5 minute segment called 3 sisters which features huge rollers where you climb and descend 10% pitches. The rest of the course is mostly fast-rolling doubletrack gravel interspersed with a few road sections.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11225772456
Nutrition: Two big bottles filled with 120g of carbs, two 150mg Caffiene SIS gels
This year the Sea Otter Classic featured a real gravel race. In past years the race was the same as the mountain bike course but only for one lap. While some people would say that’s their idea of fun, going through a bunch of sandy, bumpy singletrack on a gravel bike just makes me wish I was on a mountain bike. The course this year was updated to a fast-rolling and punchy course where you’re either climbing, descending, or drilling it on the flats. We did 2 laps which rounded out to about 46 miles of racing.
I was two weeks out of taking a week off and other than a quick recon after the road race, I hadn’t touched my gravel bike since doing a 150 mile ride in March. My bottom bracket was in subpar condition and I was still running 38mm pathfinders. To summarize - I didn’t have high expectations for the race. When I got to the start line alongside pros and lifetime GP contenders, I could already see I was probably running the smallest and least knobby tires which was not a good sign.
The start was really early (7:50am) and while my legs could pedal, my brain was not quite ready for the intensity. We started on the Laguna Seca raceway and immediately started drilling it up the raceway climb. I could’ve fought more for position, but tried to slot in around 10th wheel to get a nice draft on the upcoming descent. I knew it would get strung out turning onto the dirt but didn’t think the race would blow apart. On the descent, one of the pros went to the front and drilled it. We averaged 30mph and hit 42 at one point as we flew down the gravel descent.
I quickly found myself spinning out from my 42/10 and watched the field slowly pull a few seconds ahead. I had ridden the course two days earler with my 46t chainring and struggled to make it up some of the steeper pitches, so I’d switched down. It turns out that this probably hurt my race since now I couldn’t even keep up on the fast bits.
We immediately turned into the only technical bit of the course on 3 sisters and while I could still see the leaders, I just didn’t have the confidence to rip this section of the course. In total I lost about 20s to Rob Britton and maybe 10s to the next group, but that was all it took when the race was full throttle. As we came out onto the road I quickly caught and joined a chase group but we never saw the leaders again. For the rest of the lap I worked with two other guys before dropping one. Heading into the final climb I started upping the pace and popped the other guy. Now I just had to do the next hour by myself and hopefully catch someone.
The rest of the race went by pretty quickly. I just tried to keep pedaling as hard as I could the whole time and try to ride cleanly through the corners. Unfortunately, I lost so much time to the groups up the road on the first lap that I never caught anyone. Since the course had a lot of rolling and fast sections, I was just slower than a group rotating.
At the end I rolled in for 10th place. I was really happy with the effort, it just would’ve been nice to race with someone on the second lap. I averaged 19mph for 2.5 hours on a course with almost 6,000 feet of elevation and I still finished minutes behind the leaders. That just shows you how fast the pros are. If I had to do it again, I’d probably go with a) a finely tuned drivetrain and b) wider ties with a bit more traction to help with clearing loose gravel corners at 30+ mph.
Race Report: 2024 Lake Sonoma MTB – Women’s Pro
Race: Lake Sonoma MTB – Women’s Pro
Date: April 27, 2024
AVRT racers: Kelly Brennan, Rachel Hwang
Top Result: Rachel 5th/8, Kelly 6th/8
Course: starts on a road for ~2.5 miles, then two loops in the mountains.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11278392485
Race Recap: (Rachel Hwang’s perspective)
The race was a mass start, with a 2.5 mile road climb to stretch out the herd, before bottlenecking onto the single track. The first third of the loop was just brutal. The climbs were insanely steep, and singletrack. With so many people competing to get up the hill, and as it was singletrack, if one person got off their bike, most of the people following had to get off. I was trying so hard to keep up to the people in front of me in the first two thirds of the first lap that I wasn’t even mad about getting off and walking to catch my breath.
Anyways, it was a madhouse in the beginning of the ride and everyone was gunning up the hill on the pavement. We hit a bottleneck as we hit the single track, and because it was so steep in many areas, we got off and walked a lot because so many people were also getting off causing a traffic jam. I was trying to keep up with a girl and was yo-yoing for a good bit before she dropped off near the end of the first lap. The second lap was a lot more tame as people had spread out. It was still hard because of how punchy the climbs were. At some point over half way past the second lap I hear “Go Rachel!” and realize Kelly is right behind me! We finish within a few minutes of each other.
This was fun but the hills were really punchy and I went too hard at the beginning and did not pace well at all. The downhill was singletrack and had lots of brake bumps at times.
Nutrition: 1 bottle of water with a stick of liquid IV, and a Cliff Double Espresso flavored shot on the start line right before the race.
