Club News
Race Report: 2024 Santa Cruz Classic Criterium - Men’s Cat 4
Race: Santa Cruz Classic Criterium — Men’s Cat 4
Date: March 24, 2024
AVRT Racers: Zack Berger
Top Results: Zack (4/22)
Course: 40 minutes around a 0.78 mile triangular course. First corner is a hairpin turn downhill, followed by a descent into the second corner, then a gradual 4-5% climb into a 2% climb to the finish. The course was completely drenched from persistent rains when we rode it.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11030110959
Nutrition: Two Espresso Gu gels before the race. A couple sips from a bottle with Maltodextrin and Tailwind Endurance Fuel.
Recap
This was my second-ever crit. My plan was to avoid crashing, stay in the front group and contest the finish. I was up against two incredibly strong riders — Logan and Mats — so would be over-the-moon for third place.
The first couple laps were uneventful. I stayed toward the front and kept in the draft. On lap four I was two wheels back and thought, hey, I could probably take this hairpin a bit faster. I hit the hairpin and immediately crashed. I flatted in Cat’s Hill the day before, so I badly wanted to keep going. I quickly got up, grabbed my bottle, looked myself over, decided I was fine, and hopped on my bike.
Side note: I forgot about the free lap, and hopefully will remember about it next time.
Apparently, Logan attacked on the downhill right after I crashed, stringing the field out into a front group and several islands of riders. I was off the back riding solo. The front was still in sight, and I noticed that they would slow a bit on the 2% section. I figured, as long as I kept a consistent and hard pace, especially there, I’d eventually catch them. For the next 20-25 minutes I continued forward. Every now and then I’d join a rider island, draft for a bit, then move on. I heard people shout my name from the sidelines, and this was really encouraging! It was also very unlike road races, where you basically see no one for several hours.
With about 10 minutes left in the race I managed to reconnect to the front group. I was able to conserve energy immediately, and realized I definitely would be able to stick it to the end.
Fast forward to the bell lap. There were roughly ten people in the front ready to contest the sprint. Right before the final climb, a rider from Cycle Sport attacked. No one followed him. Halfway up the climb, Mats and Logan sprinted away for first and second, respectively. I started passing people one by one, including the rider from Cycle Sport. I realized that I was completely out of the draft (which ruined me at Cantua Creek earlier this year), so I slipped behind someone for a moment. Then, I swung out around him for one final sprint into fourth.
Overall, I was incredibly happy with my result. It was the first time I crashed in a race, I came out unscathed, and managed to make it on to the podium.
Race Report: Cat's Hill Classic Criterium - 35+ Cat 3/4
Race: Cat's Hill Classic Criterium 35+ Cat 3/4
Date: March 23, 2024
AVRT racers: Nat Green, Shai Traister
Top Result: Shai 11th, Nat 14th
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/11022696192
Race Recap:
Our masters field was combined with the Elite 3, Elite 4, Collegiate A and Collegiate B fields. So basically these were 5 different fields raced together. Going into the race, I expected the race to be chaotic and blow apart due to the high variance in age/fitness between the groups. My strategy was to try and hang with the youngsters as much as possible and then try to find other riders I could work with until the finish. I was hoping to be able to stay with Nat and work together, but I assumed chances for that were fairly low due to the nature of the race.
The race started full gas as expected, and even on the first lap the race started to be strung out. I did my best to follow wheels and stay with the group. Coming to the climb on the 3rd lap I saw Nat standing on the side of the road with a mechanical - dropped chain on the climb. I was afraid of dropping the chain, so I tried to always shift to the lower chainring at the start of the climb (or just before) while still carrying my momentum and not under full load. Pro-tip - disable your Di2 Syncro/Semi-syncro shifting to allow you better control on shifting. I continued with the race, but around lap ~4 I found myself going solo.
I did about 4 laps by myself, sustaining high power throughout. Got lapped by the Collegiate riders - I moved to the right and let them pass. Near the tail of that group I saw Nat again - he went to the pit and joined the race a lap later. Continued with the race until another group came so I joined them and we were riding together for several laps. We got lapped by the Collegiate riders again. Continued racing, heard the last lap bell, did another lap and called it a day.
With so many riders on the course going through with different groups, it was impossible to know where I was compared to others in my field. I am sure people ended racing different number of laps based on their position relative to the front of the race and the last lap bell. I ended up 11th place. It was a fun race and I am glad I raced it.
Nutrition: 1 gel on the start line, 0.5 a bottle of water with some carbs which I didn't end up using during the race.
Race Report: 2024 Santa Cruz Classic Crit - Men’s P1/2
Race: 2024 Santa Cruz Classic Crit - Men’s P1/2
Date: 3/24/2024
AVRT racers: Pierre-Amaury Laforcade, Jack Liu, Greg McCullough, Cameron O’Reilly, Jonathan Wells
Top Result: Greg McCullough 9/60
Course: The classic Santa Cruz crit course, with a tight downhill U turn, a sharp final corner into a 20+ second final hill finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11031945806
Recap:
Written by Greg. This was a close repeat of the Cat’s Hill roster the prior day, with Mike’s Bikes and Voler with full squads, plus Tyler Williams, etc. Again, with a smaller squad, we mostly bet on these guys keeping one another on a short leash. I was the protected rider, with PA on primary lead out duty for the last lap. The goal was being in the top 5 around the hairpin on the last lap, then I’d try to sort it out from there, knowing some of the remaining riders would be lead outs for other trains.
The race kicked off with a furious couple of laps, only to be halted due to a fire engine on course, due to a medical need at the senior living community located just before the hairpin corner. We had the option to cruise behind the moto until they sorted it out, which ended up being 10 slow laps. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the GoPro stopped early enough for this extra time and ended up running out of battery in the last half lap of real racing.
Once the race kicked off again, the attacks were pretty furious, keeping the pace pretty high. At one point, I jumped across to a threatening move, but it was brought back within a few corners. By my recollection, the most threatening attack came with about 20 min to go and PA put in a ton of work to pull this back over a couple of laps. I was able to sit in for the most part and keep my heart rate in a comfortable place, focusing on efficient cornering and drafting good wheels up the hill.
With 2 to go, I found myself in good position on Tyler Williams’ wheel (eventual winner). I stayed glued to that for another lap and a half, coming out of the hairpin for the last time still there, with about 7 riders ahead of him. This is where my GoPro gave up. The next bend and 3 corners are a bit of a blur, which is why I run a GoPro. Forming memories at 180 bpm is hard.
I shuffled back a bit in the next couple of corners and ended up sprinting for 9th. It felt like a bit of a disappointing result, given how good I was feeling with 2 to go. I’m hoping Zac or one of the other riders near me posts up some video so I can figure out where to improve my last lap decision making.
