Race Reports
Race Report: 2026 CBR #2 - Men’s 2/3
Race: CBR #2 - Men’s 2/3
Date: February 1st, 2026
AVRT racers: Henry Mallon, George Wehner, Levi Ritter, Michael Bektas
Top Result: Michael 2nd, George 4th
Course: 0.8 mile 4 corner crit, very wide roads
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17254309686 (last lap video here)
Nutrition: 500ml water + Maurten 320 (80g carbs)
Race Recap: written by Michael
There’s not a whole lot to say about this one and that’s probably indicative of us finally racing the way we have been intending to all season. We had enough evidence from previous races that we needed to stop hedging ourselves to try and win from multiple race outcomes. Going into this one, we were going to force a sprint, leaving it up to George and myself to get a result.
Deus Velox, race winners of CBR #1, were highly motivated for this strategy too. They had won the last one from a sprint and had a strong group of guys who could put a well organized leadout together. Henry and Levi stayed in the front third of the pack to work with them and keep the field together. Thanks to their efforts, I was able to do essentially nothing and wait for the last 5 laps.
The wide roads made it easy to move up and I was able to find Levi’s wheel with one to go. After he peeled off, I was able to surf a few more wheels through the next corner and find Henry, taking his final pull. The speed was high, but not too high to move up. I moved into the wind and to the outside in the second to last corner. This would sadly be where the race was lost. Even though I was carrying a lot of speed, I was (rightly so) squeezed wide and had to grab brakes to avoid going outside of the cones and getting DQ’ed. I was able to make a lot of the lost places back in the final corner but the Deus Velox guys had all the momentum and their sprinter won again. George was able to successfully sweep behind me and roll some other sprinters to come in 4th.
This was really encouraging though and we definitely needed this one after a frustrating January. This group of 4 has put in a lot of races together this season already and this was a great stepping stone as we look ahead to Tucson!
Race Report: Cal Aggie Criterium - Men’s Cat 1/2/3 Master 35+/50+
Race: Cal Aggie Criterium - Men’s Cat 1/2/3 Master 35+/50+ (35+ and 50+ picked separately)
Date: January 31st, 2026
AVRT racers:
Louise Thomas
Paul Levy
Rachel Hwang
Sophia Hu
Steph Hart
Sue Lin Holt
Top Result: Paul Levy (14/28 35+)
Course: Flat 1.1 mile course at Land Park in Sacramento. One technical chicane in the middle of the lap.
Strava:
Steph’s ride: Cal Aggie- Masters Men’s 1/2/3 | Ride | Strava
Paul’s ride: Cal Aggie Crit - Masters 35+ then P123 | Ride | Strava
Nutrition: Paul - Started with one 600ml bottle of plain water and one 600ml bottle of homemade drink mix consisting of sugar, maltodextrin, honey, lemon, lime, salt, and lite salt.
Recap (written by Steph Hart and Paul Levy):
Steph’s perspective/Women’s team (blissfully ignoring the macro-level race dynamics):
In the spirit of ripping the bandaid off race season and making the drive to Sacramento worthwhile, Rachel, Louise, Sophia, Sue Lin and I hopped into the Men’s masters crit before the Women’s 1/2/3 race. As the women’s races tend to be short on riders, my goals were to get some practice riding/cornering in a large field while conserving energy before racing in Tucson.
Kudos to the guys, because honestly this was a super smooth and safe race, with zero sketchy cornering, etc. The race stayed together pretty much the whole time, and by the end I was getting the hang of which spots were good to move up each lap when the field tended to accordion together. I found that because I didn’t actually care what was happening at the front of the race, I was free to focus all my mental energy on just sitting on good wheels in the top half of the field, minimizing surges, and always moving up when the opportunity arose. I think Robin Betz calls this “lizard brain” when you’re only worried about the handful of wheels in front of you, and its actually very fun and borderline meditative. Rachel and I stuck with the field the whole time, but kinda backed off on the last lap to avoid any crashes/burning matches. Overall, it was a pretty chill “ride to vibes” 40 minutes and a good warm-up before the women’s race.
Paul’s Perspective:
This is a hometown race for me, only a few miles from my house and a typical loop for me to ride over lunch. But while I didn’t have to drive very far to the race, I did get there early to cheer on friends racing in various fields all day long and set up a little tailgate spot for socializing at the chicane with coffee, snacks, cold beverages, and (sonic) jams. So it was actually kind of a hectic day for me before my race even started.
The masters race was 57 starters total, split almost perfectly between combined but picked separately fields of 35+ 1/2/3 and 50+ 1/2/3. Relatively early in the race I made one hard effort to follow a move by a buddy on Dolce Vita who I know is a solid break-mate and we tried (unsuccessfully) to maintain a gap. Somewhere else in there I tried to put in a solid dig on the front exiting the chicane to see if that would stir up the race a bit. Neither of these efforts yielded a whole lot, but I also wasn't committing too much because I had the P/1/2/3 race immediately after with a few teammates. So after these two pokes at the field, I sat in the rest of the race and tried to conserve energy. But honestly with the punchier side of my fitness still developing this early in the season, even those efforts were leaving me feeling pretty tired and hanging on more than chilling the rest of the time.
It was interesting doing both this and the P/1/2/3 race and being able to compare the two. The combined masters race was the larger field of the two and even though the average speed was only slightly lower (by less than 0.5 mph), we were hitting the turns much more often as a giant blob whereas in the P/1/2/3 we'd be taking the turns only 1 or 2 people wide which I felt much more comfortable with. I spent noticeably less energy and preserved my placement better through turns in the more strung out field. I never felt like anyone in the masters field was taking the turns in a sketchy way, but I found myself hesitating through the turns in such a large group and having to make up lost places each lap.
In the end I finished exactly midpack (14/28) in the 35+ field, then found a friend to cut my number off to reveal the P/1/2/3 number pinned underneath and went to line up for that race.