Race Report: 2024 Dash for Cash Crit - Men’s 2/3
Race: 2024 Dash for Cash Crit - Men’s 2/3
Date: June 1, 2024
AVRT racers: Grant Miller, Andrea Cloarec, Drew Mathews, Jon Wells
Top Result: Jon Wells, 7th of 65
Course: 0.8 mile loop through an office park in Pleasanton. The rectangle course manages to have just 3 corners (barely) with the last one a gentle sweeping bend. Theres no significant vertical so a headwind down the bottom straight into the final corner was the only course feature of note.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11550693271
Nutrition: a pre race Redbull and 60g flow bottle during the race
Race Recap:
Gameplan coming into the race was for the boys to get some upgrade points. Myself, Grant, and Andrea were all licking our chops for a chance to score points without the cat 1s around. There were a few big teams in Mikes and Dolce but teamwork in cat ⅔ races can sometimes be suspect. We wanted to be sure we were present in any moves that contained the big teams since composition is really important for a break to work on this sort of course with no features. I was gonna be our guy if it came down for a sprint and we were planning for a super late lead out on the headwind side of the course given our small team size and the tough wind.
We were very well represented in all of the moves. Grant and Andrea spent a lot of the race off the front but nothing ever stuck. One group of 4 (including Grant) probably had the longest tenure off the front but their gap never grew past 15 seconds.
The race came down to a very hectic last couple laps. The race was not particularly fast and the course was very wide so lots of guys thought they still had a chance which makes for very sketchy conditions (foreshadowing? Keep reading to find out!). Mikes tried to have their guys lead it out at the front but the pace was really never high enough so there was a ton of swarming in the last few laps. We were all a bit separated with 2 laps to go so I decided to just surf wheels at the front by myself and if I found a teammate for the last lap, great. Otherwise, I’d be in a good spot to go solo.
Coming around the last lap, I committed to riding the inside of the lap because I wanted the inside line for the last corner and be on the downwind side for the final sprint. Unfortunately everyone had the same idea so it did get pretty physical on the inside. I found myself about 4rd wheel on the inside line coming up to the last corner, just when another train of riders tried to go even further inside than we already were. There wasn’t enough room for everyone and there ended up being a huge crash in the last corner. I had to grab some brake but managed to stay up. Only 4 guys were ahead of the crash and got a clean sprint out of the last corner which left everyone who stayed on their bikes sprinting from a near stop after the crash and I was able to still manage a 7th place on the day. Very happy to not hit the pavement and stoked to grab a few more upgrade points!
-Jon
Race Report: 2024 Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Race: Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Date: 4/27/24
AVRT Racers: Grant Miller, Nathan Martin, Andrew Ernst, Nico Sandi, Greg McCullough, Andrea Cloarec, Cam O’Reilly, Jon Wells
Top Result: 5th - Nathan
Course: 5 laps of this. First quarter is rolling/flat with a steep and fast downhill, turning onto a road with a small kicker before another fast downhill. There’s then ~4 miles of false flat before hitting the main feature of the route, the 3 bears. Mama bear is first, about a 2 minute climb, then Papa is about 3 mins, last is Baby, less than a minute.
Nutrition: 3 bottles of mix, 2 gels
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11278289390
Race Recep (written by Nathan):
Our plan heading into the race was to have Nico for the final climb if it came down to a bunch sprint and me to go in any late breaks on the last lap.
On the first lap, a break of about 7 went, with Andrew and Jon in it for us. It had some strong solo riders like Devin Wilson and Victor Perez. Voler had Ryan Gorman in the break and Mikes had two as well.
One of the Mike’s riders would have his saddle break, so when TMB in the main group saw this, they tried pretty hard to bridge on Lap 2. This is when Grant would be able to bridge up to the break, riding with a TMB attempt. On this lap as well, Nico got a flat and Greg stopped to help him, unfortunately pretty soon after they stopped attacks started flying and the group really picked up some pace, so they couldn’t catch back on.
Lap 3 saw some bridge attempts from Voler, but nothing stuck and the group mostly stayed together.
Lap 4 TMB was not liking the break composition and started rotating on the front to bring the group back together for Mattheus. They burned through 3 guys and at the start of Lap 4, we caught what remained of the break on San Pablo Dam. After we caught the break, a few counter attacks would go, but nothing serious, and the group stayed together until after the fast descent on San Pablo.
After turning onto Castro Ranch, Ryan would send a massive attack on the small kicker and would quickly get a 30 second gap. Mikes was all gassed from chasing, most of the AV members left were in the break all day and also gassed, so there wasn’t a real chase effort and Ryan was able to stick this move solo to win. AV rotated a bit to chase, then Mike’s rotated a bit. Maybe if we had immediately worked together from the second he got a gap, but who knows.
The group stayed together until the bottom of the final climb up Papa Bear. I had a decent position in 5th wheel going into the climb, and from the bottom Voler’s climber just gunned it. I was pretty much right at max effort from the bottom, as was everyone else, and was only able to make up one wheel before the top to finish 5th overall.
