Race Reports
Race Report: 2025 Winchester Circuit Race - Masters 35+ 123 Men
Race: 2025 Winchester Circuit Race - Men’s Masters 35+ 1/2/3
Date: May 10, 2025
AVRT racers: Jeremy Besmer, Greg McCullough
Top Result: Greg (10 of 21)
Course: 5 laps of a 4.5 mile rolling circuit. One long, fast descent. One longer climb that leads to the finish that is split into two pitches with sections over 15%. Super fun course with excellent pavement throughout and no need to touch the brakes for any corners. This race started at noon with minimal wind, but temps were already in the high 80s.
Strava https://www.strava.com/activities/14439569729
Nutrition: Two bottles of malto/fructose blend, with some nuun for electrolytes.
Race Recap:
I was coming off of some pretty big ride weeks, so my goals for this race were pretty basic: 1) experience a new-to-me course 2) get in some extra work before helping Cam in the P1/2 race. 3) maybe sneak in a good result. Jeremy had already raced the 3/4s earlier in the day and was also looking for some extra miles.
The first lap was fairly civilized and gave me a chance to look at the course. On the second lap, I kicked off the front on the hill before the main descent. I wanted a clean shot at the descent to see if it was faster alone and check out the run into the finish at my own pace. The field didn’t seem to chase, leaving me with a pretty decent gap after start / finish. I fully expected to be collected at the top of the hill and when I wasn’t, I decided to stick with an unplanned breakaway effort.
Brian Schuster and one of the Lamorinda guys attacked together on the second steep section of the finish climb, and again no one in the field chased, which gave them a solid gap by the time they reached the top. They worked together on the flats and rollers that led into the main descent, and then connected soon thereafter. I was happy to have Brian and some company with Lamorinda representation, but slowly realized Lamorinda was not really committed to the move - probably just covering for the other 3 teammates in the field. He played it well, keeping us all working just enough to stay out there a while, but without the pace to stay away. This was also readily apparent to Jeremy back in the main group, as another Lamorinda (Adam White) was pushing the pace very hard on each uphill, but would sit up on the flats so it was clear that he was just managing the break’s gap. After another lap together, the field collected us on the second to last climb, leaving a lap to get the legs back together.
On the final climb, attacks from the Lamorinda crew split the field. I grabbed Jeremy’s wheel for a bit, but didn’t have the legs to contest the finish after the breakaway effort.
Race Report: Kentucky Open Road Race Series #2 - Men’s 3/4
Race: Kentucky Open Road Race Series #2 - Men’s 3/4
Date: May 4, 2025
AVRT Racers: Kevin Kauffman
Best Finish: Kevin Kauffman - 5/11
Course Description: Two laps of an approximately 30mi loop in the rolling hills of Northern Kentucky. There is a short 1mi neutral descending rollout, then the lap starts with shallow rollers before a quick U-turn and steep 200’ pitch up to a higher set of rollers that continue for 15 mi. These end with a smooth descent that takes you down to very long flats that round out the lap. The race ends back where it started, up a steep two-pitch 200’ climb which acts as the final separation point.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14367009762
Nutrition: Carb and caffeine mix on the start line. 3x~90g bottles, 2x20g gels on the ride.
Recap:
The day started off in heavy rain, which was set to continue for the duration of the race. Thankfully while the roads were pretty rough, the corners were relatively shallow so traction wasn’t a huge worry. Registration was already pretty light probably due to weather and conflicting local races, which shrunk even more by the time we hit the start line. I moved away from Cincinnati last year so I still knew a number of people in the race, including my old team Nexigen Racing, but only had one old teammate in my field. Looked like it was the strongest of the registrants who showed up with no team representation so with the weather and odd course profile it was set to be a tough race.
Going in, my plan was to treat the race as one of attrition, force hard efforts on the flats and hope to cover snaps into and over the short climbs as needed. On lap 1, the first climb indeed hit hard, and quickly exposed the group. One rider, Will, took a flyer over the top of that climb and was out solo, gaining up to a 10s gap but it was clear the group had the advantage. I yelled for us to slow the chase to let him burn out as he seemed rather content with his 10s gap but we ended up closing in less than 20 min later. In that time, I was able to mark another rider from Miami University (Ohio) who was another clear engine, doing the majority of the pulling in that duration. By the time the group came back together, we had lost a few riders who dropped off on the rollers.
Lap 2 continued much like the first, with pretty inconsistent pulls in the rotation. I continued to do a fair bit of work in the rotation until we hit the first climb of the lap, where Will attacked again. I expected that he was fatigued from his attempt on the prior lap. Once he slowed and the presumably fatigued Miami rider bridged the gap, I let him go assuming our remaining group of 4 was motivated enough to go 2v4. That was a lesson in not underestimating your competition. I took some pretty heavy pulls to close and didn’t get enough support in the chase. It was clear the group had decided to race for third.
In the remainder of the race, I skirted this line of riding hard (into head-crosswind… oops) and trying to save a little for the finish in hopes of the chase tiring. One of us four wasn’t taking any pulls but was accelerating on each roller. In hindsight, I should have flat out stopped riding until he took rotations because I knew if I didn’t, he’d just conserve to take the finishing climb. Surprise surprise, I didn’t do that, kept the strong rotations for half a lap, then tried a few surges in the finishing tailwind flats leading into the final climb but couldn’t break the elastic. I was able to hang for the first half of the final climb, but got kicked on the kicker. Rolled in for 5th.
Overall a great experience in old haunts, and was incredibly appreciative of my former team Nexigen Racing for hosting me in their tent and van, and even especially supporting me in the feed. And shoutout to Ryan on the old team for taking his first p/1/2 win! You guys are real gems. It was also fun to get some recognition and love of the Alto Velo jersey from other racers. Midwest nice and southern hospitality at its finest.
Race Report: 2025 Winchester Circuit Race - 4/5 Men
Race: Winchester Circuit Race - 4/5 Men
Date: May 10, 2025
AVRT racers: Jack Lund, Joe Garcia
Top Result: Jack (3/22)
Course: 4 laps of a roughly 4.5-mile circuit with about 350 feet of elevation gain each lap. The main features are a safe but very fast descent and an undulating punchy climb to the finish that includes two sections above 15% grade. The pavement is butter and the course is incredibly fun!
Strava https://www.strava.com/activities/14437553169
Nutrition: One bottle with 60g carbs
Race Recap:
I was really excited going in, as the course looked super fun and well-suited for puncheurs.
The race was only four laps so I took a big warm-up and was on the lookout for anyone that wanted to blow up the race in the first lap. Halfway through the first big climb, I was surprised there were no willing volunteers. I made my way to the front and set a harder tempo as we crested the hill. I usually like to save matches and stay in the pack… but I felt there would be minimal draft-benefit up the steep section and everyone else would have to match my pace too.
This continued for the next two laps. I tried to push the pace on the climb, but I never seriously considered trying for a solo breakaway. I think this was a fine strategy … It put me in the front of the pack for the rolling terrain section, and it made the race a little harder for the 200 lb pure-sprinters (who did indeed win anyway).
Going into the final lap, the descent dumps us directly into the final climb for the finish. We all dump our remaining power for a two and half minute climb, and I’m edged out at the line by a VeloTrap rider for third. This was a super fun race and I highly recommend it. I also highly recommend taking hydration more seriously if you race again later in the day 👀
Race Report: Crusher Cup (XC MTB) Race #1 - Men’s Cat 2/Sport
Race: Crusher Cup (XC MTB) Race #1 Men’s Cat 2/Sport Age 35-44
Date: May 10, 2025
AVRT racers: Michael Matthews
Top Result: Men’s Cat 2/Sport Age 35-44 1st/8 (Men’s Cat 2/Sport Overall 2nd/35)
Course: ~5 mile lap completed 2.5 times for Cat 2. ~1000 ft of climbing per lap (yay! - actually). Technical course elements included loose dry corners, downhill switchbacks, a down tree, and a mild rocky section. One big separation climb and a second smaller one taken three times. Really short finishing straight in a parking lot so any late move would have to be done on the last climb to the lot. Plenty of room on the climbs to make moves. Heat was a minor factor, but luckily my race was in the morning.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14439671023
Nutrition: ~90g of carbs in a bottle for pre/during race nutrition. Consumed two thirds of it beforehand, and left the rest to sip on on the climbs.
