Race Reports
Race Report: 2025 Tour de Murrieta - Men’s 4/5 Circuit Race
Race: 2025 Tour de Murrieta - Men’s 4/5 Circuit Race
Date: Sunday, April 6, 2025
AVRT racers: Wil Gibb
Top Result: Wil Gibb, 3/54
Course: 8 laps of a ~3.5 mile circuit around old town Murrieta. The first mile or so of pavement was quite bumpy, and the first left handed turn was pretty sketchy. Otherwise, the turns could be taken at speed. Points which could be considered features on this course were this left-handed turn as well as a short & steeper hill at the beginning of the back straight. The entire road was available for about half of the course. There was almost zero wind, and this was my first “hot” race of the year, at 80 degrees.
Strava: https://strava.app.link/cqKfqLKDnSb
Nutrition: Two bottles - one with water and one with 90g carb mix. Shout out to Louise for giving me a funny look when I suggested only having one bottle for a 70 minute race in 80 degree heat - I brought an extra and both were empty at the end.
Recap
I went into this race with zero expectations and no course recon; I was racing solo and hadn’t been at the previous day’s crit.. I was intimidated at the start line as this was a big field (50+) with lots of teams I’d never heard of. My main goal was to stay towards the front but not do work on the front, which has been a mistake I’ve made in previous races this year.
The race started out a little spicy as the first mile was very rough pavement. This prevented any attacks as people were just trying to stay on their bikes. The finale of this section was a deceptively tight left-handed turn which of course featured a generous helping of gravel. This caught everyone off guard, including myself — my left cleat unclipped at the apex and I had to go off the road, but managed to stay upright. Feeling satisfied at my smooth recovery, I went to shift and realized my rear derailleur seemed to think the race was over and wouldn’t budge. This has become a fun recurrent quirk of my bike as of late.
While being out of the saddle in the middle of the peloton during a flat section might look cool, it certainly wasn’t the most efficient way to spend the rest of the next five miles. During the time it took my batteries to wake back up, two solo riders had snuck away from the bunch. The efforts from the big teams were nonexistent to bring this breakaway back. There were a couple rollers on the course that would shed a few riders each lap, but the peloton never fell to fewer than 25 or so.
On lap 5 of 8, we came within about 15 seconds of the break and I made a move to try and bridge. A few other riders came with me, but our bridge attempt was poorly timed as it was clear the peloton was going to catch us on the downhill. I used the next few laps to recover from the effort, and thankfully nothing else happened. It was really easy to move from the back to the font of the peloton on the final part of the lap as the road was wide and pedaling was always minimal.
As we were rolling into the last lap, myself and two other solo riders coasted to the front, all wanting to be in the front for the final time through the sketchy gravel corner. One of the riders (Torsten Bartz, shoutout!) suggested we send it coming out of this corner since the riders behind would be slowing. I was the first one through and went all out, deciding there was no reason my heart rate needed to be less than 180bpm for the next 6 minutes. By the time I looked back, there was enough of a gap to keep myself motivated to push to the finish. It was a pretty great feeling to time an attack well for once and see the elastic break, especially at the end of a race. I’m excited to work on these strategies with the team the rest of the year.
Race Report: 2025 UCSC Slug Circuit Race - Women’s 345/CD
Race: 2025 UC Santa Cruz Slug Circuit Race - Women’s 345/CD
Date: Saturday, April 5, 2025
AVRT racers: Hannah Chen, Robin Kutner, Elena de la Paz
Top Result: Robin 3/15, Hannah 4/15
Course: 10 laps of a 2.7 mile loop, with a 1.4 mile descent and a 1.3 mile 350 ft climb each lap. There was a slight crosswind from the west. The climb is average 5.5% grade with a kicker halfway up (just before the finish line) and another kicker at the top of the climb. There are 2 notable “corners” on the loop: one at the start of the descent, and one sharper one at the bottom of the descent. Good pavement.
Strava: Robin’s: https://www.strava.com/activities/14091479925
Nutrition: Two bottles on my bike: one with skratch+malto (50g carb) and one with plain water. Two sleeves of shot bloks in my pocket (96g). Ate a few bloks on the start line and consumed everything else during the ~90 minute race.
Recap (written by Robin):
This race was composed of majority collegiates, two familiar faces from Terun (Sofya and Veerle), a third Terun who’s very new, and the three of us (Elena’s first ever race!). Having raced a mostly collegiate circuit race last year which was 95% coffee ride, I was envisioning prior to the race that the race would boil down to me, Hannah, Veerle, and Sofya in a front group and then a trickle of cat5/collegiates somewhere behind. This is exactly how it played out.
Lap 1 was jarring with all the fresh legs, squirrely/inexperienced riders, and everyone trying to scope out the course. After two full climbs, we had shed most of the collegiates. In the early laps, it was mostly Hannah and Sofya pulling; it was clear that we had similar plans, with Hannah protecting me and Sofya protecting Veerle. I think it was on Lap 3 that Sofya said “can we work together - all take pulls - to definitively separate from the field?” We then started a tight rotation up the climb. We sorta continued rotating on the descent, but Hannah helped me tuck in for maximum recovery.
It was either Lap 4 or 5 climb when AV teammate Drew Mathews, cheering on the sidelines and testing out his feed zone contraption, reported our gap to be 25 seconds. We had all thought one full lap of intentional pacing would’ve distanced the field more than that, so we kept the effort going. This dropped Allie (Davis) from the group. By the next lap, we had a 45 second gap. Impressively, Emma (Cal Poly) caught us right after the descent. She must be very strong to have done that, so we said if she worked with us we’d secure her collegiate win. She had never done a rotating paceline before, so we basically taught her how. This was a reminder to not rest on your laurels especially on a course like this - someone who is inexperienced yet strong can catch back on! All of us in the break were very encouraging, reminding each other to eat and drink, pointing out when gaps formed, etc. This was my first time in a break off the front and the collaboration was super fun, even with the hard effort. We eventually dropped Emma while pushing over the top of the climb. The laps continued at a sustainably hard effort.
Corners are my weakest link and the Terun women were adeptly full-sending them, so Hannah and I strategized positioning so she could stitch me back to them when needed. This meant Hannah moved herself to the front as each descent progressed, doing a lot of work plus tucking very expertly. (We kept catching dropped men from other race fields on the descent, and Hannah’s aero form was a big reason why). We got into a routine of these same maneuvers each lap: Hannah would control the sharp right turn at the bottom of the descent, I’d stay on her wheel, and then I’d swing out to start pulling the bottom of the climb (shallow and exposed) to maximize her recovery time. Terun noticed the pattern, and ultimately they were smart in exploiting this.
With 2km to go, Terun sent the corner at the top of the descent and dropped me and Hannah. Hannah and I relayed a bit on the descent, but their gap was good, Hannah had gassed herself working for me, I was running out of steam, and Sofya was the strongest in the field by far. She did an impressive job leading out Veerle pretty much all the way to the finish line. Hannah led me through the final right turn one last time and then I pulled around. I gave it all I had at that point - which was just a notch above threshold - and grabbed 3rd place behind Terun. Hannah hung on for 4th.
I am super happy with the outcome here because it was fantastic teamwork with Hannah, a great experience in the break, I’m pretty sure I secured my cat3 upgrade, and we’re super proud of Elena for getting her first race in. When I look back on what we could have done differently, I am not sure that anything was likely to change the outcome. Hannah set me up for the best possible finish. If my cornering were stronger (working on it!!!), Terun may have broken away a little later. But on a course like this, we were beaten by two stronger riders, so chapeau to them!
Race Report: 2025 Cat's Hill - Women’s P123
Race: Cat’s Hill - Women’s P123
Date: March 22, 2025
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Ari Fischer
Course: 0.9-mile L-shaped course, featuring a climb that reaches 23% at its steepest point.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13959395737
Nutrition: a muffin before the race and some malto/fructose mix during it.
Recap: (written by Louise) This was my second race of the day and against a field with some very strong climbers, so my aim going into it was just to hang on as long as I could. The race started ok, I was able to move around in the peloton and could keep up with the group up the climb, but things started to go pear-shaped when they called the first prime. The pace picked up in the lead-up to the hill, and then I shifted too slow and ended up in my big chainring at the start of the climb. I frantically eased up to shift, but that lost me precious time and the group pulled away, leaving me solo off the back. The next three or so laps I pushed hard to catch up. Just when I finally managed to do so, they announced another prime. Great timing. The group sped up again and I got jettisoned off the back once more.
