Club News
Race Report: 2024 Sea Otter Circuit - Women’s B/C/Masters/Collegiate
Race: 2024 Sea Otter Circuit - Women’s B/C/Masters/Collegiate
Date: April 20, 2024
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Hannah Chen
Top Result: Louise 5/22
Course: 30 min circuit race on Laguna Seca Raceway. Each lap is 2.2 miles, featuring a 0.55 mile climb at 5.6% and a fun corkscrew descent. The road surface was the best I’ve ever ridden on.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11226553219
Nutrition: a few sips of malto/fructose mix. It was such a short race that I probably didn’t even need that
Recap (Written by Louise): Having never done the circuit race at Sea Otter before, I was excited to try it this year. With such a big festival area, the first challenge of the day was getting parked, registered, and finding my way around to the circuit race. It definitely felt like mountain biking was the main focus of the event with a couple of the help desk people not even knowing where the circuit start line was.
Eventually I managed to find my way to the start where Hannah was also waiting, and after a shortened warm-up we lined up along with all of the women from all of the categories (apart from elite/A). It was nice having such a big group but difficult to see who you were actually competing against.
The first lap was pretty easy. Since we didn’t get any practice laps it seemed like everyone was just scoping it out and enjoying being on the super smooth track (would highly recommend trying it). The descent was also a lot of fun with banked corners that you could lean into and pedal through. Not everyone was taking them smoothly though so positioning was still important; unfortunately Hannah was forced to brake multiple times after being stuck behind another rider on the downhill, and then waste energy to catch back up.
On the second lap, a couple of the collegiate racers attacked on the hill and I went with them. We ended up with a breakaway of five; three of us from the B’s and the two collegiates. We were taking turns on the front to stay away, but coming up to the start/finish line I felt like we were going too slow with other racers still in sight behind us, so I told Shantelle to rotate off the front so I could push the pace up a bit. That was a critical error. I stayed on the front until the start of the climb, at which point the others attacked and I got jettisoned off the back. Note to self: don’t do more work than necessary, and definitely don’t do more work than other people who are stronger than you.
For the final lap and a half I hung out in no man’s land, unable to catch back up to the breakaway but far enough away not to get caught myself, and finished the race solo. Hannah then finished not too long after. I definitely should have played it smarter, but honestly it was still so much fun; it’s not very often you get to race on a race track like that.
Race Report: 2024 Copperopolis Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Race: Copperopolis Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Date: 3/30/24
AVRT Racers: Grant Miller, Nathan Martin
Top Result: 6th - Nathan
Course: 5 laps of this. Very poor pavement throughout the climb and descents on the course.
Nutrition: 4 bottles of 60g malto+20g gatorade, 3 gels
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11072056992/
Race Recep (written by Nathan):
Our plan going in was basically to have Grant and I sit in and let the course take its toll on people. We figured we’d have decent endurance and be able to put in some attacks late to break things up further.
Lap 1 I went to the front on the climb and started doing just below threshold, mostly because the pavement was bad and I wanted to be at the front to see anything. Unfortunately, right at the top of the climb, I got a puncture, so I had to stop to plug it.
I caught back on quickly, but my tire still felt low, so I stopped again and then had to do about ten minutes at tempo since people were attacking after I stopped. A break of about 5 or 6 went during this time, Tobin Ortenblad was probably the biggest threat in the group.
The descent was fast and very bumpy. I was running 32s, but still took it quite cautiously, having to burn a bit of a match to catch back on at the bottom.
Lap 2 was more of the same, with the pace pushed on the climb a bit. Grant also suffered a puncture and stopped to grab a quick pump in the feed zone.
At the bottom of the descent and start of lap 3, Tim McBirney from Mike’s Bikes attacked, so I went with him. I just sat on his wheel, since I knew he had a teammate in the break, so me doing any work would be silly since I would be basically giving Mike’s a perfect breakaway.
On the climb, we were joined by Ryan, Gavin, and two more Mike’s riders. We rolled turns the rest of the lap.
On the lap 4 climb, Gavin started putting in some digs, which I was able to follow but my legs were definitely starting to feel it. At the top of the climb, the group was reduced to Tim, Ryan, me, and Gavin. After the climb, we started to catch some members from the original breakaway.
After the lap 4 descent and start of lap 5, Ryan started to put in some digs and I was unable to follow. I got shelled from the group as did James Yang from Dolce Vita, who was in the original break, so we worked together for the rest of the climb and on the flats at the top. He would drop me at one point on the flats, and I worked solo for the rest of the race.
Overall it was just a super grueling race. It was a good test of endurance, nutrition planning, ability to conserve energy, and mental toughness. Ultimately us each getting flats and having to chase back on didn’t help, but I think we learned a lot.
Golden State Crit and Circuit Races 2024
Race: 2024 Golden State Series Criterium - Women’s 40+ P123
Date: May 4, 2024
AVRT racers: Chris Davis
Top Result: Chris Davis (4/4 for 40+)
Course: Clockwise 0.9mi office park loop. Flat, smooth, 3+ lane road with five wide, gentle turns. Rain had stopped by the time we raced, but the roads were still very wet with puddles.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11334665129
Nutrition: Fluid Performance and Beet Elite Powder
Race Summary:
I signed up for this weekend a month early in hopes that it would be well attended as it usually is. The rain put a kabash on that. Turn out was super low and those that did sign up shifted back and forth from P123 to 40+. There were eight of us total, split evenly between the two fields offered (P123 and 40+). The race started out with a bang since Shannon Gaffney has plenty of bullets to shoot. Every lap or so she would attack the field with Karen from Chico quickly following. They both had signed up in the P123 so I was sure to jump on that train, hoping for a break. After about eight attacks and the last of the primes, the pack settled into conserving for the sprint since nobody could get away. My derailleur was making my chain jump in the back cogs when I applied pressure so I was nervous about standing up to sprint the whole race. Therefore, I did not even sprint for the finish and came in 8 out of 8. After the race I took my bike to VeloFix to have a look. The mechanic tried a couple of adjustments, but was obviously limited in what he could with my DI2 shifting given he was working out of a van. I took a couple of sprints afterward to see if it was better and the chain did not jump so I thought I would be good to go for Sunday’s Circuit.
Photo Credit: Greg Beliera
Race: 2024 Golden State Series Circuit - Women’s 40+ P123
Date: May 5, 2024
AVRT racers: Chris Davis
Top Result: Chris Davis (4/4 for 40+)
Course: Counter Clockwise 2.9 mi office park loop. Flat, smooth, 3+ lane road with ten wide, gentle turns and a chicane. Bright sunny day, but chilly!
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11334665129
Nutrition: Fluid Performance and Beet Elite Powder
Yeah this was pretty much Groundhog’s Day! Same people, same time, but different course. The circuit course is fun because there are about 10 turns with a chicane. I thought it would go better for me since my bike was not skipping. I sat in and decided to try something after Shannon fired off all her shots. With just one and half laps to go, I decided to motivate Shannon while some of the Masters were having a conference. I was able to get a jump, but was chased down and my chain jumped AGAIN! So no sprinting for this race either. Therefore I came in last again, but was able to stay with the pack until the last KM. Yes, my bike is with my mechanic now. It was great seeing Hannah Chen there racing like champion!