Event Recap: I did a few technique-focused pre-rides earlier in the week near home to tune up. This paid off! Recon’d the course by watching youtube videos to learn about the dusty corners (you have to stay upright to win). I jumped all wheels in my age group and a few in the 19-34 group that started ahead on the first punchy climb to the start/finish. Had to wait through a technical single-track descent for another opportunity to pass. Full gas up that section to get ahead of the slower wheels. By the time I crested the first big climb I was off and mostly alone. Caught two groups of three (younger but still Cat 2) groups over the course of the next two laps. What was clear was that my fitness won me this race, not my technique. The last group of three that I caught took about a lap of yoyo-ing, whereby I’d lose progress on descents. I’ll rack it up to this being my first season of XC. Lots of room to improve. Stoked about the win and 2nd place overall, and looking forward to the next four races of the series over the course of the summer!
Ps. my lap times would have won (1st age group and 1st overall) in Cat 1/Expert ;)
Race Report: Ukiah Mendo Grasshopper
Race Report: Ukiah Mendo Grasshopper
Date: April 27, 2025
AVRT racers: Steph Hart
Top Result: 5/6 women’s pro field
Course: 75 miles and 8500 ft of climbing, ~60-70% gravel. Not a terribly technical course, but there was a ton of rain Saturday, which made the course pretty muddy for Sunday’s race.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14306937543
Race Recap (written by Steph)
This was day 2 of racing for me after getting smoked at Berkeley Hills RR. Nonetheless, I optimistically signed up for the pro field, because I’ve had a gravel bike for two months, and I had already done a whole race without crashing.
The course starts with a climb up lowgap road (30-35 minute climb + another 10-15 minutes of rollers). All 50 or so women in the field started together 5 minutes after the pro men. I made it halfway up the climb with the main group of 6 riders before getting slowly gapped and finishing the uphill section with Kelly Brennan. Once the road turned back down and there were mud puddles and some sketchy descending to contend with, I was out of my element and got dropped very hard on the ~6 mile descent. I spent the next hour or so riding alone (and also some mental real estate wondering if I was even still on course), before eventually getting passed by some age group men I could ride with for the longer paved sections. Most of the second climb from 60 miles onwards was solo, and was comparatively very slow and sloppy- as was the following descent. Given that I hadn’t seen anyone in the women’s field all day, I kinda lost the plot and was just out for a bike ride- trying not to think about the minutes (hours?) I was bleeding to people who were competent off-road cyclists. Eventually I rolled into the finish a full 30 minutes behind Jen (yikes)- but also kudos to Jen for finally winning a hopper. Looks like I’ve got some bike handling skills to address before the next gravel event, but at least I didn’t get beat by any of the women in the age group field.
Race Report: Berkeley Hills Long course
Race Report: Berkeley Hills Long course
Date: April 26, 2025
AVRT racers: Steph Hart
Top Result: 8/12
Course: 4 laps of three bears loop- each lap is 18.7 miles with 1600 ft of gain. Key features are a ~3 minute climb up “mama bear” and a 4 minute climb up “papa bear right before the finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14295035425
Race Recap (written by Steph)
The women’s 1/2 field was a mix of Terun + Monarch riders, plus some additional ringers- Rachel from Coalition, Elena from some British conti team (I think), and Laurel (former twenty24). As the solo AV rider in a stacked field, the expectations were low.
The first lap was pretty chill- very easy pace in the first 10 miles, and then Terun launched some attacks on mama and papa bear, but the field came back together at the start of lap two on San Pablo Dam rd. The next half lap was dominated by pretty negative racing, as no one was really willing to put in an effort. Finally in frustration, one of the Monarch riders said that if the field was going to track stand, then she was going to take a nature break. Then despite the fact that we were free wheeling and causing a traffic jam on Alhambra Valley rd, the entire peloton ended up stopping and peeing on the side of the road. This is the kind of stuff I struggle to explain to my friends who aren’t into bike racing.
Shortly thereafter, Rachel from Coalition attacked before mama bear and Terun covered (mostly Jamie), but at some point Jamie dropped the rest of the peloton and joined Rachel. Then halfway up mama bear Laurel attacked and Elena went with her. About 10 seconds after this happened I was like, shit that break of 4 is definitely going to stick based on the strong composition. This left Jen and Jacqueline (both Terun) + a solo rider, Shannon in a chase group with me. Going into Papa bear I knew Jen was going to attack, because she hates not being in the break. Sure enough, Jen sends it about a minute into the climb and I visited the deities of several different religions and set a 5 minute power PR trying to chase her down. We finally caught her at the start of San Pablo, and for the next two laps everyone was pretty chill. At the start of lap 4 we heard the gap to the break was 6 minutes, further disincentivizing anyone to work. At the end of the lap, everyone gave papa bear the beans, except me, because I was not in the mood to crank out a 3 minute effort for 1 upgrade point.
Race Report: Peachtree Corners Curiosity Lab Criterium WP123
Race: Peachtree Corners Crit WP/1/2/3
Date: April 27, 2025
AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang
Course: 1km lap, 50 minutes, 180 degree u-turn, flat-ish into downhill, turn uphill left into parking lot, exit downhill out of parking lot directly into 0.27mi 5.9% uphill to finish line
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14307005969
Race Recap:
I was very excited for this course given the hill and u-turn, more about fitness. About 40 minutes before the race, all the pro women were free riding the course, and I was trying to figure out how to shift up into the parking lot and out of it up into the hill, and how to take the u-turn and turn into the parking lot. After many runs, I realized shifting to the little gear right before entering the parking lot while in the smallest cog and keeping that through the parking lot and slowly shifting up bigger cogs while still in the little front ring up the hill worked the best.
After yesterday’s race, my goal today was to stay in the group more, draft, and move up if I found myself slipping.
The first couple laps I found myself panicking while trying to move up, in fear of crashing. Nothing crazy happened the first few laps. I would lose position throughout the course, and by the turn into the parking lot, would be near the back. On the hill up, I would use that as an opportunity to move up. Sometimes, I was able to get mid-pack, which was my goal, and at one point, I got right at the front, which I did not want to pull the group.
6 laps in, the group surged up the hill. Even though a split was forming, I didn’t realize it until Clay on the sidelines told me keep going and that a split was forming. I honestly did not try to bridge or get to the front group at all, and sat in comfortably in the chase. Our chase group got up to I think 11 people by the end of the race.
For the rest of the race, now that I was in the chase group and we weren’t going that hard (for me), I focused on skills. On the U-turn, I focused on picking a good line and cornering well. On the downhill, I focused on not losing position, or gaining position for a good position into the turn into the parking lot. On the climb, I focused on steady efforts.
There were a couple attacks but none of them stuck. I generally let someone else chase and would follow behind, trying to conserve my energy. With each lap, I could see the lead group coming the other way, and with each lap, them getting slightly further ahead. The thought of them lapping us didn’t even cross my mind, but with 2 or 3 laps to go, the moto behind us honked loudly for us to move out of the way, and we got in a single file line, wondering where the other group was and why they hadn’t passed us yet. By the hill, we clumped again.