After going solo for a bit, I saw Ari was also off the back in front of me, giving me an extra boost of motivation to catch up so we could work together. From Ari’s point of view, she had been yo-yoing in and out of the peloton trying to stay in, dropping, and then catching back on repeatedly until all the matches were burned. Then it was a steady effort off the back until we worked together with a few other stragglers and she was glad to have a friendly face to work with.
The second half of the race was tough and mostly solo, but the cheering/heckling on the hill brought a smile to my face each time. Thanks to everyone who came and spectated! Overall, although we didn’t place very well, we pushed ourselves as hard as we could and I was happy we managed to catch back on after getting dropped a couple of times. I also managed to get the Strava local legend with 37 repeats up Cat’s Hill (apparently no one else wanted to double up for this race lol). And for Ari it was a successful turn out for the 3rd women’s series event of the season and fun to participate in the spirit of SHOWING UP regardless of how well you might place.
Photo credit: Adam Meyer
Photo credit: Dirk Bergtstrom
Race Report: 2025 Santa Cruz Classic Criterium - Men’s Cat 3
Race: Santa Cruz Classic Criterium – Men’s Cat 3
Date: March 23, 2025
AVRT racers: George Wehner
Top Result: George 7/25
Course: 45 minutes of clockwise laps of a 3/4 mile technical course. The course begins with a tight, downhill hairpin about 150m after the start which leads into a long straight that starts narrow but gets wider. Then, there are two wide 90 degree right turns in immediate succession leading into a narrow, slightly uphill section. After this, there is an off-camber right turn with a few drain covers in it, then a 400m climb that starts at around 5% but gradually levels off going back to the start/finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13966863509
Nutrition: I had a packet of Skratch energy chews on the start line. During the race I just drank water.
Recap: After my race here last year ended prematurely due to a crash, I came into this race with a score to settle. As a solo rider, my plan going into this race was to let others do the hard work and wait for the sprint. Cycle Sport, Dolce Vita, and Team California each had a few riders, so I felt that chasing any moves was their responsibility and not mine. I also had marked Kyle from Cycle Sport, Sean from Mike’s Bikes Dev, and Caiden from Cal Poly as the biggest threats in the sprint. Additionally, as this was a hard course, I knew it would be important to stay close enough to the front to avoid getting caught behind any splits, but also far enough back to avoid doing the work myself.
For most of the race, I focused on staying close to the front and conserving energy to the best of my ability. I wasn’t taking very good lines through the hairpin, but I was able to regain the lost positions on the wide part of the straight before the two 90 degree turns. I was also refamiliarizing myself with the lines through the corners, and I found some great lines through the final off-camber right turn. During the first 3/4 of the race, I stayed aware of the situation at all times but was quite passive.
With about 5 laps to go, my strategy shifted away from conservation of energy and towards getting into the exact right position to launch the sprint. At around this point in time, a breakaway with two Team California riders and another solo rider went away, but the field was not particularly motivated to chase this back. With 2 laps to go, a Dolce Vita rider and a Cycle Sport rider launched an attack to chase, so I followed their move. Pretty soon after, they elbowed me through, and I obliged; however, upon looking back, I could tell our move was getting shut down so I turned off the gas and filtered back into the group.
On the final lap, I took a bad line through the hairpin, but I quickly recovered positions and ended up in about 7th wheel going into the final corner. I took an amazing line in the last corner, which allowed me to move up into 5th wheel. From here, it was full gas to the finish line. I had a suboptimal draft up the hill as I was a little bit to the side of the rider in front of me, which may have forced me to do more power than was necessary (around 800W) up the hill. As it flattened out with about 200m to go, Caiden launched his sprint on the left, and I launched on the right. I probably sent it too early though, as two more Team California riders passed me right at the line (Caiden had daylight on all of us and I probably couldn’t have beaten him unless I was on his wheel when he launched). As there were 3 off the front, this left me with a 7th place result.
I had hoped for better going into the race, but I felt like I executed pretty well on my strategy. I definitely have some room for improvement in the smaller details, but I just need to continue to work on these things. I also got another upgrade point as I continue to whittle away at my cat 2 upgrade.
I also recorded some GoPro footage of the race: https://youtu.be/4YH5MafsmSw
Race Report: Santa Cruz Criterium W3/4
Race: Santa Cruz Criterium W3/4
Date: March 23, 2025
AVRT racers: Maeve Roach, Steph Hart, Louise Thomas, Katarina Zgraja, Katie Monaghan
Course: 0.7 mile lap, 40 minutes
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13966736807
Race Recap: The race started on a bit of a down hill right into the hairpin turn, and a lot of people gave the advice to be up at the front for this part which was really helpful in navigating a tight downhill turn like that. The hill on the back half was a good place to make an attack. From Maeve’s perspective, a goal of mine was to practice attacks and tire out the field to either help Steph get in a break away or help Kat and Katie in a field sprint. I made an attack at the top of the hill about 2 laps in, but then realized at the top nobody chased. Talking strategy with the team beforehand, I figured I would do a little effort to see if anyone tried to bridge, but it turned into a 35 minute TT. From the Peloton, there were a lot of attack attempts that kept the race dynamic. Coming down to the final turn the pace was increasing up the climb into the final straight, and the AV women came through in 4/5 of the podium spots in the W3 field!
Race Report: Santa Cruz Criterium WP123
Race: Santa Cruz Crit W/P/1/2/3
Date: March 23, 2025
AVRT racers: Ari Fischer, Rachel Hwang
Course: 0.7 mile lap, 60 minutes
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13969254603
Race Recap: Rachel Hwang’s Perspective
Coming into this race, my riding has been very inconsistent and far and few in between, but after not racing one of my favorite courses yesterday for Cat’s Hill Criterium, I was pretty fired up.
I started off with a longer than average warm up on HWY 1 before taking a free lap and joining the start line behind Ari. I was super excited to have Ari there, a teammate to race with but was getting pretty nervous as I didn’t know how long I’d last and it was my first crit this year.
When the whistle blew, we went off, and the paced ebbed and flowed. On the beginning of lap 2 or 3, Alex pushed the pace a little harder by going to the front, and I followed closely behind. My legs seemed to know what they were doing, but my lungs immediately were giving out. I was able to stick behind Alex through that entire lap before someone on Terun threw an attack on the start of the next lap, and without even thinking or trying, I was already dropped. For the first few laps I was dropped, I could occasionally see the pack in front of me. Normally I would’ve fought to stick with the group or tried to catch back up to the group, but with how poor I was feeling, I knew it was a lost cause.
The rest of the race was a “solo TT” as the announcer called out, and all I could do was bear my head down and push and pull the pedals, and through that last corner, keep a consistent watt up the hill with a bothersome headwind. I consistently looked at the trees above to get a better idea which direction the headwind was coming from.
At one point, Jamie lapped me, and my motivation was to not get lapped by the rest of the field. With each lap, what kept me going were the people cheering for me, teammates and random people seeing my struggle. There were a couple times I had really bad coughing fits and almost pulled myself out, but knew if I stopped riding, that would be all the miles I’d be getting this week.
I eventually passed the finish line signaling the end of the race. I’m not sure what I learned today other than the fact that racing sick sucks and I need to get back in shape, both my top end power and base fitness.
Nutrition: 1x 24oz Tailwind Cola, 1x caffeinated Torq gel at the start line
Race Report: Bariani Road Race W1/2/3
Race Report: Bariani Road Race W1/2/3
Date: March 16, 2025
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Robin Betz, Rachel Hwang, Steph Hart
Top Result: 7/17 Steph, 8 /17 Rachel
Course: 3 laps of a 20-mile, mostly flat course with a short hill about 3km before the finish. Really crazy winds (20 mph, 40 mph gusts)- so crosswinds for most of the course and a headwind into the finish.
nutrition: 35g carbs/hr (gatorade + a sleeve of shotblocks)
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13903163316
Race Recap (written by Steph)
AV didn’t really have a plan fleshed out going into this race, and was mostly playing defense against whatever Terun (Jamie Chapman, Jacqueline Larouche, Sarah Flamm) was up to. The first lap was peppered with attacks (Shannon Gaffney in particular seemed content to sit in the wind)- Rachel and Robin + Terun covered most of these. Eventually Terun started rolling attacks in the crosswind section on the back half of the course and Jamie Chapman went up the road solo. This also split the field and Louise and Rachel had to chase back on in the headwind section. The next 1.5 laps proceeded at a pretty chill pace, but the wind still made it a tough effort for everyone. On the last lap several teams tried to attack (including on the short hill), but nothing got away. In the last 1km, Robin tried to lead Rachel out, but Terun attacked on the other side of the yellow line, and AV lost position. In hindsight, we should have had a protected rider (probably Rachel) from the start to at least keep someone fresh after the crosswind sections.
