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

Race Report: 2024 Original Merced Criterium - Men's Cat 4/5

Race: Original Merced Criterium - Men's Cat 4/5

Date: February 22, 2024

AVRT racers: Clark Penado, Henry Mallon

Top Result: Henry 20/44

Course (description from Fraser’s 2023 report): The course is a 0.6 mile almost four corner crit on the streets of Merced. Most of it is at least two lanes wide, and the first, second, and fourth corners are 90-degree right-handers. The third corner is where things get interesting. It resembles a three-quarter turn around a roundabout, narrows to one lane, and has bad pavement. There’s only one racing line through it. The pavement on the rest of the course is fair to good.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10884287845 

Nutrition: 1 bottle with 80g of homemade malto/fructose mix. 

Race Recap: Written by Henry. After Snelling RR was canceled due to flooding, Clark and I decided to try our luck the following day in Merced. Since we both have very little crit experience (and generally do better on climbs), we planned to sit in for most of the race and try for a breakaway in the final 15 minutes. 

When the ref blew the whistle, we both missed our clip-in and were quickly shuffled to the back of the group. Some of the other riders took questionable lines through the first corner, which made me immediately hesitant to ride close together in the group (I later saw two separate crashes where riders overshot corner two, hit the curb, and went into the grassy median). 

Feeling a little nervous, I didn’t aggressively try to move up. This was a mistake, as the race started quite hard and large gaps began to open up. Clark was in a similar situation and was unfortunately caught behind a gap that he couldn’t close. For the rest of the race, he rode in smaller groups and eventually finished in 25th. 

Going through corner three and into the narrow bumpy section, my saddle slipped such that it was angled severely downward (see photo below). This ended up really limiting my ability to sit comfortably and apply power. I struggled to maintain even tempo power, constantly having to push myself back on the saddle or ride standing. As I race more, I’m learning that many courses have sections of very bad pavement, and I should double-check that all the bolts on my bike are tightened.

My hesitancy at the start and saddle situation put me in a difficult position going into the rest of the race. Over the next few laps, I jumped between smaller groups of dropped riders and eventually made it back to the tail end of the peloton (now ~25 riders). At this point, I was really struggling to sit on the saddle and considered dropping out. When another gap opened up, I didn’t come around to bridge back on. 

From this point onward, I rode a steady tempo with two other riders, slowly bleeding time to the peloton ahead. In the end, I rolled in for 20th place.

Being my first crit, I didn’t have many expectations. But, it was still disappointing to have my saddle slip on the first lap, making it a challenge just to finish the race. Overall, I’m glad this happened at a low-priority race. And with my saddle now securely torqued to the maximum, I feel better prepared for any course conditions, including the notoriously rough Copperoppolis RR in a few weeks.

Race Report: 2024 Copper Valley Circuit Race - Men’s Cat 3/4

Race: Copper Valley Circuit Race — Men’s Cat 3/4

Date: February 25, 2024

AVRT Racers: Zack Berger, Henry Mallon, Will Hakim, Drew Mathews

Top Results: Zack (19/36)

Course: 2.75 mile out-and-back along rolling road with excellent pavement. Overall uphill on the way out and downhill on the way back. Finish comes after a downhill stretch. 60 minute race, in which we completed 5 laps.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10837037336 

Nutrition: 1 Gu gel, ½ bottles of water with two scoops of Tailwind Endurance Fuel and a scoop of Maltodextrin (~80g carbs).

Recap [by Zack]

Earlier in the day, Will, Henry and I had a fairly successful Cat 4 outing. Equipped with an extra teammate, we were ready to dive into the 3/4 race. Dolce Vita was the most threatening team with 5 riders. Along with a load of unattached riders, Velo Kings, Pen Velo and Terun, each had a couple of teammates. Our plan was simple — get a guy in any threatening breaks, hope one stick, and if it comes to it, protect Drew for a bunch sprint.

Right out the gate the pace was much harder and much faster than the 4s. Exhausted from working in the break in my previous race, I sat in the middle of the pack while my teammates moved up. Multiple attacks went on the first lap, mostly initiated by Dolce Vita. Henry and Drew covered to make sure our team was represented in the potential breakaways with threatening compositions. After each of the preliminary attacks got brought back, on the second lap, a racer from Velo Kings, Dolce Vita, and two other riders attacked to form a break. Unfortunately, we missed it.

At this point, things were relatively unorganized in the peloton. Within a lap, the break gained a 30s gap on the field. Some motivated riders from Terun and Pen Velo began to trade pulls on the front. I moved up to help out while Henry and Drew dropped back. Dolce Vita very effectively disrupted, and a few laps passed with no dent in the gap.

A lap later, the Dolce Vita breakaway rider had fallen back. At this point all the major teams were cooperating, with the majority of solo riders hanging on the back. For the most part, my other AV teammates weren’t at the front — more on that later. The paceline was semi-effective, often hampered at the back as the non-participating riders inadvertently disrupted the flow of the rotation. The gap only shrank 10 seconds leading into the last half lap.