On our second to last lap, I started thinking about getting in position, near the front, preferably top 4 spots for the full final lap to attempt to outsprint the field up the hill and to the finish line. However, as we were climbing the hill, we hear people yelling at us to get out of the way. The lead group was closing in on us and they were on their last lap sprint finish. Not even 5 meters from the finish line, the first two pass us finishing the race, followed closely by a few more, and the rest, scattered. As the winner passed the finish line, we all heard the announcer say “everyone has finished the race,” but with such an odd last second lapping us finish, we were all confused and kept riding. It wasn’t until we were on the other side when the announcer made it clear we were done with the race. LUCKILY, on that descent, I noticed my wheel felt squishy and hopped a couple times on my bike. By the bottom of the descent, I noticed my rear tire was flat. If anything, that was perfect timing for a flat or perfect time for the race to finish.
I was kind of bummed actually that I wasn’t going to be able to sprint because I haven’t had a real chance all year. I haven’t done a single crit where I had a chance at the end, not even making it to the end. This is the sad reality of upgrading to a 2. As a 3, the field was easy, but I was able to improve my top end power with the sprint finishes competing against other humans. As a 2, I’m just trying to hang in, which says more about my fitness levels. On the upside, I should be getting better 1 hr power…
Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun this weekend despite the poor performance, and this reignited a little flame of wanting to find more crits to race. Unfortunately, we’re not getting much attendance in any of the local P12 races this year.
Nutrition: 1 bottle Torq mix, 1 caffeinated Torq gel an hour before race start, 1 caffeinated Torq gel on the line.
Race Report: Athens Twilight Criterium WP12
Race: Athens Twilight Crit WP12
Date: April 26, 2025
AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang
Course: 1km lap, 40km; four corner, first corner bumpy, second corner into a slight descent, third corner gearing for a climb, fourth corner into a slight incline climb to the finish line, and slight decline into the first corner
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14296509677
Race Recap:
Two years ago, this was my first road race ever, racing as a cat 5 in the W345 field, so I was excited to come back to this course racing in the pro field.
Going into it, I genuinely thought I was going to finish, but then realizing this was my first real crit this year, I was severely underprepared in cornering, group riding, and continuous sharp bursts in energy. They staged us at the fourth corner, and suddenly removed the ribbon and we all sprinted to the start for position. That was interesting I hadn’t seen that before. With just over 70 racers, I lined up about ⅔ in.
First lap had a $500 prime so we started out hot and strong. On fast laps, I was near the end, and on slower laps, tried to weasel my way forward. The far side of the course on the straightaway had bumps in the middle of the road that had caused multiple crashes already that day. On the first lap, I missed them and my bottle was almost knocked out, and a crash happened in front to the right of me.
Each corner I took, I hit the brakes so hard I lost most of my momentum and had to accelerate out so hard. I also took the inside line every. single. lap. which I did not know was a bad line. I should’ve figured that out every time I was braking :| With each lap, I struggled to stay on the end of the train, literally just trying to stay alive. I stopped noticing anything on the course and stopped noting where I was on the course, and just kept pedaling. I wanted to pull myself out of that race so many times.
Another crash happened in front of me, then one right behind me, and each lap and crash people entering in from the pit. At many points in the race I had to swerve a little and break a little too suddenly from the people in front, and hearing people behind me yell at us to let us know they’re behind. 24 minutes in, a fourth crash again in front of me, a big one. So many people tumbled and in that moment I thought “uh oh, I’m going down” only to luckily only run into a girl’s wheel in front of me and smash into their derailleur, but I managed to stay upright. That lap though was a struggle as I was chasing hard. Luckily, the field was neutralized from the crash.
I look down, 24 minutes on the clock, and having stopped for the first time all race, I am pretty spent and delirious from the effort I put in, and the slight heat and humidity that I’m not used to made it feel worse. I felt the same way I feel on Egan rides when I’ve pushed myself to the edge all dizzy at the top. Anyways, thank goodness we were neutralized cause I would have been dropped after that.
We start again, and now I’m even more hesitant to stay in the group as I don’t want to crash, and I wasn’t sure if braking and accelerating out of the corner and sticking with the group was better than staying back a bit and not breaking through the corner with the tradeoff of not having any draft on the straights. I chose the second as I was scared to be behind people. The rest of the race was just me about 20-30 feet back from the group chasing, I passed quite a few people who struggled to stick to the group. Every time I went through the last corner into that climb, I put my head down and pedaled as hard as I could.
I could hear my name around every corner and every straightaway, hearing Clay, his brother, and his network of knowing like everyone there.
Finally I got dropped dropped, the moto sped ahead of me, and signaled to the official how many people were dropped. Surprisingly, they didn’t pull us that lap, but the next, let us out. Honestly, I was relieved I was pulled so now I could stop torturing myself, but also sad I couldn’t stick through the whole race.
Reflection: 1) Could I be stronger, yes. Much to work on here with interval training. 2) More importantly, I gotta work on my group skills because upon reflection I’m pretty sure I had the power to stay in (based on known fitness to others in that race), I was just doing way too much work alone. From the spectators’ POV, I was consistently a good distance behind the group, and when I got close to the group, slowed down to keep my distance, or was drafting to the side of people so I could see ahead. When I had enough energy to move up or get closer, I chose not to as I knew I would lose position and get shot to the back.
I also experimented with an extra long warm up today and it definitely helped. My legs didn’t feel tired from lack of warm up. TBH I can’t tell if my legs or lungs were failing first. Also look at my HR data I was dying.
Nutrition: 1 bottle Torq mix, 1 caffeinated Torq gel an hour before race start, 1 caffeinated Torq gel on the line.
Race Report: 2025 Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men’s P12
Race: 2025 Berkeley Hills Road Race Men’s P/1/2
Date: April 26, 2025
AVRT racers: Leo Minami, Henry Mallon, Max Rye, Nathan Martin, Andrew Ernst, Cam O'Reilly
Top result: Erik 3/57
Course: 18.7 mile loop with several short, punchy climbs, some rough pavement in parts but generally fast, not technical, with one fast descent
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14295583958
Nutrition: Started with two bottles of malto/fructose mix, 4 gels. Many thanks to Roger (Nathan’s dad) and Drew for the awesome (and much appreciated) feeds during the race!
Recap: (by Erik and additional comments from Cam)
Because I moved to California in June of last year this was my first chance to race BHRR. I had heard a lot about the race and was targeting this as a priority for the year. While not a pure climber’s race (more for puncheurs than diesels like myself), the parcours did seem to suit me well and I was stoked to be racing as part of such a strong team. Our crew included riders who could motor on the front, pull back a break if needed, and hit the last climb hard. We were well-prepared to be one of the strongest teams there and we raced like it.
We had a short neutral roll-out to make our way to the actual start. It was COLD and starting with a jacket was definitely necessary. The attacks started pretty much off the bat. My hope was to make the break for the day and was able to get into a strong break that was well-represented with Cycle-Sport (Chris Riekert), POA (Finn Mitchell), Mike’s Bikes (Blake Macheras), VFR (Mike Morton), and Noah Shelton riding unattached (though I think he mostly races cyclocross on the UCI circuit).
The group worked well together and we managed to get a gap over two minutes. The course suits a breakaway provided there is not a concerted effort to bring it back given the meaningful climbs and the ability to be out of sight relatively quickly.
Back in the peloton, the pace slowed dramatically as soon as it was clear the break was gone. With all teams either represented ahead or not strong enough to pull it back, riders looking to go across wanted to make sure they didn’t give the rest of the field a free ride. This meant we went absolutely ballistic up Mama Bear and Papa Bear every lap as riders like Cole Davis (Project Echelon) attacked with long efforts up the entire climbs. AV was always represented in the front group when it split, though most riders were able to come back each time given the pace let up on the descents.
One interesting dynamic that played out a couple times on the flatter sections was both CycleSport and Mike’s launching pairs of riders across. With the gap to the break at 4+ minutes, they would try and form a chase with one of their smaller climbers (presumably their protected rider for the day) and one of their larger domestiques as an engine to bridge the gap to the front break. On a course like BHRR with an extended downhill and flat section between the climbs, this was a great strategy. While none of these ended up with the right team composition and were all chased back by the field before they could establish too large of a gap, it was really cool to see these kinds of tactics at play.
