Race Reports

Alto Velo 1/27/26 Alto Velo 1/27/26

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)

Alto Velo 1/26/26 Alto Velo 1/26/26

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

Alto Velo 1/26/26 Alto Velo 1/26/26

Race Report: 2026 Cal Poly Criterium - Men’s 2/3

Race: Cal Poly Criterium - Men’s 2/3

Date: January 25, 2026

AVRT racers: George Wehner, Tom Perkins, Henry Mallon, Levi Ritter, Michael Bektas

Top Result: Henry 4th, 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/17177456830

Nutrition: Pop-Tarts, sugar water, and caffeine.

Race Recap: Written by Henry.

My mistake cost us the win, and I think there’s a lot to learn in the details.

The plan:

Henry: mark early breakaways, first pull in the sprint leadout
Tom & Michael: do nothing, then dust everyone in the final 10 seconds
George & Levi: possible late break + help in the final lap

The race started with a few laps of random attacks. I waited for a hard moment, then put in an effort. One guy came with me, then four more bridged a few laps later. Everyone was willing to work, but the gap hovered around 20 seconds.

In my head, this was perfect. I’m busy in a doomed break while my teammates get a free ride. The longer the break dangles, the more other teams have to chase, and the fresher Tom and Michael are for the sprint. Right? Right??

Well… not exactly. With about five laps to go, it became clear we were staying away. By that point, we’d already fallen into a classic representation fallacy. Yes, we were represented in the break, but I had about a 0% chance of winning from that position given my abysmal sprint. Meanwhile, teammates behind would’ve had excellent odds if the group was together.

In hindsight, we should’ve been more selective early and only allowed a move to go with two of us represented, ideally with one being a sprinter. I also think we had the strength to simply shut down all breaks and force a favorable field sprint. In addition, I could’ve kept a closer eye on the gap, with the option to stop working or even drop back and help pull from the field.

But in our case, the probability of winning from a field sprint with Michael or Tom was so high that we should not have accepted even a small risk of a break victory where our worst sprinter had to roll the dice.

If the break gets caught with five laps to go, we execute the leadout, Michael has the freshest legs, and we probably win. Tactical geniuses. Champagne. Etc.

You see this exact mistake in pro racing all the time. A team refuses to help chase because they’re “represented,” even when their weakest rider is in the move. Sometimes other teams do the work and it pays off. Often it doesn’t.

But hey, it’s Cat 2 crit racing in January. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not doing it right. On to the next one.

Thanks for reading,

Henry

Alto Velo 1/19/26 Alto Velo 1/19/26

CBR #1 - Men’s P/1/2/3

Race: CBR #1 - Men’s P/1/2/3

Date: January 18th, 2026

AVRT racers: George Wehner, Michael Bektas, Levi Ritter

Top Result: Michael 14th/61

Course: 0.9 mile square 4 corner crit, very wide roads

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17099015006. (Livestream)

Nutrition: 500ml water w/Maurten 320 (80g carbs). I chugged a ton of water beforehand because it was 90 degrees.

Recap: (written by Michael) This was our second race of the day. It was really hot, and we were tired from being active in the 2/3 race, so we came in with a much more passive plan. We knew we didn’t have the fresh legs of the bigger teams like Legion and Terun and we would need to race smart to be successful.

That being said, this race felt way better than the 2/3. We were able to conserve energy and keep it smooth for the first hour or so of the 75 minute race. I basically knew that it was going to be Legion vs. Alex Akins (Terun), so I didn’t waste too much thought on any other possibility.

Legion put all 8 guys on the front with about 15 minutes left, so it started to get more aggressive as people knew that the end of that train was the place to be. From then until 2 to go, there was a serious washing machine effect and I moved back and forth several times. Coming into the final laps, George and I both realized we had suddenly found ourselves in great position and could contest for a good result. Despite doing the race before, I ended up having good legs, but wasn’t willing to be right in the pack, as I could see Legion and Luke Fetzer throwing serious elbows and didn’t want to risk crashing in January. Regardless, I came through the final corner in the top 15 and was able to maintain that for 14th place, with George basically right behind me. Levi finished just a little bit behind us.

This result was very encouraging as we try to establish ourselves in high level crit racing. As someone who has seen teams like Legion and races like CBR on social media, it was really cool to actually be a part of this and see that I have the potential to do well in these races.

Alto Velo 1/19/26 Alto Velo 1/19/26

CBR #1 - Men’s Cat 2/3

Race: CBR #1 - Men’s Cat 2/3

Date: January 18th, 2026

AVRT racers: George Wehner, Henry Mallon, Michael Bektas, Levi Ritter

Top Result: Michael 5th/61

Course: 0.9 mile square 4 corner crit, very wide roads

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17097529330. (Livestream)

Nutrition: 500ml water w/Maurten 320 (80g carbs)

Recap: (written by Michael) This was the season opener and my first Alto Velo race! George and I drove down Friday night to stay with Henry and ride some of his local roads. Levi also joined us for the race. We came into the race with a fairly clear plan: Henry and Levi would get in moves, then George and I would wait for the finish.

We stuck to the plan throughout for the most part, with Henry, Levi, and George getting into various moves. I stayed towards the front of the pack to limit any risk of crashing. With about 20 minutes to go, we realized the pack wasn’t going to let any moves get away, so we got ready for the sprint. Henry attacked with 6 to go and found himself off the front, so we got a free ride while the rest of the pack chased. George countered after Henry got caught with 4 to go to keep the rest of the field needing to chase.

After George got caught, we lined up near the front to keep me in position and keep it fast. It being the first race of the season, our timing was a little off, so we hit the front about 30 seconds too early. We got countered by riders with momentum, and I had to hit the gas hard to follow that. I wasn’t able to sprint fully out of the last corner after following that move, so I ended up rolling in for 5th.

Thanks to all my teammates who helped set me up. We’ll get them next time!