Race Report: 2024 Golden State Series Criterium - Women’s 3/4/5
Race: 2024 Golden State Series Criterium - Women’s 3/4/5
Date: May 4, 2024
AVRT racers: Hannah Chen
Top Result: Hannah Chen (1st/3 cat 4)
Course: Clockwise 0.9mi office park loop. Flat, smooth, 3+ lane road with five wide, gentle turns. Cold and wet but not too windy; it rained all morning and did not let up until after our race finished.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11334665129
Nutrition: Pre-race: Plain water and 1 Gu courtesy of The Feed. No water during the race.
Race Summary:
I wanted to use this race to practice efficient cornering and getting comfortable moving in a pack. Unfortunately the horrible weather conditions made for an even smaller than expected field.
The first lap was slow as we were all a bit cautious to see how fast to take the wet corners. Within minutes my socks and gloves were drenched. Anna pulled first, Elisia pulled a bit, then I dutifully took my turn. They rang a bell for a sprint prime and Anna suddenly started gunning it. It felt premature. We casually increased pace before passing her and rounding the final corner for a sprint-off.
The remainder of the race consisted of me/Elisia taking turns pulling and racing the last two corners for the sprint prime (four total). I only heard 3 prime bells, so I was surprised to hear a bell and see the final lap card go up. I surged hard, never looked back and when I hit the finish line, no one was behind me.
The race director gave us the option to shorten the race by 10 minutes. We all agreed we wanted to do the full 40 min, but perhaps the race was so uneventful that they eventually did cut us off a short.
Lessons learned:
Pedal through every corner. The road was so wide that cornering wasn’t an issue at all and most importantly I never used my brakes.
Pay attention to lap cards! Afterwards Elisia shared that she thought we had 5+ minutes left and was still racing after our final lap, may be why she didn’t chase me.
I wish I thought of this: put your feet in bags inside your shoes to avoid sloshing socks in the rain.
Race Report: 2024 Tour de Bloom - Cat 2/3
Race: 2024 Tour de Bloom - Cat 2/3
Date: Friday 3 to Sunday 5th May, 2024
AVRT racers: Andrea Cloarec
Top Result: GC: Andrea 1st / 84 . Stage 1: 18th, Stage 2 TT: 2nd, Stage 3 Crit: 23rd, Stage 4 RR: 1st
Course: 4 stages Race
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11341163358/overview
Nutrition: I fueled at 100g/h for every stage. Mix of Malto/mapple syrup in bottles, and GU gels
Race Recap:
I decided to not race the p/1/2 with my teammates to race solo in the cat2/3 instead in order to maximize the upgrade points for my cat1 objective. With a TT on Road bike and a small 4' finish on the last stage, the course of this stage race suited me quite well.
Stage 1 - 56 miles pretty flat road race
Nothing happened, it was quite relax and easy. I managed to grab 2 bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint. And the final sprint was a very short one, so I stayed calmly in the pack, finishing 18th/84.
5th on GC thanks to the bonus seconds.
Stage 2 - TT, 8.5miles, Merckx style
I estimated it would take me 18 minutes if I road at 45km/h. So I set my power at 400w, trying to stay low and aero (I tried at least, see photo).
I finished in 18'06", for 402W. Now 2nd in GC 9 seconds behind the leader. I was pretty happy with my position: without the responsibilities of the leader, and still super closed to him.
Stage 3 - Crit, 45min
Just a rectangle, but.. It was raining, wet, and the guys up there in Washington/Canada have no problem riding under the rain and racing crits.
I quickly understood that my only objective was to hold it for 45'. Even if I didn't have the best lines, I wasnt taking any risks, which made me push more power. I was able to finish safely with the pack, 23rd.
Still 2nd GC before the last stage, 11" behind leader.
Stage 4 - 86 miles Road race. 3 loops rolling / flat for 85 miles, then 1 mile uphill at 6.5% finish
I had one objective : do nothing for 3 hours, and go hard for 4 minutes at the end.
Quickly I realized that the leader and the big teams were controlling the course. Perfect situation for me. I was safely staying at the back, moving right or left depending of the wind. 3 hours thinking of saving energy. My competitors did not see me at all, I was at the back, averaging 200w, fueling 100g/hour.
So I moved up with 5k to go, feeling pretty fresh and confident.
Before the final mile, I managed to get into a lead-out from another team, 4th wheel, perfect for me.
As soon as the climb started, I went. A short acceleration to quickly create a gap with the group, and after that it was 4 minutes of pacing to the end. I knew the watts I could do in this situation. So I averaged 525w for 4min10 and won the stage. The previous leader arrived 34 seconds later.
So I got the win of the GC in this cat2/3. Got a bunch of upgrade points toward the cat 1. Everything went according to plan.
Very good weekend with the team.
The guys in the p12 did a crazy effort, with races way way harder than mines. Congrats to them!
Also a huge thank to Roger, Nathan's dad, for his precious help.
Alto Velo could not race these stage races as well without his help and support!
Andrea
Race Report: 2024 Berkeley Streets Criterium - Women’s Cat 4
Race: 2024 Berkeley Streets Criterium Women’s Cat 4
Date: Sunday, April 28, 2024
AVRT racers: Claire MacDougall (racing collegiate), Hannah Chen, Katie Monaghan
Top Result: Katie Monaghan - 3/15 (Cat 4), 3/17 (overall), 3/9 (2024 Women’s 4 Omnium)
Course: 0.60 mile, 4 corner rectangular course across two city blocks in Berkeley. Start at McGee Ave and Hearst Ave, extending to Grant Street and California Street. Slight uphill on Hearst Street, slight downhill on Berkeley Way. Some uneven payment on Berkeley Way on downhill.
Strava: Katie’s Strava
Nutrition: Peanut butter and banana sandwich on ride over. A few dates before start
Race Recap:
Going into the race I was super excited to try what felt like my first criterium of the season. (I did race Cat’s Hill but that barely felt like it counted because I was timid from the start and consistently dropped on the hill.) Hannah, Claire and I discussed a little before the race about strategy. We decided since Super Sprinkles had 7 of the 17 riders, we would let them dictate the race. Our thought was to try to keep a good position, not burn too many matches and be ready to sprint.
I targeted Stephanie on Eclipse because I knew she had won both Cat’s Hill and the Santa Cruz Criterium this year. I felt if I kept her in sight and close, I was probably in a good position. The race itself didn’t have any significant breakaways or attacks. The Super Sprinkles girls seemed to switch off and have someone push the pace for a little. Stephanie would almost always follow right behind and each Sprinkles rider seemed to slow down after a turn or two on the course.
Due to the small size of our field, we were almost always in a single paceline. I would occasionally move up a few positions during the downhill on Berkeley Way because it didn’t seem to use too much energy. I was able to corner strategically to get back into the draft as we headed up Hearst Ave.