Overall I think we were a little disappointed to not improve on last year’s 3rd place. Nico and Greg flatting out definitely didn’t help, but that’s just bike racing. I think it was another good learning experience for us, and a lot of fun to be racing against two other full strength teams on a tough course.
Race Report: 2024 Tour de Bloom - Women’s P123
Race: 2024 Tour de Bloom - Women’s P123
Date: May 2-5, 2024
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas
Result: 26/40 for GC
Tour de Bloom is a four-day event featuring five distinct stages. The race kicked off with a hilly road race, followed by a flattish (but windy) road race on the second day. Day three had both a morning time trial and an evening criterium, and wrapping up the final stage was another mostly flat road race that culminated in a tough hill finish.
Initially, we planned to send a full women’s squad, but due to various circumstances, I was the sole representative. This was my P123 stage race debut and my first time going against pro teams, so my primary goal was simply to survive. It was great to have Jen Tave from Terun also join, making it a fun mini Nor Cal squad.
Stage 1: Joe Miller Road Race
Course: The course was in two parts, the first being four laps of the “Golf Course Loop”, which was 8.4 miles with ~450 ft of elevation on each lap. The second and distinguishing part of the race was Joe Miller Rd, a 5-mile climb at 5.7% which we did a couple of times before finishing at the top of the climb the second time around. In total, the course was 45 miles with 4,600 ft of elevation.
Result: 22/40
Recap: Before the race, I was genuinely worried that I wouldn’t even make the time cutoff to finish the stage since this was the first time I’d ever been in a race with pro teams. My main goal was to maintain my position in the middle of the pack and expend as little energy as possible to stay in the race for as long as possible.
The event began with a neutral roll-out. The race official informed us that once the support vehicles were in place behind us, the race would start with three honks from a van. That never happened, but at some point, I realized we were halfway through the Golf Course Loop and assumed the race had started.
The peloton mostly stayed together on the Golf Course Loop, which featured a few rolling hills that weren't tackled too aggressively. The first big attack was actually on a downhill, which was a bit unexpected but maybe not a bad strategy because it was followed by a sharp turn that the pack had to slow down for, followed by a straightaway with sprint points. The sprint was intense; I was just trying to hold onto wheels but even that was a struggle. Luckily the pace slowed as soon as the sprint was over and no one counter-attacked, so the group came back together again and I was able to find a place in the pack again. The next laps of the Golf Course Loop were much the same: up and down the rolling hills, trying to hold on for dear life during the sprint, then recovering as the group bunched up.
Next came Joe Miller Road, a 5-mile climb at a 5.7% gradient. Almost immediately, someone attacked and I was flung off the back. The follow cars passed me and I questioned what the hell I was even doing in the race. However, I kept pushing and gradually gained positions, first overtaking some solo stragglers and then a group of five or six riders. I never caught the main peloton, but passing others on the climb boosted my confidence. It seemed like my 20-minute power was holding up, even if I couldn’t match the initial attack.
I teamed up with some new friends to work with for the descent and straightway before climbing Joe Miller the second time. At least most of them were friendly. There was once woman who told me to “do some work or get the fuck off my wheel” while we were going uphill and I was struggling to keep her pace after we’d dropped the others in our small group. She ended up dropping me too, unfortunately.
I then solo’d up the rest of the climb, almost catching that woman at the top, coming in at a respectable 22/40. Jen secured an impressive 3rd place, which was an awesome result.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11319348586
Nutrition: a couple of bottles of malto and a couple of bags of gummy bears during the race
Stage 2: Waterville Road Race
Course: 56 miles of rolling hills with ~3,300 ft elevation, but honestly the main feature of the course was the wind.
Result: 27/39
Recap: With winds of 15-20 mph, the name of the game for this race was hiding in the pack. Initially, I was successful, maintaining a good position for the first 7 or 8 miles. Then, in a new experience for me, the moto pulled us all to the side of the road to wait for the masters men to pass. Usually, fields get neutralized during such passes, but this was the first time I had to come to a complete stop. I’m guessing they did it because they didn't want the fields passing on an upcoming corner - it wasn’t ideal, but I felt like it was a better decision compared to Valley of the Sun where they didn’t neutralize anyone in a dangerous spot, resulting in most of the women’s field getting taken out.
After we were allowed to resume, there was a series of corners with attacks at each one. The first couple were manageable for me, but on the final corner, I got spat off the back. Next was a long (~4 miles), slightly uphill stretch where I could see the peloton ahead but couldn’t close the gap. It was super frustrating. I was working with another woman from Valkyr Cycling, but even together, we weren’t making progress. Further back, a group of 4 or 5 riders was gaining on us, so we decided to sit up and wait for them rather than waste our energy.