Alto Velo 1/13/26 Alto Velo 1/13/26

Race Report: Early Birds (Women’s 4/5)

Race: Early Birds (Women’s 4/5)

Date: January 11, 2026

AVRT racers: Emily Selman; AV Club Milinda Lakkam and Kira Harman; Robin Betz (mentor)

Top Result: There are no winners/losers in EBs

Course: 1 km square loop (right turns), closed to traffic

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17018625683

Nutrition: An orange before the clinic; 1 bottle of water in between races.

Race Summary:

(By Emily) The Jan 4 EB was canceled due to rain, so we focused on anticipation, formation, and sprinting to make up for last week. We discussed covering your front wheel and for drills, we practiced a pace line rotation. The 15 riders were divided into 2 groups, one “going for it” (Group A) and one working more on their technical skills (Group B) Pro gravel racer Jayce Cooper (Monarch) and several Sprinkles (Sherry Bai) and Monarch riders (Zoe Khuu) were in Group A.

On a personal note, this is my first race after a back surgery (and not racing last year), and I was apprehensive about how well my body would hold up and honestly wondering if I should be racing at all, since my back has been temperamental since the surgery.

We did a few warm-up laps, then lined up to do 3 x 6 lap practice races, working on technical skills and practicing different tactical scenarios. Mentor (ex pro) Ivy Audrain worked with Group A and Robin worked with the Group B.

For Group A’s first race, Jayce went to the front immediately and most of the group let her pull. Sprinkles attacked on the 5th lap but were caught going into the final lap. I noticed that none of the front riders were cornering very well, so on the last turn, I dove into the gutter and was able to hold on for the win.

In Group A’s second race, the riders stayed in a bunch, as Jayce realized she’d worked too much in race 1. Sprinkles rider Katia attacked on lap 3 but was caught on lap 4. The race came down to a bunch sprint and Jayce took the win, I was 3rd.

I wasn’t able to get the names of the winners in Group B, but Milinda and Kira took turns pulling at the front and were competitive in the bunch sprint.

For the third race, Group A and B all raced together. The mentors suggested moving around in the peloton, trying different positioning and practicing technical aspects like passing, cornering and attacking. This race was more animated, and there were about 6 riders in a breakaway after 4 laps. Ivy was next to me, asking me when I would make my move. I was going to attack on the 3rd turn, but felt the group lull on the straightaway between the 2nd and 3rd turn. I took that opportunity to attack and was able to create a gap that gave me the win.

Even though the EBs “don’t count,” I was honestly thrilled that I could race and be competitive. I had a blast racing, connecting with other riders, gaining insight from pros, and getting to be competitive, in spite of my back injury. I hope others who have experienced injuries can take heart in knowing that, even when the recovery process is long, our bodies remain capable of strength and speed if we choose to keep racing.

Alto Velo 1/5/26 Alto Velo 1/5/26

Race Report: 2026 CCCX MTB Series #1 XCO - Men’s Cat 1/Expert

Race: 2026 CCCX MTB Series #1 XCO - Men’s Cat 1/Expert Age 19-39

Date: January 4, 2026

AVRT racers: Michael Matthews

Top Result: Men’s Cat 1/Expert Age 19-39 2nd/8 (Men’s Cat 1/Expert Overall 5th/33).

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 2.9-mile loop. Per lap elevation gain was 267 ft. The course was mostly singletrack. The expert field did six full laps. IT WAS POURING RAIN, during warmups and at the start. We would finish in sunshine though! The features of a full lap included a few pitchy little climbs, flowy single track, massive blind-bottom puddles, watt-eating mud (up to 6-inches deep in places), slippery and fast descents and a few nice straight sections that you could hammer. Trail conditions were wet and wild.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/16941156360

Nutrition: Normal breakfast and ~100g of carbs in a bottle for pre/during race nutrition.

Event Recap: Lined up with what looked to be a competitive field in the pouring rain. It was a day that keeping the rubber side down could win you the race. Started well and kept with a pack of four fast younger riders. They had more to give that early in the race that I did and I made a choice to let them go toward the end of lap one. Last season I was able to use my endurance to catch back onto these moves and I wanted to avoid blowing up. The right choice, but I would not catch them. One rider was in my age category (barely, at 19 y/o). I rode the race mostly alone except for a few stints with really strong riders from age categories 40+. I took one small slide but otherwise went well. I’ve definitely taken some good learning from this poor weather racing and look forward to applying it in some aggressive dryer racing later this year. I am happy with 2nd place and some points in the first month of 2026!

Ps. took the dogs on the podium (one out of frame)!

Alto Velo 11/11/25 Alto Velo 11/11/25

Race Report: 2025 Stafford Lake Rattler XC (MTB) - Men’s Cat 1/Expert

Race: Stafford Lake Rattler XC (MTB) Men’s Cat 1/Expert Age 35-49

Date: November 9, 2025

AVRT racers: Michael Matthews

Top Result: Men’s Cat 1/Expert Age 35-49 1st/9 (Men’s Cat 1/Expert Overall 6th/32).

Course: The Stafford Lake Rattler XC was a traditional format MTB XC race with a ~4-mile loop. Per lap elevation gain was 475 ft. The course is a mix of singletrack, fire road and double track. It utilizes the Bike Park and the hills to the south of the park that contain trails closed to public riding. The expert field did four full laps, but the first lap was slightly abbreviated, for a total of “five” laps. The features of a full lap included a hot, steep climb, flowy descent, steady switch-back climb, techy/loose treed descent, and a couple more short ups and downs through the disc golf course. Trail conditions were mixed. Dry in most areas, but largely super grippy (from day+ old rain). The finishing straight was long, flat and grassy in the field by the lake. The drag in the grass was rough!! Wind and weather were largely a non-factor.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/16410670919

Nutrition: Normal breakfast and ~100g of carbs in a bottle for pre/during race nutrition.