The final lap is a little fuzzy in my memory. I knew it was going to come down to a field sprint and I didn’t know how soon I should start. One of the Sprinkles girls took off at the bell lap. Stephanie followed and I got on her wheel. The true sprint didn’t really start until the final turn off California onto Hearst. Stephanie was in the lead and I got caught on outside behind the Sprinkles rider who had made the bell lap move. I was able to get around her but a different Sprinkles rider took an inside line on the final corner for second.
Overall I was very happy with 3rd in this race. Crits are fun, excited to do more where I don’t have to climb a 23% hill multiple times. (I joke about this but actually Cat’s Hill is a very cool race and I would definitely try it again next year).
This result also gave me 3rd overall in omnium for the weekend. I definitely wasn’t expecting that. Huge shoutout to Katarina Zgraja who worked with me for 85% of the Berkeley Hills Road Race after we got dropped from the lead group at Mama Bear.
Race Report: 2024 Sea Otter Classic Fuego XL
Race: Sea Otter Classic Fuego XL – Women’s Elite
Date: August 19, 2024
AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang
Course: 2 laps totaling 70 miles, 8500 ft gain
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11219707025
Race Recap: (Rachel Hwang’s perspective)
Coming off being sick, I hadn’t been able to train for long distance and my respiratory system had taken a hit. I entered with the women’s elite field, and I felt like I had no business being there.
As soon as the beep went off at 9:05:30, the 40+ women sped off, and already I could barely keep up. The first bit is on the track road to thin out the herd, up a steepish incline, headed straight into singletrack. I managed to tag on the end of the pack when we got to the singletrack, and stay behind the same people up and down hill for a bit, but I could see glimpses of the field in front of me, and the women up front were already out of sight.
First lap went ok, finishing in about 2 hours 55 minutes. The course was very much XC style, with the singletrack being very mellow, hard packed dirt, and flowy with nothing technical, and with decent gravel roads. While the first lap went ok, as soon as the second lap started, I bonked. When my legs were pedaling with the power it knew it could on the first lap, my lungs felt closed and I couldn’t breathe fully, and because I haven’t been able to do a long ride in the past month, on the second lap, my legs weren’t up to the challenge and I started cramping. I also crashed early on the first lap from a rut where multiple people crashed and I have to give a shout out to the Eliel kit for not ripping. That hurt, and my Garmin snapped right off the mount.
As the second lap started, mentally I was done and physically I was capping out. I pedaled slow as when I started putting power down my right quad would cramp. I went really slow for 2/3 of the lap until a women passed me, and I paced with her the rest of the way to the end. While we didn’t say a single word to one another on the trail, we exchanged a few words at the end and agreed it’s definitely more fun and enjoyable with a fellow rider.
In addition, for the first time, my stomach started rejecting the nutrition, probably because I was still sick(?) but that was an interesting note I took with me from this race.
With long mountain bike races like these, there is nothing that makes me happier than passing the finish line, with the strong feeling of accomplishment. I finished around 6 hours 15 minutes, about an hour slower than what I predicated I could do, which was a let down, but that just means I’m ready to come back next year.
Nutrition: ~500ml per hour of nutrition, and a gel per hour, and half a bar after lap 1
Race Report: 2024 Cat's Hill Classic - Men’s Cat 4
Race: Cat’s Hill Classic - Men's Cat 4
Date: March 25th, 2024
AVRT racers: Zachary Berger, Maxime Cauchois, Clark Penado
Top Result: Maxime Cauchois (2/21 Cat 4, 3/52 overall)
Course: 1 mile with a punchy 20% hill that lasts about 10-15s, fast corners, the course was a bit wet during the race.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11023003487
Nutrition: One bottle mix of Skratch and cyclic dextrin (~50g) during the race
Summary of the race (written by Maxime):
With wet pavement and intermittent rain, positioning was bound to be a key element of the race. Evidently I had missed the memo since I started pretty far back, enough to not see a guy break away on the first climb, and to have to chase for a couple laps to regain positions.
Once established towards the front of the pack, and once Zack had managed to fight an early mechanical to make his comeback, we started working together to train and chase the solo rider back, not getting much from the rest of the group.
After Zack unfortunately flatted out of the race midway, it was pretty clear that the field had become uninterested in chasing the break, and that I could only race for second. I settled in and decided to wait for the right moment, which came when a rider launched a hard attack getting into the final climb.
Only one other rider was able to follow, and we had a sizable gap at the top, meaning we wouldn’t be caught before the finish line. Despite a pretty ideal position into the final rider, right behind the guy who had attacked, I made the mistake of getting into the wind too early and had to settle for 3rd overall, 2nd in my category since the rider who outsprinted me won the collegiate field. Not too many regrets out of this race, as the winner was significantly stronger than the rest of the field, if not that it would have been nice to see how things would have unfolded without our early mechanicals.
Thanks for reading!
Race Report: 2024 Sea Otter Classic Road Race - Men's B
Race: Sea Otter Classic Road Race - Men's B
Date: April 18, 2024
AVRT racers: Drew Matthews, Henry Mallon
Top Result: Henry 2nd (2/118 overall)
Course: 5 laps of a 7-mile loop with a steep 3-minute climb at the start of every lap. After lap 9 the course turns onto Barloy Canyon Road for a final 7-minute climb that steepens to 9% in the final half mile. The full race was about 40 miles with 4,000 ft of elevation gain.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11214013410
Nutrition: 1.5 bottles with 80g of Skratch in each bottle.
Race Recap: Written by Henry. With 118 people in the combined field, I knew positioning into the first climb would be critical. So, I used the first 7 minutes of neutral descending to move into the first 10 wheels. Once we turned onto the main climb, the moto ref pulled away, and… nothing happened. I didn’t want to descend for the first time with 100+ people or respond to everyone’s fresh attacks over the top, so I carried my momentum to the front and started riding at threshold. Halfway up the climb, another rider took over the pacesetting and by the top, the group was strung out and reduced to less than half.
This same basic pattern repeated for the rest of the race: 1) smash the 3-minute climb at VO2 max, 2) try unsuccessfully to get a small group to work together over the top, 3) a larger group of riders rejoin the front, and 4) repeat.
Given the possibility of a small group staying away, I spent extra energy on the climb each lap to be in the first few wheels over the top. However, we needed more cooperation to keep chasers behind, and a group of 10-20 made it back every lap but the last.
I wasn’t too worried about this dynamic because I knew any riders dropped on the 3-minute climb probably wouldn’t be a factor in the final 7-minute climb to the finish. Also, Drew was riding super strong and was always one of the first to make it back after the climb.
Just before the start of the final lap, our small lead group was caught by about 15 others, including Drew. When they made the catch, I got shuffled back and a rider named Daniel attacked. I was stuck in a position where I couldn’t follow, and no one else in the group responded.