The rest of the race was fun but not very race-like. With the bigger group, we formed a nice paceline and caught another solo rider ahead. Our group consisted of three women from Coalition Cycling, three from Valkyr Cycling, a Red Truck Racing rider (who eventually dropped off), and me. Everyone else seemed to know each other and work well together, so I was happy to join the rotation. With the strong cross-wind, we even got the chance to practice echeloning, which Greg had just given us and the guy's team a crash course on at the AirBnB the previous night.
In the end, we stayed together until the finish but never caught the peloton. I considered attacking a few times, but the strong winds would have made it nearly impossible to stay away solo, and I wanted the group to continue cooperating to finish in the shortest time. Overall, it was a fun ride, but not much of a race after getting dropped.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11325521613
Nutrition: malto and gummy bears
Stage 3: Palisades Time Trial
Course: 8-mile time trial. Mostly flat with a lump near the start/end
Result: 32/36
Recap: Apparently, it doesn’t rain much in Wenatchee, but it rained almost all day for this race. This caused a dilemma for warming up - it was debatable whether riding in the rain would make me more or less warm, so I settled on sitting in the car and eating snacks until half an hour before my start time. Even when I emerged from the car, it was hard to get a good warm-up because the only available road was where everyone was parked, forcing me to constantly dodge cars and stop for people coming and going. A portable trainer definitely would have been useful here.
When it was time to go, I felt pretty good (if a little cold from standing around in line), but after the initial adrenaline wore off, my power just wasn’t there. The last time I did a time trial, I was able to hold 260-270W, and I hoped to match that, but fatigue from the previous days (and maybe the less-than-optimal warm-up) left me stuck at around 245W for most of it. I ended up being passed by two people, but both had actual time-trial bikes with disc wheels compared to my endurance bike with clip-on bars, so I’m kind of okay with that. As a side note, disc wheels do make a really nice “WHOOSHHH” sound as they go by.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11332408999
Nutrition: nut and fig bars beforehand and a malto bottle during warmup
Stage 4: Wenatchee Twilight Crit
Course: 0.5-mile four-corner crit in downtown Wenatchee. The short side of the course had a ~5% gradient, with cobblestones on the descent that were still wet from earlier in the day. At the finish line there was a beer garden with lots of spectators, which made for a fun atmosphere.
Result: DNF 😥
Recap: I was pretty embarrassed by my performance in this one, but shit happens. As we lined up to start, the official announced a $400 cash prime for the first lap - a sure-fire way to make it interesting from the start. When the whistle blew, everyone sprinted up the hill on the first turn and kept the pace high for the entire lap. I thought it might slow down for subsequent laps, but that was just wishful thinking as everyone attacked the hill again and again. Unfortunately, short hill sprints aren’t my strong suit, so each lap I found myself dangling off the back and having to catch back on again until I was dropped completely and then pulled a couple of laps later. Maybe if I came to Egan more often I would be better at that sort of thing.
In the end, it was mostly my pride that suffered. The results showed a gap of 1 minute, which meant I was still allowed to compete the next day and my position in GC didn’t change too much.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11334848012
Stage 5: Plain Road Race
Course: 51 miles with 2,600 ft of elevation. The first 50 miles took us through a flat and scenic loop beside Lake Wenatchee, before finishing with a 1-mile climb at 7.5%
Result: 26/33
Recap: Given my poor performance in the crit the day before, I was determined to redeem myself in the final stage. On the bright side, I hoped that getting pulled early in the crit meant I’d be slightly less tired than everyone else for this race.
After our neutral roll-out, the pace was much more forgiving than it had been on previous days, so maybe people were tired after all. At one point, someone attacked and everyone just let it go. I wasn’t sure whose job it was to chase, but it definitely wasn’t mine.
A few more attacks went, with people chasing them this time. I felt like I was starting to get the hang of predicting attacks and looking to the front to see them in real time, rather than reacting to the riders directly ahead of me. I also used momentum to move forward a few positions when riders were caught, rather than braking as the pace slowed. Maybe I was also just feeling more comfortable because the attacks weren’t as intense as on previous days.
At some point, people started randomly braking, and there were calls of “DANGER FLOOF!” Unfortunately, I’d been so focused on keeping my position in the pack that I completely missed it - a bear had walked across the road right in front of us. Crazy.
As we approached the feed zone, someone else attacked. I wasn’t planning on getting water anyway, but that wasn’t cool. Echoing my thoughts, someone else yelled after them, “That’s a dick move and no one likes you!”
Attacks were coming left, right, and center in the lead-up to the final climb. We’d caught the rider who went off the front at the start, and none of the other attacks had stuck, so now it was anyone’s game. I stayed with it until the start of the climb and then was dropped again as the stronger riders attacked the hill, but I was happy to make it to the final mile with the pack this time. Jen absolutely crushed it again, coming in 5th for the stage and 6th in GC.
Thanks for reading!
- Louise
Volunteer Spotlight June
Thanks to Jerome Sierra, Roger Pai, and Sue Lin Holt for input on Chloé’s amazingness!