Race Report: 2026 Cantua Creek Road Race - Women’s P/1/2/3/4
Date: February 14, 2026
AVRT racers: Sophia Hu
Top Result: Sophia Hu 2/8
Course: 24 miles out and back on mostly flat roads with two U-turns. We did it twice for 47 miles total. The finish is on a 2-3 minute climb composed of an initial steep section, false flat, then a little kicker to the top. The pavement is good quality. On the second lap the wind picked up, and we had a strong headwind coming into the finish.
Strava:https://www.strava.com/activities/17398059587
Nutrition: Maurten gel, Tailwind high-carb drink mix. There was a neutral feed at about 1k to go.
Race Strategy:
This was my third year racing Cantua Creek. Last year, I attacked too early and 3 riders passed me on the false flat before the finish. I was trying to be patient this year to avoid that scenario.
Going into the race, I was not sure what tactics would unfold. Only 8 women pre-registered, almost all individual riders. I have a decent sprint but probably not the best of the field – I had marked Hannah from Terun as a good sprinter.
I was hoping that on the finishing climb, somebody else would lead out, and I could come around them and do a 30 second to 1 minute effort. Spoiler alert: When you’re racing alone, it’s hard to make your dream scenario come true!
Race Recap (written by Sophia):
The race started out (and stayed) very tame. I threw out an attack in the beginning, it got closed, and then I found myself on the front for a full 10 minutes pedaling in Z2. It seemed nobody was motivated to counter. Our peloton did a rotating double paceline for the rest of the out and back.
As we approached the finishing climb on the first lap, I decided to attack on the steepest part of the climb just for fun... I got a small gap but Hannah closed it and sat on my wheel. The rest of the field quickly followed. After this, I figured nothing would stick.
For lap 2, we kept doing the rotating paceline with nobody attacking. I noticed on the way back to the finish that it had gotten significantly windier (like 20mph headwind). I reminded myself to be patient and not eat too much unnecessary wind.
At the finishing climb, it felt like we were playing a game of chicken. I was at the front with a few others around me and we were all looking at each other, waiting for somebody to attack. We were all in the drops looking around, it was pretty funny. Nothing happened until we could see the finishing tent, then when we were 100-150m away, I figured it was now or never, and started my sprint. I got passed by Hannah by the end, and rolled in for 2nd.
I am happy with my result - my best placing in my 3 years at Cantua Creek! Today was also one of the few times I’ve actually been in position to sprint from the field for the win. Usually I’m too far back in a crit, there’s already a break up the road, or I’m in the break myself. This was a fun season opener before the Tucson Bicycle Classic and I am excited to race more this year.
Race Report: 2026 Cal Aggie Criterium - Men’s P/1/2/3
Race: Cal Aggie Criterium - Men’s P/1/2/3
Date: January 31st, 2026
AVRT racers: George Wehner, Paul Levy, Michael Bektas, Jon Wells, Jack Liu
Top Result: Michael 7th
Course: Flat 1.1 mile course at Land Park in Sacramento. One technical chicane in the middle of the lap.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17243927551
Nutrition: 500ml water + Maurten 320 (80g carbs)
Race Recap: written by Michael
We came into this race really confident. We had the largest team and there were no other significant teams who could realistically control the race. Unfortunately, this ended up being more of a curse than a blessing.
The plan was to send a lot of moves up the road to break the field down and then line it up with two to go and sprint. This didn’t exactly happen. Given we were the only big team, everyone else knew to attack us and go for a break. If moves did get up the road without us, we got no help in bringing it back. After a very aggressive first half of the race, a strong break of 4 got up the road…without us.
The break went out a long way, getting half a lap of a gap at one point. With nobody else helping, we were just burning through ourselves in what felt like a futile chase attempt. Morale was fairly low as we were all pretty tired and it looked like we weren’t even going to compete for the win. Suddenly, with two to go, the break was only 10/15 seconds ahead. Their rotation must have broken down as they started to play games before the finish. Seeing that revitalized the boys, and so began a warp speed lead out to try and catch them. Coming into the final chicane, George was going crazy on the front to try and close the last few seconds with me two wheels behind. I came by with a lot of speed in the final corner to try and hero-sprint from way too far out and catch the break but they were just a little too far. I got passed by a few others who launched at a more logical point from the line. I figured it was more worth trying to win than defend 5th.
This taught us a lot about the responsibilities that come with showing up with a bigger team than everyone else and I’m looking forward to refining those tactics throughout the season.
Race Report: Cal Aggie Criterium Men’s open/ Collegiate Cat 3
Date: January 31st, 2026.
AVRT Riders: Keegan Worcester, Kevin Ash.
Top result: Keegan Worcester- 26th out of 32 open Cat 3
Course: flat 1.09 mile course at land park in Sacramento, Ca. Technical Chicane halfway into the lap. 40 minute race.
Strava: https://strava.app.link/6MT4fPJYs0b
Nurtition: Oatmeal for breakfast. One bottle of Sis carb mix for during race.
Event Recap: Started the race about mid-pack after getting to the start line with the front row already full. I Used the outside line to gain positions before the chicane to gain positions back. My goal is always to stay near the front of the race before the chicane. Kevin helped move me up to the front of the race early on but without a team controlling, surges were intermittent and inevitable which meant being shuffled back if you didn’t want to spike your watts and burn matches. Not having raced since September of last year I was less diligent than I should have been about staying locked on to the wheel in front of me and definitely wasted a few watts closing gaps back down. No real break-way got any gap on the peloton until about 4 laps to go and I spent a third of a lap on the front (through the chicane) trying to close it down. Eventually I flicked the elbow to have Will Saalsaa (ENJOY CYCLING CLUB) come through. He helped for a bit but then Dustin Wolf attacked across and everyone surged again. At this point I was already pretty close to my limit and I used matches to stay near the front, fearing if I was dropped back I wouldn’t have another chance to gain back places. Unfortunately with 2 laps to go things slowed down again and I was stuck in the middle of the pack while many people moved up on either side before the chicane gaining back positions and shuffling myself further back. In the last lap I was completely on the limit and just not holding the wheel in front of me and didn’t have anything left on the final straightaway before the chicane. At this point I was about mid pack after the chicane and lost the wheel again and just completely blew up. Kevin Unfortunately had dropped his chain with 7 laps to go and was not given a free lap. In hindsight I think I could have saved a bit more energy staying deeper in the pack so I didn’t end up spending as much time on the front but I also don’t do well with being deeper in the pack going through the chicane due to the elastic band effect.