Race Report: 2024 Cat’s Hill Classic - Men’s P1/2
Race: 2024 Cat’s Hill Classic - Men’s P1/2
Date: 3/24/2024
AVRT racers: Andrea Cloarec, Pierre-Amaury Laforcade, Jack Liu, Greg McCullough, Cameron O’Reilly, Jonathan Wells
Top Result: Greg McCullough 4/62
Course: The classic Cat’s Hill course, with 6 corners and a 20% hill that defines the experience.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11024611260
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WkilQiQTJU
Recap:
Written by Greg. This year’s field was pretty stacked, with Mike’s Bikes and Voler with full squads, plus strong solo riders like Tyler Williams. With our relatively smaller squad, we bet on these guys keeping any breakaways on a short leash and conserved our efforts for a last lap run at the hill. I was the protected rider, with PA on primary lead out duty. PA has taken on this role for the early part of the season with good success. Any other support from the team would be a bonus. With the hill in the course, a traditional multi lap leadout rarely happens.
Another wrinkle this year was the rain. Luckily, it only sprinkled for the first couple of laps and dried out pretty quickly, with the exception of the second corner at the top of the course.
The majority of the race was pretty uneventful, with Mikes and Voler taking shots at one another, resulting in a blistering pace throughout. This ended up being one of the fastest editions of the race with an average speed over 27 mph with nearly 2k of climbing. In large part to PA’s lead out, we also set the KOM on the final lap.
Personally, I struggled a bit for the first half of the race with the final corner, taking it too slowly and putting in an effort to close the gap on the front straight. That put me into the red when added to the hill effort every lap. My semi-functional brain eventually sorted it out and I started leaving a little more room in the braking zone and carrying more speed to get a run onto the wheel ahead of me. The later laps showed similar hill watts but much lower overall watts and heart rate.
With 2 laps to go, Jack gave me a tow toward the front, which gave me a nice positioning bump. Coming over the hill the second to last time, I was able to easily maintain my position in the top 10 as no one really wanted to stick their nose into the wind. Crossing the line with 1 to go, PA sailed in on my left and I jumped on his wheel for the hero tow to the bottom of the hill. He dropped me off at the front of the field and I gave it everything. I finished 4th the last time I raced this in 2022 and felt like I would have had a better result if I had committed harder from the hill. This year was all-in to the line. I was hoping to get to the top with some separation from the field, with a small group of riders at most, then trust the legs to survive the downhill and final sprint.
Blake Macheras jumped super hard before the top of the hill, getting a few seconds really quickly. Eamon came by with Ryan and Gavin on his wheel on the top stretch. I pushed to get on Gavin’s wheel and make what I could out of the finish. Gavin passed Eamon into the last corner, but Eamon got him back and I got Gavin before the line for 4th.
Given the competition, I’m pretty happy with the result, but already chomping at the bit for another crack at it next year.
Race Report: 2024 Copperopolis Road Race - Men's Cat 3
Race: Copperopolis Road Race - Men's Cat 3
Date: March 30, 2024
AVRT racers: Drew Matthews, Henry Mallon
Top Result: Henry 2/9
Course: Each lap is 21 miles with about 1800 feet of elevation gain, starting with rollers and the main 2-mile climb at 5%. After the climb is an 11-mile plateau with several rollers totaling 300 feet of climbing. Finally, there’s a 1-mile climb at about 4% before a high-speed descent on insanely bad pavement. The road conditions improve just before a 0.2 mile drag at 3% to the finish. This year, we did 4 total laps, with rain and hail on the eastern side of the course and high winds throughout.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11072001165
Nutrition: 3 bottles with 80g malto/fructose, 1 bottle with water, and 4 gels.
Race Recap: Written by Henry. After pre-riding the course in February, I decided to put 32mm tubeless tires on my road bike at about 45 psi. While this was manageable, I genuinely think a setup with much wider tires would be faster on the majority of this course. Drew was on his Specialized Crux, which is a lightweight CX/gravel bike, and possibly the ideal choice. There are long sections with continuous potholes across the entire road. The 5-mile descent is one of the worst sections, and you could easily reach speeds of 45 mph if you’re comfortable with the risk and can withstand the rattling. The descent can be just as selective as the climbs, and with the finish coming just after, it’s a place where the race can be won or lost.
Lap 1: After a short roll-out, the lap begins with the main 2-mile climb up to a plateau with flat and rolling terrain. With no warm-up, I was shivering at the start line and regretting my clothing decisions. When the race started, we immediately crossed a deep puddle that completely soaked my shoes. A few minutes later, we were on the climb and an unattached junior (Mats Leckie) began setting a hard tempo. We crested the top in a small group of about four, but everyone looked exhausted or cold (probably both) and the entire field quickly came back together. On the plateau before the main descent, there were a few attacks and a Cycle Sport rider got away solo.
With road rash still healing from crashing in the final corner at Bariani, I told myself going into this race that I wouldn’t take risks on the descent. I was happy to make it to the bottom safely, and quickly got to work with a few others to close a 30-second gap to the more daring descenders.
Lap 2: Once we hit the steepest section of the climb, Mats launched an attack and it took everything I had to follow. The insanely bad pavement made the climb feel much harder than the profile suggests, and my rear wheel would skip uncontrollably if tried standing to accelerate. Initially, only Leo from Pen Velo and I were able to respond, and it required two minutes at about 7 w/kg and a 30-second burst over 500W. By the top, Mats let up slightly and we were joined by one more rider named Ivan.
There was hardly any recovery and we quickly got to work in a paceline taking 30-second pulls. With the terrible pavement and strong wind, it felt like there was barely any draft. Up to this point, my NP for the race was well over 4 w/kg and it felt like a neverending crit or circuit race. On the plateau, we passed the lone leader who was stopped with a flat tire.
Next time down the descent, I went to the front and controlled the pace to stay safe and avoid getting dropped again. I used this strategy for the remainder of the race, and it seemed to discourage others from going around me and bombing the descent.
Lap 3: The third time up the main climb, Ivan decided to make a bathroom stop and was never able to come back. Once again, Mats surged at the steep section and I found myself pushing 400W+ and barely hanging on. After the climb, it started to rain even harder and Mats, Leo, and I continued rotating in a paceline. At the turn-around on the plateau, I took a look behind and didn’t see any sign of a chasing group. By this point, the rain was starting to freeze and turn into hail.
When we reached the short climb before the main descent, Mats raised the pace and Leo started to crack. By the descent, there was a 20+ second gap and it looked like it would be just two of us for the final ~25 miles of the race.
I knew Mats was super strong, and recognized I would probably have to do less work to win the race. But, I was also motivated to keep chasers behind knowing that I would likely get last out of any group coming to the final descent. So, I did my best to take my turns on the front when the speed was lower on climbs or gutter Mats in the crosswind whenever possible. I also started counting the length of his turns to make sure mine were always a bit shorter and less strong. Had I known that we were minutes ahead, I probably should have refused to pull to see how Mats would respond.
Lap 4: Once safely down the descent, I started preparing myself for a final effort up the main climb. When we reached the bottom, I asked Mats a few questions with the hope of starting a conversation and lessening the pace of the climb. This seemed to work pretty well, as this was our slowest ascent and I wasn’t under much pressure to stay with him.
Once over the climb, the hail and wind came back stronger, making it even harder to recover in the draft. We had been riding super hard all day, and I was really starting to feel the effort. By the base of the final short climb, I was empty and couldn’t follow Mats when he attacked. Even though the gap was small, I wasn’t interested in taking risks to close it on the descent. Even if I could close the gap, I knew at this point my chances were slim in a sprint finish. So, I took the descent carefully and rolled across the finish line for 2nd, completely shattered.