I was the first in the peloton through the final turnaround. The turns were extremely difficult during the race — I often spiked over 600W just to stick to the group — so I wanted to make it easier on myself. By this point, Drew was near the front with me (he came up during the last lap to help reel in the break). Will and Henry got swarmed during the turnaround and ended up at the back of the pack.

With just over a mile to go, I was in a similar position as my last race — too close to the front. I tried to fall a few bike-lengths back but immediately got swarmed as the pace picked up. Suddenly, I was ~15 bikes back.

I found my heart rate exceeding 200bpm as we entered the last kilometer. It was my first time in a bunch sprint and it honestly terrified me. Riders shooting around me, me swerving around other riders. At some point I passed Drew, then gave one last push to pass a Dolce Vita rider for 19th place.

After the race we got some food in Copperopolis and discussed what could have gone better:

1. We missed the first break. Our team had a sense of complacency and thought it couldn’t possibly stick. It turns out that this decision was the most critical one of the race. From Henry: In the future I definitely need to be more aware of the different teams and not waste energy chasing breaks with the wrong mix of riders.

2. Our team didn’t do a great job of working together. In the first third of the race, Drew and Henry were near the front trying to get in a break and then chasing. They got tired/discouraged and fell back at the same time I went up. Then, I felt isolated at the front burning my wick while my teammates were back in the pack. We should have been more coordinated, and should have all been up there cooperating with the other teams to reel in the break — perhaps the presence of all 4 AV racers could have further motivated the peloton.

3. By the time we went into the last half-lap, our team was splintered apart and could not help each other going into the sprint.

4. I was badly positioned going into the last half-lap. I made a similar mistake in the 4s race, so I need more experience figuring out where to sit in the peloton toward the end of a race.

5. I personally felt very overwhelmed from the whistle as the pace was faster and harder than anything I had done before. This was my first time racing against Cat 3s, so I psyched myself out into believing I couldn’t get a good result during the race. The irony of this is that I did a tremendous amount of work on the front, and certainly could have placed well had I done a better job of hiding. Going forward, I need to believe that I have the fitness to do well in these races.

6. I personally fell on the sword at the front to try and reel in the break and benefit the peloton. This sacrificed my ability to sprint at the end and properly support my teammates. I need to do a better job of conserving my energy. From Drew: I helped in the chase effort in the final third of the race, made my way to the front at the final turn around, and ended up being on the front twice between the final turn and the finish instead of protecting myself for the sprint. A takeaway from this race is thinking about when to call off the chase and save it for the sprint instead of effectively working for other teams. 

Even then, the race was still a ton of fun. A lot to learn and a lot to improve on going forward!

Volunteer Spotlight-March

Race Report: 2024 Valley of the Sun Stage Race - Men's Pro/1

Race: 2024 Valley of the Sun Stage Race - Men's Pro/1

Date: February 16-18, 2024

AVRT racers: David Domonoske, Pierre-Amaury Laforcade, Nathan Martin, Greg McCullough, Cam O’Reilly

Overall GC Top Result: David Domonoske (18th)

Stage 1 (Time Trial)

Top Result: Nathan Martin (25th)

Course: A 10 mile, pancake-flat out-and-back in the middle of the Arizona desert. There was a slight cross-tailwind on the way out and a slight cross-headwind on the way back. There was one corner in the course, meaning there were 4 times when you had to sprint up to speed— the start, the corner each direction, and the turnaround.

Strava: strava.com/activities/10775561386 (David) 

Recap: There isn’t much to report as this event is simple — race as hard as you can until you cross the finish. While it is simple, it is far from easy. Not only do you have push as much power as possible, you have to do it while holding as aerodynamic a position as possible. Nathan and I (David) were on time trial bikes, while Cam, Greg, and Pierre were on their road bikes. Nathan put down a smoking time of 20:11, averaging a ripping 29.5 mph for the 10 mile course.

Stage 2 (Road Race)

Top Result: David Domonoske (19th)

Road Race Course: 6 laps of a 16.5 mile triangle, also in the middle of the Arizona desert, for a total of 95 miles. The roads are long and straight, so you can see riders that are miles away. The first two corners are on the flats and aren’t consequential, but the third corner is right before the base of the finish “climb”. The finish is about half a mile after the false summit of a modest 1.6 mile climb at 3.5%.

Road Race Strava: strava.com/activities/10783124718 (David)

Recap: Our plan for the road race was to sit in and watch the race unfold for at least the first half. It’s a long race, so the probability of an early breakaway making it to the finish is low. We also didn’t have anybody very high up on GC, so we had no responsibility to chase. This was smart, but it meant for a very boring start to the race for us. A few lazy attacks went that formed the breakaway, and then we were sitting in the group doing absolutely no work. At times, my heartrate dropped below 100 bpm. For one section, I averaged 100 watts for 15 minutes. This really demonstrates the power of riding in a peloton, because we were still averaging 27 mph.