Event Recap: As a part of Wave 2”b” the C1/Expert field was released one minute behind the PRO, and Junior Elites. I went into the first climb in second. On the climb we caught the lagging end of the PRO group and one Expert rider got out ahead of me around one of the juniors. Unfortunately he got a good gap of about a minute. There was never a real threat from behind. Once I got around the junior rider, I set into a strong pace and was comfortable trusting my endurance to close the gap eventually. By the middle of lap three on the larger climb I caught the lead Expert rider. I kept the pressure on up the entire climb and opened a small gap. He closed it quickly on the next descent. On the false-flat technical section before the fire road and grassy finish loop, I decided to jump, committing to an early move. I created another gap and pushed it on the flats to extend it. That gap would hold all the way to the end for the win! I held a sustainable pace and was conservative in the tech for the remaining 2 laps. I am proud of this one, being my first C1/Expert race and being fairly de-trained during a fall break. Also, according to Strava (at time of writing), I claimed the 6th fastest lap on the day!

Alto Velo 10/23/25 Alto Velo 10/23/25

Race Report: 2025 Mt Diablo Challenge - Men

Race: 2025 Mt Diablo Challenge - Men

Date: Sunday, October 5, 2025

AVRT racers: Erik Levinsohn, Nathan Martin, Andrew Ernst, Leo Minami, Jeremy Besmer, Michael Matthews, Kevin Kauffman

Top Results: Erik 3rd, Nathan 5th, Andrew 10th out of 772

Course: 11.2 miles, 3249 ft hill climb. Closed to cars! It was a notably good weather day - chilly at the start, a bit windy in the second half but not as bad as previous years, but most importantly it never got hot.

Strava:

Nutrition:

Recap (written by Nathan):

Diablo Challenge is always fun, and usually the end of the race season for many. The climb is rather drafty for a hill climb, averaging 14-16 mph for big chunks of it, and having a few flat and fast sections, so the strategy tends to be staying with the front group as long as you can.

Most of us in group 1 started near the back, and immediately paid for it as a 2 man break attacked from the gun, who would stick it to the end.

The plan was to try and have Erik and I trade attacks as things got steeper, for now we just sat in the first half and let people pull on the front. As we neared the halfway point, the junction, Erik attacked first. He was followed by most of the group, and I counterattacked after him.

I had some good daylight, but could see Sandy hunting me down and keeping the gap honest. Eventually Erik would ride the bridge of Yoann to me and they would go past me.

As I got caught by 3 or 4 more people, there was lots of looking around to see who would chase Erik and Yoann. I was just sitting in, since I didn’t want to chase Erik.

After Juniper, I launched my attack, and got some decent daylight on Sandy and Jovanni. I tried to bridge up to Yoann and Erik, but Yoann was setting a really fast tempo. On the last steep climb, Erik attacked Yoann for 3rd and I held off Sandy and Jovanni for 5th.

Tough day when we miss the initial break move of the day and never see them again, but still a fun outing!

Alto Velo 10/12/25 Alto Velo 10/12/25

Race Report: 2025 Mt Diablo Challenge - Elite Women

Race: 2025 Mt Diablo Challenge - Elite Women

Date: Sunday, October 5, 2025

AVRT racers: Steph Hart, Robin Betz, Robin Kutner, Elena de la Paz

Top Result: Steph 2/157 (sub60!), Robin B 8/157, Robin K 16/157, Elena 34/157

Course: 11.2 miles, 3249 ft hill climb. Closed to cars! At least 25% of it was draftable. It was a notably good weather day - chilly at the start, mostly not too windy, never got hot.

Strava: Steph’s, Robin K’s

Nutrition:
Steph: Coffee + 1 pre-race gel
Robin K: 1 bar 20min before start. During race, 1 bottle w/ 60g carbs (skratch) + ½ bottle water + a few shot bloks

Recap:

Steph’s perspective

In my 3 years of living in CA, I had yet to do Diablo Challenge, because who wants to interrupt their off season with a 60 minute all out effort. This year was no different (blissfully enjoying a few weeks without intervals and probably a little too much beer)- until October 2nd or so rolled around, and the hype on the slack thread had me signing up just to collect a data point on my 60 minute power (data whore life).

Expectations were low, and after noting Jen Tave’s presence at reg, I knew I’d be in for a reality check once the race started. In typical fashion, I missed my wave 2 start for one last trip to the bathroom line- but managed to join Robin K. and Shannon Gaffney in the wave 3 start. This was probably for the best, as the wave 3 men started plenty hard, and I was barely hanging onto wheels for the first 5 or so minutes. Knowing miles 3-6 were pretty draftable, I decided to try and stay with the group through the halfway mark- knowing I’d have to back off once it got steep to avoid blowing up. I got through the junction at the 25 minute mark, but considerably above target power, so I let myself get dropped to avoid blowing up in the last 20-30 minutes. Minutes 30-50 were pretty much a slog, bouncing around and trying to catch a draft where I could, but more or less just trying to dissociate from my physical experience. I managed to pull it together for the last couple of minutes and not fall over on the steep section to roll in for 57:44 and 2nd in the women’s field. This ended up being a pretty poorly paced effort (275 to the junction, 258 from the junction to the summit), and I also didn’t do a great job drafting/following wheels in the second half of the race- but certainly leaves some places for improvement should I choose to disrupt my offseason next year…

Robin K’s perspective

I went into this race with plenty of physical activity under my belt but nothing in the way of structured training. I was just pleased to have climbed out of an iron-deficient summer. Two weeks prior, I lightly reconned the climb and averaged 3 W/kg and 1:18, which at the time felt “comfortably hard”. In the Wave 3 start corral, I quickly said hello to Steph and goodbye to the back of Steph. After the initial downhill/flat, the group started climbing aggressively and I realized I may have “self-seeded” incorrectly as I was spat towards the back. (Hold that thought.) I had enough fellow stragglers within eyeshot to calm my stress of “what if I end up with no draft?”, and I gleefully reeled a few in before mile 3. I was mildly worried about having gone out too hard and blowing up later, but thankfully a pack of men from the front of Wave 4 came charging from behind at the perfect time - right as we hit the first long, flat section - and I got to recover in their wake. (Maybe this happy coincidence renders my start position perfect?). I let them go when the grade picked up, and I spent the next few miles finding my “happy power”, identifying racers up the road to pick off or tuck in behind, and ultimately passing through the Junction a few minutes ahead of a completely made-up target split.