Recap(written by): Keegan Worcester
Race Report: 2026 UC Davis Flatland Circuit Race - Men’s Pro/1/2/3
Race: 2026 UC Davis Flatlands CR - Men’s Pro/1/2/s
Date: February 1, 2026
AVRT racers: Andrew Ernst, Paul Levy, and Jon Wells
Top Result: Jon Wells, 7th of 21
Course: 3.86 mile circuit just west of Davis. P/1/2/3 race did 11 laps for 42 miles total. Course has 10-ish corners and is generally a square with some long straight roads. Coming through the finish and going out on the south side of the course is the most technical section and contains most of the turns. Course is pancake flat and definitely has the potential to be exposed to crosswinds (although today was calm)
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17255724828/
Nutrition: a pre race Redbull and 100g flow bottle during the race
Race Recap:
Hate reading? Watch the race here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLZyZLMa13c
Pre race plan was to try and place Andrew into a break so he could ride off into the sunset and score a whole bunch of upgrade points. Then we would also clean up the field sprint and totally dominate the whole day. Pre race ambitions were extra high with the big teams like Cyclesport, Mikes, and Terun all missing this weekend. Isn’t it fun to dream?
Racing was super dynamic from the gun with the few teams all wanting to be represented in the move of the day. Andrew raced super hard at the front all day trying to start moves and also place himself into other moves that had gone. I tried to help get a break to stick by being a disruptive teammate at the front. This included sitting a few wheels back of Andrew’s attacks and slowly dropping off the wheel to make a gap form, interrupting rotations once moves had a gap he was in, taking big 200W endurance pulls at the front of the peloton, and cornering so slowly the cat 5 field would have been frustrated with me.
There were a couple times Andrew had made it into a move that got some separation, but eventually enough strong guys would try to bridge solo that the entire field had made their way back to the move. I also covered a few moves that went over the top of Andrew’s attacks being brought back.
Eventually, a move of 8 separated off the front around 2 laps to go. The gap never got more than about 20 seconds and the field worked surprisingly well to keep it in check. We all put some big pulls in and eventually Paul took an insane rip at the front to finish closing down the gap as we went out onto the final circuit. Once the field was back together, I locked in to try and solo surf the field sprint.
I knew I wanted to go first or second into the final 3 corners and positioned myself in the top 10 wheels around the south and west sides of the course. Unfortunately, the front slowed and there was a huge swarm. I had an option to move up in the wind but I passed on it and tried to be patient surfing in the field. In retrospect, I should’ve just ate wind because the positioning was more important than the match I would have burned. I didn’t feel very good about the field sprint during and immediately after but it ended up still being enough for 7th.
Picture is from Cal Aggie crit the day before because I haven’t seen any circuit race photos.
-Jon
CBR #2 - Men’s 3/4
Race: CBR #2 - Men’s 3/4
Date: February 1st, 2026
AVRT racers: Levi Ritter
Top Result: Levi 2nd/72
Course: 0.8 mile, 4 corner crit with wide roads
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17255867722
Nutrition: 400ml water and Gatorade before the race
Recap (written by Levi): Since I was the only Alto Velo rider, the plan was to save as much energy as possible, but actually for real this time, only getting in dangerous moves and working as little as possible, and contesting the sprint if it came down to it.
The plan went out the window again when I saw someone attack going into the third lap after the group had slowed, so I knew it was going to get a pretty big gap. I ended up catching him and doing a lap and a half off the front with him going super hard until he sat up. Since I had a pretty big gap, I kept working even though it was only me off the front. Pretty soon after, a bridge group made it up to me with all the big teams represented, and we started working together really well. The group was pretty optimal with 7 riders, all from different teams, so we were all motivated to work and not attack or try to sit on the back. We kept the pace really high until 2-3 laps to go, when we all started looking at each other, waiting for someone to attack. There only ended up being 2 attacks, but none of them got anywhere, so we ended up coming to the finish in the original group of seven. It was a long way from the last corner to the finish, so I was expecting everyone to look at each other and sprint late, but one guy (who ended up winning) started his sprint right from the corner. I tried to get in his wheel and come around him, but I couldn’t gain any speed on him and ended up holding on to second.
Overall, pretty successful race, the only thing I would have done differently is start my sprint even earlier.
Cal Poly Crit - Men’s 3/4
Race: Cal Poly Crit - Men’s Cat 3/4
Date: January 25th, 2026
AVRT racers: Levi Ritter
Top Result: Levi >10th
Course: 1 mile lap with very easy corners
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17175562472
Nutrition: 400ml water and Gatorade before the race
Recap (written by Levi): Since I was the only Alto Velo rider, the plan was to save as much energy as possible, only getting in dangerous moves and working as little as possible, and contesting the sprint if it came down to it. I was also thinking about sending a late attack if it felt right
Someone attacked right at the start, and I followed his wheel, thinking he was just trying to set a hard pace at the front, but we ended up getting a gap. I worked with him for around half the race off the front, and at one point, I even thought we might win, but we ended up getting brought back. I was bracing myself for a really hard counter when the peloton caught us, but no one ended up attacking. I sat pretty far forward in the group, which wasn’t the best idea, since every time someone pulled off the front, the next person would just completely sit up, and then someone from way back would attack when they saw the pace slowed, which was pretty hard to follow. Coming into the last lap, someone pulled off the front, and the next person entirely stopped pedalling, which prompted Gavin (who won Santa Barbara RR the day before) to attack. I tried to catch him, but my legs were pretty cooked after being off the front, so I couldn’t, and I ended up getting swarmed in the finish.
Overall, pretty disappointing to get no result after being off the front for so long.