More attacks started to go at the top of the climb at the end of the second lap. There was some chaos as riders got brought back while the next ones attacked. As riders flew by at different speeds there was a touch of wheels, and a large part of the peloton went down. Unfortunately, Nathan was caught up in the crash, hitting his head and snapping his fork. Greg stayed back with Nathan while Cam and I sprinted to catch up to the peloton and join Pierre, who hadn’t been affected by the crash.

The gap to the breakaway grew to 5:30 as teams slowed down to wait for teammates that were chasing back on. Once most riders had rejoined the group, the pace picked up as the large gap to the break had to be addressed. Fortunately, the next few laps were fast and uneventful.

The fatiguing reality of riding an entire day in a breakaway started to take its toll on its constituents, and the peloton started collecting dropped breakaway riders during the last lap. With half a lap to the finish, the remnants of the breakaway had been caught and everybody was focused on the field sprint.

The hill makes the finish slower and more difficult than a traditional field sprint, but it still comes down to a bunch sprint. Pierre moved me up through the group on the backside of the course as we approached the final corner. By the time we reached the corner we were positioned around 10th wheel. There was a strong headwind, so the group wasn’t going particularly fast, making it difficult to hold position. The front of the group went slow as they battled the wind, while the riders behind sat comfortably in the draft and used the extra power to try to move up. 30 riders were trying to sit 5th to 10th wheel, and we were crammed in like sardines, often bumping shoulders and hips with riders to either side.

As we crested over the false summit, Eddy Huntsman, an excellent road and track racer, launched his sprint. I jumped onto his wheel, but unfortunately for both of us it was far too early with the headwind and false flat uphill. He began to fade and I wanted to keep the pace up, but I also knew that it was far too early. I came around Eddy and then faded myself. Then Cory Williams came around me and faded too. Only then did Aevolo get the timing right and come around us with a perfectly timed jump. The rest of the sprint bunch soon passed me as I just tried to keep my legs turning over to the finish line.

I ended up 19th on the stage—a disappointing result, but there were still some positives. We worked well as a team during the last lap to get into position when it mattered, and my legs were good enough to stay with the front group up the final climb.

Stage 3 (Criterium)

Top Result: David Domonoske (1st)

Course: A 1 mile, pancake-flat course with 8 corners. After the start finish there are 6 corners in quick succession. The first and third corner can pinch a little, but for the most part these are wide open corners. The first riders into them don’t have to brake at all. Then there’s a long back straight, 2 final corners, and about 300 meters to the finish.

Strava: strava.com/activities/10790606711 (Pierre)

Recap: Crits are interesting because the race isn’t necessarily easier when you’re at the back of the peloton. This is because the corners force the group to slow down, and the back of the group must brake earlier, slow down more, and sprint harder out of the corner. This crit was no different. I lined up at the start early to have a good position, and straight from the start I sprinted to hold that position. For the entire race my goal was to float around in the top 20 wheels.

The group would remain fairly organized through the corners, but in the long finish straight and back straight people would sprint up the side of the group to gain position. This caused the peloton to be very chaotic in these straights, and you didn’t want to get stuck in the middle and get forced to the back of the group. In these straights you had to constantly be aware of what was going behind you and try to match the people that were sprinting by instead of having them go around you and swarm you.

PA and I were sitting near the front for the entire race, spending as little energy as possible (still quite a bit) to float between attacks and use our momentum to stay near the front without getting swarmed. As the race neared the end it became more difficult to stay near the front because everybody wanted to be ready for the sprint. Normally, a large team(s) will start controlling the front with a leadout, and the pace will increase, however nobody took on this role. Instead, everybody was fighting for positions, and the long straights allowed the organized group to turn into a washing machine where riders were sprinting down the wide road, trying to move into a good position before the turn. I think I did about 15 mini sprints in the last few laps to hold my position between 5th and 10th wheel and avoid being swarmed. We were bumping shoulders and hips, and I’d say those last 3 laps was some of the scariest riding I’ve ever done.

With 1 lap to go I was still in a good position, but I had to keep that position down the back straight. After exiting the corners, I made sure to stay on the right side of the group so that I wouldn’t get stuck in the middle of the group. Sure enough, a team with a single leadout rider started to sprint by on the right side. I jumped from the draft I was in to the riders that were moving by on the right and kept sprinting to keep others from coming around me. Going into the last 2 corners I was 5th or 6th wheel, and I was excited—the swarming and fighting for position was over, and it was time to sprint. We came out of the last corner and I opened up my sprint in the full draft of the riders in front of me. I was able to get fully up to speed before having to come around the rider in front of me and hit the wind. By this point I was going 1 or 2 mph faster than the other sprinters, and I was slowly able to come around them as we neared the line. Ecstatic, I crossed the line in first.