I had a post-it taped to my top tube reminding me of where the draftable sections were. Approaching the next one at mile 8.5, two things happened: first, a child riding next to me exhaustedly asked where the finish was because his legs hurt. Lol. I told him it was about 20 minutes away and he should try to pedal consistently so he wouldn’t cramp. I simultaneously realized I could afford to start digging deeper as we were running out of road. Second, I was thrilled to hear Robin B’s voice behind me, telling him “also, you should tuck in behind her [me] for an easier effort”. Robin and Supersprinkle Susan came by me, and I happily put in an effort to follow their friendly wheels. We decisively pass a woman I’d been chasing for awhile. Susan dropped off a few minutes later, and I was next. Little Kid reappeared and continued asking how much further until the top. I rode his wheel once, but he would spontaneously stop pedaling so I decided that while he was endearing, he was somewhat of a liability.

Rounding a hairpin with one mile left, I find two dudes and tuck in as we head into the wind. I went around them at the base of The Wall, where AV friends who had just finished their own climbs were cheering us on. Miraculously, Little Kid found a second wind, and he was zigzagging and teetering frightfully close to my bike. This prompted me to put in one last dig, and we reached the finish! I did 1:07:29 (3.5 W/kg) for the climb which is several minutes faster than I estimated. I haven’t been this pleasantly surprised by a result in a long time, which may have planted a seed of motivation for next season… Overall, this was a super well-run event with a fun post-race picnic. Highly recommend!

Alto Velo 10/8/25 Alto Velo 10/8/25

Race Report: Giro de SF W 1/2/3

Race Report: Giro de SF W 1/2/3

Date: Sept. 1, 2025

AVRT racers: Steph Hart, Louise Thomas, Katie Monaghan

Top Result: 5th (Steph), 6th (Louise)

Course: L shaped downtown course with a slight hill

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15664855785

Race Recap (Steph’s perspective):

The field had 9 riders, 3 AV, 3 Terun, and 3 solo riders. With the expectation that Terun would be in the driver’s seat racing for Jacqueline or Jen, it seemed like AV’s best chance would be to follow a Terun break. Sure enough ~3 laps in, Sarah launched an attack that sufficiently strung out the field, and somehow all three Terun riders ended up in a break- yikes, and had a 6-7 second gap on the chase group (Me and two solo riders). Despite screaming at the two random girls to pull through so we could try and catch the Terun break, 3 laps later, the gap was static.

Then in a moment of maximum chaos, the race was neutralized for 10 minutes due to an ambulance on course. Somehow when they restarted the race, the officials let the first six riders start without a gap- bummer for the break, but it gave me another shot for the second half of the race. From there, it was pretty much 20 minutes of the three Terun riders trading attacks, all of which I ended up covering based on the lacking response from the other two solo riders. Finally we’d played enough games with intermittent free-wheeling that Louise and Katie caught back on with ~2 laps to go. With two corners to go, one of the solo riders started ramping up the sprint. Katie and Louise were pretty gassed from the solo TT effort, and I was cracked from trying to rain on Terun’s parade all race, so we all rolled in at a lack-luster 5th, 6th, and 9th place.

Sue Lin Holt 9/25/25 Sue Lin Holt 9/25/25

Race Report: 2025 Winters Criterium - Women’s Masters

Race: Winters Criterium - 2025 NCNCA women’s masters district championship

Date: August 23, 2025

AVRT racers: Hannah Chen, Lora Maes, Sue Lin Holt

Race Report: 2025 “Oakland” Grand Prix, Mens Pro/1/2

Race: 2025 “Oakland” Grand Prix, Mens Pro/1/2

Date: September 14, 2025

AVRT racers: Jon Wells

Top Result: Jon Wells, 12th of 38

Course: 0.95 mile loop with six corners around the Shea Center in Livermore. It is almost the same as all the early bird courses but with an additional U-turn added by the parking lot, making the course much more technical

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15814715509

Nutrition: One bottle of 90g carb mix and a prerace redbull

Race Recap:

Due to some unfinished construction on the original course, the Oakland Grand Prix was moved out to the Shea Center in Livermore at the last minute. Instead of the usual early bird course, you went straight through the old corner 4 and took a U-turn before turning left into the usual finish line. The previous course was pretty straight forward, and even boring at times, so I was pretty excited about the addition of a technical feature. But I think the U turn kind of ruined any flow you could find on the course and wasn’t enough to make up for the easy remainder of the course.

The field was slightly smaller than usual but still had some solid hitters including Mikes Bikes out in force with maybe 8 riders, then Terun had a few guys, and Ryan Gorman racing alone. Mikes made it clear from early on that they wanted a break to go and they wanted at least 2 guys in it. This often forced Ryan to follow and make big bridges, leading to a pretty surgy race.

My plan was to follow any moves with Mikes and Ryan, as I didn’t think there would be enough guys left in the field to chase. Moves went all race and I followed a few massive bridge attempts from Ryan plus a couple from Mikes guys trying to stack moves with several riders. I think if Mikes had been content with just one guy in a move, then something would have stuck earlier, but they kept trying to bridge to their own moves and would bring others with them.

Around 5 laps to go I decided I was content with a field sprint, just trying to float near the front and no longer following moves. A move snuck off around 2 to go with 2 mikes guys and one Terun, leaving only Ryan to chase. I found myself on his wheel at one to go, waiting for him to hit it. Eventually he did, and it strung out the field big time, but the gap to the leading trio was slightly too big. They just held off the field and former AV racer PA (now Mikes) took the win. I found myself around 12th and really went nowhere in the field sprint with tired legs from trying to get into breaks all race.