He quickly got a 20-30 second gap before the base of the final 3-minute climb. I paced the climb hard and crested the top with 3 others on my wheel and about 10 seconds to the lone leader. I kept pulling over the top and then asked the others to rotate through, but they refused.
Once down the descent, two riders started helping while one mostly sat on the back. At first, this situation looked perfect—possibly the strongest climber was spending extra energy dangling only 10-20 seconds ahead of a (mostly) motivated chase group. It seemed like we would catch Daniel, and then he’d probably be tired for the final climb to the finish.
As we approached the end of the lap, cooperation completely ended in our group. I would guess Daniel’s advantage grew to about a minute going into the finishing climb.
After getting advice from Nico and Grant after the Men’s A race, I stayed patient for the first half of the climb where the gradients were more shallow. No one was setting a hard pace, and I knew we were likely losing more time to Daniel ahead. Fortunately, one rider attacked super hard out of our group with about 1 mile remaining. I tried to follow but couldn’t get across to his wheel. Now that it was steep, I was all in trying to close to the two solo riders ahead, with one guy still glued to my wheel.
By the 1-kilometer sign, I was finally gaining on the guy who had attacked and suddenly the leader was within sight. With 200m to go, everyone was coming together and 1st through 4th were all possibilities. In the final 50m, I held off the guy on my wheel, flew past second place, and missed catching the leader by about 5 seconds. Another 100m and Daniel likely would have been caught and passed by me and at least one other.
This race was a great example of how a handful of small decisions can determine the outcome of a race. For example, I think everyone in our chase group could have passed Daniel on the final climb if we had shared the work in the lower section. Also, if the other rider had waited 20 seconds to attack out of our group, he probably would have held me off and finished second.
Despite not catching Daniel, I think staying patient on the final climb was the right call. There was very little difference between any of us, and if I had paced the first half of the climb and caught Daniel, I’m sure the other two would have sprinted around me in the finish. To win, I probably would have needed a bit more power in the final few minutes, another rider to pace harder from the bottom of the climb, or the finish line moved 100m back :)
Thanks for reading!
Henry
Race Report: 2024 Land Park Criterium - Women P/1/2/3
Race Report: Land Park Criterium 2024 - Women P/1/2/3
Date: March 16th, 2024
AVRT racers: Gina Yuan, Sue Lin Holt
Top Result: Sue Lin Holt (5th/10)
Written by: Sue Lin Holt
Course: 60 minutes on a flat 1.1 mile loop through William Land Park in Sacramento. Prominent features are a long, smooth right-hand turn just after the start, a chicane on the back side, and one sharp right turn leading into the finish straight.
Strava (Sue Lin): https://www.strava.com/activities/10975279622
Nutrition: Maurten Gel 100 Caf 100 at the start, half a bottle of SiS Go Electrolyte during the race.
Race Recap:
Gina and I knew this was going to be a tough race before it even started. We were outnumbered by strong Terun riders - they had four, and it was just the two of us from Alto Velo. We anticipated that they would attack repeatedly to wear us out, so we approached one of the stronger solo riders (a former national champion) from another team to persuade her to help us chase down their attacks. She didn’t seem entirely convinced, but said she would try to help.
Sure enough, the attacks started soon after the gun. The four Terun riders took turns attacking and I lost count of how many times either Gina or I chased them down. It seemed relentless and at one point I saw a group of four get a gap including two Terun riders, Gina and our adopted teammate. Alto Velo was definitely outnumbered in the break, but by that point my oxygen-deprived brain couldn’t do the analysis on whether I should chase or sit up. Either way, they soon got caught and I resigned myself to the fact that more attacks would be coming soon.
About 20 minutes into the race one Terun rider attacked hard and got a gap. Both Gina and I were tired from chasing and not ideally positioned, and didn’t manage to jump on her wheel immediately. Nobody else seemed motivated to chase. Gina went to the front and put in a solid effort to try to close it down. I tried to stay on her wheel ready to rotate, but of course the other Terun riders also tried to position themselves behind her to disrupt any organized chase. The other rider we had tried to team up with (as well as one SJBC rider) took a few pulls to start with but soon disappeared to the back of the chase group. We assumed she was tired, but as soon as we had the break in our sights, she attacked and tried to bridge! Her attempt was unsuccessful, and killed any kind of organized chase effort after that.
Suddenly a few laps later another Terun rider attacked from behind and got a gap. Disaster!
Lap after lap went by and after I took a long pull, Gina asked me if I was sure I wanted to be working. I interpreted that as meaning I should save myself for the sprint. I was tired and relieved to sit in the pack, but also felt bad for my teammate as she sat on the front doing all the work while other racers were happy to sit in. I tried to persuade other riders to help chase but to no avail. The two Terun riders in our group were looking especially fresh and happy.
Despite Gina’s heroic effort, the two Terun riders off the front were working together to stay away - a stark contrast to the lack of coordination in our group. As the number of laps counted down it became clear that we were not going to catch them. I tried to rest as much as I could for the sprint, but was painfully aware that I had done more work than all the other racers in the group except for Gina. Now, heading into the final lap, it became a battle to get on the wheel of Alex from Terun, as everyone knew she was the best sprinter in the group. Her teammate managed to hold onto it though as we accelerated through the chicane one final time and leaned into the final turn to the finish. The pace ramped up and as hard as I tried, sprinting into the wind on the left side of the group, I couldn’t manage to get around them, and the two Terun riders crossed the line ahead of me leaving me 3rd in the bunch sprint and 5th overall.
We were clearly outnumbered and outplayed by Terun this time, but at least we beat all the other teams! We’ll be back to battle it out again soon, hopefully with more teammates 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Sue Lin
The First AV Photo Contest - $300 worth of prizes!
Today at 6pm EST (Egan Standard Time), we will launch the first AV Photo Contest! Join Christophe on Altamont to take pics of the AV and Egan riders at sunset! Photo contest runs through July 4th!
1. Eligibility:
The contest is open to all current members of Alto Velo.
Each participant may submit a maximum of 20 photos per category.
2. Categories:
Category 1: Promoting the Racing Team and Sponsors.
Category 2: Promoting Social Rides and Members Having Fun.
3. Photo Content:
Photos must feature members or activities related to Alto Velo.
For Category 1, photos should highlight the racing team, sponsors' logos, or events affiliated with the racing team.
For Category 2, photos should showcase the camaraderie and enjoyment experienced during social rides and club events.
4. Submission Guidelines:
All submissions must be digital photographs.
Photos must be submitted via email to photos@altovelo.com by the submission deadline
Photos must be posted on IG and tag @altoveloracing @altovelosocial @eganrideclub and promote all the AV Sponors.
Each photo must be accompanied by the participant's name, contact information, and a brief description of the image, including the location and the names of any identifiable individuals.
5. Submission Deadline:
All entries must be received by July 14th 12pm on Bastille Day!
6. Judging:
A panel of judges appointed by the club's board will evaluate all submissions.
Photos will be judged based on creativity, composition, relevance to the category, and overall impact.
The decision of the judges is final.