Race Report: Valley of the Sun Stage Race - Cat 2 Race Report

Race: Valley of the Sun Stage Race - Cat 2

Date: Feb 16th-18th, 2024

AVRT racers: Andrea Cloarec, Flo Costa, Jack Liu, Grant Miller, Jon Wells,

Top Result: Andrea 11/51 TT, Grant 8/51 RR, Flo 8/45 Crit, Grant 12/51 Overall

Time Trial - Feb 16th

Course: 10 mile out and back TT with 120 feet of climbing. Slight tail/crosswind on the way out.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10775238596

The time-trial day was pretty straightforward. Just got out - ride as hard as you could for about 21 minutes (less than 20 if you are really fast!) and try to be as aero as possible. While warming up for the TT, I got a flat tire and had to flag down someone to get me back to our van. With about 15 minutes to spare I had to swap wheels and do an abbreviated warmup before rolling over to the start.

After getting all that out of the way I managed to arrive at the start on time and ready to go. Despite only having 120 feet of climbing, you definitely felt the slight rise on the way out on the TT. I ended up doing a slight negative split on the TT with my power increasing as the effort went on. That probably wasn’t the best strategy as it felt like the way out was significantly slower than the way back - so you would benefit from putting out slightly more power earlier. I caught my 30s man few minutes into the TT and settled into my pace. After the turnaround I tried to start increasing my pace but just felt like I couldn’t push more. A few minutes later I saw the 5k to go sign and tried again but it just felt like I was locked in. I crossed the line with 21:22 for 13th and Andrea finished a few minutes after with 21:19 for 11th. Both were good times but we were still more than a minute back on the leader.

Road Race - Feb 17th

Course: Triangle course with around 500 feet of climbing. Headwind on the climb into tail/crosswind on the other two sides.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10783089258

In the road race our plan was to have Flo, Jack, and Jon cover and initiate moves while Andrea and I sat in. Our plan went perfectly as Jon got into an early break which slowly gained a minute advantage on the field. Flo also managed to bridge across at a perfect moment when Jon punctured and had to abandon the race. On the second lap the GC leader had to burn a bunch of matches to bring back the break. We started to close in on them on the climb and made the catch right as the pitch increased. A few people attacked but nothing stuck as we started the third lap. As we were descending Andrea also punctured and had to abandon the race.

In the third lap no threatening moves went away and we all entered the climb together. I stayed positioned towards the front to try and follow any attacks. There were a few attacks and the pace was higher but again nothing went away on the climb. When we started descending a few people started rolling off the front one by one. I had plenty of opportunities to go with them but since I didn’t feel like it’d been that hard so far (because I’d been sitting in, doing nothing) I didn’t think the break would stick. On the descent a break of four formed up the road and they quickly gained 30 seconds on the field. I was hoping the field would start working together to chase and we’d get a free ride, but it quickly became apparent that there was no coordination. I asked Jack and Flo to join the rotation and they helped to manage the gap into the climb.

On the last climb I expected the pace to go ballistic but other than one soft attack it was easier than the previous climbs. In hindsight this is exactly when I should’ve attacked - the break was 30s up the road and not coming back. My best chance to close the gap and secure a result would’ve been a long range attack on the modest 4-5% gradients where it was hard to follow. Instead I tried to stay buried in the field and save energy for the sprint. With about 500 to go, Jack found me and realized we were boxed in. A few seconds later he saw a gap and shot through it and I followed him. He gave a solid lead out but we still had more than 200 to go so I didn’t immediately commit. A second later another attack launched on the left side and I tried to follow but couldn’t get into their slipstream. I rolled across for 8th overall, and 5th from the field sprint.

Crit - Feb 18th

Course: 7 Corner Crit with a tailwind finish

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10790753503

Our goals in the crit were to set up Jack for the sprint finish. Given that the GC was completely out of reach, we were looking for a good team result on the day. The race started off pretty well and I managed to jump across to an early break which stayed away for about 10 minutes. After the break got caught I tried to stay towards the front to jump on any dangerous moves but nothing really coalesced. The race averaged 29mph which made it hard to generate separation and keep a breakaway rotating.

With 2 to go, I found Jack and tried to move him up through the start-finish straight. We made it into the top 10 wheels and I started to slow, but this led to us getting swarmed in the first corner. In hindsight I should’ve kept the power down and went all the way to the front to get a clean line. When we got swarmed I grabbed brakes and this killed our momentum. We managed to slot back in and I tried again to move up on the back straight but couldn’t find a gap into the last two turns. Jack shot past me, had someone crash into him, and still managed to find an inside line through the turns, but at this point we were too far back to contest the sprint. Through all of this Flo had positioned really well in the top 10 wheels and had a decent run at the finish, ending up 8th on the day.

Race Report: Tucson Bicycle Classic - Men’s P12

Date: February 23-25, 2024

AVRT Racers: David, Cam, Greg, PA

[Report written by PA]

Stage 1 - Time Trial

We kicked off the weekend with a roughly 10-minute Time Trial on a windy out-and-back course north of Tucson. We headed out for the first 5 minutes against a strong headwind and then returned for the finish with a tailwind. With that in mind, we all planned to go out as hard as possible and then try to manage the return stretch, counting on the tailwind to push us to the finish line.

David finished fastest on the team in 9 minutes and 26 seconds, only 30 seconds from the win and GC lead. The rest of us were right behind, about 45 seconds back on GC.