CBR #1 - Men’s Cat 3/4
Race: CBR #1 - Men’s Cat 3/4
Date: January 18th, 2026
AVRT racers: Levi Ritter
Top Result: Levi 8th/63
Course: 0.9 mile square 4 corner crit, very wide roads
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17099106785
Nutrition: 400ml water and Gatorade before the race
Recap (written by Levi): Since I was the only Alto Velo rider, the plan was to save as much energy as possible, only getting in dangerous moves and working as little as possible, and contesting the sprint if it came down to it.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to conserve much energy since all the strongest people in the race started sending attacks one after another from the start, so I ended up following almost every move. Despite the constant attacks, everything stayed together for the finish. After getting brought back from a small group with around two laps to go, I got shuffled to the back and didn’t have enough urgency to get back to the front, which meant I was sprinting from a really bad position. Thankfully, I came around a few people in the sprint and managed to get 8th.
Overall, not a bad race. I was able to get in every dangerous move, just need to make sure I have better positioning in the end to contest the sprint.
Race Report: Low Gap Long Course – Ukiah, California
Race: Grasshopper Series race #1 – Low Gap long course – Women 60+
Date: January 25, 2026
AVRT long course racers: Juan Carlos Delgafo & Matthias Hoffmann (M50-59), Kathleen Bortolussi W60+
Top Result: Kathleen Bortolussi 2/4, Matthias Hoffman 26/87, Juan Carlos Delgafo 83/87
Course: The long course is advertised as a 95% unpaved gravel course, with ~63 miles and 6700ft gain (per Strava your distance and elevation can vary but is close). The ride starts with a 15 mile (2644ft) climb up a semi-paved road (some broken pavement, some dirt) before turning into fire road, some double track, and a few paved roads. Feed zones at mile 21 and the same one again at mile 42. You traverse through some private forest land and if you like the forest this is a course for you. The finish descends the same road as the start for a mostly screaming downhill.
This year it was 32 degrees at the start and there was some ice on the road, so as all age group women pulled up to the line they told us we would be neutralized for the first 7.42 miles. There was no one in front of us to neutralize the group and as we crossed the timing mat, we stayed neutralized for less than ¼ mile. Last year there was a good field in my age group but having placed second in the series to Jennie Phillips, my eye was only on her. She beat me last year at this race by 20 minutes so anything close would be an improvement. She and another woman took off at the start and with my asthma and the cold temp I had to ride my own pace. Last year it was 29 degrees, so this race was better already. You spread out quite a bit, and the goal is to stay focused, watch your lines, and keep up your speed.
At the first rest stop I grabbed my pack, decided to try the random gel (not something I usually do), but after waiting for over 2 minutes to use the porta-john, I felt it was worth the risk. At mile 23 I passed the woman in my age group who took off at the start, and at mile 41 on a technical downhill I passed Jennie Phillips. What? I was passing Jennie, I was stoked. Then we came into the aid station at mile 42 and I wanted another one of the Maurten Gels and I wanted to use the bathroom. As soon as Jennie saw me stop getting a gel, she took off, so no bathroom-stop for me – game on!
I caught up with her within a few hundred yards, and we had an 8-mile climb before the rolling 15-mile descent back to the start. We started and I was keeping up, we chatted a bit, and then the race tactics ensued…you know, could she talk and ride, how was her breathing, etc. I was on a 2x, and she was on a 1x, and as the miles ticked by, I thought if I could stay with her to the descent maybe I could beat her. Then I started to feel like I was approaching my limit. 5 miles to go, 4 miles to go….2 miles to go to the summit of the climb, and at 1.7 to go I popped. She slowly rode away and out of sight. I thought maybe if I bomb the descent I’ll catch her. I tried. In the end, down to the 100th of a second, she beat me by exactly 1 minute. I was happy with my improvement and happier to have actually been part of the race. Congrats to Jennie she was a fun competitor.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17178699433
Nutrition: ½ almond and jelly butter sandwich, 2 Maurten Gel 160s (given out at the race), 1 caffeinated & 1 decaf Gu, 1.5L water (.5L with watermelon flavored Dripdrop electrolyte mix). It was a 4:40:33 race so I like to stay fueled. Picked up my hydration pack at the first rest stop, and I think this mix of food worked well. No bonking.
Thank you for reading, Kathleen
Race Report: 2026 Cal Poly Crit - Men’s P/1/2/3
Race: Cal Poly Criterium - Men’s P/12/3
Date: January 25, 2026
AVRT racers: George Wehner, Tom Perkins, Levi Ritter, Michael Bektas
Top Result: Michael 6th, George 7th
Course: 1-mile lap with no significant features; you can comfortably pedal through all the gentle corners.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17178198203
Nutrition: 500ml water + Maurten 320 (80g carbs)
Race Recap: Written by Michael.
After a fairly boring 2/3 race earlier in the day where we let the race win just ride away from us, we were all fired up to be a lot more active in this one
We went back to a more reactive strategy that worked well for us in the CBR 1 1/2/3 the weekend prior. If an attack went with more than 3 people, we wanted to try and get two of us in it and just sit on. This would make sure we were represented with an actual chance to win from then move if it stayed away. In reality, it meant we weren’t worried about the win leaving us behind while keeping us ready for the inevitable field sprint where we would all need our legs to hang on.
The race was very dynamic with constant counter attacks coming from Terun, CycleSport, VFR and Cal Poly. We found a good rhythm of cycling through who would follow each move to keep ourselves as recovered as possible. Given Alex Akins’ current winning streak, I was keeping a closer eye on him as I knew Terun would likely setup the race for him. He put in multiple, big surges but we were able to keep the race together and AV represented.
In the final few laps, we pinched ourselves once again as we found ourselves in great position with two to go. The corners were easy and that made moving up even easier. With two corners to go I went from 10th wheel to 4th wheel right behind Alex, exactly where I wanted to be! Unfortunately, with 250m to go, he stood up to launch his sprint. When I stood up to respond all of the aggressive racing from the past hour caught up with me and both of my legs cramped. I sat back down and willed myself into 6th place with George right behind me in 7th, Levi following closely behind.
Despite this not being a podium, this race was another good step in the right direction and confirmed that the AV crit group can compete with the best!