My tactical error came in the penultimate lap when I tried to break away from the breakaway. My thinking had been that (a) the group had been slowing and people were tired, (b) I didn’t trust my legs against some strong guys on the final climb as I’m not a punchy rider, and (c) the presence of only one rider per team in the break meant there was a possibility of people sitting up and playing games. I managed to get about a 30 second gap over the top of papa bear and held it through the flattish section of the course but was caught just after the big right turn off San Pablo Dam road.
After I was caught the attacks came left and right and Chris fell off pretty shortly thereafter. The five of us continued to hit each other as hard as we could though nobody could totally shell the pack. Coming into papa bear everyone was pretty beat and it ended up being a drag to the end. I couldn’t stay with Noah (1st) and Finn (2nd) but managed to outkick Blake for third.
We had thought that the rest of the field was far in the distance, though actually they were just behind us! Nathan had a beast of an effort the final time up papa bear for 5th overall, ahead of Cole Davis from Team Echelon.
I’m still kicking myself for the tactical error but overall I can’t recommend the race highly enough and couldn’t have asked for better conditions or support from the team!
Date: April 26, 2025
AVRT racers: Shai Traster and Adam Fiss
Top Results: Adam Fiss (3/14), Shai Traister (6/14)
Course: Three laps of the 3 bears loop for a total of ~53 miles and ~4000 feet including the 2-mile neutral rollout. The main feature of the course is the “Three Bears,” climb which is a sequence of punchy climbs in the second half of the loop. “Mama Bear” is the first and takes about 2-3 minutes to climb (with a descent in the middle); “Papa Bear” is the second and takes about 3-4 minutes to climb; and “Baby Bear” is the third and is a short kicker at the end of the lap. The race finishes with a final climb of Papa Bear.
Strava: https://strava.app.link/ay9LhDWKVSb
Nutrition: One bottle of SIS 80 gram carbs, 2 X 50g CarbFuel and 1 GU 20g
Race recap: Written by Adam Fiss
This was a race that was not originally on my calendar as I had been planning to do one or both of the Hincapie Gran Fondo and/or Levi’s Gran Fondo, but between weather and family commitments, I did not do either. So, after about 25 years, I decided I would do my first true road race again. It was quite the endeavor to get USAC to find my license information and they could not locate my previous Cat 3 license information, but they did find my Cat 4 license.
At the race line, Shai and I had a very short race strategy conversation which was don’t get dropped on the climbs.
The race started without incident and we rode the first lap at a fairly leisurely pace. Our first time up the climbs, no one made any really strong attacks, and we all stayed together (except for one racer whose chain dropped as soon as we hit Mama Bear). On the second time up 3 Bears, two riders were able to create a bit of a gap on Mama Bear. I had been caught grabbing some nutrition and figured that someone would close things down, but no one did. So, coming into Papa Bear, and seeing the two riders up the road working together, I came to the front and set a hard tempo to avoid them creating too big of a gap. I kept them pinned probably between 20 to 40 seconds up the road. After cresting Papa Bear, I thought someone would help me with the chase, but to no avail. So, I stayed on the front – except for about 30 or so seconds of a pull from one other rider – from Papa Bear until we hit the little bump leading into the 3 Bears. Since I had been pulling about 4 racers for about 16-18 miles, I decided to use that bump to go off on my own and try to bridge to the two riders ahead. As soon as we hit the bump, I used about a 90 second effort and got a gap of about 15 second on the chasers. I then spent the next 10-15 minutes bridging to the two riders ahead. We started to work together going into the final time up Mama and Papa Bear and got caught a mile or so before Mama Bear. At Mama Bear, the same rider who initiated the prior attacks went and I jumped and went with him. Unfortunately, due to a lack of drinking and intake of fuel (as I had to use the restroom for about 90 minutes so choose not to keep drinking) my quad cramped up a bit and he hit the top of the climb about 10 seconds ahead of me. I started to catch back up to him on the descent, but got caught behind another group which allowed one person to catch back up to me. On Papa Bear, I tried to go but the quad was not cooperating so just pushed as hard as I could and ended up in third.
Race Report: 2025 Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men’s E3
Race: 2025 Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men’s E3
Date: April 27, 2025
AVRT Racers: Maxime Cauchois, Kevin Kauffman
Best Finish: Kevin Kauffman - 11/23
Course Description: Roughly 4 laps of an 18.7 mi loop with 1,650 ft of elevation gain each lap totaling ~74 miles and ~6200 feet including the neutral rollout. The main feature of the course is the “Three Bears,” which is a sequence of short climbs in the second half of the loop. “Mama Bear” is the first and takes about 2-3 minutes to climb; “Papa Bear” is the second and takes about 3-4 minutes to climb; and “Baby Bear” is the third and takes less than a minute to climb. There’s a short descent between Mama and Papa and a longer descent between Papa and Baby. The rest of the course is mostly flat with some rolling hills.(description borrowed from Fraser Bulbuc)
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14295027471
Nutrition: A tasty natural processed Ethiopian pourover at home, and some far less tasty cola caffeine tabs + water at the start. ~3x 100g carb bottles throughout the race and 1 gel.
Recap:
It was a pretty chilly day at the start line, 48°F and overcast. The wave was combined with Collegiate A so in addition to me and Maxime, Devin and George were with us representing UC Davis and Stanford. The race started with a neutral rollout down to the start of the laps, which was a moderately trafficked open road and mostly acceptable quality pavement, with some significant exceptions manifesting in huge potholes near the shoulder lines. The group was awakened to these early as one rider hit a large hole and flatted in the first few miles. Turns were swept before the race so those also rode appreciably fast.
The first lap was rather tame as we warmed up in the appearing sun and familiarized ourselves with the group. There were a few small surges over the rollers on the back side of the lap, but it was pretty clear that nobody was interested in attacking when wind was low and not really a factor in the race dynamics, and most seemed content letting the Bears be the ultimate separator. I knew that I wasn’t the strongest or lightest climber in the group so my goal was to stay toward the front as we approached the climbs and hope I still had some wheels within reach once over the top. This positioning was quite easy, as I could regularly make up 5+ wheels on the shoulders of small descents without any power cost.
When we made the final turn before the Bears, the position jockeying kicked up and as soon as the road pitched up, everyone launched. As expected, most of the field was over the climb before me but I was still able to find a small group of motivated, like-sized riders to set up a chase with some efficient slingshot rotations on the main descent into Baby Bear, and a high intensity rotating paceline as we began lap 2 in the flats. By the time we hit the first turn, we had caught the main group and were back in contention.
I could copy and paste the details of the first lap as this was the exact playout of the remaining 3 laps, and I was continually more surprised that we kept closing the chase. Each climb was a fast and hard challenge of attrition, which eventually took out Maxime with 1 to go. On the final lap, I was quite exhausted from the cat and mouse game but worked hard to keep 3rd wheel going into the final Mama Bear climb. Unfortunately, once the road kicked up, I couldn’t hold the power of the front group as I struggled to maintain threshold and ended up crossing over in 11th.
~Kevin
Descent off the back of Papa Bear leading into Baby Bear at the end of the lap
Race Report: 2025 Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Race: 2025 Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Date: April 26, 2025
AVRT racers: Wil Gibb, Vasyl Stokolosa, Sam Moskal, Adam Beliveau, Marc Osswald, Kevin Lin, Phillip Maier
Top Results: Wil Gibb (1/47), Vasyl Stokolosa (5/47), Adam Beliveau (9/47)
Course: Three laps of the 3 bears loop for a total of ~53 miles and ~4000 feet including the 2-mile neutral rollout. The main feature of the course is the “Three Bears,” climb which is a sequence of punchy climbs in the second half of the loop. “Mama Bear” is the first and takes about 2-3 minutes to climb (with a descent in the middle); “Papa Bear” is the second and takes about 3-4 minutes to climb; and “Baby Bear” is the third and is a short kicker at the end of the lap. The race finishes with a final climb of Papa Bear.