Stage 2 - Road Race

This was a fast, relatively flat course, so we expected an easy day sitting in the bunch, waiting for a sprint finish, with the pro teams controlling at the front. However, none of this happened. After a very fast first part of the race, a large group of 20 found themselves at the front and quickly gained almost a minute on the field. Unfortunately, we missed this break but were still pretty confident that Project Echelon (one of the major teams present at this race) would chase it back for a sprint finish, as this break threatened their GC lead. But they fell short, and we realized 10 minutes before the finish that the break wouldn't be seen again. The GC leader's jersey changed shoulders, and we sprinted for an anecdotal 20th place. This set the stage for a hectic Sunday circuit race.

Stage 3 - Circuit Race

This race was a lot about positioning and being opportunistic for us. Given the scenario of the previous day, we knew that Project Echelon would want to make the race fast and hard to have a chance at retrieving the leader's jersey. So, we aimed to stay opportunistic and ride near the front of the bunch, which we did very well for the first part of the race. In a very large field and narrow roads, positioning was key, and the battle for position was sometimes fierce. Unfortunately, 3 laps from the finish, David dropped his chain, which cost him almost a minute. The rest of us tried to wait a bit to bring him back, but he was too far behind. Greg and I then tried to position ourselves for a sprint finish, but as we were trying to make it back to the front of the race, a two-man break from Project Echelon went away and eventually won the race and retook the GC. We sprinted for the best position possible, which ended up being 21st for Greg.

Although in terms of results, this weekend wasn't as successful as the previous one, I personally felt more confident navigating the bunch and felt like I could be at the front of the race a lot. We took a lot of experience and positives and learned to work together as a squad, as this was only our first race block of the year.

Tired, but happy after two weeks of racing and training in the desert !

Race Report: 2024 Copper Valley Circuit Race - Men's Cat 4

Race: Copper Valley Circuit Race - Men's Cat 4

Date: February 22, 2024

AVRT racers: Zack Berger, Will Hakim, & Henry Mallon

Top Result: Henry 3/21

Course: An out-and-back course with about 5.5 miles per lap. Very good pavement and a wide shoulder. The way out is slightly rolling with 1-2% gradients and the finish is on the back straight after a slight downhill. Our race was ~60 minutes and we completed 5 laps. 

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10836324732

Nutrition: 1 bottle with 80g of homemade malto/fructose mix and a 100mg caffeine gel on the start line. 

Race Recap: Written by Henry. Since none of us are particularly strong sprinters, we planned to roll attacks with the hope of forming a favorable breakaway. If it came together for a field sprint, we would organize a leadout for Zack. 

After several attempts, Zack made an early breakaway with two unattached riders, wearing red and green jerseys. The red jersey rider didn’t consistently peel off left or right, which disrupted the rotation. And, the green jersey rider didn’t take equally long pulls on the front, which made Zack hesitant to expend too much energy. Despite this incohesion, the gap held steady at around 30-45 seconds. Meanwhile, Will and I disrupted any chase efforts from the main group. Will was very active in jumping on wheels and patrolling the front during this period (accumulating 90 TSS in the 1-hour race). 

With about two laps remaining, the breakaway’s lead narrowed to about 20 seconds and I took the opportunity to jump across without taking any passengers. A Terun rider had a similar idea and also made a solo bridge up to the breakaway. We now had five riders in the break with Zack and me representing the largest team presence. 

Once in the breakaway, I showed my commitment by taking hard pulls and encouraging the others to continue working. However, the green and red jersey riders didn’t understand how to ride an efficient paceline. They were peeling off to different sides, opening gaps, and generally taking soft pulls on the front. Zack also needed a moment to recover, so initially it was only the Terun rider and me pulling through consistently. 

In hindsight, I think Zack and I had the power to stay away from an unorganized peloton, but we were disrupted and demotivated by the other riders. Had we attacked the breakaway and distanced the red and green jersey riders (who appeared to be struggling the most), then we definitely could have maintained a higher speed. Without the confidence or cohesion to make it stick, the gap began to dwindle, and we were soon brought back by the main group with about 1 lap remaining.

Without any other coordinated teams, we were still hopeful that a late move could stay away. We made a few attempts on the final outbound rollers, but nothing ended up sticking.  By the turnaround, we resigned to a sprint finish and discussed our options. Since Zack spent a lot of energy in a 40+ minute breakaway, we decided our best chance was to lead me out for the sprint finish. 

After going through the turnaround, a rider attacked and Will closed it down to the top of a small roller. To avoid getting swarmed, Will started the leadout from this point, which was about 1.5-2k from the finish.

In hindsight, this was too early to take the front, especially given the effort we had all put into supporting breakaway attempts throughout the race. Will kept it fast until the 1k marker and then Zack took over, doing about 530W for a minute. At ~250 meters to go, a few riders opened up their sprints and I came around Zack to jump on a Terun rider's wheel. A few seconds later, I stood up and came around him to snag 3rd in the sprint.