-Jon

Alto Velo 9/20/25 Alto Velo 9/20/25

Race Report: Henleyville Road Race (Men's Masters 35+ 1/2/3)

Race: Henleyville Road Race - Men's Masters 35+ 1/2/3

Date: September 20, 2025

AVRT racers: Michael Matthews

Top Result: 6th Place

Course: 18 mile rectangular-ish course done four times just outside of Corning CA. Not too hot or windy. Small hill (~250 ft elevation) before the feed zone (halfway point of the lap) and otherwise flat. Rough roads in places and loose gravel in corners, but not in any critical locations.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15880105808

Nutrition: ~300g of carbs in two bottles and a gel pack. Normal breakfast and a Clif bar on the road before the race.

Event Recap: Masters 50+ 1/2/3 joined us for a field of ~15 (a small field). The 35+ field included Mark Tucker (a current Masters TT National Champ). I wish I had known that and factored it into my plan. No teammates for me, but Dolce Vita, Meteor and LaMorinda each had two. My first, and last, road race of the year. I’d spent my season doing criteriums and mountain bike racing so I had a different kind of fitness. One would think I played it conservative and saved it for a sprint in the end… I didn’t. Pace was light for the first half of lap one and then attacks started to fly but were shut down quickly. I found myself positioned well to launch one and went for it. I ended up enticing a Dolce Vita rider to join and we held a ~1 min gap at times for about a lap before Meteor and LaMorinda shut us down. I settled in and committed to following any big threats, but otherwise not forcing an attacking agenda, which I tend to do :). A few riders ended up getting dropped in the first half of the race. After Mark (Meteor) attacked and was brought back, out of a messy pack a rider attacked and I was caught out. Meteor (Mark), Dolce Vita and LaMorinda represented. PANIC, I’m alone to bridge this! Laid it all on the line to bridge that move before it got too far away but I couldn’t match the firepower and get it done. Fast forward to the end. Cramping started creeping in in the lead up to the sprint as the pace ramped and I was getting nervous that I was going to blow up. I wheel surfed until about 200m from the finish. With a metered sprint (such as to not cramp and blow it) I came in 2nd in the bunch sprint. I wish that attack hadn't gotten away without me!

Alto Velo 9/7/25 Alto Velo 9/7/25

Race Report: Pescadero Road Race W 1/2/3

Race Report: Pescadero Road Race W 1/2/3

Date: July 12, 2025

AVRT racers: Steph Hart, Louise Thomas, Rachel Hwang

Top Result: 3/9 Women’s 1/2/3 (Steph)

Course: 2.7 laps of a loop. Major features include Haskins’s climb (9 minutes or so each lap).

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15093689853

Race Recap:

(from Steph’s perspective)

The field had 9 riders, 3 AV, 3 Terun, 3 solo riders. With Jen and Jamie Chapman, it seemed like this was Terun’s race to lose- our best chance was to try to sneak into a break with one of them. After a chill neutral roll out and first 5 or so miles, Terun started rolling attacks on Stages road. Jen attacked on the second Stage road climb, when I followed the wheel, Jamie countered and motored away solo. By this point it was basically Jen and I solo, I followed Jen’s wheel over the rollers, but she attacked and dropped me on the semi-technical descent, and was able to join Jamie by the intersection of Stage and 84. They had maybe a 15s gap at the start of 84, and despite the fact that I was tucked and doing ~280W, I could still see that I was losing ground on them.

A few miles down the road Rachel pulls Sarah up to me, and then offers to pull to the base of Haskins climb. I can see we’re losing time on Jen and Jamie, but gratefully take the free ride in hopes I can collect myself. By the time we get to Haskins, Louise and Sofya (Terun) also join us. Not totally sure what to do, I attacked at the base of the climb, and by the top I had a 20-30s gap on the group. Tragically, I also get word that Jamie and Jen have almost two minutes on me. Slowly coming to terms with the ramifications of the situation, I settle in for a 2+ hr solo effort. I won’t belabor anyone with the details of my mental wanderings during a full two solo laps of Pesky loop, but I managed to stay away for the rest of the race, coming in third but still several minutes behind Jamie and Jen. On the 2nd lap up Haskins, Rachel got away solo and came away in 4th place.

Alto Velo 9/7/25 Alto Velo 9/7/25

Race Report: 2025 San Ardo Road Race Masters 35+ 3/4

Race: 2025 San Ardo Road Race Masters 35+ 3/4

Date: August 16, 2025

AVRT racers: Shai Traister, Joseph Garcia

Top Result: Joseph Garcia (13/16)

Course: Three laps of a 23 mile clockwise loop comprising a headwind way out and tailwind back. A ~5 minute twisting rolling climb with short steep ramps and otherwise shallow gradient. Rough pavement in parts, most notably on the narrow bridge on the backside of the course and consistent massive horizontal cracks across the road on the backside of the course.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15483432207

Nutrition: 2 bottles with skratch during the race, one gel

Recap: (written by Shai)

I could ride the 50+ race, but I felt good leading into the race and there were only a handful of racers pre-reg'ed, so I decided to "level up" and race the 35+ race.

During warm up I realized that the pavement was pretty bad with horizontal cracks on the road which made it pretty bumpy. I had a small procedure ~10 days prior and the bumps were uncomfortable so I decided to lower the air pressure on my rear tire. I was running tubeless so I assumed it would be fine.

On the start line I pointed to Joe the two riders in the 805 race team as the team to watch for. Based on the pre-reg numbers I knew at least one of them was very strong.

Race started at a good pace and I tried to be near the front. When we hit the first few hills, 3 riders rolled off the front - with one representative of the 805 team. Initially I wasn't too worried because it was a 63 miles race and I thought it would for sure be brought back - this is cat 3 after all, and everyone still had fresh legs...