Overall, the crazy conditions made this race super epic and memorable. Tactically, I don’t know if there was much I could have done to beat Mats on the day. Possibly, it would have been helpful to recognize the situation earlier and refuse to take turns on the last lap. But, I felt I would probably get last out of any group coming to the final descent. So, I was motivated to contribute and keep any chasing groups behind. Had I known that Leo was chasing solo and ~10 minutes behind, I probably would have refused to pull to see how Mats would respond. With limited information, I was content with 2nd place and thrilled to finish the race safely without any damage to my body or bike.
Race Report: Bariani Road Race - Women’s 4/Novice/Masters
Race Report: Bariani Road Race 2024 - Women cat 4/novice/masters
Written by: Sue Lin Holt
Date: March 17th, 2024
AVRT racers: Chris Davis, Sue Lin Holt, Robin Kutner, Katie Monaghan, Janene Ostrow, Emily Schell, Rina Fujieda (club member/guest racer)
Top Result: Sue Lin Holt (5th/37 overall, 2nd/8 masters), Robin Kutner (7th/37 overall, 6th/29 cat 4/novice)
Course: 2 laps of a 20-mile course. Mostly flat/rolling with poor pavement and lots of potholes and gravel in corners. Features a half mile KOM/QOM climb at 3.8% approximately 1 mile from the finish.
Strava (Sue Lin): https://www.strava.com/activities/10982727229
Nutrition: Maurten Gel 100 Caf 100 at the start, two bottles of SiS Go Electrolyte and a sleeve of Clif Bloks during the race.
Race Recap:
Finally it wasn’t raining and the sun was shining! I was excited to be racing in a relatively large field of 37 women, and with a good group of teammates. However, having raced the P123 Land Park crit the previous day my legs were not the freshest, and I had a scratchy throat and was starting to lose my voice. In the pre-race team talk, both Chris and I decided that rather than going for results in the masters field, we wanted to support our cat 4 teammates and try to get them some upgrade points for this race.
After discussing with the rest of the team we decided that Robin should be the protected rider. Emily and Katie would try to be safe wheels for her to follow, and keep her out of the wind. Chris and I would stay close to the front and try not to let any breaks go without Robin. She would save herself and try to attack on the hill during the second lap, shortly before the finish.
The race started and Chris set a solid pace up front with me on her wheel and Emily behind me. I was feeling happy and relaxed following Chris’s trusted wheel for the first half lap, with her expertly navigating the potholes and corners. Those who have raced Bariani know that the roads are extremely rough and bumpy, but following Chris they seemed smooth like butter.
As the road kicked up slightly heading towards the first lap KOM, things became a lot less smooth. The pack started shuffling and re-shuffling with everyone wanting to get closer to the front before the climb. I managed to keep eyes on the riders we had identified as likely to make moves. Sure enough, the attacks soon started. I tried to let others chase but ended up bridging to several dangerous-looking moves. It became amusing to see solo off-the-front riders initially excited to see me join them, thinking I would work with them to stay away. I did feel a bit guilty about sitting on their wheels and refusing to help, or taking half-hearted 150 watt pulls as the other racer tried to shout words of encouragement, but the strategy worked and the rest of the pack including Robin caught up to us each time. I was starting to enjoy this domestique role!
Robin’s perspective: once we were into the second half of the race, any time an attack started to go I would let someone else chase and then follow behind them. This happened a few times and it was more energy than I wanted to burn, but I was nervous about missing “the move” and knew my best shot to get AV on the podium was from a reduced field finish rather than a field sprint. Frustratingly, these efforts ended up futile because the moto neutralized us for several minutes to let a couple of junior boys pass (whom we shortly passed back). Our field came back together more than once, and positioning generally felt stressful due to narrow roads, our large field, and some sketchy handling in the group.
By the second lap there had been some attrition, but most of the field was still together. Emily was looking strong and I was happy to see her up at the front with Robin on her wheel. After chasing down a couple of attacks on the far side of the course, I was a bit too complacent heading towards the second time up the climb. I didn’t move up early enough and became trapped towards the back half of the field as the road narrowed. Meanwhile the moto ref hovered behind us relegating racers who tried passing left of the center line to the back of the group. As a result, I could see Robin and Katie looking strong and well positioned up ahead of me, but wasn’t able to pass the mass of riders in front of me to get in position to execute a lead out.
As we reached the steeper KOM section the group started to thin as slower riders fell back. I found some gaps to squeeze through and accelerated towards Robin who seemed to be flying up the climb. Everyone was going full gas at this point, and I felt the threat of cramps start in my legs as I summited the KOM. I could see Katie ahead (having buried herself to lead Robin out into the climb) and Robin a few positions ahead of her. On the final straightaway before the left turn to the finish I desperately tried to catch up to Robin to try to lead her out for the sprint. As the gap to her closed and I was about to pass on her left, I tried to yell at her to jump on my wheel. But my croaky voice didn’t stand a chance against the deafening rattle of bikes speeding over potholes, and I realized afterwards that the speed differential and lack of warning made it impossible for her to jump on. (Sorry Robin!). I took the bumpy final left turn as fast as I dared and started to sprint to the line, passing a few more riders and crossing the line 5th out of 37.
The scariest part of the race happened immediately after the sprint finish when the winner apparently had a mechanical, braked, and veered sharply across in front of me. I swerved to avoid her and went off road into the gravel at 35 miles/hour, somehow managing to stay upright! Robin finished strong not far behind me, taking 6th in the novice/cat 4 field and successfully earning some upgrade points. The rest of the team did great, with Katie, Chris and Emily achieving solid finishes after burning a lot of matches for the team throughout the race, Janene having a successful return to racing, and Rina completing her first road race.
Thanks for reading!
Sue Lin
Santa Cruz Crit-W4 and Masters
Race: Santa Cruz Classic Criterium Women’s 4/5 and Masters
Date: March 24, 2024
AVRT racers: Chris Davis
Top Result: Chris 1st in Masters
Course: 40 minutes around a 0.78mi crit course. Triangle course: first corner is a hairpin turn downhill, followed by a decent into the second corner, and a gradual 4-5% climb into a 2% climb to the finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11029941949
Race Recap (written by Chris):
This is one of my favorite crits despite it is invariably is raining during my race. This year was no exception, as the biggest downpour of the day was during the Women’s Novice and Master race. The silver lining in this is that everyone takes it very slow around the 180 turn and so we had no slide outs during our race. Prior to the start of the race, Janine Bubner, who raced for AVRT last year connected with me. It was nice to see her again and I hoped to help her out.
As we started out, the rain was just beginning so that was good. I positioned to the front to take the 180 turn. We went a couple of times around and then my chain jumped when I stood to ride up Beach St. I came off the pack at this point and had to hustle the next two laps to reattach. As I was doing so, I tried to grab Janine, who had also come detached from the pack.