UC Davis Flatlands (Women’s 4/5)
Race: UC Davis Flatlands (Women’s 4/5)
Date: February 1, 2026
AVRT racers: Emily Selman
Top Result: 1/7 (Women’s 4/5); 1/10 (combined 4/5 and collegiate)
Course: 8 laps of a 3.8 mi flat circuit, some newly paved sections
Strava: https://www.strava.com/segments/6834894
Nutrition: Oatmeal for breakfast; 80g malto/electrolytes and 1 gel
Race Summary:
With a small field, I was hoping to take a shot at the win. I don’t know many racers by name, so I checked the names of the pre-reg women on Strava. Katie Goad had taken 4th the day before at Cal Aggie, so I checked her max watts and figured my best shot was to attack on the final corner rather than earlier. The other racers had some solid training logged on Strava, so I was unsure how well I could hang if there were any early attacks.
The race started at a quicker pace than I’d experienced 2 years ago, but a UC Davis rider was willing to pull for the first 3 laps. At that point, Katie attacked to see what kind of attrition she could get, and a few of us responded immediately and the group formed again pretty quickly. Katie tried to get a paceline going, and it worked relatively well, but I pulled out quickly whenever I was pulling at the front.
With 2 laps to go, I attacked at the start/finish line and saw that almost no one was cornering well on the 3 initial turns on Brooks Road. I decided then that I would start my final attack earlier so I could gain some ground on the 3 consecutive turns leading to the finish. I did minimal pulling on the final lap and was third wheel heading into those 3 turns. I hit the gas and dove into the gutters of the first two turns. When I looked back after the 3rd turn, there was no one even close. I honestly couldn’t believe it.
I have to mention again, I am dumbfounded that I’m able to race and be competitive after a long recovery from back surgery a year ago. I was also embarrassingly older than the field, so here’s to old, persistent cyclists who don’t want to give up!
Race Report: Cal Aggie Crit - Men's Cat 4
Race: Cal Aggie Crit - Men's Cat 4
Date: January 31, 2026
AVRT racers: Adam Beliveau
Top Result: 12/48 Adam
Course: Round-ish course with a chicane ~1.09 miles/lap. Nice pavement except two small potholes inside the chicane, close to the right curb.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17242254862
Nutrition: 1 bottle with 120g consumed ¼ before (during warmup) and ½ during
Recap (written by Adam):
First race of the season for me. My plan was to gauge my fitness against the Cat 4 field and stay near the front to avoid any potential crashes.
Driving in, there was a thick fog. I couldn’t see more than 25 meters ahead. I joked to myself that it was a perfect day for a breakaway. However, as soon as I took the highway exit, the fog vanished, making way for warm sunshine and perfect racing weather.
From the get-go, I positioned myself at the front as planned, but I definitely overdid it. During the race, I found it difficult to move through the pack, and I felt the field wasn't taking the chicane optimally, which only motivated me to stay at the front even more. This didn't pan out well; I spent the race oscillating between first and second wheel, burning far too many matches. The only upside to this strategy is that I managed to avoid a pretty gnarly crash that took out ~10-15 riders. Attacks kept coming, and I ended up chasing most of them (don’t ask me why).
Eventually, with about three laps to go, a successful breakaway of three formed, and I missed the move. Confusion hit the peloton, and most riders sat up, waiting for someone else to chase, which allowed the gap to balloon. By the bell lap, it was clear the podium wouldn't be decided by a field sprint. I still tried to contest the bunch finish, but I had nothing left. I’d been in the red for almost 40 minutes.
Overall, I'm happy with where my fitness is, but I definitely need more tactical experience for the next one.
Race Report: 2026 Cal Aggie Crit - Men’s Cat 5
Race: Cal Aggie Crit – Men’s Cat 5
Date: January 31, 2026
AVRT Racers: Nicolas Delecroix
Top Result: 12th / 35
Course: 40 minutes of a flat 1.09 mile loop with a chicane
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17241529772
Nutrition: A Clif Bar 45 mins before the race
Recap: Race morning was foggy and cold, and the sun showed up 10 minutes before the start. The race started slower than I expected, but the pace picked up quickly. I focused on staying in the top 10 wheels to keep safe from the accordion effect at the back and to avoid crashes.
On lap 4, right after we exited the north chicane, three riders crashed. They were right next to me, and I saw bikes flying in the air. I think a rider went into the gutter and pushed the others when trying to get out. By the next lap, doctors were already there taking care of people, and everyone looked relatively okay. I avoided contact when the crash happened, but it reminded me never to overlap wheels, just like we were taught in the Early Bird series.
I was able to stay in the top 10 and conserve energy whenever possible. As the race progressed, I started to get a good sense of when surges were typically happening. The biggest one always occurred when we hit the main straightaway going south, after the second turn past the north chicane. I felt that I had the legs to stay with them without burning matches.
Towards the middle of the race, a Super Sprinklers rider launched a solo attack. That team had two other riders stay back while it happened. I thought it was a smart way of forcing the rest of us to burn energy. Fortunately, we caught him fairly easily.
With four laps to go, I was still in the front pack. Suddenly, two Cal Poly riders attacked pretty hard. I was right behind them and didn’t see a reason to let them go, so I took the initiative to chase, with the rest of the front pack right on my wheel. After a little while, I signaled for others to take a turn, which they did. It was a nice, improvised chase alliance, and we managed to close the gap.
With two laps to go, the pace increased significantly. When we hit the final straight, I was in 5th position as the sprint started. I went as hard as possible but still got passed by seven riders to finish 12th.
Looking back, the Cal Poly chase was probably a tactical mistake on my part. I had the pack on my wheel when I initiated the chase, so I acted as the worker bee for the heavy sprinters sitting behind me. I pulled them up to the attackers, which kept them fresh. It’s not like I was protecting a teammate, being the only Alto Velo rider there. At the same time, it drained my battery quite a bit. That is probably what allowed them to swarm me in the final 200-meter sprint.
In conclusion, I had fun, didn’t crash, and learned a lot. I’ll put some focus on anaerobic capacity work to improve my sprint capabilities, and I’m looking forward to many more races with AVRT this year.