Overall, we made some mistakes managing the breakaway and recognizing when to attack disruptive riders. And, we learned about the balance between conserving energy for a leadout and staying near the front to avoid being swarmed. Despite these mistakes, we learned some valuable lessons and still managed to come away with a podium in the sprint.

Race Report: 2024 Cantua Creek Road Race - Men’s Cat 4

Race: Cantua Creek Road Race — Men’s Cat 4

Date: February 17, 2024

AVRT Racers: Zack Berger, Henry Mallon, Will Hakim

Top Results: Henry (4/27), Zack (9/27), Will (15/27)

Course: Approx. 70mi and 2000ft of elevation. The course consists of three out-and-back laps along a two-lane road with good to excellent pavement. The section of road is mostly straight and flat with some rolling hills near the start/finish. The finish is slightly uphill with a ~2-3% gradient.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10782421952

Nutrition: 5 Gu gels, 2 bottles of water each with two scoops of Tailwind Endurance Fuel and a scoop of Maltodextrin (~80g carbs).

Recap [by Zack]

We had three teammates (Will, Henry, and myself) going into Cantua Creek. With a field of 27, we figured our numbers weren’t large enough to control the race. None of us have a great sprint, so our plan was to work with the field to catch early breaks and set up a late break for me. Worst case scenario, Henry and Will would lead me out to try and win from a bunch sprint.

Lap 1. A rider from Cycle Sport attacked immediately and went off solo. The peloton ignored him, and for the rest of us, the race started off very slowly. During the first half of lap 1, our field got neutralized to let the Masters racers pass through. A quarter of the peloton stopped for a bathroom break. I only averaged 112W during this stretch, which is easier than a coffee ride for me. The official gave us a wake up call on the return leg — the solo rider had a 4.5 minute gap. Will helped organize the peloton into a paceline and we were off.

Lap 2. Just after the half point of lap 2 we caught the solo rider. The pace suddenly dropped back down. The remainder of the lap was uneventful until the rollers, where Henry and I decided to attack and try to force a break going into lap 3.

Lap 3 pt 1. A strong rider from CalPoly joined Henry and I as we set off on the final lap. We gained a 30 second gap, but the peloton was extremely motivated. The rider from CalPoly dropped back, and Henry and I followed, recognizing we definitely couldn’t hold off for the rest of the race. Just before the turnaround there were a couple potentially threatening moves that I joined, but they were all quickly brought back.

Lap 3 pt 2. After a brief team meeting, we decided this race would probably come down to a bunch sprint. Henry and I sat back in the peloton to rest. Will decided to go off the front for one last stab at a break. Someone else joined them, and they just sort of slinked away. It was almost as if no one noticed him go. After a few miles, they were nowhere in sight. 

Two more riders attacked. I tried to sit at the front of the peloton and disrupt the speed. After a couple minutes, the official notified us there was a 1 minute gap. This reinvigorated the peloton to chase. Once the two riders were caught, the peloton let off. I think most of them thought this was the break with the minute-gap and truly didn’t notice Will had left beforehand. As we moved toward the finish, Will was still nowhere in sight.

The final five minutes of the race was a tale of two positions. Going into the final climb, I was positioned on the right at the front of the peloton completely exposed to the wind. Henry was a few bikes back on the left, sheltered from the wind. At the 1km mark, a strong rider named Kyle (who raced with Alto Velo at Santa Barbara a few weeks back) launched an extremely powerful attack. I started to follow, but a few things went very wrong. First, I was completely out of the draft and exposed to the wind. Second, a rider from a separate race was in the middle of the road — instead of going left and trying to join in the draft I pushed further right. This decision was largely due to inexperience and not realizing where the wind was. Third, my hamstrings cramped up in a seriously painful way.

At the 500m mark we all passed Will. The sprint train accelerated away and I was left behind. I burnt too much energy sitting out of the draft and couldn’t connect — let’s chalk it up to a great learning experience about positioning. I pushed for a bit, then once my place was secured slowed up and rolled over the line in 9th. Henry, comfortably in the draft, was able to follow that train right toward the finish line where he sprinted for 4th place. And since no one else showed up for the picture, AV was the highest up on the podium that day!

Race Report: 2024 Tucson Bicycle Classic Stage Race - Men’s Cat 2/3

Date: Feburary 23-25, 2024

AVRT racers: Andrew, Andrea, Flo, Grant

Top Results: Grant 4/96 GC, Flo 3rd Road Race, Flo 5th Circuit Race

(Written by Andrea)
The idea was to aim for GC based on TT times for Grant, Andrew and Andrea. And Flo going for stages results.

Stage 1 - TT : Short TT of 5 miles, totally flat, around 10min.
Objective was for us to be in the top 10 or close to all be dangerous later in the stage races.
Grant got 5th, 12 seconds behind leader,
Andrew 7th, 4 sec behind, Andrea 11th 3sec behind Andrew.
And Flo not far 21st, just 10 seconds behind Andrea.
So we went to the road race with 4 potential threats to gc, with Grant very well placed.