Once I got back to the pack, I kept watch on the riders I thought would take off in the final two laps. Given I stayed toward the back of the pack, I missed the opportunity to take off with the four riders that did make a run in the last two laps. I came in first in my category and 6th overall. The highlight was that Niky and Cam were cheering as they were marshaling the 180 turn. After the race, I took to that marshaling spot the rest of the day. It was particularly eventful in that a fire truck had to be let onto the course during the Men’s P12 race!
Photo Credit: Greg Beliera
Race Report: Santa Cruz Classic Criterium - Women’s P/1/2/3
Race: Santa Cruz Classic Criterium Women’s P/1/2/3
Date: March 24, 2024
AVRT racers: Gina Yuan, Niky Taylor, Rachel Hwang, Whitney Post
Top Result: Rachel 4th, Gina 6th
Course: 60 minutes around a 0.78mi crit course. Triangle course: first corner is a hairpin turn downhill, followed by a decent into the second corner, and a gradual 4-5% climb into a 2% climb to the finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11031625246
Race Recap (written by Rachel):
Stiff competition this weekend, Denver Disruptors, Butcher Box, Terun, Fount, Monarch, and others including Alto Velo. My goal this race was to cover some attacks (as I'm not expecting much left for a sprint at the end), and to learn how to draft better in the group and do less work.
There were a few primes in the first half of the race, setting a seemingly fast pace for the race. I covered a few attacks, and remember two well. The first was when a Terun rider and two others pulled ahead, and Alex on Terun started slowing down the pack. I was right behind her, and as I saw and felt the speed slow, realized I needed to chase. I chased down the group which brought others with me to gap the bridge.
The second was past the corner into the uphill sprint finish. Somehow, I was pretty far up the front. Dani from Denver Disruptors attacked up the hill and I chased her down. As we neared the finish line, she looked back and slowed down. That's when the announcer said "prime" and I realized she attacked for the prime, not necessarily for a break. As she passed the line, I slowly chased after her until I was behind her. She tried to get me to pull, but I looked down at my Garmin, and we were only 22 minutes in. My goal was only to chase down attacks, not stick in a break as I'm pretty sure I would burn all my matches and get dropped later in the race. She said some words to try to guilt me into pulling but at that point I was slow pedaling waiting for the field to catch up.
Following some sprints, I felt the wheezing coming back and decided to sit in the field the rest of the race. That's also about when Niky came up to me to ask how I was doing, and knew I should probably conserve my energy for a sprint at the end.
The entire race, I was on the outside line, and slowly, lap by lap, the field migrated to the edge, and I got stuffed in the gutter almost every lap. This would come back to bite me.
Near the end, Whitney told me to mark Dani, and with 2 laps to go, Niky told me to get behind her. These were great exercises for me to find and stick to someone's wheel. Because before they came up to me, I was figuring out in my head how I could get in and stay in a good position through the last few laps, with a history of ending up in the back every time I tried to stay in the front. Niky kept looking back and I kept losing her only to get back on her wheel on the straight aways. With one lap to go, she led me out, and as I stayed behind her, people started coming up and around from all over. As we turned the last corner into the climb, I get on Niky's wheel, but then get stuffed into the gutter and shut out by the Butcher Box girl and couldn't get around. I lose a few critical seconds but manage to navigate around some people to an open area. The line up now was Alex and Dani far enough off the front they weren't even in the picture, two girls - Butcher Box and Terun - in front of me, and then me. As I navigate out of the gutter and around the riders, the two I am looking to beat is the Butcher Box and Terun girl. I had the power to pass Terun, but could not beat Butcher Box, placing 4th. Gina was close behind and sprinted for 6th. It was an about ~0.17mi sprint uphill from the corner to the finish line.
I'm very happy how this race turned out. Up until this point, I never thought I had the fitness in me in a P123 race to be able to make it to the end with enough left to sprint. I do constantly wonder how the race would have turned out if I was in better position coming out of that corner, but I'm very happy with the outcome and very grateful for the effort Niky put into pulling the last two laps.
Nutrition: 1 Clif shot double espresso, 1 bottle liquid IV during the race
Race Report: Cat’s Hill Classic Criterium - Women’s P/1/2/3
Race: Cat's Hill Classic Criterium Women’s P/1/2/3
Date: March 23, 2024
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Niky Taylor, Rachel Hwang, Robin Betz, Whitney Post
Top Result: Rachel 8th/20, Niky 11th, Louise 12th, Whitney 13th, Robin 14th
Course: 60 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/11024423538
Race Recap (written by Rachel):
The starting line up included some very strong racers, including NCL team Denver Disruptors, Terun, Fount, Monarch, and others including Alto Velo. I'm not sure what our strategy was going into this race. We thought about marking different people throughout the race, and if there was an attack, to have at least one member in the break. Beyond that, it was to have fun. My personal goal, as always in a 123 field, was to survive.
I'm still trying to figure out how to keep my spot and how not to drop to the back or in the wind on the side in P123 races. This race quickly proved that as there were a couple times I had to break so hard going into that uphill corner that I almost stopped, so following that, I gave myself 10 ft of space between the pack and me before going into the uphill corner. I also think I chased down one or two attacks. At some point during the race, I started wheezing really badly, throat half closed, and had to focus on my breathing if I wanted to keep upright. Most of that race was me trying to stay with the pack and breath.
With probably 2 laps to go, three people launched it off the front, which at that point the field got stretched. At this point in the race, there was only Niky and me left in AV. Within that lap, Niky said, "I guess it's our job to chase." I gave an unenthusiastic yeah and kept riding, wheezing and thinking of the end. With about a lap and a half left, Niky started pulling. I got on her wheel and did my best to stay on. When we got to the hill on the final lap, everyone who was still in the bunch gave it all they got, including me. I gave it my best up that hill, but was burnt and couldn't keep up the watts over the false flat, and watched a bunch of people pass me. While I tried to keep on their wheels, they were about 3 bike lengths ahead and I couldn't catch up, so we all rolled through the finish line in that order.
Nutrition: 1 Sweet Treat Chewy Marshmallow an hour before the race (this isn't necessarily bike food but is the most addicting rice crispy treat ever), 1 bottle liquid IV during the race
Race Report: Cat's Hill Classic Criterium - Women’s 3/Masters
Race: Cat's Hill Classic Criterium Women’s 3/Masters
Date: March 23, 2024
AVRT racers: Kristin Hepworth, Louise Thomas, Rachel Hwang
Top Result: Rachel 1st, Louise 2nd
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/11024414060
Race Recap (written by Rachel):
Going into the race, mine and Louise's goal was to conserve energy as much as possible as we were both racing the W P123 race and was very intimidated by the starting line up. The combined field had 8 people, and normally, Louise would attack to make the race more interesting, but as we were conserving energy, we started at a slightly faster than coffee ride pace and stayed pretty slow throughout the race. Within a few laps, it started downpouring rain. I was struggling to see in front of me for many laps before the rain started clearing.
At this point, the race was pretty slow and boring, and Kristin and Louise chatted mid ride about what they could do. In the end, we all took it slow to conserve Louise and my legs. Throughout the race, there were 4 primes that Louise and I traded off getting. To be honest, I didn't really hear him announce some of the primes as it was raining and I was just trying to see in front of me.