Please consider volunteering as a course marshal for Pescadero RR on June 15: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YSqQnoLorD_e3xfjHvwdK-5UmHEZ_Lk7/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104543281577565516089&rtpof=true&sd=true
Tell us you think should be volunteer of the month here: https://forms.gle/FWgsZwNQpbktjdKD9
Race Report: 2024 Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Race: Berkeley Hills Road Race — Men’s Cat 4
Date: April 27, 2024
AVRT Racers: Zack Berger, Jack Larkin
AV Club Guests: Matin Massoudi, Richard Red
Top Results: Matin (7/38)
Course: Roughly four laps of an 18.7 mi loop with 1,650 ft of elevation gain each lap for a total of ~74 miles and ~6200 feet including the neutral rollout. The main feature of the course is the “Three Bears,” which is a sequence of short climbs in the second half of the loop. “Mama Bear” is the first and takes about 2-3 minutes to climb; “Papa Bear” is the second and takes about 3-4 minutes to climb; and “Baby Bear” is the third and takes less than a minute to climb. There’s a short descent between Mama and Papa and a longer descent between Papa and Baby. The rest of the course is mostly flat with some rolling hills.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11277989965
Nutrition: 4 Gu gels, 2 bottles of water with 1 scoop of Tailwind Endurance Fuel and a ½ cup of Carbo Gain (~80g carbs).
Recap [by Zack]
Based on the course structure and our experience in cat 4, we guessed that a break would not stick and the race would come down to the final effort up Papa Bear. Whoever had the sticking power could contest the finish. This directly informed our strategy: Matin and I would take it as easy as possible during the race until the final push up Papa Bear. Jack and Richard would cover moves throughout the race to support Matin and I.
Lap 1. We maintained a chill coffee ride pace to the 3 bears. On the way there I noticed that the backside of the course was narrow with not much room to move up. At Mama and Papa bear we smashed a 5-5.5W/kg pace, leaving ~25 riders for the next lap. Although I was near the front at the top, I fell back on the descent (because 45mph scares me). Unfortunately, Jack got a mechanical and Richard didn’t make it through Papa bear.
Lap 2. I found Matin and we quickly strategized. I’d follow any moves, otherwise we’d both sit in to the best of our ability and go for broke at the end. At one point on Castro Ranch Road a strong Dolce Vita rider began to move up solo — I followed him and very quickly the field reabsorbed us. Then on the backside, Chris Ritchie (friend of the team) and I sat at the front doing <150W and chatting.
Lap 3. Similar to the last lap, I fell to the back by the end of the descent. This worried me since I knew it would be hard to move up on the narrow backside, and that positioning would be vital for the final climb. By this point, I didn’t believe I had the power to win — I was sick earlier in the week and wasn’t excited about suffering on Papa Bear. I worked for the entire lap to make up positioning, and before Mama Bear, passed by Matin and told him to get on my wheel. I was happy to work for him since he’s been crushing it on the Egan ride lately. By the time we were at the foot of Papa Bear, Matin was well positioned, two bikes back from the front.
The climb began at a blistering pace of 6.5W/kg. Pretty soon a young rider attacked. The person in front of me didn’t connect to the attack. I went right to try and get around him, but quickly found myself in the wind without the gusto to push harder. I ended up in a similar position at Cantua Creek — out of the draft on the right side of the road, pumping watts, and falling behind. At the time, I didn’t have the motivation to go harder. I beat myself up over this after the race. I need to practice some self acceptance and remember that we’re really out here to have fun.
Matin, on the other hand, managed to connect to the front group and push it for 7th place, an amazing result for his first cat 4 outing!
Race Report: 2024 Wilmington Grand Prix - Men’s 2/3
Race: 2024 Wilmington Grand Prix - Men’s 2/3
Date: May 18, 2024
AVRT racers: Jon Wells
Top Result: Jon Wells, 5th of 62
Course: 0.8 mile rectangle in downtown Wilmington, DE. The home straight is a slight uphill and then turns downhill into corner 1 which is quickly followed by corner 2. The back stretch is slightly downhill until right before corner 3 when the road quickly drops down, right into the tightest corner on the course. The road also goes into a short, slightly steeper section of uphill between corners 3 and 4.
Nutrition: a pre race Redbull and 60g flow bottle during the race
Race Recap:
This crit is a fairly technical course, particularly with the tricky downhill corner 3 into the uphill. It very physical in a normal year, with usually less than half the field finishing on the lead lap. This year had the added addition of rain. It had rained lightly all morning and throughout the race, making the downtown course with lots of road paint markings quite slippery.
My plan was to race at the front all day with the technical nature of the course combined with the rain. Additionally, I don’t know who the strong individuals and teams are since I don’t race on the east coast regularly. Considering this, I didn’t plan to instigate many moves coming into the race, but wanted to be on top of anything that felt dangerous. This race usually does not come down to a field sprint, so I had to be alert to moves going.