Race Report: 2026 CBR #2 - Men’s Cat Pro/1/2/3
Race: CBR #2 - Men’s Cat Pro/1/2/3
Date: February 1st, 2026
AVRT racers: George Wehner, Michael Bektas, Levi Ritter
Top Result: George 17th/101
Course: 0.8 mile 4 corner crit, very wide roads.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17255807001 (Livestream) (Michael’s footage)
Nutrition: 1L water w/sodium citrate during the race, a couple fig bars on the start line
Recap: (written by George) This field had EVERYONE. Cadence brought a 3-man hit squad of Lucas Bourgoyne, Luke Fetzer, and Danny Summerhill, Legion brought a massive team as usual, Speedblock-Terun also brought a big squad in support of Alex Akins, and a few other serious hitters showed up (Ama Nsek, Dante Young, Alejandro Che, and Scott Redding just to name a few). So we knew this was going to be pretty hard. Also, this was the second race of the day for both me and Michael, and it was Levi’s third race, so we were all pretty tired already. Our gameplan was pretty simple: race passively, follow the sprinters and see what we could do.
I decided to throw out my plan when I saw Legion and Terun try for a break 15 minutes into the race and was in great position to follow. I wasn’t the only person to think this as shortly after I joined the break, seemingly every hitter in the race wanted to be there: Lucas, Ama, and Justin and Cory Williams all bridged to this break. So yeah, this break was STACKED. But I decided to commit to it anyway because I still thought it was my best chance at a result. Sure, I’d almost certainly get dogwalked by Lucas, Ama, and Justin, but maybe I could squeeze out a top 5 from this group if it stuck. With how insanely strong this field was, that would be a massive result, and I’d also get a ton more upgrade points (I’m only about a third of the way to my cat 1 upgrade, so those would really help).
Unfortunately, every team not named Legion or Cadence wasn’t really ok with this break sticking, and it was just a bit too big to really work together, so we got caught after about 15 minutes off the front. I tried to follow a couple other moves, but with 25-30 minutes left in the race I started to notice my legs were really tired, and decided to just chill, try to connect with Michael, and wait for the sprint.
The ending of this race was pretty chaotic. For each of the last 10 laps, there was a $100 prime PER LAP, so it stayed fast for the most part. I did connect with Michael a couple times, but it was hard for us to stay together. Our main priority was trying to move up and then maintain position near the front. If we could get together, great, but I didn’t think it was worth sacrificing position. I was trying to find any space I could squeeze through - I ended up moving up in some really tight spaces next to the cones multiple times - and I also was trying to follow the wheels of guys I knew were technically skilled (primarily Dante and Scott). In the last two laps, I wasn’t quite assertive enough and lost a few key positions, but I still found some good lines and stayed close enough to the front to sprint for a top 20.
Normally, this result wouldn’t be much to write home about, but when you look at who finished ahead of me, it’s a who’s who of the best crit racers in the country. And I finished right behind them on tired legs on my second race of the day. So I’m pretty stoked about how that went, although I clearly have some areas for improvement, mainly in connecting with my teammates and being assertive in the final laps. It’s really cool to see that I can rip it up with racers I’ve looked up to for a while and am actually a lot closer to their level than I thought. I’m really looking forward to racing more crits with the Alto Velo boys and establishing ourselves at a high level.
Race Report: 2026 CCCX MTB Series #3 XCO - Men’s Cat 1/Expert
Race: 2026 CCCX MTB Series #3 XCO - Men’s Cat 1/Expert Age 19-39
Date: February 1, 2026
AVRT racers: Michael Matthews
Top Result: Men’s Cat 1/Expert Age 19-39 1st/9 (Men’s Cat 1/Expert Overall ~13th/60).
Course: Fort Ord is the venue again this year for the 3CX (CCCX) race series. The race was a traditional format MTB XCO race with a 4.6-mile loop. Per lap elevation gain was 450 ft. The course was mostly singletrack. The expert field did five full laps. Dry, sunny and crisp cool temps made for perfect racing weather. The features of a full lap included a few pitchy little climbs, flowy single track (going up some of the downs from Race #1), two longer dragging climbs, some loose sandy and some packed corners, and a few nice straight sections that you could hammer. Beach day!
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17255024073
Nutrition: Normal breakfast, banana, Clif bar and ~100g of carbs in a bottle for race nutrition.
Event Recap: Not in the callups list because I am not going for a series result. Pro and <19 boys/girls started a few seconds ahead. Good jump and got into a small group of three from my age category by the end of the first climb. We steadily passed slower <19 boys/girls. Once we hit the second climb, teenage fitness took off and I lost the lead rider of my group. Over the course of lap 1.5 to 2.5 I caught onto the group of the escaped lead rider. We formed a group of five riders from two fields. At the start of lap 3 I attacked the group and stayed away for about another half lap before getting caught. Five were back together and two others joined for a group of seven. In the first two climbs of lap 4 I put a steady pressure on the group in the climbs and dropped all but two others. In a group of three (none from my age category), I started cramping and needed to ease off and manage to finish. I had made the winning move and just needed to hold on. I managed the cramping through to the finish for the win! This felt like a real mountain bike race with group dynamics. It was super fun (and hard)!
Race Report: Cal Aggie Crit WP123
Race: Cal Aggie Crit WP123
Date: January 31, 2026
AVRT racers: Katie Monaghan, Louise Thomas, Rachel Hwang, Sophia Hu, Steph Hart, Stephanie Hayos, Sue Li Holt
Top Result: 1/17 Rachel Hwang, 2/17 Steph Hart
Course: Round-ish course with a chicane. 4 notable “corners”, 2 < 90 degrees, ~2:30-3:00 minutes per lap
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17244469771
Race Recap:
Going into the race my strategy was to follow Steph’s every move because I know she’s going for the breakaway and I wanted to test myself to see if I had gotten strong enough to hang. I know I have a decent sprint so I wanted to try something new, get in Steph’s break and see what works and what doesn’t.