Race Report: 2025 Bariani RR Men’s Cat 4
Race: Bariani Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Date: March 16th, 2025
AVRT Racers: Jack Lund, Sam Moskal, Clark Penado
Top Result: Jack Lund - 11/38
Report Author: Clark Penado
Course: 3 laps of a 20mi loop, 60mi total. Mostly flat (300ft of climbing by lap), high winds from the SSW during the race. Some poor overall pavement, with potholes and cracks on the first half of the course, better on the second half.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13901632172
Nutrition: 1 energy gel, 2 bottles of high carb drink mix
Event Recap: This was certainly a windy day during the race, and the pace started out quite moderate. However, after the first left turn early in the course (into the headwind) the pace picked up considerably, and the subsequent right turn was followed by some heavy attacks. This is where the group started to break apart, and following through to the next turn, I noticed that there was a considerable gap between the wheel in front of me and the main group. I opted to try and bridge, but was only able to make it to a smaller group that formed off the back of the main group of about three other riders.
From here, I started rotating with the others in this smaller group to try and chase back on, and about halfway through the first lap we were able to absorb Jack and one other rider into our group. A key aspect to the rotation that was happening was echeloning based on the relative direction of the wind, staggering ourselves in either direction to get a maximum benefit. By the end of the first lap, we also added Sam into our group, who had lasted the longest within the main front bunch but unfortunately got a flat which required a quick CO2 injection. By this point, there were about 13 other riders up the road from us.
The second lap was fairly uneventful, where we continued to rotate, but didn’t appear to be closing on the main group much. At the start of the third lap, we lost a couple people in our smaller group, but also caught two others that had come off the back of the group up the road. They similarly joined our rotation plan, which continued until about 5 miles to go. Here one of the other riders from Super Sprinkles took the front, and Jack and I ended up sitting on his wheel until about the last hill kicker roughly 2 miles from the finish. Here he put in an attempted attack, but wasn’t able to shake either of us. Coming into the finish we got a bit game-y, and Jack was able to react to the Super Sprinkles rider’s sprint roughly 200m away from the finish by slipping onto his wheel and getting a slingshot effect to win the relative sprint from our bunch.
Race Report: Cat’s Hill 2025 - Women’s Cat 4/5 & Collegiate D
Race: Cat’s Hill - Women’s Cat 4/5 & Collegiate D
Date: March 15, 2025
AVRT racers: Hannah Chen, Katie Monaghan, Samantha Dewees
Top Result: Hannah Chen (8/19) Katie Monaghan (9/19)
Course: 40 minutes around a 0.90 mile course. L shape with 6 corners and a punchy 0.05mi/ 35ft climb at avg 11.8%, max 20% grade followed by a gradual descent to the finish
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13957443896
Nutrition: PB& banana sandwich for breakfast, Mott’s Gummies right before the race cause I’m cheap and sugar is sugar
(From Katie’s point of view)
I have so many thoughts about this race. First of all, I LOVE it. Second of all, I HATE it.
Quick context, let's start with this race in 2024: It was one of my first races last year. I had broken a rib in a crash about ~8ish weeks earlier descending a wet 84. Being the really responsible physical therapist that I am, I naturally pushed the limits of what I should have been doing physically. However, I showed up to the race and it was actively raining. Between the wet surfaces, my recent injury and my genuine fear if I was going to even be able to make it up the hill, I was mentally not in it from the start. I got dropped early, suffered a lot and averaged about 16.5 mph for the course.
Come 2025, I was super eager to give another crack at this course. I felt way more confident that I could get up the hill after having a year of Egan under my belt. 23% grade sprints were no longer so intimidating. Thank you Egan!! I had messaged in the women’s slack prior to the race looking for tips about shifting before entering the hill. Last year I granny geared up for it every lap and knew if I wanted to be competitive, this wasn’t going to cut it. (For context, I only had a 28 in the back so it wasn’t the granniest of gears). However, I also knew I wanted to avoid the dreaded chain drop. Kristin had suggested getting into your little ring after the speed bump on the straight away prior to the left. Noted.
Race starts. Time for hill repeats! The first few laps I think I was re-figuring out the hill – “Okay shift early, but try to have lots of momentum still. Get out of the saddle, pray to god and repeat.” I was doing pretty well and keeping up with the front 5-6 of the group. This hill really was 1000x easier than last year. I also found that I was 1000x stronger on the slight downhill and corners from last year. Most laps I would enter the hill first to second wheel and end up 5-6th at the top of the hill. Some things never change and I only climb hills so fast. However, I wasn’t trashed and was finding it very easy to get myself back to the front of the group on the downhill without expending really much energy at all. Therefore, I would make sure to enter first to give myself any advantage I could on the climb.
5 laps to go and I’m very much still in it. I started shifting later and later into my little ring throughout the race because it was helping me keep better speed and momentum entering the climb. 4 laps to go, the shift again happens later and suddenly I’m spinning out. The dreaded chain drop. I unclip and let out a healthy array of expletives. Ryan D runs up to me and encourages me to start my run up the hill to get my chain back on. (Thank you Ryan!) However, I knew my race was pretty much over at this point.
I got to the top, pulled my chain back on and expressed to anyone who was willing to hear that I really was previously in the race. I finished out the race but at much less intensity to come in 9th. I had a few friends from undergrad and my track club who came to watch, which was super nice of them. Following the race, one of them told me that they overheard someone say I was the most amusing person to watch. I think this was because I proceeded to spend my final four laps chitchatting all my laments as I climbed the hill. If I can’t be the fastest, at least apparently I’m somewhat funny.
Very disappointed to have dropped my chain but I could tell I made a lot of progress in my cycling this past year. My average speed was faster (19.8 mph), I hit 30 second power PRs and the downhill corners were exhilarating and fun rather than scary. Sometimes it’s about progress not perfection and I’m okay with that.
I also want to say a huge thank you to everyone in the Alto Velo community who came out to watch! Especially if you bothered to come early to watch the women’s 4s or 3s. It’s super fun to have people cheering for you on the sidelines and we all really appreciated it.
Photo Credits: Will Gibb
Race Report: 2025 Tucson Bicycle Classic – Men’s P12
Race: TBC Marana Time Trial - Men’s P12
Date: February 21nd, 2025
AVRT racers: Cameron O’Reilly, Florian Costa, Devin Wilson
Top Result: Flo - 24/113
Course: 4.5 mile flat TT on a bike path.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13689155783
Recap: Written by Flo Costa
The Tucson Bicycle Classic started off with a short time trial in the town of Marana, just north-west of Tucson. Given the late morning start, Cam, Devin, and I decided to ride to the race from our AirBnb. This way we could spin out our legs and warm up without the stress of driving and finding a last-minute stretch of road to warm up on. It’s always convenient to be able to ride to the start of races, and I find that it’s both relaxing and effective as a warm-up (as long as you are not running late). For all categories this year, the TT had to be ridden on a mass-start legal setup meaning TT bikes and aero discs were off the table. This meant it would just be me and my road bike, and my aero helmet, my aero bottle, my aero socks, my aero shoe covers, and my long-sleeved Eliel skinsuit.
Based on the distance and (lack of) elevation, I was targeting a 10-11 minute effort all out. My legs weren’t feeling great during the warm up, but as soon as I got to the start line I locked in. My only focus was to push as many watts as I could while staying aero. About 6 minutes in I caught my 30-second man, which gave me a small respite as I made the pass. My legs were hurting, but this was more motivation to keep cranking out the power. I continued to stay aero, but my form slowly deteriorated as my whole body started to ache. With 800 meters to go I could see the finish area and emptied everything I had left until the line, just passing my 1-minute man at the finish.
I finished 24th on the day with a time of 10:11 - a solid result by my standards. More importantly, I had completely emptied myself and my legs responded well, so I was quite happy with the effort. Still, there were a couple things I could have improved on. First, I should have done a recon of the course in the days before the race to familiarize myself with the one turn on the course. The day of the race I came into the turn with a lot of speed and was too conservative not knowing how much I needed to slow down. Next, towards the end of the TT my aero position broke down a bit. Here I could have been more disciplined to stay in position, and could have done a better job working on my flexibility as a part of regular training. All in all a good effort on a fun course. After the race, I immediately had to switch my focus for the Crit that same evening.