7. Prizes:
- Three prizes will be awarded in each category:
- 1st Prize: $75 Gift Card
- 2nd Prize: $50 Gift Card
- 3rd Prize: $25 Gift Card
Winners will be announced and prizes will be awarded at the club's annual BBQ.
8. Usage Rights:
By submitting photos to the contest, participants grant Alto Velo Cycling Club the non-exclusive right to use, reproduce, and display the images for promotional purposes, including but not limited to the club's website, social media channels, and promotional materials.
9. Promotion:
Participants are encouraged to share their submissions on social media using the hashtag #altoVeloPhotoContest and tagging Alto Velo @altoveloracing.
10. Disclaimer:
Alto Velo reserves the right to disqualify any entry that does not comply with the contest rules or that is deemed inappropriate or offensive.
By submitting photos to the contest, participants acknowledge that they have read and agreed to abide by these rules.
Alto Velo Photo Team
Christophe, Jack, Jerome and Rachel
Race Report: 2024 Sea Otter Road Race - Men’s A
Race: Sea Otter Road Race - Men’s A
Date: April 18th, 2024
AVRT racers: Florian Costa, PA Laforcade, Grant Miller, Nico Sandi
Top Result: Nico Sandi 9th
Course: 9 laps of a 7 mile loop with a steep 3ish minute climb at the start of every lap. After lap 9 the course turns to the final 7ish minute climb.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11213409644
Nutrition: 4 bottles of malto/sugar. One caffeinated sleeve of clif blocks, one uncaffinated sleeve of clif blocks, one GU.
Recap: This year the field at Sea Otter was fairly small, but the quality was high. Ex world tour pros Nico Roche and Ian Boswell were there as well as a couple current gravel pros. The only two teams with numbers were Project One4Nine and Red Truck Racing, both with about 5 riders.
The first two laps of the race were tame and not much happened. There were a couple of early moves with One4Nine and Red Truck that had to be closed, but other than that I was trying to focus on the bigger solo names and see what they did.
The main move of the race went on lap 3. I saw Brennan Wertz (gravel man) and Ethan Overson (gravel man) one Project One4Nine, one Red Truck and the only Mikes Bikes guy go off the front on the flatter tailwind section of the course. As the gap grew I knew we had to be in that move or else have to chase it the rest of the race only to almost catch it and then have Ian Boswell or Nico Roche say “thank you very much” and jump across.
So I burned a big match to make it across. As soon as I did I was asked to take a pull but I was dying. So the group attacked and I was trying so hard to hang on. This was by far the hardest part of the race.
Eventually a couple more people jumped across before the start of the next lap, including Nico Roche. We hit the climb and my legs went “game over dude, we just can’t anymore”. I kinda parked it and looked back to see if anyone could come save me. The pack was shattered and only a couple riders were putting a dig to jump across to the group ahead. I slowly made my way up the climb and ended up with another rider trying to to chase back.
We worked well together for a couple of laps until we got caught by PA and Flo. PA did a great job putting a big dig on the climb to try to finally close the gap to the front group. But the group looked back, Ian Boswell got to the front and drilled the climb to make sure we didn’t make it (he eventually DNFed the race but he had to make sure to kill our dreams 🙄).
And that was pretty much it. I only saw that group up 20 seconds up the road for the rest o the race. At this point it’s just me and Jason from Dolce chasing this front group of 10. We eventually caught Eamon from Mikes Bikes who dropped from the front group. The three of us worked well together just to get to the final climb.
Eamon knew the climb very well and out sprinted us to the line. We were all dead.
Happy with how I played the race this year. I just wish I stayed with that front group. But then again I may have overreached just trying to get there and stay there that my race may have been way harder. Riding my own pace with a small group was actually my best chance at a top 10.
Written by Nico Sandi
Race Report: 2024 Land Park Criterium — Men's P/1/2/3
Race: 2024 Land Park Criterium — Men’s P/1/2/3
Date: March 16, 2024
AVRT racers: Andrea Cloarec, Florian Costa, David Domonoske, PA Laforcade, Jack Liu, Nathan Martin, Greg McCullough, Jonathan Wells
Top Result: David Domonoske (1st)
Course: A 1.1-mile loop with a few long, slow corners. The dominating features on this course are a sharp left-right chicane at the back of the loop, and a 90 degree corner 400 meters before the finish.
Strava: strava.com/activities/10975546866 (David)
Footage: Last 2 laps leadout (Jon Wells POV)
Recap: We had some serious numbers in the race, so it was our responsibility to keep everything under control. We wanted to make it a field sprint, so we used our numbers to make sure we were represented in all breakaways, and even initiated breakaways ourselves. Straight from the gun, the entire team took turns getting into breakaways, attacking the peloton, and chasing other attacking riders. Essentially, they made the race as difficult for other teams while I sat in the group and saved energy. It was extremely cool to sit in the group and not have to worry about what was happening in the race because my teammates had everything covered.
As the laps ticked down and the finish neared, the team started to get organized near the front. With 5 laps to go, Alto Velo was keeping the pace up near the front. With 3 laps to go, we had a leadout train comprised of 6 AV riders at the front. Other racers would fight for position going into the chicane and the tight corner before the finish, so we’d have to accelerate going into those places to stop people from coming around us. With 1 lap to go we still had 3 riders left in the leadout, but the other teams were nipping at our heels and eager to get around us. We accelerated into the chicane for the final time and managed to keep our position at the front. It was calm for a second, before other riders began to sprint around us into the final corner. PA sprinted to keep us in front of them and went through the corner first. I went through right on his wheel, followed by Eamon Lucas and then Alex Akins. PA sprinted out of the corner, but we were still a long way from the finish, so I waited as long as I could until sprinting out of his draft. I heard Eamon begin to sprint up behind me, and I launched my sprint. I sprinted into PA’s draft for a final few seconds before battling against Eamon in a long 300 meter sprint. I was able to cross the finish first, and the final podium was the same order we had been in the final corner— myself, then Eamon and Alex.
THE Alto Velo Leadout.
It was awesome to race with such a full team that worked so well together. It was amazing to be surrounded by so many teammates and feel so protected as we neared the finish. The execution couldn’t have been any better and the team has a lot to be proud of.
Race Report: Cat’s Hill Classic Criterium - Women’s 4/Collegiate D
Date: Saturday March 23, 2024
AVRT racers: Katarina Zgraja, Kristin Hepworth, Katie Monaghan, Claire MacDougall
Top Result: Katarina 2/10 (2/11 in combined field, scored separately). Kristin 4th, Claire 6th, Katie 9th.
Course: 40 minutes around a 0.90mi crit course. L shape with 6 corners and a punchy 0.05mi, 35ft at avg 11.8% hill max 20% (Strava), and a gradual descent to the finish
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11022808665
Nutrition: Before race: coffee, water, bagel with peanut butter. During race: No food, 1 bottle with LMNT electrolyte mix.
