Race Reports
Race Report: 2026 Tucson Bike Classic Men’s 2/3
2026 Tucson Bike Classic Men’s 2/3
Date: Feb. 19-22, 2026
AVRT racers: Henry Mallon, Jack Lund, Keegan Worcester, Kevin Kauffman, Leo Minami, Levi Ritter, Michael Bektas, Paul Levy, Ryan Dyke, Wil Gibb
Day 1: Prologue Time Trial
Top Result:
Paul Levy 6/80
Michael Bektas 9/80
Course: A 4.4 mile one-way time trial along a bike path, with a large S-turn at 0.6 miles including a tricky decreasing-radius turn in the middle, and a small but perceptible gradual uphill rise from the start to the finish of the course. There was a strong tailwind that steadily increased through the day.
Strava: TCB Cat 2/3 - Stage 1 Marana TT | Ride | Strava
Nutrition: Juicy Burst pouches throughout the warm up and a caffeinated GU 15 or 20 minutes before my start time.
Recap (written by Paul): The morning was unexpectedly rainy which put a damper on categories earlier in the day. Fortunately for us the course was totally dry by the time we arrived to warm up. A portion of the bike path next to the start but in the opposite direction of the TT course was a designated warm up area and I mostly just rode laps of that. Some team members ventured off elsewhere. There were plenty of decent roads to warm up on surrounding the course. I felt like my effort during the TT was solid and I didn’t finish feeling like I’d left anything out there, but potential improvements could include:
A harder warmup, but conversely
A more conservative start to the TT itself,
Preserving more speed through the tight turn, although I did pre-ride it a few times at packet pickup the day before, and
More practice in a strict TT position.
The pre-race favorite, Gavis Sherry, won by a large margin. This may have been a blessing in disguise as it increased awareness of his strength and clearly marked him for the whole field. This potentially took some attention away from us as the largest team at the race.
Day 2: Sahuarita Road Race
Top Result: Michael Bektas 19/83
Course: 3 laps of a mostly flat 20 mile loop with some gradual rollers and 2-3% gradients at the finish. Significant headwind from the final turn to the finish (~3 miles).
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17464670481
Nutrition: The feedzone is located on a slight uphill slightly after the finish. Starting with two 1L bottles with mix was plenty for 60 miles and moderate temperatures.
Recap (written by Henry):
The prologue was a mixed bag for us. Michael and Paul posted solid times in the top 10, but many of us were hoping to do a bit better. I felt miserable during the TT and was hoping it was just the 8 hour drive (but really knowing I was starting to get sick). Needless to say, I had pretty low expectations for my ability to support the team or execute a leadout in the road race. That said, we had by far the largest team and, in my completely unbiased opinion, the best sprinter to finish it off.
The strategy was simple: keep things together and line it up for Michael in a field sprint. We expected the key section to be the cross-tailwind after the start/finish, so our goal was to stay near the front there and watch for strong solo riders trying to move.
The large field, narrow road, and centerline rule made positioning a constant battle. Riders were also aggressive about bumping and squeezing through gaps. There were quite a few moments where riders took a hand off the bars to push me aside and move up. Still, with our numbers we usually had a few guys near the front at the key moments. The crosswind wasn’t quite enough to split the field, and the uphill drag to the finish was mostly neutralized by block headwind.
At one point Leo followed an attack and got a free tow up to a breakaway. When he was brought back, we assumed the field was together, but in the end one rider was still off the front. Because of this miscommunication we didn’t organize early enough to bring it back, so we were sprinting for second.
With the long headwind finish and the work everyone had already done, it was just Paul and me on the front for the last three miles. Paul mostly set the tempo while I tried to save what little I had left to sew up the expected late attacks from strong solo riders like Gavin Sherry and Garrett Horner.
A semi-truck had stalled in the racing lane near the finish, so each lap we had to divert into the opposite lane and cross back about 500m before the finish. On the final lap a pickup truck also stopped in the gap we needed to pass the semi. After Paul finished his pull, I did about a two-minute leadout and pulled off just before the semi. Honestly, it didn’t seem worth sprinting between a semi-truck and a pickup. Things got messy and Michael couldn’t quite find his way through to open his sprint.
Overall, we learned a lot about positioning and communication in hectic races. With the vehicles on course creating a pretty dangerous situation, we were mostly happy to finish safely and move on to the next one.