Race: TBC Twilight Crit - Men’s P12
Date: February 22nd, 2025
AVRT racers: Cameron O’Reilly, Florian Costa, Devin Wilson
Top Result: Flo - 18/113
Course: 45 min crit near downtown Tucson on a fast P shaped course featuring a small hill and a tight hairpin turn.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13691883378
Nutrition: Bottle with Gatorade and Malto. Gels and Caffeine before the race.
Recap: Written by Flo Costa
After the TT earlier in the day, I ate a solid lunch and took a nap. The Twilight Crit was after sunset at 8pm under the lights. The course was pretty unique for a criterium, with the main feature being a very tight 180 degree hairpin turn after the longest straightaway. This was going to be a fast race, and positioning would be critical given the technical nature of the course. Watching the previous races and seeing the results confirmed this, as prior races had completely shattered on the course. With a good nap and some caffeine, I was excited and ready to race.
Things were pretty messy at the start line area and unfortunately I didn’t get a good starting position, with about half of the field in front of me. This meant that for the first 5 or so laps I worked fairly hard to get to the front. Starting position is really important for hard crits like this since the cost of moving up is so huge. With the tight hairpin and a rapid succession of turns on the back side, the field got strung out very quickly. To make matters worse, the group would bunch up going into the hairpin which meant it was an all out sprint out of the turn to catch back up to speed. However, in the first 10-15 wheels, the turns were much smoother and it was easier to carry speed. Once I got near the front, I had more control of my lines and didn’t have to burn as many matches to sprint out of corners.
The race was still quite hard, and with bonus seconds available at the finish of every lap, the pace never settled down. Gaps were opening up in our field and people were hanging on for dear life. I was in full race mode, and got in a nice groove figuring out the places on the course where I could move up and how I could be efficient in the turns. On a couple occasions I was in the right position to grab bonus seconds, but both times I was passed right at the line, and didn’t want to spend too much energy sprinting in the middle of the race. In hindsight, this probably would have been worth it to move up in GC.
There were a few crashes but overall it didn’t feel too dangerous. We were going full gas and the field thinned out significantly. With around 3 laps to go, I was battling to stay in the top 10 wheels for the finish. This is always a key point in the race as everyone has the same ambition to be in front. At this point, my mentality is to keep moving forward at every opportunity, even the slightest. However, any small mistake results in you instantly losing 10+ positions. Unfortunately for me, an ambitious line on the outside gutter resulted in me pedal-striking the curb, causing me to drop my chain. I quickly caught it and put it back with my front derailleur, but by then I had lost momentum and lost many precious places in the group. I slowly inched my way back forward in the last couple laps, but the best I could do was 18th in the end.
Another solid result in the end, but still room for improvement. I made a crucial mistake in the last few laps and had still not been aggressive enough to be near the very front in the end. Ultimately, the order of riders entering the final hairpin turn was nearly identical to the finishing results, showing how important positioning is in a race like this. This race was incredibly fun and I enjoyed racing in front of all the spectators that came to watch.
Race: TBC Sauhiritia Road Race - Men’s P12
Date: February 22nd, 2025
AVRT racers: Cameron O’Reilly, Florian Costa, Devin Wilson
Top Result: Devin - 24/113
Course: 4 laps of a 20.5mi loop. 1000ft of climbing per lap. Mostly flat, with a shallow climb heading into the finish. Max gradient ~3%. FAST course.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13699583633
Nutrition: Bottle 1: ~60g 1:1 glucose:fructose. Bottle 2: electrolyte mix. A few GU’s in the pocket. Nothing super heavy for this stage.
Recap: Written by Devin Wilson
Entering the road race, everyone was coming off not much sleep from the late night crit the day before. Luckily, we had a mid-day start which made things a bit easier on us rather than the 8am start for the first wave. The later start did mean we were out in the heat of the day at a whole 75 degrees. Paired with the dry weather though, it was good to have a feeder out there. Our goals coming into this race were to get Flo in the break as he was sitting highest in GC. With 3 riders in a 100+ rider peloton, this was a bit easier said than done.
The race started off pretty quick (as they usually do) but things kept together for the most part. The first lap was pretty chill, I moved up to the front to check things out and to stay out of whatever business was happening in the rear of the group. iSpeed, Landis/Trek, Tag, and ABC, and Kelly Benefits U23 were the main players in this race. Project Echelon was in the GC lead, but with only 2 guys it was going to be hard for them to keep things together.
There was a pretty nasty crash about 20-30 wheels back on lap 2. A lot of guys didn’t end up making it back after that one… I was right behind it and even had to put my foot down, but made it out quick enough. Flo & Cam were right there with me which was quite reassuring knowing our GC guy didn’t get caught up in anything. Of course, the group surged after the crash. This meant that the second lap up the climb was also our fastest - where I believe we were going around 25mph up the 2% grade.
Breaks had been going all day at this point, with smaller groups of riders sneaking away plus a few more bridging up. The most notable breaks of the day happened during lap 3 on the climb and at the start of the last lap. Flo did make it into the last break of the day, but Kelly had a guy drill it on the descent into the feed zone to bring it back.
Coming into the finish, people were trying all sorts of last minute solo moves as the teams were setting up their lead outs for the sprint. I sat myself right about 20 wheels back, trying to stay out of the wind but far enough forward to follow an attack if need be. The teams kept things together, so none of the solo attacks stayed away for very long. The finish itself was really just a game of positioning - nobody behind 10th wheel was in for much of a sprint. I managed to keep myself forward amongst the battle to stay forward and managed to place 24th of 110 or so riders. Since I was a bit further back, it was really just a seated acceleration into the finish.
I’d say this was one of the less difficult national level road races I’ve done. Being swept along at 28mph for 80 miles can be pretty fun, but it can also be scary, especially being one of the first races of the season (and with a 40+mph descent). I felt pretty confident having done a few races already heading into TBC, but for many of the riders this was their first road race of the season. All around, a great race with not much TSS heading into the circuit.
Race: TBC Oro Valley Circuit - Men’s P12
Date: February 23nd, 2025
AVRT racers: Cameron O’Reilly, Florian Costa, Devin Wilson
Top Result: Flo - 14/113
Course: A 4-corner circuit with some slight twists & turns. A fast, but slightly pitchy climb into the finish (~7%). Overall a very fast and fun circuit!
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13710309683
Nutrition: Just water for the race. Heavy breakfast due to a late start.
Recap: Written by Devin Wilson
This one was a fun one. Right from the start, people were sending moves off the front (namely iSpeed) trying to get away. The course was a lot more dynamic than the day before, with a very quick descent coming into a short flat section followed by the climb into the finish. The top and bottom ends of the courses were the places to move up or to relax, while the descent / climb were where things really lit up. The bottom end of the course however was a great spot for riders to send an early attack up the climb or to reinvigorate a chase.
Things split up pretty early on in the race with a massive breakaway of 15-20 riders. There was a good representation from each team, but Project Echelon wasn’t in it. There were also several other teams who weren’t happy with the move, so all we had to do was sit in and let them chase. At no point in the race did things let up - there was always someone trying to chase down the break or to attack up the climb to be the first across the line for the lap.
I made sure to sit toward the front as much as I could, but it was difficult to maintain a good position without being shuttled to the front or being caught with riders shooting up one side or the other. This made for some good fun but it did make it slightly tedious to stay forward. At a few points in the race I found myself attempting to solo bridge to a move, only to find that I had the entire field on me (my mistake).
Coming into the last few laps, Flo and I were trying to stay close together so we could place him as far up as possible. If I could get him on my wheel and drop him off somewhere near the front, he’d have a good chance at moving up in GC. This was going to be sort of an ordeal given the high pace, but by the end of the race it was easier to predict where the forward momentum would be going in the field.
Coming into the finish was pretty fast. There was a lot of squeezing into small gaps and fighting for position just as one would do in a crit. What made things unnecessarily interesting, however, was the crash about 20 wheels back with only 400m to go. With some stroke of luck, Flo & I were just behind it, and managed to move around it pretty fast. I gave it my all into the finish, not knowing if Flo was on my wheel or not. In the last 100m or so I watched him fly by me to come in 14th as I rolled in 16th behind a POA rider. Cam managed to roll in unscathed with the main peloton.