I managed to line up on the front row so I don’t think I was ever actually outside of the first 15 wheels all race. The first half of the race I just patrolled the front, including following a few moves which never stuck more than a lap or so. Many laps coming out of corner 3 and 4 there would be gaps opening from people cornering slowly that would often be the start of a move. Many of these “moves” were incidental gaps that folks didn’t want to push on with. I would often pedal a few seconds longer on the backside to slot further up coming into corner 3 so the acceleration out would be easier to manage.
By around halfway, it was clear who the 5 strongest guys in the race were and folks started trying harder to force a break to stick. The strong guys were antsy to chase everything down, even making huge accelerations from the front. I spent some energy in this portion of the race making sure that I didn’t miss out on any moves. After one move was chased back, I found myself closing on the front with lots of momentum into corner 3 so I took the corners full tilt and hammered the hill that lap and found myself off the front by myself with 6 laps to go. I decided to put some energy in to my solo move and ended up staying off the front until 2.5 laps remaining. Once I was brought back, I slotted back into the top 5. There were no big teams so the pace was not super high. There were also only around 20 people left in the field who were all looking a little tired. Eventually, a guy sent a flyer with one lap to go that would end up being the race winner. On the downhill backside of the course, I spent some energy to slot into 3rd in the field into the last two corners. Once guy came past me in the final sprint (I was only a little tired from my solo flyer) so I ended up with 5th overall (4th in field sprint). Overall I am very happy with this result (and associated upgrade points) and the whole weekend of racing!
-Jon
Race Report: 2024 Monkey Hill Time Trial - Men’s 2/3
Race: 2024 Monkey Hill Time Trial - Men’s 2/3
Date: May 17, 2024
AVRT racers: Jon Wells
Top Result: Jon Wells, 1st of 8
Course: 2.8 mile loop in downtown Wilmington, DE. This is a rolling, twisty, sometimes cobbled time trial that finished with a ~45 second steep cobbled climb known as Monkey Hill. This course was originally raced on as part of the Tour DuPont and Tour de Trump back in the 80s and is still running today. There is a huge block party, including live music, food trucks, and beer garden on the hillside that starts in the afternoon and continues all race!
Nutrition: a pre race coffee loaded up with maple syrup
Race Recap:
This short time trial is on the Friday afternoon before the Wilmington Grand Prix, held about a mile down the road but they are run as two independent races without any sort of overall. The course starts at the top of the hill with a few high speed corners before taking a tight right turn onto a bone jarring cobbled descent. This is followed by a minute long climb, right into another quick descent. Then there are about 3 minutes of gently curving flats before a sharp right hand turn back onto the cobbles for the finishing climb up Monkey Hill. My plan was to blast the two hills as hard as possible and just be aero with some decent watts on the flat parts in between. I was really excited for this course since I think it suits me very well with its multiple VO2 efforts combined with a few technical sections.
Everything went pretty much exactly as I planned! I caught sight of my 30 second man when we came onto the flat section and ended up catching him as we turned onto the hill. This ended up being perfect timing as the two of us raced side by side up the hill in front of the electric crowd! I crossed the line in 6:38 (well under my goal of 7 minutes!) with a time good enough to win the cat ⅔ race. My time also would have placed me 2nd overall in the pro race!
-Jon
Race Report: 2024 Go Fast Upland Crit - Men’s 2
Race: 2024 Go Fast Upland Crit - Men’s 2
Date: May 12, 2024
AVRT racers: Jon Wells
Top Result: Jon Wells, DNF of 8
Course: 0.5 mile loop at Upland Memorial Park in Ontario, CA. The short course featured 9 corners (!!) on a slight hillside (maybe 1%) that made for very dynamic racing. The course still had very good flow despite all the corners once you found the groove.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11397513844/
Nutrition: a pre race Redbull and 60g flow bottle during the race
Race Recap:
I found myself in LA this weekend with my road bike so decided to go give this SoCal crit a try. I was very excited for the technical course and the cat 2 only field! The race was very professionally done with an exciting announcer, lead car, and was even live streamed online! Unfortunately, the race also fell on Mother’s Day, which seemed to keep a lot of folks home and made field sizes smaller than usual for SoCal racing.
The cat 2 race only had 8 starters. The 9 corners in a half mile loop made it race kind of like a cyclocross race where you were pretty much always going full gas and punching it out of corners as hard as possible. There were 3 of us (myself included) who all took massive digs at the field until it started to split up after about 15 minutes. Unfortunately, as the move of the day was going, I managed to get a flat tire which ended my race. Upon further inspection afterwards, I had put a huge gash into the sidewall of my one week old tire (Enve SES tubeless - paper thin sidewalls, do not recommend) that I was unable to fix. Unfortunately I did not have a replacement tire with me so I was unable to line up for the Pro/1/2 race later in the day.