Race started out kinda slow, but quickly Louise, Sophia, and Katie threw in attacks to spice it up. At points, maybe twice, I attacked to see if I could create the breakaway but every time there were a few people trailing me so I would sit back up. Seeing that I wasn’t able to create a break, I gave up and just waited for Steph to attack. Around 7 minutes in Steph attacked, and she attacked hard. I don’t know how long we were going for but it was a much longer effort than I could comfortably produce and was very impressed with the power Steph was putting down for the amount of time we were going, but that’s why she’s able to create a break and I can’t.
It was now me, her, Haley. She says, “This break needs to stick” and us two trade pulls, and Haley is sitting on our wheels. The pack is close behind so Steph and I are putting in everything we got on the pulls. During one of my pulls, I look back and Steph and Haley were no longer behind me. In my head I know I can’t keep this up for another 52 minutes but want to give it my best so keep hammering. Maybe half a lap later I see Steph bridging the gap to me and in my head I think “thank god cause I can’t solo break the rest of this race.” Steph later tells me as her and Haley dropped back, Haley told Steph they could work together to get back to me, and Steph just sits up and lets Haley pull. As Haley slows down to merge with the peloton, Steph starts bridging to me. Perfect execution in my book.
For what feels like forever even though it was probably only 20 minutes, Steph and I are hammering to keep the gap. It fluctuates between 20-25 seconds and every time we go through the chicane, we can see the group on the other side close by. Now from the peloton’s POV, a few people kept attacking to try to bridge to me and Steph, and AV chased down the attacks, and Louise saved our asses and got to the front of the peloton or second wheel to slow the field down and discourage them trading pulls. Obviously it worked wonders and the gap quickly went from 25 seconds to 35 to 40 to 1:10.
As the gap increased, Steph and I were able to relax a bit, trading pulls, having fun through the chicane, just pedaling not really thinking. I was honestly having such a fun time up there.
I wasn’t sure how the race was going to end. I wasn’t sure if Steph was going to attack with 2 to go and try to drop me, but we kept it civil and with half a lap to go Steph asked if I still wanted a lead out to which I said nah. As per our usual friendly competition between the two of us, I wanted to see if I could drop Steph. The answer was no. I tried attacking during the chicane and she was right behind me, so I slowed down and then put down some power right before the finish line, but I don’t think Steph was trying to race sprint me. I still don’t know how to post up, embarrassingly, so I just rolled through the finish line.
For the pack finish, it sounded like the train was Louise in front leading out the two Mike’s Bikes girls, and Shannon Pidd on fourth wheel. I think AV was trying to lead out Sophia or Stephanie? But ultimately the other strong sprinters specifically Haley and Sarah on Mike’s Bikes and Shannon riding solo were able to get in better position, and with Shannon’s perfect fourth wheel and strong watts, was able to win the pack sprint getting third.
It was a good season opener. I barely raced with other team members last year since there was hardly a W123 field, so this was one of the first and definitely best executed team strategy I had been a part of, specifically Louise slowing down the field and Steph dropping Haley and coming back up to work with me. Next time we just need to execute on the lead out to get the win for the pack sprint finish to sweep the podium.
Louise:
After Steph and Rachel broke away and then subsequently dropped Hayley, it seemed like the perfect set up. Now we just had to prevent the field from catching them. Everyone was pretty motivated to chase, which was kind of to be expected with two AV in the break.
I tried to stay in the top 4 wheels to shut down any attacks, and repeatedly inserted myself in the rotation at the front to slow it down. The other racers clued into my tactics pretty quickly and tried to shut me out, which became a fun game of stealing wheels and getting in just the right place to disrupt the rotation. Honestly the whole race was pretty fun.
Sue Lin did a great job of calling attacks so we could anticipate them before they got to the front, and it was a team effort covering every single move.
With about 8 laps to go, the race slowed down a bit and it seemed like everyone had given up on trying to catch Steph and Rachel. Originally Rachel was going to be our sprinter and we hadn't discussed who would be our backup sprinter if she was in a break, so we came up with a makeshift plan of Sophia ramping up the speed with 1 or 2 laps to go, Katie next, then I would do the final lead out for Stephanie with Sue Lin sweeping. It seemed like a reasonable plan at the time, but in reality both Mike's Bikes riders and Shannon Pidd got on my wheel and I ended up leading them out instead. Definitely some improvements to me made, but hey it's only the first race of the season.
Sophia:
For the pack finish: We were trying to lead out Stephanie. I started the lead out with 1.5 to go, then Katie, then Louise. By the time the pack was near the finish, me and Katie were not able to tell what happened since we were further back. When I pulled off I noticed that the 2 mike's bikes riders, then Shannon were behind Katie?
To disrupt the chase, Sue Lin did a really good job calling out attacks. We were almost always 2nd wheel when someone would try to chase so it was impossible to get a rotating chase going.
I feel like this was a great race for a breakaway to stay away. Since the other riders were either really small teams (2 or 3 riders), or individual riders, nobody was incentivized to do a solo chase to the breakaway and burn all their matches.
Nutrition: Torq gel on the start line, one bottle of Tailwind during the race.
Race Report: Early Birds #2: Women’s Cat 4/5
Race: Early Birds #2: Women’s Cat 4/5
Date: January 18th, 2026
AVRT racers: Meghan Kransz, Apoorva Setlur, Sandrine Veillette, & Milinda Lakkam (AV)
Top Result: There is no keeping score at Early Birds :)
Course: We raced a flat route around a building with plenty of space for practicing pacelines and turns. Conditions were windy with temps in the high 40s to low 50s.
Nutrition: This was a practice race but we made sure to stay fueled with plenty of snacks/drink mix/water. Thank you Meghan for always having a gummy worm handy!!
Recap (written by Sandrine Veillette):
For this Early Birds clinic we had the privilege of learning from our mentors; Helena, Gabby and Robin.
We started with two drills. First, we practiced cornering in a single line focused on following outside-inside-outside best practices. For the second drill, we practiced cornering in a double line formation, rotating one by one to each get a chance to experience different positioning, while leaving way for the rider on the inside.