Race Report: 2025 Bariani Road Race – Women’s Cat 4/N/Masters 40+
Race: Bariani Road Race - Women’s Cat 4 / Novice / Masters 40+
Date: March 16, 2025
AVRT racers: Hannah Chen, Chris Davis, Samantha Dewees, Katie Monaghan, Janene Ostrow, Katarina Zgraja
Top Results: [combined Cat 4/N]: Katarina (1/28), Katie (8/28), [Masters 40+] Chris (2/6)
Course: 2, 20 mile laps of a mostly flat course. The most notable “hill” was about 3 km to the finish of each lap. It was super windy, I believe wind was blowing from the south, direction NNW, which meant pretty hefty headwind on an early portion of the lap, crosswinds along the back (northernmost) stretch of the course, and then headwinds for the finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13903043901
Nutrition: Sis Go Isotonic Gel on the start line, 2 bottles of Precision Fuel (2 scoops / 30g carb per bottle + 1 scoop UCANN Hydration Mix) during the race and 1 UCAN Gel at mile 25-ish.
Recap (written by Katarina): The race started off extremely slow, disorganized and boring. Everyone seemed to be playing games. All of us Alto Velo riders had positioned ourselves within the group, no one was really up near the front. There were some sprinkles, Monarch riders up at the front, trying to figure out who was going to sit at the front of the group and pull. As we turned left into the first headwind section, the pace slowed to a crawl. Chris, our hero, got fed up with the shenanigans and rushed to the front and started pulling a great pace. It was awesome! It got things moving again. We all settled in for a bit.
After a while, I started to feel like maybe I should help Chris out, after all it is a “long” race (maybe not long compared to other fields races, but long compared to, say, a crit). I made my way to the front and told Chris that I’ll hang out here for a bit. I picked up the pace, pulled ahead slightly to get the others moving, and then after they caught up to me, we kept chugging along. At some point in time someone else came up and pulled, and I settled within the pack again for much of the first lap.
I spent much of the rest of the first lap chatting with a few teammates and riders on other teams, honestly it was very much coffee paced. There were a few surgy / challenging sections with the wind, and it was really hard to find shelter, even being in a somewhat big group.
I had never ridden this course before, so I was trying to keep an eye out for the “hill”. There were a couple of smaller rollers, then we started up the main hill of the course. I was just settling into a pace, when one girl dropped her chain. A few of us scooted around her, and kept riding. I looked up to the front of the group, and everyone just seemed to be in a bit of disarray. There were girls slowing down, looking around. Without really thinking things through, I came out to the left of the group, put a solid acceleration down and attacked on the hill. I didn’t look back for a while, but it ended up being somewhat effective, as I had managed to get a good little gap on the group. I assumed that once I hit the headwind section of the 2nd lap, I would be caught up with, but I focused on continuing to push a solid power since I had a surprisingly decent gap on the field.
I ended up settling into a consistent just-below threshold pace for the rest of the race, and the longer I rode, the more realistic it became to me that I would end the race by myself. It was a cool experience to be a rider off the front, as I’ve never done that before in a race. When I attacked, I was not doing it to get away, and was fully planning to get brought back to the group since the wind was such a strong contributor to the race. Even though it was not the plan for the day, and to be honest a little bit boring riding by myself for half the race, it was cool to try some new things, and also cool that it worked out with me staying away and winning.
Race Report: Cat’s Hill Classic - Men's Novice/Cat 4/Collegiate C/D
Race: Cat’s Hill Classic - Men's Novice/Cat 4/Collegiate C/D
Date: March 22, 2025
AVRT racers: Adam Beliveau, Clark Penado, Sam Moskal, Vasyl Stokolosa, Wil Gibb
Top Result: 2/18 Vasyl Stokolosa (Novice), 8/23 Sam Moskal (4)
Course: 30 minutes around a 0.90 mile course. L shape with 6 corners and a punchy 0.05mi/ 35ft climb at avg 11.8%, max 20% grade followed by a gradual descent to the finish
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13956235530
Nutrition: 40g carbs during registration. Went with no bottles as this was a very short race. Other riders had 0.5-1 bottles of water.
Race Recap:
We entered the race as the third-largest team, behind Mike's Bikes and Cal Poly, in a mixed field of 50 riders. Our strategy was to cover attacks from these teams and any other threatening solo riders. The course profile favored our most powerful riders, Wil and Vasyl, and we aimed to have one or both of them in any breakaways that formed. We didn't have a dedicated sprinter and planned on working with whoever had opportunistic positioning.
The start of the race was crucial. We anticipated a fast beginning due to the wide range of skill levels, so it was essential to be at the front early to navigate the hill feature without braking. Wil and Vasyl took the lead almost immediately, alongside Cal Poly. Within the first five minutes, a group of about 20 riders separated from the rest of the field. Wil and Vasyl worked hard at the front to control the pace and maintain speed through corners. I wanted to contribute but couldn't find a safe opportunity to move up without chasing down my teammates, so I settled into the draft and rode smoothly for the next 20 minutes.
With four laps remaining, a Cal Poly rider launched a solo attack up the hill, but we didn't respond since they were in the collegiate field. Soon after, Vasyl briefly opened a gap but was eventually caught. We started passing lapped riders with 4 laps to go, which added some confusion as to who was still in contention. As we entered the final lap, Wil led the field, and the lead group had dwindled to 12 riders, with four of our team members still represented. Wil maintained the front through the top of the hill, where Vasyl and two Cal Poly riders took over. This formation held until the end of the race, with Vasyl sprinting to second place in the Novice category and third overall (note: we believe that Vasyl actually finished first in the Novice category due to the officials accidentally counting a lapped rider first) . I finished eighth in the Cat 4 field, closely followed by Adam and Wil. In hindsight, I should have contributed more to support my teammates throughout the race or prepared for a stronger sprint, as the podium was within a second or two. This was the first time our group raced together, and we're looking forward to the next event. Thanks for reading!
Race Report: Cat's Hill Crit W3/Masters
Race : Cat's Hill Crit W3/Masters
Date: March 22, 2025
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Kat Zgraja, Maeve Roach, Kristin Hepworth, Janene Ostrow, Steph Hart
Top Result: 1/12 Steph, 3/12 Kat (12 total field, 7 cat 3 riders)
Course: 0.9 mile course (L shaped, 6 corners) and a punchy 0.05mi climb (11.8%)
nutrition: birthday cake gu ~5 min before the start (can’t say I’d recommend that flavor)
Photo credit: Wil Gibb
Race Recap
Steph’s POV:
The plan for this race was for me, Louise, Kristen and Kat to spend the race attacking, and if the field was still together at the end, then we’d lead Maeve out. Shortly after the start Louise attacked and stayed away for ~2 laps, AV did a pretty good job forcing Eclipse and Super Sprinkles (in this case just Sophia Hu) to chase. As soon as Louise was caught I countered and was off the front for 3 or so laps before being brought back by the field. Kat countered with a nice attack as well, and by the time the race was back together, (25 minute mark?) we were all pretty cracked. It's been fun getting this attack/counter attack train going smoothly in the last few cat 3 races. With 5 (?) laps to go, Louise attacked and Shantalle (Sycip) and Stephanie Hayos (Eclipse) buried themselves to bring her back just before the hill. I took the climb pretty hard and then attacked just cresting the hill, and the rest of the field seemed too tired to follow (good tip from Louise’s pre-race brief). I managed to stay away for the final 4 laps with maybe a 20 second lead for the win. In the field, Kat was just edged out in the field sprint by Stephanie Hayos, and came in 3rd.
Last lap Kat’s POV:
Thanks to Louise’s great pre-race tip, I planned to position myself at the front of the group on the last lap on the hill. I crested the hill in front of the group, then put the power down hard. This spread out the group a bit. I think it ended up being me, then Stephanie Hayos on my wheel, and Maeve on her wheel. I was focusing on a good lead-out for Maeve. Stephanie ended up starting her sprint just before the final corner (surprised me to be quite honest), and pulled ahead. We were taking the final corners pretty hard and aggressive I’d say, and some of the field fell behind a bit. I couldn’t keep up with Stephanie (Eclipse) after the effort I put down in the earlier part of that lap, but I am happy that I still had the legs to finish the race/sprint somewhat strong.