Strava: https://strava.app.link/ay9LhDWKVSb
Nutrition: Two bottles of 110g skratch high-carb, 60g PowerBar caffeine gummies
Race recap: Written by Wil
I was excited going into this race because I felt like the punchy climbs were well-suited to my strengths, and I was grateful that the team offered to support me as the protected rider during our pre-race meeting. Our general plan was to stay near the front to avoid crashes, and an attempted lead out on the final climb.
The race started without incident, and we made sure to avoid the large cracks in the bike lane. Going into the 3 Bears climb, the pace was high, requiring near-max efforts from the group, which mostly stayed together. Unfortunately, a crash up Papa Bear took Phillip out. Those who were not completely dropped on the climb were able to catch back up on the descent, which was ~50mph at points. One thing I learned during this race is that being at the front during a descent (at least for me) isn’t really an advantage, because I would get swarmed from both sides and get boxed in.
Heading into the 3 Bears climbs on the second lap, I made sure to stay glued to the wheels of the first 2-3 riders to enjoy a draft but not get shuffled back in the pack. On Papa Bear, three of us put a decent gap in the peloton (20-30 seconds?). However, we were easily caught on the descent. This encouraged me to be extra smart on the third and final lap to conserve energy for the finishing climb. It was clear a breakaway wouldn’t stick.
Vasyl did a good job setting a high pace on the final lap – either being on the front or off the front the entire time. I stayed in the front third of the pack, which proved to be crucial as we were constantly coming up on or being caught by other fields. Despite this race being extremely well organized, I was surprised at the lack of field separation by the moto refs – at one point there were at least 3 fields riding together. Given the chaotic nature of this, I had to work very carefully to make up wheels on the narrow back roads leading to the finish.
I knew the race would come down to a steady 10-12 minute effort, which kicked off on Mama Bear. I made sure to stay in the top five wheels to conserve energy behind the other strong climbers. As we zoomed down the final descent into the finishing climb, Vasyl flew by me and had me get on his wheel, setting a hard pace on the first part of the climb. Since the climb is a solid ~4 minute effort, my goal was to stay in the saddle and keep my cadence high to minimize muscular fatigue. It turns out that strategy worked, as I was able to keep that effort consistent all the way to the finish line for my first win. I was extremely grateful for the excellent teamwork, and would highly recommend this race, especially to those who enjoy Egan!
Race Report: 2025 Tour de Murrieta - Women’s P123
Stage 1 - Crit
Race: 2025 Tour de Murrieta Crit - Women’s P123
Date: April 5, 2025
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Robin Betz, Roz Patterson, Sue Lin Holt, Whitney Post
Top result: Robin - 19/32
Course: An L-shape with 5 left turns and one right turn, with turns 5 and 6 in quick succession before a long finishing straight with a headwind.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14091107675
Nutrition: Half bottle of cyclic dextrin (~200kcal) during the race.
Recap: (by Robin)
I didn’t know the race course or any of my competition during this race, but my socal-based teammates provided some helpful hints at the start. There were about 10 call-ups of various champions and winners which made me both nervous and excited, as well as a team of 9 pre-professional juniors which made me more nervous.
Overall the pack dynamics were reasonable for the majority of the race, with the usual accordion effect and subsequent sprinting out of the corners. My typical strategy of moving up through the corners wasn’t as effective as usual due to some of the juniors taking unreliable lines, so I was probably more cautious than I needed to be.
The effort kicked up a bit on each finishing stretch, and I usually sagged this part a bit out of the corner not wanting to spend matches, as it would then slow midway near the start/finish line and I could move up on the right side as the group slowed. Unfortunately the start/finish archway cut into the course a bit here so there was a limit to how many spots I could gain most laps.
I was pleased to find that while pretty nonstop, the pace was something I could sustain without issue, although I was unwilling to work hard on the long straightaway to retain positions at or near the front. I decided to save my matches and then move up more with about 5 to go.
I didn’t really accomplish this (in no small part due to the sudden appearance of a car on the course in one of the corners that really freaked me out). With one to go I didn’t increase my aggression at all and found myself literally last wheel going into the final two corners.
I made the best of a bad situation and let a small gap open so I could corner without losing any speed and gave it max watts in my aero position for the finishing stretch. I actually passed about half the field here with a closing speed of 10-15mph and had the third fastest womens’ lap time of the day.
It was really great to lose a race due to tactics rather than fitness. I’m looking forward to putting it all together one day.
Stage 2 - Circuit
Race: 2025 Tour de Murrieta Circuit - Women’s P123
Date: April 6, 2025
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Robin Betz, Roz Patterson
Top result: Louise - 10/36
Course: 10 laps of a 4.3-mile course. For the pro fields, they decided the day before to add an extra climb (0.4 miles @ 4%) to an otherwise flat course, though after doing Cat’s Hill a couple of weeks prior, the climb seemed relatively tame.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14103124200
Nutrition: standard affair for me - a fig bar before the race. A couple of bottles of malto + sugar mix and a couple of handfuls of gummy bears during it.
Recap: (written by Louise)
Never having raced in SoCal (except for the prior day’s crit), I wasn’t sure of the competition’s strength but guessed the hill would be a major factor. I aimed to stay near the front going into it so I could sag the climb if needed. Before the race, Wil gave a pro tip that the first corner had gravel, so positioning there would also be critical. In short, my strategy boiled down to “stay near the front.”
The first lap was smooth sailing. Roz took some strong pulls on the front, and I felt like I was positioned well for both the corner and the hill. I don’t remember much of the second lap, so I assume it was similarly nondescript.
Lap 3 was where things started to fall apart. An attack on the hill shattered the group, dropping me, Robin, Roz, and a bunch of others. I teamed up with a rider from A Faster Me to chase. After half a lap, Robin caught us with a train of 5–6 riders, and we clawed our way back to the peloton just before the climb. Luckily, no one attacked this time and we were back in the game.
I then switched my focus to conserving energy and staying sheltered. Another hill attack came later, but this time I was near the front at the start of the climb and survived with the peloton. Unfortunately, Robin was dropped, but again fought her way back to rejoin the group. What a beast.
For the final lap, Robin and I both found ourselves too far back in the pack, so I pulled through the windy section to get us to the front before the climb. I led into the hill expecting attacks… but nothing. To spice things up, I then launched my own attack on the post-climb rollers. The pack shut it down, but at least it kept the pace high. I then got myself towards the front coming into the final corner, lost a few spots in the sprint, but managed to hold on for 10th. Overall, a fun weekend!
Race: 2025 Berkeley Hills Road Race- Women’s Short Race
Race: 2025 Berkeley Hills Road Race- Women’s Short Race
Date: April 26, 2025
AVRT racers:
Hannah Chen, Chris Davis, Samantha DeWees, Kristin Hepworth, Katie Monaghan,
Top Result: Kristin Hepworth 3/42, Hannah Chen 8/42, Katie Monaghan 10/42
Course: Roughly 1.8ish laps of an 18.7 mi loop with 1,650 ft of elevation gain each lap for a total of ~34 miles and ~2800 feet. The main feature of the course is the “Three Bears,” which is a sequence of short climbs in the second half of the loop. “Mama Bear” is the first and takes about 3 minutes to climb; “Papa Bear” is the second and takes about 4 minutes to climb; and “Baby Bear” is the third and steepest and takes less than a minute to climb. There’s a short descent between Mama and Papa and a longer descent between Papa and Baby. The rest of the course is mostly flat with some rolling hills.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14294321070
Nutrition: One SIS gel at the start line, Scratch gummies during the race, and two bottles of water (1 bottle had some Perpetuem mix)
Race Report: Berkeley Hills Road Race
Another huge turnout for the local women’s scene — 42 racers across the Cat 3/4/5 and Masters fields! I’d been targeting this race as one of my A races for the season, since hilly courses are where I feel strongest. Our plan was to race aggressively, stay assertive with positioning, and hold the front third of the field. With all the cracks and potholes on course, riding near the front wasn’t just about tactics — it was about safety and being ready to respond to any moves.