Closer to the end, it picked up ever so slightly to the point where only 3 of us were left off the front - me, Louise, and a junior. Through the entire race, I practiced shifting gears before and during the hill on the inside line - but still not well enough as I was pedaling through the entire hill and people were able to start pedaling 15% up it. The junior also practiced her same line but from the outside every time. She was getting ready to attack. On the last lap, she attacked up the hill. Gauging my competition, I powered up that hill, continued outputting power over the top on the false flat, and left her behind. I looked back a few times on the decent to make sure she wasn't on my wheel, and rolled across the finish line. Louise played it strategically and held onto her wheel drafting from the hill all the way to the end, before outsprinting her for a 2nd place finish.
Nutrition: 1 Clif shot on the start line, 1 bottle liquid IV during the race
Race Report: Huffmaster Hopper Grasshopper - Men 19-29
Race Report: Huffmaster Hopper Grasshopper - Men 19-29
Date: 2/24/2024
AVRT racers: Jack Liu
Top Result: Jack 4th
Course: 90 mile half gravel half road with 2 main climbs
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10829858420
Nutrition: 4 bottles mix and many gels
Race Recap:
This was my first gravel race and I had no idea how it’s going to play out. My biggest question is how are people going to stop civilly at the rest stop, refill, and restart as a group together? How is that possible without someone attacking the feed zone? I don’t know, so I had to see it myself. I prepped a bag of bottles and gels for the first aid station, brought as much food as I could, and prayed that I could survive the 90-mile “race”, the longest ride I’ve done on my gravel bike.
The first 40-mile was mostly road and the pace was pretty chill, except before one gravel section people were fighting for position entering it as the organizer had “strongly recommended” to walk around muddy single track. Once we hit the first main climb, it was game on. A front group of 6 riders went away. I maintained my pace and started the descent with another rider. We were caught by two riders at the first aid station (it was so rushed and I forgot like 10 things I needed and only got the bottles), and we worked together to chase the front group that was just ~15 sec ahead. We got really close, but then we hit a slight uphill section and the group blew up. I rode my own pace for a bit, then got picked up by a small group of riders, which eventually collected all riders ahead except the front 6 riders. The ten-ish of us rode together nicely for the second part of the race.
The second half of the race was horrible. I was in constant pain, mentally and physically. I cannot get a nice draft as in a road race, and I kept suspecting that I had flat tires as the drag is so big. I guess gravel trails just have really large resistance. Also I think my gravel bike geometry is too relaxed compared to my road bike setup, and my whole body was hurting in a weird way. Additionally, all the bumps on the gravel trails take a toll on your upper body. My whole upper body hurt more than my legs when I crossed the finish line, with some parts near severe cramping. I knew skipping all those upper body workouts in the gym is going to haunt me one day.
Anyhow, I managed to survive in the second group to the finish, by my audacity to skip pulls, not stopping at the second rest stop, and taking some calculated risk at descend (100% getting dropped or 10% hitting that pothole and crash? easy choice). Had an okay sprint finish and surprisingly got 4th in my age group. Guess there were mostly masters in the front group LOL. It was a traumatizing experience and I think I should either 1) fix my gravel bike fit or 2) don’t treat it as a race if I want to do it next time. I have a lot more respect for gravel racers now.
Race Report: 2024 Merced Crit Men’s P12
Race Report: 2024 Merced Crit Men’s P12
Date: 3/3/2024
AVRT racers: Jack Liu
Top Result: Jack DNP
Course: 1.1 km rectangular course featuring a roundabout (chicance) with super shitty pavement and some sands
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10885296694
Nutrition: 1 bottles mix
Race Recap:
On the second lap, I took an inside line on the left of the peloton to move up before the chicane. Then I realized I’m kinda screwed because there’s a huge crack right at the apex of the corner and I got nowhere to go as the whole field was swinging left. Then I crashed.
I went back into the race with a hole in my skinsuit, some blood on my hands, and a misbehaving rear derailleur. Then I kept fighting. Honestly, it was probably one of the most exciting races to watch, as the three biggest teams, Team Mike’s Bikes, Terun, and Voler were constantly throwing attacks at each other and there was not a single dull moment. However, it was definitely not fun to be in the race. Being a victim of the accordion effect, I had to do an all-out sprint everytime out of the chicane. I survived till the penultimate lap before stopping and enjoyed the sprint finish from the sideline, where solo rider Alex Akins outsprinted the three big teams to take an incredible win.
Race Report: 2024 Bariani Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Race: Bariani Road Race - Men's Cat 4
Date: March 17th, 2024
AVRT racers: Logan Allen, Maxime Cauchois, Will Hakim, Steven Pelas, Clark Penado, Richard Red
Top Result: Maxime Cauchois (3/53)
Course: 3 laps of a 20mi loop, 60mi total. Mostly flat (300ft of climbing by lap), except for a notable 1 min kicker about 1 mi from the finish line), low NW wind during the race. Poor overall pavement, with lots of potholes and cracks on the first half of the course, better on the second half.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10981485262
Nutrition: Two bottles with ~50g of carbs (Sktrach (20g) + Cyclic Dextrin (30g)) during the race, plus some filling pancakes and juice at breakfast. Probably on the lower side but the race was not very long (2h30) and not the most intense (low intensity factor)
Summary of the race (written by Maxime): This was my first road race of the season and as such I was approaching without any clear personal expectation other than building my bunch riding confidence and sharpening my racing skills for future better suited races later this year. Our team goal was to stay near the front on the first half of the race and favor late breakways from some of our riders targeting the race more specifically. We had also agreed that should the race finish on a bunch finish, we would help out the rider with the fresher legs at that point.
Outside of a few corner exits, the first lap of the race seemed fairly uneventful to me. I was positioned mid-pack for most of the lap, and I have to admit I was more focused on staying in position and moving in the bunch, therefore not really paying attention to what was happening at the front. It turns out that two riders got away about halfway through the first lap, which I didn’t witness first hand but got confirmation of at the beginning of the second lap when the neutral motorcycle announced a gap of several minutes (I couldn’t hear how many but looking at Strava, it was probably around 2).
Acting upon this news, my teammates and I, along with a few unattached riders, started a faster rotation at the front to reel them back in. Our effort was somewhat hampered by us catching a Masters field and having to slow down significantly halfway into lap 2, but by the end of lap 2, our general understanding (within our team and also other riders I could briefly talk to) was that we had brought everyone back. A breakaway with 6 riders briefly formed after the kicker before the end of lap 2, with 3 AV riders including myself in it, but unfortunately we didn’t get along very well and weren’t able to establish a significant gap, which is why our effort was short lived. The composition of that group was very favorable to AV, and in hindsight it would have been worth working harder for that opportunity.