Photo Credit: Adam Meyer (thanks for capturing my pain face)
Race Report: Land Park Crit W3/4/5/Master’s/Juniors
Race: Land Park Crit W3/4/5/Master’s/Juniors
Date: March 15, 2025
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Sam Dewees, Kat Zgraja, Katie Monaghan, Steph Hart
Top Result: 1/50 Steph, 3/50 Kat, 6/50 Louise
Course: Flat oval course (~1.1 mi) with a chicane, headwind into the finish line
nutrition: espresso gu ~5 min before the start
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13892978235
Race Recap:
From Steph’s perspective in the break:
The start of the NCNCA womens series brought out 50 (!) women in the combined 3/4/5 masters/jr field- largest field of the day outside of the men’s 1/2/3 race. As soon as lap one, several solo attacks went off the front, but everything was brought back quickly. The chicane section was pretty sketchy with this large of a field, which was a good reminder to be in the front of this section to avoid crashes. In the third lap, Lousie attacked before the chicane section, and when the field brought her back, I countered and got a bit of separation heading into the headwind section. No one appeared to chase, and after a few laps solo I was holding a 30-45 second gap. From there I spent the next 35 minutes humming radio shack to myself off the front while riding a little below threshold (noting Bariani was the following day so I didn’t want to totally trash myself), and managed to stay away for the win.
From Katie’s perspective in the field:
This was the best race of the year. Steph got away early and then Louise, Kat and I quickly assembled to the front of the peloton to slow down the field. I heard a few girls shout at us that we were purposely slowing it down and that felt super satisfying. There was a lot of racing between Steph’s break and the final laps that included some sketchy corners, a little bumping elbows and small attacks.
With three laps to go, I notice I’m the only AV jersey I’ve seen in the main peloton for a bit. I think to myself did I suddenly get the fitness of a god and somehow am the only one who stayed with the group?! Believe it or not, this is definitely not the case, Louise was sitting at the back plotting with Kat exactly what she wanted for a sprint.
With about 5 laps to go Louise rides up next to me and goes “okay Kat wants a 10 second sprint, one of us is taking through the first two corners and chicane and one of us is taking through the final corner. Which do you want?” Katie “uhhhhh, idk??” The pace picks up again and we split.
Entering into the final lap, I see Kat has gotten herself to the front. I’m probably mid to back of the back. Louise comes around me and gets in front of Kat. Again Katie thoughts “woah, cool, okay Katie time to make yourself useful” so I come around the outside the peloton and get in front of Louise to start hammering for the final lap.
To my surprise, I think I was putting down some pretty good power because I stayed there for about 75% of the final lap. I was super excited to finally to get to take the left before the chicane like I wanted to instead of the accordion effect on all the other laps. I just redlined some and listened to Louise’s encouraging words behind me go “come on Katie, you’re doing great, one more corner, come on, you’ve got this” I’m currently seeing stars but how the heck to let the nicest person in the world down at that point? Shy of the final corner I pull to the side and Louise pulled around me and I slow pedaled to the finish.
Kat’s perspective in the sprint:
After Steph’s attack, Louise, Katie, and I worked to prevent the group from catching. It was pretty effective. Based on the course visibility, we could see Steph noticeably getting away. About 4 laps to go, we now started to focus on the field sprint. Louise came up to me and we discussed strategy. We ended up deciding that Katie and Louise were going to lead me out for the field sprint. Louise rode up to Katie to tell her to start getting to the start of the pack on the second to last or beginning of the last lap. We assembled ourselves pretty well. Katie came to the front of the group right at the bell lap and pulled like a beast until just after the chicane. Then Louise was right behind her and put the power down. There was a girl who managed to grab Louise’s wheel, so I was 3rd wheel in the leadout. Closely after the final turn (~400m to the finish?), Shannon Pidd pulled out from behind me. I quickly grabbed her wheel, and then it was a race between me and her to the finish. I was gaining on her, but the finish line did arrive quicker than I expected, so I ended up being maybe 6” behind her. I guess I need to start practicing my bike throw. All-in-all a great effort, the pace on that last lap was epic, and our teamwork really worked out quite well. I just need to work on executing that field sprint win in future races :)
photo credit: Daniel Alvarez
Race Report: Snelling Road Race W3/4/5/Master’s
Race: Snelling RR W3/4/5
Date: March 1, 2025
AVRT racers: Chris Davis, Louise Thomas, Maeve Roach, Rachel Hwang, Robin Kutner, Sam Dewees, Steph Hart
Top Result: 1/31 Rachel, 3/31 Louise, 5/31 Maeve, 6/31 Steph
Course: 50 miles total, 4x 11.4 mile laps with a 5 mile moto start
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13763587090
Race Recap: Rachel Hwang’s Perspective
Our team strategy was to have me as a protected rider to get my last remaining upgrade points to cat up, and have the rest of the team attack and counterattack, make the race more exciting.
Right off the bat, Louise attacked, and given the race had just begun, no one chased. For the first lap Louise was out there on her own, a few same people tried bridging, but made poor attempts and were uncoordinated. In addition, Robin did a great job of riding in the front of the pack discouraging others to chase, or sitting 2nd wheel behind those who tried to chase, and refused to pull, once again disrupting any chase attempts.
One lap in, the race was turning into a coffee ride, and Steph decided to attack. Maeve and I followed thinking we could break off from the larger group, join Louise, and have a 4 person team break. That failed horribly as the rest of the pack was right behind us. Although we never want to chase our teammates down, my thought here was to have a sprinter and a teammate in the break to ensure a win at the finish line. Instead of slowing down once again as we should have done, Steph continued pushing the pace until we caught up to Louise, at which point she had about a one minute lead. While we should not have chased down our own teammate, the field was not cut in half, and people were getting tired.
For the next lap, some attacks were made, none successful, chased down each time. As it was the same few people chasing, probably those stronger in the pack, they were getting tired. Then for a bit, attacks stopped, and the ride started becoming a coffee ride once again. I chatted with Robin, saying it was getting boring, that I want to attack but I should keep my energy, and that’s when Robin said she could attack. She did just that, which set off a chain of events leading to the eventual win. As Robin attacked, others chased, and I followed drafting behind the others. As Robin was brought back in, Sophia counterattacked, Louise chased, and I jumped on Louise’s wheel. Mile 23. I have never been in a successful break, and thinking strategy, always play it conservatively, and as the protected rider, didn’t think I should pull. Because I’ve never been in a successful break, I was also very skeptical of a break sticking for 25+ miles. As the three of us struggled to figure out how to keep the break, with Sophia and Louise trading pulls, I could see the two of them struggling, and asked Louise if I should pull. She said, “maybe a little.” A fourth girl, Kelly, had bridged up to us, and that point, had been maybe a minute in a successful break, already longer than I had expected. With four people, I decided to give it a good go and with the help of Louise was able to get the four of us to rotate and take quick turns pulling. I would count in my head up to 10 slowly before flicking my elbow and moving aside for the next person to pull.
Robin’s perspective in the main pack: with our protected rider in the break, Maeve and Steph and I patrolled the front of the peloton to interrupt attempts at paceline organization. After a few miles, the break was out of sight. Steph attacked at one point on a roller in favorable wind conditions, and nobody chased her down. When she was maybe 30sec ahead, Maeve then attacked (looking around to make sure she hadn’t brought any opponents with her), and turns out she was able to bridge to Steph. Strong!!
We traded pulls for the remainder of the ride, with the moto informing us our lead of 30s, 1min, and 2min. I felt pretty fresh, and really wanted the break to stick. As the pace would drop a little, I’d pull a little longer, yell some encouraging words, and especially up the hills, keep a strong pace and pull us up, but trying to be careful not to push the pace too much as I needed the other 3 for a successful breakaway through to the end.
As we entered into the last lap, I was trying to gauge how the other riders felt. Louise told me she didn’t think she could keep that pace much longer, even though she was killing it and I couldn’t tell, and Sophia and Kelly had strong but short pulls, so couldn’t tell how they were doing.
Robin’s perspective in the main pack: now we had two AV groups up ahead, and it was just me in this chase group (plus the Chris/Sam group somewhere behind). Having shed a few riders to the front groups and off the back, the riders around me started rolling turns. I didn’t want to just sit on the back of the rotation because then I’d be too far from the front to respond to anything. So I sorta sat in the middle of the rotation and when riders noticed the next person wasn’t pulling through, they’d glance back, see it was me (and understandably roll their eyes!), and create a mini-rotation in front of me. It felt like a sneaky move, but it was successful, since we then lost sight of Maeve and Steph. This was my first time majorly defending teammates up the road.