The race officially began at the corner of Bear Creek and San Pablo Dam Roads after a neutral rollout from the Orinda BART station.
The field stayed mostly together up the first Mama Bear climb, but things started heating up on Papa Bear. Six of us broke away and opened a solid gap on the field. I was the only AV rider in the group, alongside two Super Sprinkles, one Terun, one Eclipse, and one Sac Golden Wheelman rider. We quickly settled into a rotation, working together to break away and stretch the gap down San Pablo Dam Road with short, efficient pulls.
But after turning off San Pablo Dam Road, we made a critical mistake: we all eased up. Thinking the gap was secure, we let the pace drop—and within minutes, Katie, Hannah, and three more Super Sprinkles bridged across. Just like that, we were 11 riders again. Not ideal, but it was good to see some teammates again.
Before the next Mama Bear climb, the Sprinkles squad started launching small attacks. They weren’t trying to get away — just tire us out chasing them. It didn’t take long to identify their protected rider: Liz. It was also clear that Sofya from Terun was racing to win. I made it a point to stay close to both. I did what I could to avoid pulling and conserve energy. On just a couple of the rollers I found myself on the front, but I kept the pace steady and manageable and pulled back ASAP. I stayed alert, constantly checking over my shoulder for anyone trying to sneak up the side.
The group thinned a bit more on the second Mama Bear, and by the time we hit the base of the final Papa Bear, I was sitting third wheel. I decided to go for it — maybe a little too early — and launched an attack. My hope was to pull away from Sofya and Liz and hold the effort to the top. But all I really managed was to give them a solid draft for the first minute of the climb. They countered, came around me, and I latched onto Liz’s wheel for as long as I could.
The final minute of Papa Bear was brutal. They started pulling away, and I just focused on holding pace and not fading. My brain was screaming at me to stop, but I kept telling myself: You’re getting oxygen, you’re fine, just keep going. I glanced back and saw I had about 50 feet on Kelly from Eclipse. Not a comfortable margin, but enough — if I didn’t let up.
I emptied the tank and crossed the line 3rd overall. Looking back, I wish I’d been more patient on that final climb — maybe waited a bit longer before launching — but I’m proud of the effort.
Happy with the result and grateful for such a fun, well-fought race on a challenging course! Go AV!
Race Report: 2025 Levi’s Gran Fondo - Growler Eilte
Date: April 19, 2025
AVRT racers: Andrew Ernst, Erik Levinson
Top Result: Andrew 41/108
Course: 137 miles with 13,700’ of climbing. The first 30 miles and the last 20 miles are very flat. The elevation is almost entirely within the middle 87 miles and consists of four main climbs with plenty of smaller rolling hills. Road surfaces were about 80% decent pavement, 15% rough old pavement, and maybe 5% dirt/gravel.
Nutrition: I ate an extra 500-1000 calories per day in the two days prior to the race. Had a bowl of cereal and pot of half caffeinated coffee the morning of the race as well as four Pop-Tarts 60-90 minutes before the race. During the race I had 12 gels, two of my own bottles with 75g carb each, and three bottles of mix from the neutral feed. Total ~5000 calories between breakfast and nutrition during the race.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14227002791
Race Recap: Erik and I discussed goals before the race which boiled down to staying safe and in good position on climbs as to not get dropped by a group. It would be an especially long day riding solo.
The race was full gas from the start. We both tucked into the peloton which carried us along at 28mph for the first 30 miles. We were both out of position at the base of the first climb and had to dodge riders who were falling back as we made up positions. The front of the race (and Erik) were rapidly out of sight and I looked around for riders who were matching my pace. Near the top of the climb, I latched onto a group of five who gave a nice draft along the ridgetop and down the first sketchy decent. Among this group was Troy Fields who had won the circuit race at Sea Otter the weekend prior. It was around this point (mile 50) where we caught Erik who had wisely taken the descent cautiously.
We all rode together for the next ten miles taking short pulls through a series of rollers. We were caught by a large group with a bunch of strong riders including Miles Hubbard, Ryan Gorman, Ted King, Victor Perez, and Taylor Dawson (Sea Otter Gravel 90 winner). Our group of ~ 20 hit the second climb and Erik took off with Miles. Erik had said he wanted to ride hard on the climbs in order to be more conservative on descents. I would have done the same if I had the fitness. I rode just below threshold to stay with the group through climbs two and three. About half of the riders in our group were dropped through these two climbs and descents.
At the start of Geysers, the final climb of the day, we had about ten guys in our group including Ryan Gorman, Ted King, Taylor Dawson, Victor Perez, and Troy Fields. This next section was rough, both in terms of the elevation gain and the road surfaces. There were countless sections of gravel to navigate at high speed. Here we caught Miles and Erik who was starting to get sick. I was out of gels and very low on motivation, so had nothing to offer but a few mumbled words of encouragement, as much for myself as for him.
Taylor went solo when the road got steep which left six of us to chase until the finish. Despite riding the final flat 20 miles at nearly 25mph into a 5-10mph headwind, we were unable to catch Taylor. I rolled in 5th in our group of six making no real attempt at a sprint for 37th place. Erik came in a bit later having had terrible luck with illness and an untimely flat tire.
Overall the race went quite well for me. I was able to fuel well and follow good wheels through technical sections. It was worth pushing into the red a few times to have a group to ride with at the end. Hopefully next year we can get a few more AV riders out there!
Race Report: 2025 Valley of the Sun Stage Race - Men's P1
Race: Valley of the Sun Stage Race 2025 - Men P1
Date: Feb 14-16, 2025
Written By: Flo Costa
Stage 1 - Time Trial
Course: 10 mile flat out and back TT
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13627997980
Result: 56/116
Race:
Contrary to popular belief, winter in California can get cold and wet. At least enough for me to get tired of. Fine, I’ll admit I’m soft. It’s all relative. Meanwhile, Arizona in February provides nice 60-70 degree weather. If the weather itself isn’t enough reason to make the trip, there’s always great turn out at the Valley of the Sun stage race which makes for some great racing after a long off season.
As tradition, the race kicks off with a flat 10 mile time trial which takes roughly 20 minutes. It’s a pretty simple effort with my strategy being to push as hard as I could for 20 minutes while staying as aero as possible. Unfortunately I had a pretty hectic week leading up to the race, which led to pretty subpar form. Nevertheless, I was ready to race and suffer.
The first half of the time trial went fairly well with me being able to push decent power at a decent speed. As soon as I turned around, I felt a significant headwind which hadn’t felt as strong earlier in the day. Shit. I kept pushing but my legs got heavier and heavier while my position on the TT bike started to break down. Over these last 10 minutes my power slowly declined - with my heart rate pinned - until I reached the finish, completely spent. I averaged about 20 watts less in this second half than the first half. The headwind on the way back only meant that this decline was even more costly in terms of time. I probably should have been more careful in moderating my effort at the start.
Stage 2 - Road Race
Course: 95 mile race over 6 laps featuring a gentle 5 min climb and a fast tailwind section
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13637356127
Result: 29/121
Race:
The second stage was the road race in the desert just south of Phoenix. I was pretty far back in GC which meant that I was free to do as much or little work as I wanted. My legs and body felt pretty bad and I didn’t have any teammates, so my plan was to race conservative and try my luck in the finale. Although the course features a 5 minute climb every lap, it’s not steep enough to break up the race and with such a large field it’s easy to make it over the climb in the wheels.
Committed to the race plan, I made it a game to spend as little energy as possible. An early break of 5-6 riders went off the front in the first lap, so the responsibility of controlling fell to the shoulders of the bigger teams with riders well placed in the GC. Meanwhile I stayed in the back half of the bunch, moving up to the front before the climb to sag climb it. Sag climbing is a specific strategy where you begin a climb at the front of a group and intentional drift back to conserve energy.