In the back it was a complete chaos - Myself and 3-4 others pulled on the front, some others tried to attack and get away, while the majority of the field were sitting on and not helping at all. On top of things, the other 805 racer was sitting on, and blocking any attempts to form some cohesive efforts. For the first 10-15 minutes we kept the front group within 20s, and one time it got down to probably less than 10s, but never quite managed to close it.

I tried to encourage others to pull by yelling at people to pull through - and I got yelled back "it's a race, you can't tell me what to do". and I'm like: "really? it's a race? are we all racing for 4th?"

I tried to attack several times and join moves that attempted to drop the dead weight in the group. Then I looked back and saw the 805 guy (who otherwise was just sitting in the group) was bringing it back together.

After a lap the motor came to us and told us they were 2:45 ahead of us, and I knew this was it. When we got to the hills on the 2nd lap one of the riders set a hard pace which dwindled the group, and then the 2nd 805 racer attacked trying to go for 4th place. We shut it down but that got the group to about ~6 riders.

Race continued and just before the famous bridge with the horrendous pavement I felt that I was having a flat in my rear wheel. I pulled off and realized it was. I don't know why it didn't seal, as this was a relatively new tire that I installed just a couple of months before, but it's possible that the sealant dried up a little. Also I don't know if that was because I lowered the tire pressure (most likely not). This was my 2nd time racing San Ardo, and last time I also flatted - had 2 flats before the race even started. Bad luck.

Anyway, after waiting on the side of the road I saw Joe driving on the front of 3 other riders. Sag car arrived and picked me up.

I still had some cold bottles with Skratch so I went to the feed zone and handed them over. Saw Joe again on the front of his small group.

Bummed for DNP, but even more bummed for missing that winning move at the beginning of the race.

Never make assumptions in a race!

Alto Velo 9/7/25 Alto Velo 9/7/25

Race Report: Winters Road Race - Masters 50+ 4/5

Race: Winters Road Race - Masters 50+ 4/5

Date: August 31, 2025

AVRT racers: Shai Traister

Top Results: Shai 1 / 8

Course: Two laps of a 24 mile loop. Mostly flat but with a ~3.5mi stair-stepping climb (Cantelow), and narrow twisty descent. There’s also a short gravel slight uphill stretch that is very doable on road tires.

Nutrition: Two bottles with Skratch, two gels

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15575232027

Recap:

We had a small group of 8 riders. Right on the start line there was a junior rider who was the only rider in his category, so one of the officials said "go and race with these guys", and he got added to our field.

The race started off pretty chill, with the small group riding mostly easy on the flats and taking turns / rotating through until we got to the climb. On the climb the pace picked up and I hoped to repeat the strategy from Patterson Pass where I caused the group to split on the climb and continue with a smaller group. So I set a hard pace - maybe too hard - and got a gap on the group. I went down the descent, looked back and so no one. I continued riding and kept looking back to see where the group was. No one in sight.

Knowing my FTP, I knew it would be challenging to go solo for such a long way, especially on a flat course like that. I thought that there was some chance there could be a "group B" dynamic and the group would not cooperate, so I decided to give it a go and see what would happen. I set on what felt like a good tempo, kept my head down and rode. I would look back from time to time on straight stretches and I could see the group in the distance. I kept going.

One of the times I looked back they were getting close (~15s). At that point I should have sat up and gone back to the field, but instead I kept going and managed to stretch the gap again. I continued riding solo, with the gap yo-yoing a little.

I was finally caught just before the 2nd climb (after an entire lap OTF). Obviously, I was pretty cooked so went to the back of the group, but watching out for any attacks. 2 guys were pushing the pace so I moved up to ride with them. Luckily this was a stair-stepping climb so I managed to recover a little bit and when we hit the last and steepest part of the climb I decided to attack again. I jumped, got a separation, but couldn't keep up the power. Continued up the climb with whatever I had left and the junior rider caught up to me. We rolled down the descent and started working together on the back side trying to stay away from the 2 chasers behind.

Despite working well and taking turns, we got caught by one of the chasers about 2-3K from the finish. Pace slowed down and we traded some turns as I shifted my focus to the sprint ahead. We rolled through 1K and at about 500m to go there was a small riser. I decided to give it a go.

I jumped, and started sprinting. Legs were screaming in pain, on the verge of cramping. I looked behind, the junior rider was on my wheel and the other rider behind him. I continued with everything I got left, and was passed by the junior rider. Someone collapsed right on the finish line so they diverted us to the other side of the road which was confusing. I managed to cross the finish line just ahead of the other rider in my field.
Stoked for the win!! Yay!

In hindsight - it was probably the wrong decision to go solo OTF so early. Speaking to the other riders after the race they told me they were cooperating well, and they kept me dangling OFT. Instead I should have waited for the 2nd lap and attacked from the bottom of the climb to create as big of a separation as I could and then try to keep it all the way to the line.

Alto Velo 9/6/25 Alto Velo 9/6/25

Race Report: 2025 Winters Road Race - Men's Cat 3

Race: Winters Road Race - Men's Cat 3

Date: August 31, 2025

AVRT racers: Jeremy Besmer, Ryan Dyke

Top Results: Jeremy 13/27, Ryan 17/27

Course: Three laps of a 24 mile loop. Mostly flat but with a ~3.5mi climb (Cantelow), and narrow twisty descent. There’s also a short gravel stretch that is very doable on road tires (had no issues on my 28mm GP 5000S TR).

Nutrition: Two bottles of super Skratch with 90g carbs each and two sleeves of shot blocks (50g carbs each)

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15574032472

Recap (written by Jeremy):

This was a large field of 27 starters with no large team representation, so we figured this would be a pretty chaotic race with good chances for breakaways succeeding. We went in with a loose plan to follow moves on the climb and for Ryan to try initiating an early break, while I would go for a break in in the second half of the race.