Event Recap (Written by Katarina)
The morning of the race, Kristin, Claire, Katie and I were all keeping an eye on the weather, and ended up texting each other at 7am on Saturday to decide if we should race, seeing as it was actively raining. We all ended up deciding we should go for it. I arrived a bit hastily, finishing my day-of registration about 25 minutes before our scheduled race start. It was also actively raining, so getting warm was challenging.
We had 11 total starters in our wave (10 for cat 4, and 1 for collegiate D). Off the start of the race, everyone was pretty mellow. It seemed that everyone had the same mindset, to take it easy on the first lap, and get to know the course a little bit. I was happy about this, as I have never done the hill or course before either. I took the advice given, and shifted down to my small ring and down on my cassette once the left turn onto the climb came along. There were a couple of chain drops on that first climb, but overall I felt good with my first time going up. The hill itself was also “easier” than I was anticipating. I had been picturing a longer effort, but this (at least on the first lap) felt manageable. I also got to see how the other racers were doing on this effort, as I suspected this would be the part of the race where most moves would be made. I looked up and Kristen and I were up near the front. Claire it appeared had dropped a chain, but she caught back up pretty easily after the climb. There was also one other Eclipse racer who seemed strong on the climb as well. Once again, the rest of the lap was pretty mellow, just people catching up to the group over the gradual downhill back to the start. I was getting a feel for cornering, and keeping an eye for road features to avoid.
With the first lap out of the way, things picked up slightly. Once again, nothing major happened. We all kind of stayed together, although a group of 2-3 racers dropped off of the pack somewhere around the 2nd lap or so. Each lap seemed to follow the same pattern: fast-paced from the start line, and then a spread would occur during the climb and over the crest, and then speed would pick up again. People usually could catch up and regroup 1 or 2 turns before the start/finish line. I found myself able to gain space on the climb quite well, and would try to pull ahead over the crest, but usually I got caught up eventually on the two turns which followed.
On the 3rd or 4th lap, I felt quite good, and pulled ahead a bit for the majority of the lap. Then at the very last second, one of the Eclipse riders sprinted right past me at the finish line. Turns out it was a prime lap. I had no idea. I felt a little stupid for not knowing that. So I made a mental point to keep listening to the announcer for the next primes. Sure enough, a couple of laps later I heard the 2nd prime was announced. I put myself into a strong position going into the climb, and was in a good position at the top. I still felt good, so I pulled ahead, and rather than easing off in the slight downhill to the lap marker, I kept up, and on the final turn put in a bit extra power to get the prime. On the final prime, I didn’t want to waste any more energy, so I left that for someone else.
With about 4 laps to go my legs were starting to feel it. The group had dwindled down to about 6 riders at this point in time. And I spent a good two laps at the tail end of this group, struggling to keep up. With two laps to go, I made the effort to get myself into a better position. I positioned myself near the front next to Kristin, and we briefly discussed what our thoughts were. Kristin said that I should go for the sprint, as the final part of this course would suit me well. I told Kristin to try and stay on my wheel when I ended up making a move. However, about 100 meters before the bell lap, one of the Eclipse riders took off. I honestly was pretty dead, and was not feeling like I had the energy to chase her down at this time. So I (along with everyone else) let her get a bit of a lead on us all starting on the final lap. We all made up a bit of time on her on the climb, but she still did have a bit of an edge on us cresting over the top. The rest of the last lap was a battle to catch her. On the last stretch before the final corner into the sprint, I had lost hope that I would catch her, but I was still tailing the 2nd rider (also an Eclipse rider). Kristin was behind me, I think. After that final turn, I turned on the gas. I was following Eva the Eclipse rider closely, as I wanted to pull out from her at the right time. It worked out for me as I pulled out and smashed the pedals and passed her with about 10 or so meters to go. Kristin finished right behind Eva.
Some afterthoughts: There was a bit of confusion from some of our teammates, about the scoring. Kristin had thought that both Eva (3rd) and Stephanie (1st) were both racing in the collegiate field. So Kristin mentioned that she was nonchalant when Stephanie pulled away at the bell lap. She said she would have reacted differently if she would have known they were both on the cat 4 field.
Volunteers Needed for Pesky RR!
It’s Artichoke Bread time which means that it is time to join Bernardo and his merry band of helpers to put on one of the best road races in California! The race is on June 15 this year and we are in particular need of marshals. Please click the link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YSqQnoLorD_e3xfjHvwdK-5UmHEZ_Lk7/edit#gid=912235044
All AVRT Club members are needed to make this a safe and successful race. This year we have the added bonus of Stage Rd. being open! Come be a part of what make AVRT club stand apart from other cycling clubs and you will be treated to Pesky’s famous Artichoke Bread from Arcangeli Grocery.
Race report - Ironman Pro Series, 70.3 Oceanside
Race: Ironman 70.3 Oceanside - Pro field
Date: April 6, 2024
AVRT Racers: Andrea Cloarec, 48th /71
Bike Course: The bike course takes you from beautiful Oceanside Harbor through Camp Pendleton, an active military base. After the first 20 miles, it becomes pretty hilly that makes the bike course longer than standard 70.3 bike courses.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11121521385
Nutrition: Plan was to get between 80 to 90g carbs per hour. Mostly with Maurten gels and Maurten 320
Recap: It was my first Professional race, with a pretty stacked field, for real, as it was the first race of the Ironman Pro series, and the first time an Ironman has that many pro athletes on the start line.
Quick swim recap: A catastrophe =). I thought I had improved at it, I know I have. But here I got lost on the course, couldn’t see where I was going, I lost all my marks. Arrived to T1 second to last. Quite embarassing..
70/ 71th. Very proud moment !
Bike Course Recap: (what matters for AV!): The start was not very enjoyable, I really wondered what I was doing here, in the pro field. I had nothing to do here after my performance on the swim. The top women were passing me, I did not want to interfere in their race, so I lost even more motivation. It lasted 1 hour.
After 1 hour around 280W, and passing some guys, I started to wake up. Thanks to the climbs, I sent them all, passing people on every climb, and finishing stronger the second half of the bike course averaging 320W on that second half. 45th time on the bike.
Quite annoying that my swim put me down, so I have to do the full bike alone, compared to most of the guys who can ride in big packs. That’s the rule, I need to improve my swim in order to get in the fast bike packs, and have a faster bike split.
Also a big thanks to the Women’s team for lending me their good TT helmet! And to Craig Riggins for letting me use his TT bike (as I still don’t have my TT bike…)
Quick Run recap: I was feeling good on the second part of the ride, caught my running teammate Kevin BIshop, who’s also racing his bike in Norcal races. And I was super happy to start the run with him. I knew I was feeling good, and I could just run at the pace I know. I finished the half marathon in 1h17min41s. 25th time on the run. To put me overall on 48th.
Not super happy with the overall as I did the exact same race than my last Age Group race (poor swim, OK bike, good run). And in the pro field, that’s not enough.
I’ll keep working on that, so I can put into good use my power on the bike, working with faster groups!
A lot more races to come against the best in the worlds, very motivating.