Day 3: Downtown Criterium
Top Result:
Michael Bektas 26/83
Leo Minami 29/83
Course: 3 sides of a normal 4 corner crit with an extended side leading into hairpin
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17476563961
Nutrition: 500ml water with Maurten 320 (80g carbs)
This one was really hard.
After taking a look at the course the day before and talking with teammates who had done the race before, we had a pretty simple plan to line up early and make the race as hard as possible. This would, theoretically, allow us to use our big team to wear down the field as we knew the hairpin turn right before the finish was going to be carnage. Turns out basically everyone else had exactly the same plan…
The race started on the preview lap with significant pushing, shoving, divebombing from everyone to try and start the race as close to the front as possible. A few of us were able to start in the front quarter which we knew would help us save considerable energy.
This positioning quickly meant nothing as I flatted in the first lap. After dumping tubeless sealant over everyone, I realized it wasn’t sealing and I needed a neutral wheel. After a couple laps in the pits and an explosive restart, I spent the next handful of laps fighting back through the field. When I was finally back to where I wanted to be, I got taken out going into a corner and dutifully head back to the pits. The heat, flat and crash all started to take its toll as I had to continue to sprint hard to make it back to the front of the race. The attrition got the better of me and I was pulled in the last two laps. A frustrating one for sure, but that’s just bike racing!
Day 4: Oro Valley Circuit
Top Result: Michael Bektas, 7/64
Course: 3 Mile rectangular ish loop. 45 minutes. One most of the course is a gradual descent except for the main climb on the finishing straight.
Strava: https://strava.app.link/Jwl36jk8i1b
Nutrition: 1 bottle with 120 g carbs
Recap (written by Leo Minami): The goal of the day was to stay safe and conserve energy until the final climb to the finish. A breakaway was unlikely to go since the race was so fast. The first few laps were spent testing the corners at speed and experimenting where it would be the easiest to move up. We had the whole road on the final corner into the finish climb. I found it was fairly easy to move up if I took that corner wide at high speed so I decided to chill out in the pack until the last lap when I would make my move on this corner. A massive crash in the middle took a lot of the field and thinned the peloton considerably but unfortunately ended the race for some of our teammates. I was in the back of the peloton going into the final corner and was able to use the outside line to move up to about 15th wheel as planned. The sprint was super chaotic and had to end up having to slow up and go around a group of guys that were bumping into each other. I ended up finishing 15th not being able to move up past the people who started their sprint early. In hindsight it probably would have been better to start the sprint a little closer to the front as opposed to 15 wheels back. I would have still had the advantage of sitting in a draft while having a cleaner path in front of me to sprint.
Race Report: Snelling Road Race – Women’s 3/4/5
Race: Snelling Road Race – Women’s 3/4/5
Date: February 28, 2026
AVRT racers: Emily Selman
Top Result: 6/8 (Women’s 3/4/5); 7/26 (combined 4/5, Masters, and Junior)
Course: 4 laps of a 12.6 rolling course with decent to deadly pavement
Strava:https://www.strava.com/activities/17558107455
Nutrition: Oatmeal for breakfast; 2 bottles 80g malto/electrolytes and 1 gel
Race Summary:
This field grew from only a few registered to 26 total women in the field, combining Masters, women’s 3/4/5 and juniors. I only knew a few riders, but a lot of them looked experienced. I should have known that they were fast when I saw several had their names printed on the top tube of their bikes. There were a bunch of Cat 1 and 2 masters, and the field comprised of 2 Terun, 2 Chico, 2 E-Voke, 2 Monarch, 3 Sprinkles and the rest solo.
We started the 3 mile neutral zone without a moto, and one of the Monarch riders attacked once we were out of the neighborhood. People were yelling at her that it was neutral, but she kept going, so the race had begun.
Attacks started immediately. We had the whole road, so everyone was creeping up on the left side, trying to be near the front. Terun, E-VOKE and Monarch continued to launch short attacks to see who followed, but the group stayed together but never at a steady pace. Once we turned the corner to the headwind and bad pavement sector, someone attacked hard and everyone reacted. Suddenly, the 3 riders directly in front of me crashed and I somehow managed to swerve to the left and avoid it (I later learned that 2 of them had their handlebars cross, causing the crash; one was taken by ambulance w concussion). After swerving, I was shellshocked by coming so close to falling, then I hear Chris David yell at the top of her lungs at me “GO GET ‘EM!” so I start smashing my pedals to catch the break. After an all-out effort for about 1 minute, I managed to catch the back of the break while the rest of the field was back behind.