The race started off pretty chill for the first lap, and someone rolled off the front but did not look threatening so the field quickly let him get a large gap. A bit later, Ryan attacked to try to bridge up to the solo rider, and again the field was uninterested in chasing. Ryan + solo rider were (separately) off the front until the climb, and the field took the climb at a hard pace so we caught them both by the top. The climb was over much sooner than I expected so I was poorly positioned in the back half of the group going into the descent. That turned out to be a big mistake when a rider ahead of me crashed halfway down. Thankfully he didn’t take anyone else down, but I had to slam on my brakes to go around. At the bottom, I was alone ~10 seconds behind most of the field. I rode a hard pace for ~5min to try to catch back on for and was caught by a few riders who had been behind me. We worked together to get back to the field near the end of lap 1.

Lap 2 also started with minimal group organization and a few people occasionally rolling off the front solo without any success. Ryan again rolled away from the group a few miles before the climb, which set me up well to sit in and get in a perfect position in the group to counterattack when we caught him at the bottom of the steep part of the climb. Excited to make some noise on the climb, I shifted to get ready for the steep section…and then I made no noise as I couldn’t pedal with a dropped chain (cry). I cursed a few times while trying to get my chain back in place without stopping. No luck, so I got off the bike to quickly put it back on. This was the most critical moment of the race, so 5 seconds felt like an eternity. I hopped back on my bike, and did my best to smash solo up the climb, but I was dismayed to see a group of 4-5 riders separating from the front of the group ahead of me.

I descended, saw that I was ~10s behind the main group, and the break of 5 looked like it was extending its gap. I rode solo for a bit but then Ryan and another rider caught up to me. We worked together with Ryan doing some incredible pulls to get us back on to the main group near the end of the lap. The peloton had largely sat up with no organized chase of the break, which had a 1 minute gap.

I was tired from chasing, so I wasn’t ready to take a pull yet. I sat in to recover, and because there was no organized chase, the gap widened to several minutes and we never saw those riders again. At some point a rider rolled off the front solo, which appeared threatening so Ryan and I went to the front to pull. A few moments later, I realized that I had unintentionally rolled off the front. his was on a flat section where I wouldn’t have intentionally attacked, but nobody was chasing me. I didn’t want to fully commit, so I rode a steady effort. My gap had increased to ~40 seconds by the start of the climb. I pushed harder as the road got steeper, got some ice from the feedzone (thanks, Roger!), and tried to smash the steepest section. Fatigue from earlier chasing caught up to me, and the peloton was absolutely hammering the climb, so my gap shrank to 10 seconds by the top.

I maintained this gap through the descent, and continued riding tempo, figuring this gap wouldn’t last on the final, flat 10 miles of the course. I was caught with 6 miles to go. I largely sat in, thinking of how to play the finish. I was in good position with 500 meters to go, but a pair who had been pacelining snuck around us from behind, carrying a lot of momentum. I wasn’t ready for that sudden acceleration and couldn’t respond. Instead of sprinting for 6th place, I rolled into the finish with the group.

Alto Velo 9/4/25 Alto Velo 9/4/25

Race Report: 2025 Giro di SF Men’s 3

Race: Il Giro di SF - Men's Cat 3

Date: September 1st, 2025

AVRT racers: Matt Carvell, Wil Gibb, Kevin Kauffman, Jack Lund, Drew Mathews, Clark Penado

Top Result: Matt Carvell 9/50

Written By: Matt Carvell

Course: A 6-turn, 0.76 mile, L-shaped course. Small ‘climb’ partway through the course that is very big-ring-able. The course has potholes in several turns that require racers to choose their lines carefully. Generally a fun atmosphere and crowd, aided by kids races.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15664764144

Nutrition: One full bottle of Skratch strawberry lemonade. It was a relatively hot day for this fair-weathered San Franciscan.

Recap:

Having taken this year off from bike racing, I was tentative about racing one of the more technical and larger criteriums of the year. But the Giro is just around the corner from my house, and I love supporting local SF racing and culture, so I decided to give the Giro a try. And the SF crowd, the race, and the friendly nearby brewery made for a sweet Labor Day vibe.

I biked over to the race and introduced myself to my teammates Wil, Kevin, Jack, Drew, and Clark. Side note: back in the day, I thought it was odd how some teams had riders who would meet their teammates at the start line of the race. How would they be able to ride together? CAN they ride together? Is this that guy’s first race? Well, life came full circle. I was that guy.

Wil has seen some strong results recently, so we thought he’d be one we could work for. Clark was coming off some strong early-season fitness. Drew was my other SF-local compatriot who gave us all pointers on the course. Kevin was cheerful and excited, which served as a welcome distraction from the pre-race nerves. Jack just got his Cat 3 update and was diving into the thunderdome of crit racing.

We didn’t have a substantial race strategy. As none of us were true sprinters, and knowing that this would be a race of attrition, the idea was to ride together and evaluate who was ‘feeling good’ towards the end.

The race started off quickly, and I clipped in successfully. Wil immediately took a powerful flyer off the front, and we all began to settle into the rhythm of the race. By “rhythm”, I mean navigating a washing machine of riders moving through the peloton, while trying not to drop a chain, mechanical, or crash through the bumpy course (sadly, at least one of these scenarios would happen to each of the other AVRT riders).

About halfway through the race, there was an established 3-rider breakaway off the front. I had started feeling pretty good, happened to be near the front, and was pleased to find someone who wizzed by me, seemingly eager to catch the breakaway. I jumped on his wheel and we were rippin’. But as we approached the start/finish line, we were neutralized by the race officials. Apparently, a crash occurred that required the race to be restarted. So we all lined up and started together.

The restart of the race was tough on my legs, which had been working at their maximum and then stood around cold for 5-10 minutes before being asked to max out again. Others may have felt the same, as I barely dodged another crash in front of me.

With three laps to go, I got quite swarmed near the front. There was no major team controlling or ‘leading out’ the race at this point, so the metaphorical washing machine was on a max spin cycle. Fortunately, I regained a lot of position on the downhill section. I gunned it on the start/finish straightaway to pass another group of riders and found myself around 5th wheel going into the last lap. Perfect.