The peloton somewhat slowed down a bit during most of the third lap, with riders visibly saving their legs for the rollers on the back half of the course. About 5 miles from the finish, a few of my teammates warned me that they were starting to cramp a little, and I therefore decided to try and play my personal card. At that point, the pace picked up significantly and I was focusing on staying among the first 5-8 riders at the front. In the main climb, one of the unattached riders attacked, followed by two others, and I could only react a few seconds later as I initially got boxed in. They must have had a 10 to 20 m gap when I got away from the pack myself, and after a short but intense effort, I was able to catch up to the end of the group right as we crested the climb. I allowed myself a few seconds to recover in the wheels, at which point I could see we had a sizable gap over the field, with a 5th rider who had just operated the junction. I stayed hidden in the group until about 500m to go, which is when one of the riders launched a full gas attack. When I saw him, I tried to jump on his wheel but he already had a fairly large speed differential and was able to establish a gap. Railing the last corner as fast as I could, I saw he was starting to fade so I pushed even harder on the very last kicker and was able to pass him on the line, for what I thought was the win… but was in fact only for 3rd, as it turned out we had actually never caught the two initial breakaway riders!
Learning upon the news, I was a bit disappointed but it also taught me a good lesson about being focused and paying attention from the gun instead of treating the first lap more or less as a coffee ride. It also highlighted the importance of communication as a team, as we definitely could have caught them had we continued our paceline effort. I still consider the end result encouraging as I was able to get a podium in a large field on a course that doesn’t necessarily play to my strengths.
Thanks for reading!
Race Report: 2024 Chico Downtown Crit - Men’s Pro/1/2
Race: 2024 Chico Downtown Crit - Men’s Pro/1/2
Date: March 10, 2024
AVRT racers: Jon Wells
Top Result: Jon Wells, DNF
Course: 1 km loop in Downtown Chico. The L-shaped course has 6 corners per lap (5 left and 1 right) through the streets of Downtown Chico. Pancake flat and fairly wide open course/corners, especially for a downtown course. Fun vibes with quite a few people out at shops in town, particularly for an overcast, chilly day
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10934393461
Nutrition: a pre race Redbull and 60g flow bottle during the race
Race Recap:
I decided pretty last minute to make the drive up to Chico to race when the weather started to look better on race day. I wanted to support this race so it can come back to its former glory as a full blown stage race with big (130+ person) pro fields from years past, but didn’t really want to make the drive just to get rained on. The weather held out so I made the trip.
Mens Pro/1/2 field was fairly small, only around 25 riders. Terun was the only team with any sort of presence (3 riders) and riders of note included Tyler Williams and EJ. The race got off to a fairly animated start, with lots of individual riders getting excited to throw moves and counter over each other. I rolled with a couple moves in the first 15 min that I had momentum to follow. Shortly after the second of these were brought back, I got a front flat tire. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any spare wheels in the pit or a means to fix the sealant spewing gash in my tire so my race was done.
Blake from Red Peleton ended up riding solo off the front for most of the race while Tyler Williams dragged him back with minimal help from the field. Tyler would also flat out at the end of the race, leaving the door wide open for Terun to take the win. Terun threw an early last lap flier, out of corner 2, and stuck it all the way to the line.
The promoters were very enthusiastic afterwards about the race coming back as a stage race next year (although they say that every year before it gets canceled) so hopefully it will be back in full force for 2025!
-Jon
Race Report: 2024 Bariani Olive Oil Road Race - Men's Cat 3
Race: Bariani Olive Oil Road Race - Men's Cat 3
Date: March 17, 2024
AVRT racers: Brad Lovegren, Henry Mallon
Top Result: Henry 20/32
Course: 2 laps of a 20-mile course with about 500 feet of climbing per lap. Mostly flat with a few shallow rollers and sections with very poor pavement in the first half. The main feature is a 0.53-mile climb at 3.8% that summits about 1 mile from the finish. After a gradual descent, there’s a 90° left-hand turn and ~300 meters to the finish.
Bariani KOM segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/1051199
Bariani full lap segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/17156591
Strava (Henry): https://www.strava.com/activities/10981878399
Nutrition: 2 bottles with 80g each of homemade malto/fructose mix and 4 gels.
Race Recap: Written by Henry. With only two AV racers, Brad and I made a plan to selectively mark breakaways with representation from the larger teams such as Pen Velo, Dolce Vita, and Velo Kings. In the later laps, we could try reducing the group on the Bariani KOM or decide on who to protect for a sprint finish.
On the first lap, Charlie Vanacht (Pen Velo) attacked and quickly developed a sizeable gap. There were a few bridge attempts from unattached riders, but no one made it across. By the end of the first lap, Charlie was out of sight, and we assumed the gap was more than one minute. With 60 miles remaining, we weren’t particularly concerned and expected Dolce Vita or Velo Kings to manage the situation. While I didn't know at the time, Charlie was the 2023 U23 ITT State Champion.
Going into the KOM on the second lap, there was a small breakaway with ~20 seconds and I decided to use the climb to close the gap and hopefully reduce the field. While the field was strung out, the climb wasn’t selective (climbing for <90 seconds at ~22mph). I crested with two others who immediately took strong turns, but we only had a few bike lengths of separation from the main peloton.
After rejoining the main group through the start/finish, I started looking around for Brad to check in and make a plan for the rest of the race. Unfortunately, he got a flat earlier and wasn’t able to continue.
In the third lap, everyone seemed more motivated to chase or attempt a breakaway, and the pace was hard through the section of rough pavement. I tried to stay near the front, sometimes sacrificing draft to see the potholes and take the best line through loose corners. In one of the final corners of rough pavement, a crash occurred just behind me and a few riders got ahead. Once there was a gap, I bridged across with a Pen Velo rider. All four riders in the break with me immediately started taking hard pulls, and it looked like we could stay away. But, the peloton behind was in a paceline and we were brought back after about 15 minutes.
At the end of lap three, I made an effort on the Bariani KOM in an attempt to split the field or make the race harder before a bunch sprint. It was enough to string things out, but I couldn’t create any meaningful separation. After this, I went back to the group and started talking to Dolce Vita, Velo Kings, and Super Sprinkles about working to bring back Charlie. They were open to helping, but the section of rough pavement made it challenging to rotate effectively in a paceline. A few riders attacked in the first half of the lap, but eventually the group came together.
Going into the final KOM, Leo from Pen Velo set a hard pace and I came around him on the climb to hopefully drop some sprinters or reduce the group. Once again, my attempt on the shallow climb wasn’t enough to make a significant difference. Going into the final corner, the group was about 15, and I was positioned 4th wheel. It was clear that Charlie would win solo, meaning we would be sprinting for 2nd.
While almost everyone was single-file, I was slightly overlapping with a rider to my left. This proved to be a mistake, as we went through the final corner at high speed and everyone ahead of me used the full width of the road. Because my front wheel was about level with the next person’s hip, I got pushed wide into the gravel shoulder and immediately slid out.
I was in a great position for the final sprint, but I should have yielded one position to take the corner single-file. I’m not sure if the rider ahead of me knew I was there, but I don’t blame him at all for using the full road. And, I feel pretty bad about sending the guy behind me into the same gravel Slip ‘N Slide. Fortunately, the only consequence for us was road rash (gravel rash?) and a missed opportunity to sprint to the finish.
I’ve learned a ton in every race so far this season, but I definitely prefer when it doesn’t involve torn kit and lots of Tegaderm.