With less than 3 miles to go, we turned a corner, with me and Sophia in front, and the next time I looked back, Louise and Kelly had dropped off. I wasn’t sure how many miles were left so looked over at Sophia wondering if we should go ahead or wait for them. They were getting farther behind so we decided to work together to the end. I later learned from Louise that she purposefully slowed her and Kelly down so that I’d only have one person to sprint against. As Sophia and I were on the last stretch of road before the last turn, we traded pulls, and Sophia moved aside for me to pull, then said, “It’s the last corner.” I replied with, “I know” and decided to pull the rest of the way. But Sophia wasn’t sitting right behind my wheel and I wasn’t sure why she wasn’t maximizing the draft, then I speeded up a little, and as soon as we hit the corner, I sprinted. About 15 seconds later I look back and she’s still far behind but don’t let off the gas. Another 15 seconds later I look back again and she is nowhere near catching up, so I slow roll through the finish line.
Robin’s perspective in the main pack: with all my teammates up the road completely out of sight, I was free to race for myself. There were ~10 of us and I knew the last stretch into the finish had corners, sand, a bottleneck, potholes, and would be a sprint – not great for me. I attacked the field 3k out trying to shed some people and knowing I’d have time to recover. That didn’t achieve anything – not sure what else I could have done at this moment to improve my potential in this group (any suggestions?). With some trepidation about the “road features”, I approached the finish in poor position but managed to catch a couple riders who faded during the final sprint. It was great to see that the cat3 teammates whose position I had defended finished extremely well!
Sam’s perspective: This was my first road race, so my intention was to follow the team plan to control the pace and help Rachel win in a sprint finish. I used the first lap to observe the dynamics and get comfortable riding in a pack. Louise attacked early, so I tried to stay with the group in a decent position and prepare myself for attacking later on in the race, if necessary. Unfortunately, I learned after the first lap that positioning is critical at all times during a race, especially if there are rolling hills, and anticipating pace changes is key to staying in a good position. The first lap ended with an uphill stretch which was followed by a downhill section, a right hand turn, and another uphill stretch, and it was at this moment that a rider attacked and I found myself unable to respond quickly enough and lost the front group. Fortunately, Chris and several other riders lost the group as well, so we formed a chase group and rode together for the remainder of the race, trading pulls. Chris developed a strategy for our group: prevent the chase from bridging back to the front group so we kept some competition away from our teammates. She also lead me out at the end of the last lap for a sprint finish, and I managed to edge in front of the other riders, ending my race on a higher note. While it was not the race I expected, I had a good experience overall and learned lots for future races!
Nutrition: 1x 24oz Fluid Fresh Citrus drink mix, 1x Torq gel per hour (2x non-caffeinated, 1x caffeinated). My second bottle flew out of the bottle cage on the first lap from the bumpy roads.
Race Report: 2025 Huffmaster Hopper Pro Women Long Course
Race: Huffmaster Hopper Gravel Race
Date: February 22, 2025
AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang
Top Result: 7/12 W Pro Rachel Hwang
Course: One large 90 mile loop, 54% paved, 46% dirt, some bad roads that resemble gravel, 3900 feet, longest climb 2.3 miles 830 feet climb
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13699370358
Race Recap:
This is my first gravel race. I’m borrowing Maeve’s gravel bike and have for the last week. I’m at the start line. I’m looking at Kate Kourtney in her Red Bull helmet. I’m telling myself this is supposed to be a fun race. I’m also telling myself to push harder than I normally do in my mountain bike races - those last year I told myself to pace to not great success - and to imagine myself on the dirt podium with Kate Kourtney.
The message of this race today, to push and power through and stay with the people in front of me.
I start off with the Pro Men and Women’s fields (the messed up my entry and ended up scoring me in my age group), about 50 men and women riders in a tight pack, very chill drafting 23 mph without putting out much work. As soon as we hit the gravel, people attack, and within 20 ft into the gravel, we hit a mud pit, and a Monarch girl goes down. I unclip and go around her, at that point, already too far behind to catch back up with the legs I have. But I tell myself to push, so I dig deep and ride as hard as I can, constantly seeing the group just too slightly out of reach in front of me. Soon enough, we hit road, and a Monarch girl is drafting behind me. She’s strong in short bursts, but not able to pull much. I trade pulls with her until we catch up to the main group, at which point we’re exhausted and glad they’re going 18 mph. These surges happen throughout the first 28 miles. Each time, I’m shot off the back, and each time, struggling to catch back up.
Eventually, at mile 28, we hit a slight consistent 2-4% gradient on potholed paved road leading up to the gravel climb. Now people are attacking on the paved road. Because of the paved surface, the group is able to stick together, but because of the paved surface, the more peak power I seem to be putting out. With each surge, I learn to move up so that I have more buffer to get dropped. The entire time, I tell myself to power through no matter how I’m feeling, that I know that I can stick on, and that it’s a mental game of whether or not I want to stay on. I tell myself getting dropped is not an option.
This is my first race back this year, and my first long dirt race after many seemingly failed attempts to do well last year at Sea Otter, Tahoe Trail, and Leadville. Within an hour, I’m already screaming in my head, “And I have to do this for 4 hours??”
Thankfully, I’m able to stick with the pack until mile 40, where we hit the 2.3 mi, 800 ft gravel climb, before the field is blown apart. I am giving everything I have, not thinking about pacing or bonking, and not thinking about the next 50 miles of the race. I know I’m in front of Jen, my only reference of how I’m doing in this race, and surprisingly, beat her to the top. As we descend, she catches up, to which I stick behind her wheel. We catch a third and the three of us, mainly the dude, take turns pulling, picking up a few more people, gathering up to a group of 8, riding together slightly uphill until mile 68.
I only have two water bottles, 21oz and 24oz, with the plan of stopping at mile 45 bottle drop to swap out one of my bottles, but I’m knee deep drafting Jen and this guy, and decide that since I’ve only had 1 bottle in half the race, I could make the other bottle last the rest of the race.
We pick up a girl in black, and another guy, both who are really strong and start surging and blowing up our group. Mile 68, we hit a gravel incline, and the two of them take the opportunity to attack. At that point, I had almost been dropped multiple times, with people going around me to fill the gap, and again, me telling myself it’s a mental game, able to dig deep and manage to stay with the group, although unable to effectively pull. So when they attack, I know that’s it, and that my time pacing and drafting a group was over. Jen and the other dude I started off with pull ahead as well, although behind the other two, and I’m trailing behind them, very quickly seeing the gap grow on the open climb.
Soon after I start to feel my legs cramp, and sure enough, my inner thigh from my groin all the way to my knee cramps. Generally when I start cramping, I chug my electrolyte water, but in this case, I have no water, and am not planning on stopping anything soon, so all I can think of is “oh shit.” I look at the map and see there are only two small climbs left, less than 0.5mi each. I pass an aid station and decide not to stop for water, and hear a bunch of AV people cheering my name. I love the AV community and support. By the top of the last climb, I’ve given it more than I normally do, feel my legs giving out but still working, and am so tired my descending becomes so horrible I veer into bushes on the side and other things a couple times. It was embarrassing.
By the bottom, there is about 15 miles left and I’m going my own pace when a girl passes me. She is clearly stronger than me so I hop on her wheel and she proceeds to pull me most of the way back. I trade of with her frequently, although it is very clear every time I pull, I’m holding her back, so she goes ahead and pulls ahead as I draft behind her. The entire time, I’m going back and forth thinking, “If I stay on and draft the whole way back, I could outsprint her,” and “She can easily drop me at any point if she wanted to, it’s very nice of her to let me sit on her wheel.” I feel about 7/10 at the beginning of the draft, on gravel, and as we hit road, still am feeling pretty good, but as we hit gravel again for the last 5 miles, it becomes very choppy at some points, and I am having to put a lot more power down to stay on her wheel, and my butt is getting very saddle sore from every bump in the gravel. I can no longer keep up easily, and am just thinking about making it to the end with her. I keep checking my Garmin route to see what’s ahead, and prepare for the final turn, still thinking maybe I can sprint at the end. As we turn the last corner, the straight path to the finish is 0.5mi, and the girl puts down just slightly more power, and immediately I knew I could try my hardest and she will still have more in the tank, so there is no point in burning the last matches, so I stay the same pace through to the end line.