-Jon
Race Report: 2024 Berkeley Crit - Men’s Pro/1/2
Race: 2024 Berkeley Crit - Men’s Pro/1/2
Date: April 28, 2024
AVRT racers: Jack Liu, Jon Wells, Nathan Martin, Cam O’Reilly
Top Result: Jack Liu, 7th of 45
Course: 1 km rectangle at Ohlone Park in Berkeley. The course was a long rectangle on city streets with so-so pavement throughout. The long home stretch was uphill with the backside running downhill while both short sides were flat. Corner 1 and 2 were slower being at the top of the hill with 3 and 4 being much faster. Some of the worst pavement was on the inside of corner 4.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11288072455
Nutrition: a pre race Redbull and 60g flow bottle during the race
Race Recap: (Jon’s POV)
Hate reading? You can watch my race recap here (and of course smash that subscribe button): Last Lap Drama @ Berkeley Crit!
This crit was day 2 of the Berkeley omnium, which had some serious prize money in the pro races for the overall. Nathan was our best placed overall rider with his 5th place finish from the day before. Since Nathan did not feel confident about field sprinting, our plan was for him to try for a breakaway. The tight corners and slight hill on the course had helped lots of breaks stick throughout the day. Plan B was for Jack to lead me out in the field sprint.
Mikes Bikes and Voler had the largest rosters on the startline, both with 8 guys. We were the next largest team, but only with 4 riders which gave us a little bit of freedom. The race started aggressively, with Mikes and some strong individuals throwing lots of attacks and counters. Nothing stuck until about 10 minutes in when Nathan snuck off the front with a Mikes rider. Voler had a chance to bridge to this move, but they let it roll, effectively signaling their intentions to field sprint with Ryan after his win the day before.
Nathan and Chris (Mikes rider) worked together off the front and held a gap of around 15-20 seconds for most of the race. Back in the pack, Voler lined up their whole team on the front to keep a paceline and hold the break in check. After some initial jockeying to slow the break, Mikes settled in behind Voler and all of the smaller teams (us included) settled in behind Mikes.
Nathan and Chris ended up putting up quite a fight, holding off the entire Voler roster until 2 laps to go. They had burned through all of their guys except Ryan and Max in order to make the catch happen. Mikes countered over the break getting caught with a solo rider which kept the pace high as everyone tried to grab positions with the race now reset. Jack and I found eachother around the top 10 wheels at this time as well.
The plan for the last lap was for Jack to lead me out full gas down the backside into corner 3 and then I would sprint. As Jack started moving up down the right side (inside) on the back stretch, there was a huge crash on the left with both remaining Voler riders going down hard (check out the video!). I grabbed some brake to stay upright and lost momentum. To add further insult, the guy in front of me in the last corner dropped his chain and caused me to brake again, turning a great last lap opportunity into a 12th place. Jack ended up carrying more momentum through the crash and held on to 7th.
-Jon
Race Report: 2024 Golden State Race Series - Circuit Race Men’s Cat 3 & P123
Race: 2024 Golden State Race Series - Circuit Race Men’s Cat 3 & P123
Date: May 5, 2024
AVRT racers: Drew Mathews
Course: A 2 mile flat circuit with 8 turns. A mix of looping corners, fast square corners, and straightaways, all with wide roads. Classic business park circuit.
Nutrition: Many homemade oat + maple syrup energy balls before each race. Cat 3: no bottle / gels during race. P123: 1 bottle with electrolytes (1 packet Lyte Balance unflavored electrolytes) + 60 g organic tapioca maltodextrin, 2 Untapped plain organic maple syrup packets (27 g each).
Recap: (written by Drew)
First off, I have some relevant news to share. I got the test result a few weeks ago that I am rid of Lyme disease and the other tick borne infections I had. I was diagnosed almost four years ago in June 2020. The Sea Otter road and circuit races were the first races I did with that news. Sea Otter road race was the hardest race I’ve ever done and the highest level I’ve ever performed, but being the day after I got the news, I still had not ventured off the very limited diet I’ve been on since I was diagnosed. After the Sea Otter circuit race Saturday morning, I jumped straight in the deep end. I went to a wedding on the east coast while Berkeley Hills was going on and ate histamine and salicylates (look it up) galore. I even ate from restaurants in the airport (ridiculous). The week after I got home from the wedding, two weeks after I had gotten out of jail, the cops showed up at my door to give me my ankle monitor and tell me I was still on parole. I started reacting to foods with higher levels of histamine again, and I had to backtrack and figure out how to properly start eating normal food.
At the same time, things were coming a lot more easily on the bike. Interval sessions - way more easy to get done and finish strong. I had carbs in my bottles for the first time ever on a bike ride. I ran into David Domonoske on the same ride and told him that, and he replied “That’s insane.”
The race came Sunday morning, and as for most races this spring for me, the underlying goal has been to show up and be able to perform. Symptoms from mast cell activation syndrome (caused by Lyme & the cause of the histamine reactions) improve with exercise, so I knew that I’d feel better for the P123 race in the afternoon.