My schedule this year:
-May, 70.3 Aix en Provence, France
-June, 70.3 Boulder, CO.
-September, 70.3 Sunshine Coast, Australia
-September, 70.3 Augusta, GA
-December, 70.3 Indian Wells, CA
2024 UC Davis Flatlands Circuit Race - Women’s 4/N/C/D
Race: UC Davis Flatlands Circuit Race - Women’s Cat 4/N + Collegiate C/D
Date: April 7, 2024
AVRT racers: Robin Kutner, Katie Monaghan, Claire Macdougal, Emily Selman
Top Result: Team sweep! Robin-Katie-Claire-Emily went 1-2-3-4 out of 13.
Course: 8 laps of a pancake flat, 3.8 mile circuit around the Davis airport. There were a few corners, two traffic circles, some significant potholes in one section, and otherwise great pavement. There was ~10mph wind from ~N during our race.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11130391886
Nutrition: Gu on the start line (and then they told us “we haven’t put cones on the course yet so it’ll be about 20 minutes, go warm up more” 🙄) (20g) + almost a full bottle of superskratch (40g) + sleeve of shot bloks (50g)
Summary of the race (written by Robin):
The field was mostly collegiate athletes, with team presence from Cal, Davis, and Stanford. It was Emily’s first bike race, and Claire was wearing Stanford kit but working with us.
As the first wave of racers, we got to do a warmup lap on the course. We scoped out some giant potholes, one gravelly corner, and “road furniture”/roundabouts. (Sidebar: I hadn’t really spent time in Davis before this but had heard about it being a transportation-bicycling mecca. Even at the race site on the outskirts of town, we saw lots of high quality, physically protected bike lanes!). On the warmup lap we chatted roles, endgame strategy, when to chase moves or not, drafting in crosswinds, etc. Both Katie’s and Claire’s parents happened to be visiting from out of town, so we had a small cheering squad.
I didn’t expect the first lap would be slower than a coffee ride, but there it was. I got bored and attacked out of the NW corner of the course, where a headwind became a crosswind. Two Davis riders came with me. We traded pulls effectively, but I kept my effort at low tempo. I wasn’t necessarily trying to make a break stick just 10% into the race, just animate things and see if the pack could shrink. The gap maxed at 20sec, and the Davis pulls became increasingly lame, so I matched that and we rejoined the field. The coffee ride continued. It felt like someone told the collegiate women at some point that they should never ever ride at the front, when in reality, if nobody rides at the front, we will never get to the finish… I did some of the old lady move of barking at people who never took a turn at the front, and I think it encouraged some rotation.
Nobody else animated the race. Each of us took some time on the front but kept the effort sustainable. Around lap 5, Claire made a move and one of the Davis women from before went with her. They had a 10-15sec gap for almost one lap, and I noticed the Davis girl did no work. I didn’t want Claire to keep putting in work on the front if the break wasn’t going to be effective. I said “Berkeley, are you going to let Davis and Stanford [Claire] get away?” and one of the Berkeley riders chased. The field followed her, but it was clear that some of the riders didn’t know how to paceline.
Through laps 6 and 7, the group was together, and it was a little boring but also with fun, nervous energy that finish drama was approaching. Our squad decided to pull our endgame move at lap 7.5. We did a great job communicating the plan and positioning ourselves at the optimal time. Waiting until the last minute on the headwind straightaway, we lined up at the front with me, Katie, Emily, and Claire. At the NW corner, where the course turns onto a crosswind straightaway, Katie and I would go off the front while Emily and Claire would block. As we approach the corner, a driver turns toward us on the narrow, centerline-less road. If they had waited literally 3 seconds, they would not have driven head-on at 13 cyclists on a narrow road.
I launch off the front but realize Katie has lost my wheel in the group’s scuffle to avoid the white SUV. She is strong and gets on shortly. It was really fun to break together, and we did a great job trading short pulls and echeloning through the crosswind. We took fast lines through the two traffic circles and the final left hand turn. We kept peering over our shoulders; the group initially tried to chase, but we had a big gap. Katie was at the front when we turned onto the 400m tailwind straightaway to the finish. I got out of her draft with ~200m to go and we sprinted side-by-side. Claire and Emily rolled in a few seconds later, having come out on top of the bunch sprint. We swept the race overall, and Claire won the collegiate race-within-the-race! Success!
The race organizers said we needed to give them 20 minutes to “set up the podium”, so we rolled around UC Davis campus bike paths, and we returned for the podium which turned out to be a single milk crate tossed on the ground as the “top step”. Big Aggie energy. We chatted with the collegiate women, they asked us about AV weekend rides, and some of us took a group photo. Really nice vibes. Our squad wasn’t super challenged by the other racers on this day, but we made it a productive opportunity by practicing skills we’ll need when more seasoned teams challenge us back.
Race Report: 2024 Davis Flatlands Circuit Race - Men’s Cat 4
Race: Davis Flatlands Road Race — Men’s Cat 4
Date: April 7, 2024
AVRT Racers: Zack Berger
Top Results: Zack (DNP)
Course: 3.8 mile clockwise loop of a nontechnical course. Mostly good pavement with scattered potholes in the first 2.5 miles. Strong winds (advertised at 10-20mph, but less intense during our race) were the key feature.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11130728029
Nutrition: 1 Gu gels before the race, 1 bottle of water with 1 scoop of Tailwind Endurance Fuel and a ½ cup of Carbo Gain (~80g carbs).
Recap
I went into this race without teammates. My plan was to avoid a bunch sprint. To that end I’d stay at the front and try to join any breaks. I’d avoid pulling until the last two laps when I would lay down my threshold 15 minute power, crescendoing in a sprint against my breakmates.
Lap 1. The pace started off hot. Of our thirty rider field, ten people fell off the back within the first two minutes. I was able to stay toward the front, but at a personal cost. On the backside of the course my heart rate hit 196 bpm.
Lap 2. The turn onto Hopkins Road had a bunch of gravel on it. Just before the turn I got boxed onto the right side of the road, aimed straight at the gravel patch. I nervously slowed down and made it through safely, but shot to the back of the peloton.
Lap 3. I carried a lot of momentum through the first half of this lap to make it back to the front. There was one rider in red up the road, who we eventually caught. The pace slowed up a lot. My heart rate calmed down and I felt like I was finally able to ride steadily.
Lap 4. During the first few laps I did a bad job of carrying speed into the corners. Taking a posthumous look at my power profile, it’s clear I was spiking power out of each one. By lap 4 I started to get the hang of it, and was able to keep more steady power throughout. One thing I’d love to improve is my ability to conserve energy by drafting in the pack — I had a lot of trouble pinpointing how to do this with the wind.
Lap 5. As we approached Hopkins Road, the same rider in red began a subtle attack. I was well positioned toward the front of the peloton as the pace picked up and riders began to string out. My intention was to attack off the peloton out of the turn onto Hutchison Drive and try and make a break stick. Yet, disaster struck.