A Terun rider took a flyer off the front to start the last lap, and his teammate sat on the front, somewhat soft pedaling. As we went through the turns on the railroad tracks, nobody wanted to make a move to bridge to the lone Terun rider. So I sprinted around the group and sent it up the hill section of the race. I caught the Terun rider partway through the downhill and quickly realized he was cooked. Since I was fully committed at this point, I went around him (oof, this is going to be a long effort).

I then heard a crash behind me (phew, glad I wasn’t caught up in that… wait, does this mean that I now have a chance to win? I’m gonna win!). But to my not-quite-surprise, the lead riders caught me on the last turn of the race. I sprinted with everything I had left and held onto 9th.

Overall, a fun day, despite the crashes. A few riders grabbed some beers at a taphouse along the course and heckled the pro racers (#crossiscoming).

Thanks for reading!

Alto Velo 9/4/25 Alto Velo 9/4/25

Race Report: 2025 Giro di SF Women’s 3/4/5

Race Report: 2025 Giro di San Francisco Women’s 3/4/5

Date: 9/4/2025

AVRT racers: Katie Monaghan, Sam Dewees

Top Result: Sam 16/29, Katie 22/29

Written by: Katie Monaghan

Course: L-shaped 6-corner course with a small bump. Pavement is bad on the backside stretch, and the second corner has tracks on the road.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15662427460

Nutrition: my typical banana and peanut butter sandwich before and nothing during. Start line gummies

Race Recap:

This was my second time racing Giro di SF. I had a great time racing last year with Katarina Zgraja and I was looking forward to racing again. The women’s 3/4/5 field had an awesome turnout of 29 racers which was exciting. There were a lot of super sprinkles racers, maybe 10?, and the AV representation was just myself and Sam.

For those of you who know me, I recently decided to upgrade my bike. I bought a barely used Orbea Orca on Marketplace about 3 weeks ago. It has all the nice things: Di2 shifting, nice deep set hunt wheels, crisp disc brakes and a nice race geometry. However, I’ve been having issues with the seatpost dropping. (I’m hoping carbon paste and a torque wrench are going to fix that going forward but we will see). I planned to race the Orbea at Giro but at 9 pm the night before the race, I began to have second thoughts. The women’s 3/4/5 had a crash last year and at this point I’m still more comfortable riding hard and taking corners on my old trusty CAAD10. I figured it's a good crit bike, who needs nice things? So I debate via text with a few teammates but ultimately decide to take my CAAD to SF. I wasn’t able to move over my power pedals because I don’t yet own a 8 mm allen key. I figured that I don't look at my power in crits anyway so it didn’t matter. Steph Hart told me she could not possibly support this decision because “how could you ever ride a bike without a power meter?” If you bother to read on, spoiler alert: I maybe should have raced the orbea.

Race starts, things are going smooth. Pavement is a little bad, oh well. The corners are fun and fast and the field is big. Yay, all things that I like! Lots of SF AVer’s came out to support so I could hear cheers from the sidelines at most points during the race which made it even more fun. Shoutout to Richard Red, Simon Parton, Robin Kutner, Jermey Besmer and Ari Fischer for coming out to support! One of my favorite parts of AV will always be the general bike community from the race and club team combined.

I was trying to stay in the front 3rd of the race to make sure I could see any moves that seemed threatening and hopefully stay ahead of crashes. I was successfully able to execute this for the first 30 minutes of the race. There would be an occasional solo sprinkles rider off the front for a lap or two but they were mainly getting brought back. At about 20 minutes into the race, one sprinkles girl had been off the front for 2 laps and no one was making much of an effort to chase her. I figured that was dumb, sure I only have myself and Sam, but I made an effort on the hill to close the gap. After I initiated the chase, the rest of the peloton eventually decided to help me finish it.

Having burned a match, I decided to slot back into the peloton for a little to conserve some energy for what I figured would eventually be a field sprint finish. I slot back to about the 7th wheel but I quickly felt myself slowing. I thought to myself “well I am a little tired but I’m always tired by 30 - 35 minutes into a 40 minute crit, why am I suddenly struggling to keep up?”. The peloton slowly started to slip away and eventually I got completely dropped. I rode alone for the last few laps. During these laps, I was trying as hard as I could to push harder but I just kept getting slower and my heart rate was dropping. I figured this must be late season chronic fatigue and I just had the most catastrophic bonk in the world. Apparently Simon got some dirty looks when he yelled at me during these laps that “it wasn’t a coffee and cake ride and I should get myself in gear”. I didn’t hear it but I still would have found it funny if I did.

We finished the race and I slow rolled off to the side to discover that at some point during the race I broke a spoke. The spoke was slowly causing my rear brake to close down on my wheel and it barely turned by the end of the race. (There is a video of this on my strava post.) While disappointed this happened, I had a big moment of relief. It at least made sense why I so suddenly got dropped by women who I’m normally very competitive against.

I’m not exactly sure at what point in the race the spoke was broken. My best guess is during one of the bumpy corners over the train tracks. I had an instance or two during the race where things didn’t quite feel right while shifting. I figured my chain was jumping and that I had already become spoiled by the smoothness of electronic shifting while riding my Orbea. One of these instances must have been when I broke the spoke but I don’t know how long I rode on it. I’m very thankful to not have crashed despite the mechanical.

I was able to hand my bike off to the mechanics after the race who fixed my spoke for me in time for me to race the women’s P123 later in the day. This was cool but again the AV community in itself is so great. Steph had seen my strava and already offered to pick up my orbea so I could race again later. Simon had also offered me an extra set of wheels from his house. It’s definitely special to have such a good crew of people behind you.

Ultimately, It was a super fun day of racing. I hate to admit it but maybe Steph was right and I should have found a way to switch over my power pedals. It would have certainly been interesting to see what power I was putting out at the end of the race as my back wheel was slowly getting stopped more and more with each pedal stroke …

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