The team California juniors were the largest team in the Cat 3 race, with a couple Work Health riders and maybe another team with 2 or 3. The first half of the race passed, and I was happy to settle in and realize I was there, part of the race, and able to perform. Breakaway attempts went often. Primes helped encourage riders to sneak off the front. I went with a couple breakaway attempts that were brought back fairly quickly. Halfway through, a breakaway of six went 5-10 seconds clear of the peloton. A chase group of 4 riders established itself between for about a lap. I helped close the gap to the chase group, and eventually the breakaway was brought back with 10 minutes to go in the race. A bit strangely, no one countered, so I figured everyone was feeling the prior 35 minutes of breakaway and chase efforts.
I didn’t want things to come down to a sprint. My sprint is getting much better, but I knew without a lead out I wouldn’t win. I wasn’t in this race for minor placings either. My overarching goals for these spring races were to show myself that I belong in Cat 3 and figure out ways that I can win races. Thus, I was happy to make some high risk moves and see how they paid off. I had learned from my AV mentor in Cat 2, Jon Wells, that in Cat 3 and 4, late moves can be effective because teams trying to keep things together until the sprint aren’t always organized or on top of chasing back moves, at least not as organized in P12. With that in mind, I tried my luck with some late flyers. I attacked on the final straightaway before we crossed the start/finish line for one lap to go, and I was brought back pretty quickly. Things stayed together through the next couple of corners until a few more riders attacked with a little more than ½ a lap to go. I stayed in the group until a few moments after the initial attack a couple chasers went, and I went with them to try and bridge. Things were coming back together, so as soon as we bridged, I gave it one more try and went over the top of them. I was swallowed up after the next corner, and I knew I had burned all my matches. I rolled it in behind the group, but I was happy with committing to a strategy and risk in order to try and win (and learn).
Between races, I napped in my car, had some food, chilled on the grass and watched other races while the organizers bumped some tunes, and with a couple hours before the P123 start, went for a ride along the American River. The bike path along the American River is really nice, offers beautiful scenery, and is a 15 minute pedal from the race course - would recommend. It’s also where the Friday TT took place.
The last race of the day came. This was my first P123 race, so I told myself before the start that the goal was to make it with the group til the end. In order to accomplish this, I would need to save as much energy as possible, so I should have stayed in the wheels the whole time. In the past after I’ve told myself this, I’ve never actually behaved, and true to form, in the second half of the race, when I was feeling good, I went with a couple breakaway attempts.
The race was a good learning experience and gave me a lot of confidence. It wasn’t on another planet of difficulty from Cat 3 - it was just a bit faster, and I needed to be more energy efficient and more conscious of keeping on the wheel in front of me. The tactics were the same as I had learned in Cat 3 and 4, just more organized. Voler Factory was the main team there - Mike’s Bikes and our squads were both elsewhere, and they clearly wanted to bring it down to a sprint. Every breakaway attempt, one of their riders followed, made it in the group, and sat on the wheel in front of them until the group was brought back. There weren’t any big crashes. One guy went down at the start finish around the halfway point, and the race was neutralized by the moto for half a lap when we passed him the next time we came around the course.
After 45 minutes, the duration of the cat 3 race, halfway through this 90 minute race, I was truly realizing this race was a long one at a high pace. Fueling was therefore important, and this was where I came undone. I had one bottle with 60 g of carbs in it and two maple syrup gels, and I finished my bottle a little after halfway. I had a gel right while the race was neutralized as well.
While the race was neutralized, I had a second to catch my breath, appreciate that I was a part of this race, and feel inspired to try my luck in some moves. I tried to go with a couple of breakaway attempts after the race restarted, but they were brought back quickly just as had every other attempt prior. During this time, I made my way to the top 20 wheels for half a lap or so and for the first time got to appreciate what I’ve heard on Norcal Cycling YouTube videos for a while now - it was so much easier towards the front. We carried a lot more speed through corners and saved more energy, versus at the back, I was spiking above 600 watts after every corner. I tried to get into a move after this and then shuffled further back to recover, but being up there was a really good learning experience.
In the final 20 minutes of the race, the pace ramped up a bit. I was further back in the pack with 15 minutes to go, and I had one of those uh-oh moments where I knew it was over for me. I had that “my legs are about to stop working in 30 seconds” due to under-fueling moment, and I scrambled to gulp my last gel down. The fire had already gone out though, and I lost the wheel in front of me and fell to the last wheel in the pack. I lost the wheel, tried to catch back on after the pack seemed to have slowed before the last corner of the course, and then realized it was over.
All in all, it was a good Sunday at the Golden State Circuit race. Two high level races and a nice ride along the American river was a sweet way to spend the day, and I gained some good fitness, learning experiences, and confidence. Thanks for reading and perhaps learning some Lyme disease related jargon.
-Drew
PS Only dinguses (dingii?) forget to take their saddle bags off