I felt something connect to the rear of my bike. Suddenly, my tail started shaking back-and-forth. I had a Jesus, take the wheel moment as I did everything in my power to stay upright. I heard a ripping noise from behind and gained stability. After a few seconds, I peered over my shoulder to see a four-person crash.
Maybe I can keep going. But, nothing happened when I pedaled. I looked down to see my rear derailleur exploded into pieces, two broken spokes, sealant spraying out, and a rear flat. My race was over. In the van back I felt incredibly fortunate to have walked away unscathed.
Race Report: 2024 Copperopolis Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Race: Copperopolis Road Race — Men’s Cat 4
Date: March 30, 2024
AVRT Racers: Zack Berger
Top Results: Zack (3/10)
Course: 3 counter-clockwise laps of a 21 mile, 1800 ft elevation route with iconically bad pave and potholes. The elevation is front loaded into the first 6 miles of the course, with rollers leading up to a 2 mile climb at 5%. After the hill is a 9 mile plateau around a lake, 200 ft climb, and then a bone-jarring, bike-mangling 5 mile descent before a 0.6 mile drag at 3% up to the finish. This year’s wind made it very difficult to catch a draft on the plateau.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11071736493
Nutrition: 5 Gu gels, 1 bottle of water, 2.5 bottles each with 1 scoop of Tailwind Endurance Fuel and a ½ cup of Carbo Gain (~80g carbs).
Recap
When I decided to start racing last year, the next event on the calendar was Copperopolis. I asked around, “Should this be my first race?” I heard a resounding “No! That would be insane!” Fast forward to 2024. Copperopolis has lingered in my mind, gnawed at me. I’d have to try it.
Well aware of the horror stories of this race, I had three goals.
Come out unscathed.
Protect my bike rental (more on my gear below).
Finish (ideally on the podium).
I entered the race with no teammates. My strategy was to sit in on the first lap, then push the pace on the second lap main climb to whittle down the field. On lap three, if the field was still together, I’d try to launch an attack on the final climb into the descent. If not, I’d try to break away solo on the main climb (since everyone would be strung out at that point).
Lap 1. There’s a five inch road-wide puddle on the way to the main climb. We blast through it and suddenly my feet are drenched. The climb begins and although we’re at my sweet spot, I didn’t get a proper warmup, so it feels difficult. Ten minutes into the race I look down and watch one of my bottles bounce out of its cage. Copperopolis is off to a great start.
The field crests over the climb into the plateau. The way the winds are crossing the field makes it difficult to catch a draft. The rollers are hard, requiring me to spike past 600W. Although I’m not thirsty, I force myself to drink from my other bottle in case I lose it to the road. One rider falls off the back, so we’re down to nine.
I push hard to be one of the first into the descent. Immediately my chain starts slapping around and I realize, “If I don’t pedal this thing will fall off.” The vibrations shock throughout my body, but I force myself to pedal through it. Then my other bottle flies out of its cage. Damn it. But I’m not too worried, since I forced myself to drink from it. Three riders — one unattached, one Velo Kings, one Dolce Vita — bomb past me and out of sight.
I feel relief as I hit the bottom. I see the three riders gained a 30 second gap up ahead. Two riders work with me to catch the front group. One is an unattached rider who previously refused to take any pulls, but now recognizes the situation we find ourselves in. The other is a Velo Kings rider who is fortunately alright chasing his teammate.
Lap 2. As we come to the bottom of the climb, I jump off to bridge. En route I grab a bottle from the feed (shoutout to Roger, who held two for me with nutrition). The Velo Kings rider joins me in the front group, creating five.
I introduce myself and suggest we work together to break off the rest of the field. Everyone agrees. We pace ~50W faster than the last climb and reach the plateau. Only four of us make it over together — me, one Velo Kings, one Dolce Vita, and the unattached rider.
On the plateau we begin pacelining. Yet, my legs feel like they’re going to fall off. It’s hard to hang on, and every time I’m on the front I can barely make it over in the rotation. The other three think I didn’t know how to ride a paceline and start explaining it to me. Embarrassed, I relay that I’m tired, and go to sit on the back. Just before the turnaround, the unattached rider pushes hard on the front. I’m above threshold, and can’t keep on in the draft. The three of them slink away around the turn.
It’s time to reorient my goals. I probably can’t win the race — three stronger riders, who are more comfortable on the descent, are up the field. But, maybe one of them will crack. Maybe one of them will get a mechanical. Maybe the podium isn’t out of reach. I decide to keep steady at my limit, stay away from the rest of the field solo, and maybe get lucky.
I know I’ll lose time on the descent, so go harder than before, flirting with my comfort zone. I make it to the bottom and pedal fast to the final lap.
Lap 3. My right hamstring starts cramping. I grab my last bottle at the feed and immediately start drinking. I grab two gels from my pocket, suck them down, then start up the climb at a steady pace. The cramp is pervasive. But it’s manageable. I can see a motorbike, so guess that I’m not too far off the front three.
By the time I get to the top and onto the plateau, I can see the rider from Velo Kings up the road. The unattached rider and Dolce Vita guy are out of sight. I chatted with them after the race — apparently they attacked and gapped the Velo Kings rider by several minutes.
My race becomes about passing the rider from Velo Kings. As he turns the corner, I start counting: 1, 2, 3, … 45 seconds ahead. I make the turnaround, 10 miles left in my race.
Everything is hurting. My leg is cramping. Then it starts raining. I can’t see out of my glasses, so I grab them to put in my pocket. Just as I take them off, I smack a pothole and lose them to the road. No worries — that can be replaced. More rain, more cramps. And this damn gap isn’t closing.
I continue forward. More rain. Just as I think, “this rain really hurts,” I realize it’s hailing! The gap isn’t closing. But, at this point I’ve sunk hundreds of dollars into the race, so continue steadily.
I approach the final climb, and something magical happens. For the first time, the distance between the Velo Kings rider and I begins to shrink. And it’s shrinking fast. He cracked! I’m actually going to catch him. I decide to blast past him so fast he won’t even try to counter.
I up it to VO2 Max for one last effort, fly past him, and after 15 seconds, look back — he didn’t follow. I keep on the gas and crest over for the final descent. I pedal through and make it to the bottom. Third is mine to lose.
For the last hour my brain put up a defense mechanism to ignore my cramps. 1.5km to go with the finish line in sight and my brain just turns off. My right leg begins spasming, refusing to go forward. I can’t pedal, and my wattage drops to 0. I look back and can see the rider from Velo Kings. Not now. I want this. I unclip my right pedal and start mashing forward with just my left. This isn’t sustainable, so I spend a few seconds stretching. But the rider from Velo Kings is gaining on me. I mentally push past the cramp and slap my right foot back in. My leg feels like it’s tearing at the seam. I get past the 1km line — he’s gaining on me. Just push through the pain and spasming. 500m to go, then 200m.
I roll past the finish, get off my bike and lie down.
This was the most mentally and physically difficult 3.5 hours of my life. Am I glad I did it? Yes. Would I do it again? I’d be crazy if I did.