Stage 2 - Road race:
Plan was trying to be aggressive and make the race hard to hope for a later move.
After 2 guys started off fast, Andrew did a big 10' solo effort to bridge to them. Before the final long stretch, Andrea bridged to this group of 3 with another guy. So we were 5 in the break, 3km before the finish of the 1st lap to go for bonus seconds. However the break sowed down, and peloton caught us.
Flo managed to get the 1 second bonus, arriving 3rd at the sprint.
After this, the race kept being quite fast with small attacks, but nothing hold.
So it finished as a sprint finish. And Flo did a very good job getting into position on the right side of the road, hidden from the wind, to start his sprint and finished 3rd on this stage!
Unfortunately Andrew was caught behind a crash with 4km to go, which made him lose 2min on the GC.

Stage 3 - Circuit race:
New day, new plan. Only hope to get gc was for Grant to be in a successful break. Which would be quite hard on this circuit and with the other guys that would hardly let him.
So second option was for Grant to chase the bonus seconds on lap 3 and 6 to move up GC, While Flo would be our sprinter for the finish line.Beginning of lap 3,Grant launched his move, a strong attack only one friendly rider followed. They worked very well together, while Flo, Andrew and Andrea where trying to slow down the peloton. We all went at the front of the peloton of 100 guys to disorganize the chase. Grant managed to grab 3 bonus seconds, moving him up to 4th place GC.Lap 6, Grant again launched his attack. This time the peloton and other leaders are very careful and won't let him go. Andrea quickly came to try to help him at the front with a small leadout. Grant managed to grab another bonus second.
Lap 7, last lap. Flo getting into position, with Andrew's big help keeping a high pace at the front, chasing a solo flyer ahead.
After Andrew's helped catching the solo guy, Flo fought for the position to stay in the top 5 at the kicker, avoiding the chaos and crashes behind. After a fast final corner, Flo sprinted to finish 5th on the day.Overall :
We finished this weekend with 4th for Grant and 9th Andrea on GC.
And Flo with two good results, 3rd and 5th.

Even if we all wanted a better outcome, we worked very well as a team, gave our best, kept communicating during the races, and still managed to have some good results.
Very nice experience, looking forward to experiencing it again at the next stage race.

Grant, Andrea, Andrew, Flo

Race Report: 2024 Pine Flat Road Race - Men’s Cat 3

Race: Pine Flat Road Race - Men’s Cat 3

Date: February 18th, 2024

AVRT racers: Drew Mathews, George Wehner

Top Result: Both DNP (George finished but wasn’t placed)

Course: 62 miles, beginning on 25 miles of out-and-back with rolling hills, followed by a 2-mile descent, a 20-mile flat section, a 5-mile climb which gets steeper towards the end, a 6-mile rolling descent, and a 2-km climb at the finish. Cattle grates were frequent on the rolling parts of the course.

Strava: Before flat: https://www.strava.com/activities/10789277878, after flat: https://www.strava.com/activities/10790296714

Nutrition: Two bottles with 90g maltodextrin/Gatorade powder mix and one bottle with 50g of the same mix. This ended up not quite being enough, as I bonked about a mile before getting back to the parking lot.

Recap: (written by George) I was pretty tired after Cantua Creek, but I was looking forward to this race. I was supposed to be the protected rider as I was reasonably confident in my climbing abilities. Drew also was unsure he would be able to finish the entire race as his tire was still having issues that started at Cantua Creek the day before.

After the neutral start, the race still felt neutral for another 10 minutes or so, as people initially did not want to get going. However, people eventually decided they wanted to race and started making it hard. We would surge up the rollers and sometimes even down the rollers, only to sit up for a minute and then surge again. Drew also got a flat somewhere on this section.

At the end of the rollers, there was a short climb before the descent. I made the mistake of not fully familiarizing myself with the elevation profile of the course – I knew the general details, but I forgot the exact distance markers for each feature – so I did not position myself here and ended up at the back of the group leading into the descent. On the descent, the rider in front of me let a small gap open, which blew up into probably 20 seconds by the end of the descent.

Once I was able to pedal without spinning out, I began working with the other dropped rider to try to chase back on. I was hoping the group would eventually chill out and we would catch them in a few minutes. Unfortunately, the group decided to really push the pace after the descent, so we were losing time quickly despite our hard work. The other rider gave up after 5 or 10 minutes, leaving me on my own.

For the next hour or so, during the flat section, I kept pushing through the flat section at tempo, still clinging onto the idea that the group would sit up. Multiple times, I saw something up the road, thought “that’s the group,” and then realized 20 seconds later it was just a post on the side of the road. I passed a couple people with flats, but I didn’t have any supplies to help them.