The race was straightforward with the breakaway established and the GC teams staying at the front. The wind was picking up though, and in the second to last lap echelons were forming in the crosswind up the climb. People were letting gaps open up and I spent a few bullets staying up in the front group. Going into the last lap, the original breakaway was still up the road and the peloton was getting nervous. People started launching fliers into the fast tailwind section. The group of 100+ riders was completely strung out in a single file line as a couple more riders managed to break away.
The gaps quickly expanded and the chase disintegrated. With the original break still out of sight, the main bunch would be sprinting for 8th place. The final climb up to the finish was pretty chaotic without a lead out train setting a tempo. People were constantly swarming and jostling for position. I made sure to stay on the protected side of the wind, but was constantly battling to move up only to get passed again. The group never strung out and I found myself completely boxed in with 500 meters to go. I was pretty stuck and never got to uncork a full sprint, but was still near the front to finish 29th. My attempts to save energy throughout the day had been successful, but I think I could’ve been more aggressive with positioning in the finish and even commit to spending more matches before the actual sprint to stay in front.
Stage 3 - Crit
Course: Wide and fast crit with 7 corners.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13647410543
Result: 66/116
Race:
The final day was a crit near downtown Phoenix. This course is on wide roads with good pavement, making it a really fast race. As usual, the crit started really hard with people sprinting out of every corner. The start/finish straight felt particularly difficult as everyone would put down crazy power to move up. My main focus in crits like these is to stay smooth and constantly move up. My goal was to stay in the top 20-30 wheels to find that sweet spot where the corners feel a bit smoother with less argy-bargy. I also typically make a small game out of finding the few spots on the course where I can move up every lap. For example in this course, by moving up on the outside of turn 1 you could carry a lot of speed into the inside of turn 2 which riders generally left pretty open. In a handful of seconds, you could advance 10 wheels without needing to burn a match.
The peloton was averaging close to 31 mph which meant it would be really difficult for anyone to break away. In all likelihood, it would come down to a bunch sprint. I was pretty locked in a good rhythm and maintained a solid position throughout the race. However, with around 10 laps to go, things start to get more nervous as more people try moving to the front. This means you have to start riding more aggressively and take more risks to stay in position. Wide courses like this can sometimes be scarier as the group fans out quite during the fight for every corner. In this course, the worst one was turn 6. We smashed the backside of the course at 36+ mph and proceeded to enter the corner 10 wide every time. This becomes a crazy game of chicken as each rider has to brake as late as possible and stick their handlebars in front of the others. It’s terrifying to think of, actually, so during the race you really need to keep a clear mind and flip a switch into race mode.
On this day, I must’ve been missing some of the racing edge because I started slipping back from 20th wheel with about 5 laps to go. On top of that, the lead out trains (mainly Legion) were doing a good job blocking up the turns, which prevented me from overtaking people on the insides. All of my “move-up” spots were getting stuffed which made positioning extra difficult. With 3 to go I clipped my pedal pretty bad in turn 3. This threw me off even more and I became more risk-aware. I lost focus and was no longer willing to be part of the fight, so I slowly drifted back. I didn’t get to contest the sprint and rolled it in for 66th.
This race, and the road race the day before, were good reminders of how crucial (but difficult) positioning is in these big races. Everyone has the same goal: to get to the front. Doing so requires you to be mentally and physically dialed, requires thousands of split-second decisions, and requires the confidence to seize every opportunity you can find. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with the outcomes, but was glad to bag some experience in these early season high level races.
Thanks for reading,
Flo
Race Report: 2025 Sea Otter Circuit Race - Men's B
Race: 2025 Sea Otter Circuit Race - Men's B
Date: Thursday, April 10
AVRT Racers: Ryan Dyke, Kevin Kauffman
Best Finish: Kevin Kauffman - 11/24 in Men B category (16/57 overall B/C/Collegiate/40+/55+)
Course Description: 45 minutes on a 2.238 mi racetrack with a 180 ft climb broken into a shallow grade and a steep kicker before dropping into “The Corkscrew”, followed by a brake-free series of 45mph turns, then finishing on flat wide turns to the finish line. Perfect tarmac with only constrictions being a few sections with barricades bottlenecking the track.
Strava: https://strava.app.link/FpgbDDgUzSb
Nutrition: half a banana 30min out. Half a bottle of water during the race because my mixed carb/caffeine bottle leaked all over my race bag on the drive in.
Recap:
Got to the course around 7:20AM. It’s a big venue and the parking was a 10min walk to registration, 10 more min to the start line with staff who had little knowledge of where to go. I got a few laps in on the road to warm up before wandering to the start line. The confusion led to a bit less effective a warmup than I wanted but I at least wasn’t going in cold.
All groups gridded together and just raised hands when the group was called so we could see who we were racing against. It was hard to gauge how many were in B but it felt small, but felt like just under 50 at the line? Ryan and I started side by side, but he quickly pushed up to the front third, and myself back to the back third. In hindsight this was a key mistake as I was forced to brake a fair bit into every turn on the first two laps as the group congested. At the beginning of lap 2 I got caught in an incident that drove a few riders off the track into gravel and a few others locked up and unclipped. That was my cue to move up.
Conditions were very foggy, and as I wasn’t familiar with the course it was a bit of a learning curve finding comfortable lines at high speeds on the corkscrew and 180°, but road conditions were great and settled into a groove for the last 6 laps. Not sure I touched the brakes once after that. I originally planned to sag the main climb as I knew I didn’t have the W/Kg of the smaller riders in the group but the speed of the course led to the group getting pretty strung out and messed up that plan.
By the end of the climb on lap 3, people started to fade and let gaps open. I was able to bridge a handful of them but eventually the elastic broke and Ryan and I found ourselves on the wrong side in a chase. Myself, and an assortment of riders from VFR, Lamorinda, Devout, and an XC racer took some turns trying to accelerate the group through the flats but after the next two laps it was clear we wouldn’t catch the front.
After reading our new group, it was clear that Ryan, Scott from VFR and myself were the heaviest riders. I knew I’d either need to make some sort of move leading into the climb and see if I could force a gap with a small group over the crest, or sit in and hope that the small ones wouldn’t smoke me on the last climb and save my sprint for the finish. I took the first choice, was able to get a few second gap with 2 other riders on my wheel, but was caught just before cresting the climb. That burned my sprint and I finished in the middle of our group sprint.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience getting to race the Laguna Seca track, attend the expo, and watch the start and end of the LTGP gravel race. Will definitely be coming back next year and bring some improved strategy and fitness.
Sometime mid race
Race Report: 2025 Sea Otter Fuego XL Women
Race: Sea Otter Fuego XL
Date: April 12, 2025
AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang
Top Result: 1/15 W19-29, 9/61 Overall
Course: Two loops of 35 miles of singletrack, gravel, and some road
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14159819881
Race Recap:
I did this race last year with the elite field and was coming off of being sick, so did very poorly. Going into it this year, it was a redemption run. Based on last year’s elite women results, I thought I would be about mid-pack, so gave myself the goal of finishing in 5hrs 30min.
I lined up with all the women racing up to age maybe 40. The course started with an uphill on the track, and immediately, I could tell the difference between this and the elite race. I was pretty easily able to pass all of them on the climb with my pace, and we went off onto the singletrack. For the first 30 minutes I was really pushing to make the gap as big as possible between me and the girl behind me, being very vocal to each person in front that I wanted to pass them. Since most of them were not truly racing and just riding for fun, they let me by with no hesitation and almost immediately as well.
Once I really couldn’t see the women behind me anymore, I felt like I was racing alone and that there wasn’t really any competition, so unlike other long endurance mountain bike races I’ve done in the past, I started pacing at a pace I knew I could hold for a while without hurting. So basically I wasn’t trying too hard. At moments I thought about going harder just in case one of the women would catch up.