Next, we did 5-6 race laps. The goal was to gain confidence and try new things including approaching the corners at different speeds, cornering lines, moving up and down the peloton. Although Early Bird races are not technically scored, each practice race finished in a sprint. Jayce (Monarch) took the win each time, with Sara (Super Sprinkles) and myself battling for second.The last race was plenty of fun, Sara and Milinda (AV) forming a successful break-away with 3 laps to go. Ultimately, each of us were riding and cornering notably better than at the start of the session!
Race Report: 2026 Santa Barbara County Road Race - Men’s E3
Race Report: 2026 Santa Barbara County Road Race - Men’s E3
Date: January 23, 2026
AVRT racers: Wil Gibb, Levi Ritter
Top Result: Wil Gibb (19/40)
Course: A downhill neutral rollout leads to four laps of a 14-mile rectangular course (57 mi, 2,800 ft.). Rolling country roads throughout, including a short climb of about 500 feet halfway through the lap (averages about 5%, kicks up to 8%). The course ends by turning right onto a final punch - a short segment almost identical in profile to the Sand Hill Stinger (https://www.strava.com/segments/19606498).
The pavement is in good condition for all but the western road, about a five-mile stretch that is beat up and has sporadic shallow pot holes which were easily traversed on 32mm tires. The final side of the course, the eastern side, is a bit more exposed and crosswinds could be felt over the road. None of the descents are technical.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17165150010
Nutrition: Two bottles with 120g carbs, one gel with 50g
Recap: Written by Wil
The start list for this race was really strong – full of large junior and collegiate teams, as well as the recently crowned king of Old La Honda, Gavin Sherry. With just me and Levi in the race, we planned on seeing how the race would unfold. The immediate pace was very relaxed, similar to the year before. Bored and foolish, I launched an attack during a particularly slow moment. My hope was that these college kids would be kind to an older rider such as myself, and initially my gap did grow to ~2 minutes. I was able to stay away for exactly one lap, whereafter I tucked myself neatly into the back to recover and think about my questionable decision.
The rest of the race was dictated primarily by Gavin, who clearly was trying to break apart the group on the main, short climb. Surprisingly, almost no one got dropped during these efforts, despite Gavin setting the KOM on the third out of four laps. Clearly these college students didn’t take an extended off season.
Going into the final climb, I took the front and set a not-so-impossible pace since I almost got popped on the KOM pace of the prior lap. This worked for the first half, and then I was able to sag climb and stay in the group comfortably to finish the climb. After this, I worked my way back towards the front, because the group always got strung out during the turn to the final 4 mile stretch. I decided that, given the strength of the group, I didn’t stand a great chance going into the 90 second final finishing climb. Instead, I attacked coming out of the corner, bringing two riders with me this time. We worked well together, and quickly had enough of a gap that I was already writing the race report in my head. However, a half mile from the finish, Gavin had started to drag the peloton back, and they swarmed us right after we made the turn to the finishing climb – less than 90 seconds from glory.
Overall, I learned a lot this race – saving my energy early could have made the final attack stick. Looking forward to see where this season takes us!
(Levi, pictured below)
Race Report: 2026 Santa Barbara County Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Race: Santa Barbara County Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Date: January 24, 2026
AVRT racers: George Wehner, Tom Perkins, Henry Mallon
Top Result: Henry 5th
Course: A neutral rollout leads to six laps of a 14-mile course (86 miles total, ~4,000 feet). Fast rolling county roads with mixed surface quality throughout, including a short climb early in the lap (the hardest section is about 2 minutes at 5%). The course ends by turning right onto a short kicker to the finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17166932674
Nutrition: 2 x 1L bottles, 2 x 650ml bottles, 1 x 150mg caffeine gel = 425 grams of carbs (~130g/hour).
Race Recap: Written by Henry.
Bike racing is back! With just three of us for Alto Velo, our plan was to play off of the teams with more numbers. I’d look more actively for a breakaway. George and Tom would stay patient. In the final lap, we’d formulate a plan to position the freshest of us for the finishing kicker.
I watched break formation from the front and decided to follow a few others bridging across to an established group ahead with hitters from all the strongest teams. Once on the short climb, I took the front to close the final 20 seconds and form a break of about a dozen. According to Strava, this effort was a few watts off my best ever 5 minute power and the highest HR (205!) that I’ve seen in quite some time. One big learning for me from riding my first P/1/2 break is that you have to be comfortable with making an enormous effort early with the likely outcome of that effort being for nothing. You have to risk losing the race for a chance at winning.
The break cooperated seamlessly, aside from some serious tomfoolery on the climb initiated by Logan Unger and Ryder Ritchie of SpeedBlock-Terun. Most laps there were huge surges in the upper crosswind section. I was inches from getting popped a few times there. I don't have the ability to snap close big attacks and get in the draft quickly, so I have to grind them back over 30+ seconds, which sucks.
The climb on the penultimate lap was especially painful. You know it’s about to hurt when you’re already pushing 500W and guys are riding away like you’re standing still. Logan and Ryder took turns attacking and I found myself closing them with other guys in the wheel. I made it across by the smallest of margins what felt like 10 separate times.
The course ends with a few miles of fast tailwind and a short kicker to the finish. In this section, Logan and Ryder started throwing haymakers. These punchy efforts on the flat are probably the hardest type of effort for me. My bread and butter is long sustained climbing where I can sit upright and breathe, not alternating between 600W and 0W while bent over in a pretzel. After a handful of times sprinting full-gas across gaps, we briefly came together and Logan just sauntered away. And we all just watched, fully on the limit and unable to respond. Andrew Carr quickly pulled away with Ryder in his wheel. The rest of us were too shattered to hold a draft and rolled in with gaps between us.
Sometimes I hate bike racing. The sitting around and waiting. The argy-bargy in the bunch. Getting steered into a gravel shoulder by an ex-pro sprinter for 40th wheel with 50 miles to go.
Today I remembered why I love it. Proper full-gas racing where the strongest wins and we all finish empty.
Anyway, that’s a lot of talk for fifth in a local January race…
Signing off,
Henry