At the start of the climb, I noticed my front tire was losing pressure rather quickly. After stopping, I noticed the sidewall was leaking sealant. I’m still not totally sure what happened to cause this, but I assume I must’ve hit a cattle guard which somehow slightly unseated my tire. A couple of the people I had passed earlier stopped to try to help, but they didn’t have any CO2 or a tube with a long-enough valve stem, so I thought I was out of luck and had resigned myself to waiting for 2 or 3 hours for a teammate to pick me up after the race. However, after a few minutes, Abraham from Mike’s Bikes Dev, another cat 3 whom I had also passed earlier, graciously let me borrow his saddle bag. Inside this saddle bag was a tube, which still had a valve stem that was too short, and a CO2 cartridge. I thought I wouldn’t be able to fix my tire without a tube, but out of desperation, I put the CO2 into the tire without a tube, and it somehow was able to hold air again. This was enough to get me over the hill, eventually cross the finish line, and then ride back from the finish to the cars. I ended up getting DNPed because I think the organizers had stopped looking for cat 3 numbers by the time I crossed the line, but I didn’t protest this, since I didn’t really care about DNP vs. DFL.

This definitely wasn’t my day, but I can learn from the mistakes I made. Next time, I need to make sure I know exactly where the key descents begin so I can make sure I am in position for them. I also should probably carry a CO2 cartridge with me for road races in the future. Despite the shortcomings today, I still felt good after this weekend, as I had achieved a top 5 the day before and got to have fun racing.

Race Report: 2024 Cantua Creek Road Race - Men’s Cat 3

Race: Cantua Creek Road Race - Men’s Cat 3

Date: February 17th, 2024

AVRT racers: Drew Mathews, George Wehner, Jeremy Besmer

Top Result: George 5/40

Course: 3 laps of a flat 24-mile out-and-back course, with an uphill turnaround on the south end and a flat turnaround on the north end. Finish is on the uphill on the south end of the course. The finishing hill is about 2 miles at 3% broken up by a couple short downhills, the final one of which ends at 1km to go.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10782327050

Nutrition: Two bottles with 90g maltodextrin/Gatorade powder mix, one bottle with 50g of the same mix, and one energy gel.

Recap: (written by George) Our strategy was initially that Jeremy and I would follow breakaway attempts, with the goal of getting one of us into the breakaway of the day. Drew would sit back for a field sprint in case it was all together at the end. We were looking out for Pen Velo, as they had 4 riders pre-registered, none of whom seemed like sprinters, so we thought they would want to go for a breakaway; other big teams were the Mike’s Bikes development team with 3 riders, who we also thought would go for a breakaway, and Big Orange Cycling, who we didn’t really know much about.

During the first lap, not much happened. A couple people tried to attack, but they were quickly brought back. I sat in for the entire lap and tried to keep my power as low as possible; I even sagged the hill so I wouldn’t have to do as much power. I managed to stay comfortably in zone 1 for most of the first lap.

Early in lap 2, Jeremy got into a break with a few other riders, including a Mike’s Bikes rider and a Pen Velo rider, which gave me even more time to rest; however, this was brought back after around 10 minutes. After Jeremy was brought back, a Pen Velo rider attacked with a Velo Kings rider and established a breakaway. I did not follow this because I thought it was too small and too early, but it ended up gaining significant time pretty quickly. Jeremy tried to bridge me up to the breakaway after the north-end turnaround, but it had already gained too much time for this to be feasible, and I had multiple other riders on my wheel who I didn’t want to drag up to the break.

The rest of lap 2, Jeremy and I tried to organize a chase effort to bring the group back. There were some riders from Big Orange and Dolce Vita, as well as some solo riders, who were willing to contribute. However, a lot of people were unwilling to pull through, and Pen Velo was constantly trying to sit second wheel to disrupt the chase. Drew also ended up getting a flat somewhere in this section. Leading up to the south-end turnaround, we saw the breakaway coming the other way and determined they probably had about 1.5 minutes on us. After this realization, people were suddenly much more motivated to chase, so we caught them early in lap 3.

As we caught the break, I watched closely for counterattacks, as I thought anything that went that late after everyone had just chased would have a serious chance of going the distance. However, no one, not even Pen Velo, wanted to send any attacks, and I was too tired to send my own attacks. Because I was tired, and Drew was no longer available to sprint for us, I told Jeremy to follow any late moves so that I could sit in for the finish.

The finishing hill became very chaotic, as we ended up passing another field with 2km to go. I was doing whatever I could to move up, but it was pretty sketchy so I waited a bit for a better opportunity. Jeremy went hard early on the hill to try to force a split, but he ended up filtering to the back after a couple minutes, so I didn’t have a leadout. After the final short downhill with 1km to go, everyone really started going hard for the finish, but this spread things out enough that I could move around and surf wheels. With 200m to go, the rider in front of me ran out of steam, so I was forced to start my sprint then despite it being uphill and into a headwind. I also didn’t have much left in the tank to properly sprint as the pace of the group had forced me into a max 2-minute effort, so I got passed by a rider with 125m to go and another rider right at the line. There were also two riders further up the road who had gapped everyone else, so I ended up with a 5th place result.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with my result. I hadn’t seen the podium in a while, so it was nice to get back on there. I think that if I had been better positioned towards the end, I could’ve followed the two guys that gapped the field, so I definitely think I should work on my positioning in the future. I definitely think we worked well together as a team and communicated well, and I’m really looking forward to more races this year!