Thanks for reading,
Henry
Race Report: 2024 UCLA Devil’s Punchbowl Road Race - Men's Cat 4 / Collegiate C
Race: UCLA Devil’s Punchbowl Road Race - Men's Cat 4 / Collegiate C
Date: March 9, 2024
AVRT racers: Henry Mallon
Top Result: Henry 2/35 overall (1/17 Cat 4)
Course: Three laps of a 12.5-mile course with 1,500 feet of climbing per lap. The main climb is divided into two segments connected by a 1-mile section of false-flat uphill. The finish line is at the end of the first segment just before the false-flat. The first section is 0.68 miles at 6% and steepens towards the finish line. The second section is 2.6 miles at 6%, starting more gradually and steepening in the final mile. After the climb is a fast 5-mile descent—expect speeds of 40-50 mph without pedaling, and be careful of multiple large potholes on the right side of the lane. Following the descent is a 2-mile section at 1-2%, ending with a right-hand turn onto the first short climb to the finish. Note that this race reaches an elevation of nearly 5,000 feet, which reduces available aerobic power by ~9% if you’re not acclimated.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10926294648
Nutrition: ~1.5 bottles with 80g of homemade malto/fructose mix and a gel.
Race Recap: Written by Henry. This course profile resembles a larger version of University RR in Santa Cruz, so I anticipated an attritional race culminating in a small group effort up the final short climb. As the only AV rider in this category, my plan was to rely on the larger collegiate teams to make the race hard. Hopefully, I could make the final selection and conserve energy for the decisive climb to the finish.
The race begins on the false-flat section part-way up the main climb. Due to the heat, I decided to stay in the air-conditioned comfort of my car and only do a brief 15-minute warm-up. This was a bad idea, as I wasn’t adequately prepared for the pace at the start. During the initial 11-minute climb, I felt awful and barely clung onto the lead group, which was already reduced to about 10 riders.
Once on the descent, we were quickly spun out and enjoyed 8 minutes of freewheeling and much-needed recovery. Fortunately, everyone was diligently pointing out obstacles, as there were a few giant potholes (all on the right half of the lane) that would be very dangerous at speeds of 40-50 mph. Once we reached the end of the descent, the group had swelled to about 20 and we rode tempo in a paceline for the ~3-mile gradual ascent to the main climb.
As expected, the next time up the climb reduced the group even further. There were no major attacks, but a UCSB rider (Logan Unger) was doing most of the pacesetting. By the summit, we were left with a group of about 5 riders.
The moderate elevation was having a larger impact than I anticipated. I was immediately redlined with any hard surges and threshold power felt like VO2 max. Despite 8+ minutes of freewheeling on the descent, I struggled to fully recover. On the second descent, my average heart rate was 139 bpm and barely fell below 120 bpm by the bottom (for reference, my max HR is ~205 bpm).
Once more, the group roughly doubled in size during the descent and false-flat before the climb. As we crossed the start/finish, Logan Unger from UCSB launched an attack and the group exploded. I was initially chasing solo, but after about 5 minutes Logan was barely visible. Realizing I wouldn’t catch him on the climb, I decided to let up slightly to join the next group of 3 chasers, hoping we could work together on the upcoming descent and flat. This 10-minute section of the climb was close to a maximum effort (195 bpm avg) and the power was probably about 20-30 watts lower than I would expect at sea level.
Once on the descent, another rider caught back on (making us a group of 5) and we worked as well as we could to chase Logan. Unfortunately, none of us had adequate gearing to pedal the descent. On the final 3-mile section before the finishing climb, we continued working hard in a paceline. There was one moment when I saw a rider getting closer and thought we were gaining on Logan. This was not the case. He was out of sight and ended up winning by about 2 minutes.
I didn't fully trust myself in a sprint finish, so I thought my best chance would be to attack at the steepest section ~800 meters from the line. When we got to this point, I launched my attack and no one followed.
On the day, I don’t think there was anything I could have done to beat Logan; he was simply a level above the competition. But, I was still super happy to take second overall and win Cat 4, while also getting my last points to upgrade!
Overall, I learned that I need a proper warm-up (even in the heat) and possibly a larger chainring for courses with fast descents. My biggest gear right now is 50/11, which was insufficient to pedal the downhill. Better gearing would have really helped our small group chase Logan on the final descent. And, there were riders every lap who were distanced on the climb but reconnected on the descent (presumably using a larger gear ratio to their advantage).
Even with the long drive, I would highly recommend this race. The scenery is stunning with snow-capped mountains set against a vast landscape dotted with Joshua trees and cacti. The challenging climbs, high elevation, and intense heat make this course absolutely brutal. And, I think the tactics resemble a larger-scale version of UCSC’s University RR.
Race Report: 2024 Original Merced Criterium – Women’s 3
Race: Original Merced Criterium Women’s 3/Master’s & Women’s P/1/2/3
Date: March 3, 2024
AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang
Top Result: Rachel Hwang - :( but finished the race
Women’s 3/Masters
Course: 45 minutes around a 0.68mi crit course. Flat with 3 90 degree corners and a bubble with 3 corners in the 4thcorner.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10885136181
Race Recap:
Going into the race, I was pretty confident, as I have the strategy down for crits pretty well.
As all the racers took one lap before the start of the race, we agreed there were lots of potholes, and in the one “bubble” 4th corner, a tight space with lots of potholes, uneven ground, and gravel. Not a problem, or so I thought.
With no teammates today, my strategy was to do minimal work, hide behind the mass until the last couple laps, get in good position, and sprint finish.
However, as we went around the lap the first time, every time we hit that fourth corner with the gravel patch and holes, my chain would skip and grind as I would put down power. While it was worrisome, there wasn’t much I could do. On lap 4 or 5, as I powered out of that corner, my chain dropped. Not knowing what to do, I stood there for a few seconds before the moto guy just told me to keep going, and a spectator told me to go to the tent to get my free lap, but I get to the tent and they tell me it’s not a mechanical, so I keep going. At this point, I can see that I am half a lap behind.
In my mind, I keep weighing my options:
1) Work hard to catch up, potentially burning myself out for the next race or
2) Don’t try to catch up and saving my energy for the next race
I decide to work for it, but at some point, start losing hope as I am not getting any closer to them. However, with maybe 5 laps to go, I start seeing them in the same long flat stretch. With encouragement from the announcers as well seeing how close I was to catching them, I hop on the end of the group with 2.5 laps to go. I was so happy to have caught back on after having thought the race was over, and even thought I could potentially sprint for it in the end. Not even a full lap later, with 2 laps to go, in that same gravel pothole corner, I accelerate out of the corner and my chain drops again.
Women’s P/1/2/3
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10885144949
Race Recap:
After the first race, my goal this race was to not drop my chain and therefore get dropped. I even go to the tent and have them adjust the high limit screw so my chain won’t fall off the big chain ring, and purposefully drop my chain to see if it will self adjust – which it does. With all the solo laps I had now done, I knew how to keep my chain on. My strategy was to stay far enough behind the group going into that one corner to not have to break through it and coast past all the bumps, then slowly easing the power back up.