At the first rest stop, there were volunteers holding out gels like people do with bottles at feed zones, so I grabbed one, looked at the flavor, Neversecond espresso, ate it, and it was so good and easy to go down that at the second rest stop, grabbed one, held it with my mouth to free up my hand, and grabbed two more.
The lap ends with a 800+ft climb, which killed me last year and this year chasing Steph up the hill on my MTB bike while she rode her gravel, so after the climb, I was surprised at how good I felt when I finished the first lap. I looked down at my Garmin and it was at 2hr 40min, so slightly faster than my goal of 5:30. Maybe it was the easy pacing on the first lap, but I was feeling really good, not tired at all, didn’t feel the need to stop, so when I found Clay at the feed zone, I got my two bottles and left. Normally I would have gotten off my bike at the feed zone, grabbed a bar or gel or something, quick rest, but this was, stop, two bottles on bike, go.
My legs started feeling kinda tired in lap two, and I tried not to dial it back too much. I started taking it easier and not trying as hard to pass people, even pacing with some people. Near the end of the second lap, I felt the same part cramp, my inner right thigh, but it wasn’t bad enough so I kept going. After that though, I started pedaling harder with my left leg. By the last large climb, I gave it a little more knowing it was the last of the race. I finished at 5:33:15, securing 1st in my age group and 9th overall including the elite riders.
Nutrition: 1.5L hydration pack with Fluid Fresh Citrus drink mix on the first lap, 2 bottles Tailwind Cola drink mix on the second lap, mix of Torq and Neversecond gels throughout the race (~5-6 total)
Race Report: 2025 Sea Otter Gravel 90 Men
Date: April 11, 2025
AVRT racers: Andrew Ernst
Top Result: 2/149 Overall (and 2/36 in the 30-39 AG... but I’m 29)
Course: 3 laps of ~30 miles with ~3500’ per lap. Ended up being 88 miles and about 10,000’ of elevation. Course is ~70% gravel, not very technical, but numerous areas of deep sand and a steep climb at the end of each lap to Lookout Ridge.
Nutrition: I try to eat an extra 500-1000 calories per day in the two days prior to the race. Had a bowl of cereal and pot of half caffeinated coffee the morning of the race as well as four Pop-Tarts 60-90 minutes before the race (I don’t want to be hungry in the first hour). During the race I had 10 SiS gels, 2 bottles with 75g carb each, and a 2L hydration pack with plain water. Total 3700 calories between breakfast and nutrition during the race.
Bike: Diverge with Continental Terra Speed 45mm tires
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14149185546
Race Recap: My main goals for the day: stay upright and stay with the front group to follow the best lines through technical sections and descents.
I came into the first descent about 4th or 5th wheel which was right where I wanted to be to avoid chaos and keep the front of the race in sight. There were some sketchy sandy turns and washboard that sent bottles flying. It was so foggy that I couldn’t see much more than 50 feet ahead of me. By the end of the descent we had a group of five. I would find myself losing a few seconds on every loose turn but was able to catch back on each time at the cost of a match. I lost about 15 seconds in the singletrack section after getting stuck behind the 19-29 field, which meant another match spent before the big climb up Lookout which would mark the end of lap one. Ben Herken and Taylor Dawson easily dropped myself and the other two guys in our group up the climb.
I spent the next 10 minutes riding (and descending) at my limit and was able to catch Ben and Taylor at the bottom of the descent on lap two. We also caught the two leaders from the 19-29 race at this point and rode with them for most of the second lap. I was still getting gapped in loose corners and sandy sections which meant more matches burned, but I was able to follow more closely through the singletrack section this time. Again the climb up Lookout shattered our group. Taylor went solo for lap three to win the race by a landslide. Ben seemed to be about 1-2 minutes ahead of me. Knowing he was fast in the technical sections and I didn’t have a wheel to follow, I figured catching him would be out of the question. I settled into an easier tempo pace and didn’t take any risks. At the final feed zone, I caught Ben and we rode together to the base of Lookout. I could tell he was hurting from dehydration. I continued to ride steady the final time up Lookout, dropping Ben to finish second. I can thank my USWE hydration pack for that!
Overall I was very happy with the result. I will definitely need to practice cornering on gravel and riding through sand if I want to improve in the future. I think I may go with some bigger tires too.
Race Report: 2025 Tour de Murrieta - Men’s Cat 2/3
Race: 2025 Tour de Murrieta Crit - Men’s Cat 2/3
Date: March 5, 2025
AVRT racers: Jon Wells
Top Result: Jon Wells, 5th of 54
Course: 1 mile loop through historic downtown Murrieta. The L-shaped course had 6 corners making for a slightly technical course. Wind picked up during our race making for some solid crosswind sections.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14091768089/
Nutrition: One bottle of 90g carb mix during and a pre race redbull
Race Recap:
Plan coming into the race was to react to moves without being too much of an instigator since I don’t really know the Socal typical teams and individuals to watch plus I was racing by myself. It would be nice to be in a break but I was also fine sprinting for scraps if a move went since I was just looking for a few more points to secure my cat 1 upgrade.
Nothing of note happened the first half of the race as I just tried to stay near the front and follow moves that were easy to cover or looked threatening. Eventually, a move of 2 got some separation and the field didn’t do much to control the gap, even with several big teams missing it. Turns out the break had Dave Zabriskie’s kid in the move and he is quite strong (shocker!). There was no real concerted effort by the field to chase and the gap felt bridge-able the entire time. I made one real effort to go across solo in the crosswinds and helped with some pulls at the front to manage it but at some point around 5 to go it became clear that was the move of the day and we were now racing for 3rd.
I planted myself right near the front starting around 3 to go. Came into the last lap around 5th wheel but with no big teams it was very hectic. The long back stretch was a real drag race into the last 2 corners. I came into the last 2 corners sitting 3rd and opened up my sprint out of the last corner, which is still probably 30 seconds to the line. I came around both guys who were in front of me but also had 2 guys from behind pass me so finished right where I came into the last corners in 3rd in the group. Was good enough for 5th on the day and I now had enough points for my cat 1 road upgrade!!!
-Jon
Race: 2025 Tour de Murrieta Circuit Race - Men’s Cat 2/3
Date: March 6, 2025
AVRT racers: Jon Wells
Top Result: Jon Wells, 12th of 60, 8th in GC for weekend
Course: 3.5 mile loop through historic downtown Murrieta. The L-shaped course had one particularly tight corner, some slight elevation on the back side, sections of poor pavement, and pinch points going from having the entire road to just one lane.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14106054899/
Nutrition: One bottle of 90g carb mix, one ice bottle, and 2x caffeinated honey stinger blocks
Race Recap:
Since I had finished with my cat 1 upgrade points the day before, I was out to have some more fun and race aggressively on day 2. The GC prize money was pretty weak so I had no vested interest in that.
Race started pretty fast and stayed that way the entire time. I took many swings at trying to get away from the group, starting from almost at the gun. I tried in the bad pavement sections, out of the tight corner, and on the slight rise at various points in the race but nothing was really sticking. I think everyone was very onto any breaks happening since we had all missed the move the day before. There were still several of us that tried quite hard to make it happen. I think we needed something to make the course harder like some crosswinds from the day before.
As it came down to the closing lap, I spent some energy to be near the front. Unfortunately, on the back side when it pinched down to one lane I got squeezed to maybe the third row as we rode shoulder to shoulder across the whole lane. Eventually, out of the last corner I was finally able to squeeze free and opened up a pretty long range move. This got me into an ok position for the sprint, but it was really too late. The finish line was less than 100m out of the last corner so I really needed to be going sooner. Regardless, I still got up to 12th on the finish after racing pretty hard all day. Was good enough for 8th on the weekend GC. But the big weekend win was getting my cat 1 road upgrade!!
-Jon