Nutrition: 1x 24oz Crank Horchata drink mix 1st 45mi, 1x 21oz Fluid Fresh Citrus drink mix 2nd 45 mi, 3x Torq gels (2x caffeinated) and 1x Carbs Fuel Energy Gel one per hour
Race Report: 2025 Bariani Road Race - Men’s Cat 5
Race: Bariani Road Race - Men’s Cat 5
Date: March 16th, 2025
AVRT racers: Vasyl Stokolosa
Top Result: Vasyl Stokolosa (1/28)
Course: Two laps of a mostly flat 20-mile course with very high winds
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13902719216
Nutrition: One bottle of 90g Skratch high-carb, 1 SiS GO Energy + Electrolyte gel
Recap: No teammates—racing solo. Super Sprinkles had three strong riders, Chico Cycling Team and Mike’s Bikes Development each had two riders. We started off a little chaotic and fast. I wanted to stay at the front since the high crosswinds made riding in the group quite dangerous. Two guys crashed at the end of the first lap after touching wheels. My plan was to try to break away with strong riders and win the sprint 🙂
After 20 minutes of racing, I decided to attack and managed to create a good gap between myself and the chasing group. Since the race was only 40 miles, I chose not to wait for them to catch up and instead see if they could close the gap. When I finally lost sight of them, it was a relief—I settled into my tempo and kept rolling.
With half a lap to go, a rider from Super Sprinkles caught me. I hadn’t noticed him at the start, so I asked if he was originally in my group 🙂 He told me the rest of the chasing group had given up, but he kept pushing. We worked together until the finish—luckily, he didn’t attack me, as I was pretty cooked. In the end, I won the sprint!
Thanks for reading!
Vasyl
Race Report: Land Park Criterium - Men’s Masters 35+ Cat 3/4
Race: 2025 Land Park Criterium - Men’s Masters 35+ Cat 3/4
Date: March 15, 2025
AVRT racers: Michael Matthews
Top Result: 3rd Place (of 29 starters)
Course: Flat oval course with a chicane and only one corner that cannot be pedaled through. Head wind on the start/finish straight. Tail wind on the back straight. Cool morning weather. No rain, but wet sections on course from prior day rains.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13891888713
Nutrition: ~100g of carbs in a bottle for pre/during race nutrition. Typical breakfast eaten before leaving the Bay.
Event Recap: Decided late to do this race. Saw that the weather was going to be good and had already done this course at Cal Aggie about a month ago. Not a race day I was targeting results for and I was solo, so my plan was to react to any real moves, but largely let the race play out and take an opportunity if it was presented. I knew the turny bits at the top of the course better than most so was in the front 10 heading into the chicane nearly every time. Started to realize that I was carrying more speed than anyone else and creating a small gap each time. The group seemed pretty lethargic. I was first into the chicane on the first prime lap and decided to ride it out, taking the prime and seeing another rider trying to bridge, I let him latch on and we went to work. Soon a third rider was bridging and we had a gap. Party time. We went to work for the last 20 mins or so and the gap continued to grow. Eyes on the lap board (this time). Last lap. First into the chicane, then some leadout games. I teased out a jump from the Titan rider so that he would take the wind. When I went to come around him I dropped my chain and coasted in for 3rd. Time to get ready for the Cat 4 race! Rear puncture.
Race Report: Land Park Criterium - Men’s E4
Race: 2025 Land Park Criterium - Men’s E4
Date: March 15, 2025
AVRT racers: Michael Matthews
Top Result: 10th (of 39 starters)
Course: Flat oval course with a chicane and only one corner that cannot be pedaled through. Head wind on the start/finish straight. Tail wind on the back straight. Mild morning weather. Sun was coming out and the roads were dry.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13891889774
Nutrition: ~100g of carbs in a bottle for pre/during race nutrition. Plus a Clif bar between races.
Event Recap: Decided late to do this race. Saw that the weather was going to be good and had already done this course at Cal Aggie about a month ago and the Masters 35+ race before hand on the same day. Not a race day I was targeting results for and I was solo, so my plan was to react to any real moves, but largely let the race play out and take an opportunity if it was presented. I knew the turny bits at the top of the course better than most so was in the front 10 heading into the chicane nearly every time.
After fixing my between-race puncture - picked up a piece of glass at some point shortly after the masters race I was ready to go at it again. I felt good considering I had just spent half of the first race in the break. I was, again, carrying more speed than anyone else and creating a small gap each time. This kept my at the pointy end of the peloton and at the front of the pack. At one point this resulted in a post-prime move going up the road for about a lap. We had a group of four at one point that could have held off the pack, but we didn’t well/hard enough early on enough to create the separation that we needed.
The group was reactive and jumpy throughout. My power profile tells the story. I really starte to feel the legs fizzle about halfway through this race. This one was headed for a bunch sprint. I made sure I was first into the chicane and held a top 5-7 spot into the finish straight without taking wind. My legs just didn’t have the pop left in them and I push as hard as I could through the line for 10th. Great day of racing, with my family there to watch and cheer me on!!
Race Report: 2025 Bariani Road Race – Men’s Cat 3
Race: Bariani Road Race - Men’s Cat 3
Date: March 16th, 2025
AVRT racers: George Wehner, Kevin Kauffman, Ryan Dyke
Top Result: George 4/34
Course: 4 laps of a 20-mile, mostly flat course with a short hill about 3km before the finish. Winds were very high on this day, around 15-20 mph from SSE; the final climb and finish line were both into a block headwind.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13901966058
Nutrition: I ate a packet of Skratch energy chews (40g carbs, 50mg caffeine) on the start line, then during the race I drank 3 full bottles with 90g carbs each (30g fructose, 60g maltodextrin) and ate another pack of Skratch energy chews.
Recap: (Written by George) Going into the race, our plan was to have Kevin and Ryan cover moves and keep me sheltered, while I waited for the sprint. I was hoping for a hard race that significantly reduced the group and left everyone with tired legs. Dolce Vita and Terun were the main teams we were looking out for, as Dolce Vita brought 5 riders and Terun brought 3, and both teams have seen some early season success this year.
As soon as the race started, it became apparent that the race was going to be quite attritional due to the high winds. The long stretch of road on the northern part of the course was a ripping right-to-left crosswind in which it was nearly impossible to find shelter. The race was also extremely fast during the tailwind sections which made things very difficult. During the first two laps, I stuck towards the middle of the pack, which was probably too far back as I was mostly unsheltered during the crosswind section. People were getting dropped left and right – we lost about half the field within two laps, including Kevin and Ryan.
On lap 2, a breakaway with two riders got off the front, one of them being Chaz from Data Driven Athlete who had won Snelling two weeks prior. They gained time on us for a full lap and were about 1.5 minutes off the front at the start of lap 3. However, people realized they were still catchable, so the pace increased significantly and the race got even harder: this would end up being the fastest and hardest lap of the entire race. I didn’t want to get guttered, so I moved towards the front to contribute to the chase and get into an echelon formation with the other chasers; while this meant I had to spend some time on the front, it was worth it because I got the benefit of the echelon when I wasn’t on the front. We ended up catching the break near the end of lap 3.
After we caught the break, everyone was cooked and no one wanted to pull. I was pretty much coasting in the draft during the headwind section, and even the tailwind section was relatively chill. However, once we got onto that long crosswind section again, people started ripping the pace and trying to gutter the field again. I was hanging on for dear life at this point. By the time we turned right into the headwind, the field was down to about 10 people. Things calmed down during the stretch before the hill as everyone wanted to save their legs.
Once the road turned up, it was full gas, and pretty much a contest of who’d be the last one to crack. A Team California rider and a Hot Tubes rider were pushing the hardest. I was surfing wheels and ended up on the wheel of Aubery, a strong solo rider who I thought would be able to hold onto the pace, but he lost the wheel near the top of the climb so the two frontrunners got away. I was in a chase group with Aubery, Sean from Mike’s Dev, and Jeff from Dolce Vita; however, no one wanted to sacrifice their race to catch the riders off the front, so the gap blew out and we were racing for third. I was sitting 2nd wheel behind Aubery until about 150m before the finish. I had a solid sprint, but Sean came around me at the line for 3rd, meaning I got my second 4th place result of the season in as many races.
4th wasn’t the result I was looking for, and at this race it meant I was out of the prize money, but it’s still a solid result for a hard-fought race. I’m really looking forward to getting out there and trying to get on that top step in the near future.