It worked for the first 24 minutes. I even let people in front of me so I can scoot to the back every lap, and open up a bit of a gap every time out of that corner since I wouldn’t pedal through it.
Of course the one lap I end up in the middle of, I had to break, and as I accelerate out of it over the bumps, my chain drops. This time, I try to pedal it back on, and with no luck and the forced pedaling with a dropped chain, the chain gets lodged in there.
At that point, I knew that was the end of the race. I focused on getting a good workout in the rest of the race.
Nutrition: 1 bottle of water with a stick of liquid IV, and a Clif Double Espresso flavored shot on the start line right before the first race, and a Clif Citrus flavored shot before the second race.
Race Report: 2024 Low Gap Grasshopper - Open Men
Race: Low Gap Grasshopper - Open Men
Date: 01/27/2024
AVRT racers: Flo Costa, Cam O’Reilly, Greg McCullough, Riley Chapman
Top Results: Flo 20/51
Course: 47 miles, 5700 ft of climbing - Gravel Race in Ukiah, California immediately starting with a paved 4 mile climb. Fast descent and flat section before the gravel portion which consists of a series of rollers and a 3 mile climb before the final descent.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10642443180
Nutrition: Clif Bloks and gels with malto + gatorade in the bottles.
Race Recap: Low Gap is quickly becoming one of my favorite ways to kick off the racing season. It’s a shorter gravel race, making it more intense, especially with a 20 minute climb right out of the gate. After the “off” season, everyone is eager to dust off the cobwebs and see where they stand against some stiff competition. The competition never disappoints - this year we had the likes of Christopher Blevins, Sean Bennett, and Peter Stetina all lined up and ready to explode the race on the first climb. Low Gap is a fast race and being nearly 50% paved, I was stoked to bring out my Schwalbe G-One RS 35mm tires and throw it down.
We started with a neutral rollout to the base of the climb, before officially starting the race. From the gun, the pace up the climb was hot, and I quickly had to dial down my effort after the first 4 minutes at VO2. My legs felt good and I focused on my own effort up the climb and brought the pace down again for self-preservation after 10 min. Near the top of the climb I was joined by Cam, who gave me some encouragement, and we summited together. Cam had to chase the group after dropping his chain in the rollout and treated the climb as a FTP test, so I forged onwards. I had also set my second best all time 20 min power on this first climb - not a bad way to start the season.
After a quick descent, I found a group to work with in the flat section, and we then began the gravel section. This section had a bunch of small hills, so I would push the uphills knowing I could catch my breath in the downhills. I slowly caught up to several riders that had either punched above their weight on the first climb or had less confidence in the wet gravel descents. By the time I reached the final climb I was pretty cooked and could only push a steady tempo.
The final descent was by far the muddiest portion of the course and had a series of perpendicular mud water bars that would suddenly grab your wheels and slow you down. Luckily, on most of these I could follow the tire marks from previous riders, but on one occasion I hit one with way too much speed and completely scorpioned over the handlebars. I wish I could have seen the perspective from the guy behind me, who had the perfect view of this epic feat. I caught a few more riders in the downhill and kept pushing on the pedals to the finish.
I was quite happy with this effort, but at the same time humbled by the competition. There were a couple chase groups of really strong riders only 30-60 sec up the road on top of the first climb - that’ll be the goal for next year. For now, I’m looking forward to more gravel racing this year!
Thanks for reading,
Flo
Race Report: 2024 Copper Valley Circuit Race - Men’s Cat 3
Race: 2024 Copper Valley Circuit Race - Men’s Cat 3
Date: February 25, 2024
AVRT racers: Drew Mathews
Top Result: Drew (12/15)
Course: A 2.75 mile out and 2.75 mile back stretch of road with nice pavement. Generally flat with undulations contributing to an overall uphill on the way out out and downhill on the way back, with the finishing straight coming after a slight downhill. Our race was held at 60 minutes long, and we ended up doing 5 laps.
Strava: Copper Valley Cat 3
Nutrition: I had some oatmeal at home before driving out to Copperopolis in order to give myself a three-four hour window to fully digest before the race. I had a packet of rice cakes 1.5 hours before the start, and a maple syrup shooter 30 minutes before the start. I had another maple syrup shooter halfway through the race, which was a mistake - I felt sluggish for 10 minutes after downing it.
Recap: (written by Drew)
I had a weekend to forget at Cantua and Pine Flat, and I was hoping to gain some confidence and fitness racing in the 3’s at Copper Valley. I had a good week of training leading into the race and was excited to race in nice, sunny weather on a really nice stretch of road.
The field was composed of 15 riders, including two from PenVelo, two from Work Health Solutions, and two in green jerseys from Sacramento (Sacramento Golden Wheelmen?). Mitchell from VeloKings was marked as the strong rider in the field, capable of making a breakaway stick or sprinting to victory. My plan was to conserve energy in the first half of the race and look for a late breakaway, and if the group stuck together to the end, I’d see how my recent sprint workouts would pay off.
Attacks went from the very first lap, with Mitchell leading the onslaught. After several attacks from Work Health, PenVelo, and the Sacramento team were all brought back, Charlie on PenVelo got away solo. The peloton held him at less than 30 seconds for the first lap, and he slowly grew his lead as the race went on.
Not many bridge attempts went in the middle third of the race. I was feeling good and had saved energy compared to others in the first half of the race, so I decided to try and bridge going into the last lap. I got a 5-10 second gap going through the finish line. A Work Health rider and a Mike’s Bikes Dev rider bridged to me, but the three of us were caught by the pack in the start-side turnaround. I tried to bridge again halfway into the last lap, but I was immediately covered by Leo, Charlie’s teammate on PenVelo. Feeling the aftereffects of those two efforts, I dropped back to prepare for the sprint.
A Work Health rider led the pack into the sprint. I was toward the front but flanked by riders on either side of me. I felt good standing out of the saddle in the drops and went to sprint after we hit the 200 m to go sign. This bunch sprint was pretty novel for me - I was in the middle of a pack of over ten riders going close to 40 mph, each rider going all out for the line. I didn’t make up any spots, and even got passed by some riders close to the line. I learned that guys in the 3’s can really sprint, and having a leadout is really helpful at that level - Mitchell won the field sprint and both a Work Health rider and Sacramento rider were in the top 5.
I was happy with how I raced - I was feeling strong, took risks towards the end of the race, and tried my best in the sprint. This race is a really good one to learn race craft, being that it’s one of the least technical races on the calendar. I learned that to be successful in the 3’s, I really need to be on my game. Another takeaway I have is for creating separation from the pack when trying to bridge or breakaway - having a run up is key. On my first bridge attempt, I started towards the back of the pack, allowing me to accelerate up to speed by the time I passed those on the front, making it much harder to chase me down. On the second, I grinded in a hard gear at low cadence from the front of the pack and was easily followed.
I am a big fan of the Copper Valley Circuit Race. This was my first race of two on the day, and I could have done three. The 3/4 race was one of the most intense races I’ve been a part of in terms of team strategy, and I learned a ton from that race. The course is really well paved, and the little village was fun to hang out in between races.
-Drew