This break of about 9/10 stayed together on lap 2 at a fast pace, and then when we again reached the headwind sector, an E-VOKE attacked hard. I latched onto Karen Edwards’ wheel (who I later learned was a masters national champ) and caught back up w the front group, which had dropped another 3-4 riders. I held on until we got back to the start/finish, but couldn’t keep up with the fast pace. I dropped back to the chase group and eventually found a group of 2 other riders and we began a decent pace line. We caught two riders that way (including Cat 1 Marissa Axell) on a hill on the final lap. The 3 of us played a little cat and mouse, and I was able to out-sprint them on the finish, both legs completely cramping, only to learn that both of them were juniors so it didn’t really matter. I also realized I had 2 open bloody blisters on my hands from gripping my hand bars so tightly on chunky road.
In the end, I was proud of myself for doing my best to hang with a strong group of riders and pretty impressed by the badass Masters who finished on the podium We all got to hang out after the race because the race results were so screwed up and they had no internet connection ha!
Race Report: 2026 Snelling Road Race - 50+ Cat 3/4
Date: February 28, 2026
AVRT racers: Shai Traister
Top Result: Shai Traister - 1st / 26 (!!)
Course: 4 laps of a rolling 12.6 miles course with generally mediocre pavement that became quite bad on the back half of the course.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17558689701
Nutrition: 2 bottles with carb drink, 1 protein cookie. Yes PROTEIN - you read correctly. This became my go-to ride food. I know all about the theory of how carb turn into ATP and all that, so don’t confuse me with the facts. This thing works!
Before the race:
Going into the race I knew I would be the only rider from AVRT, so my strategy was to stay hidden in the pack and conserve energy, and spot/follow dangerous moves (pretty easy, right?). Also my winter training hasn’t been the best (3 weeks off the bike around New Year), and this being the first race of the season, my target was to podium.
Race Recap:
4 laps on the course today and the race played out pretty calmly for most of it. The first two laps were almost surprisingly relaxed. There were a short-lived attacks of single riders that would gain only five to ten seconds before being reeled in by the peloton. It seemed that the race would go for a sprint finish. I stayed tucked in the back of the pack, conserving energy and staying out of trouble. The pace felt so comfortable that I actually caught myself joking that my Garmin might label the ride as “de-training.” At one point I even wondered if the drive to the race had been worth it. By the end of the day, I got my answer: hell yeah!
On laps 3 and 4 I anticipated the a break could form, so I started moving toward the front, though I never actually sat on the front. I noticed a pattern where riders would attack on the short climbs but then ease off afterward. Instead of following those moves, I let myself drift back a few spots on the climbs to save my legs and stay smooth, knowing I could close the gap if one formed.
Midway through lap 3, two riders got away on a headwind section. I waited a moment to see how the field would react. One rider I had marked as a good wheel sprinted across, and two others followed, making it five up the road. I was just about to launch a bridge when a few riders around me started the move first. We worked together, closed the gap efficiently, and everything came back together.
The final lap was more of the same — individual riders would get 5–10 seconds, but nothing stuck.
So it was clear the race would come down to a sprint.
After passing the finish area several times earlier in the race, I had noticed the tarmac was much smoother on the left side of the road, so my plan was to stay near the front on that side. Conveniently, that also meant the faster outside line into the final turn.
With about 2 km to go we got swarmed and things got hectic, but I managed to latch onto a strong wheel and move up.
We hit the final turn and I found myself in perfect position — about 4th wheel on the outside.
One rider drifted all the way left (onto the rougher pavement) and opened a small gap. I immediately jumped to close it, but the gap hovered around 10–15 feet. I expected to get passed from behind but I managed to hold my position. I didn’t look to see what’s going on behind as I was focused on the rider in front. I wasn’t able to close the gap as the road flattened briefly before the final bump to the line. As we hit it, I could see the gap finally starting to shrink.
Last effort. Full gas.
Right on the line I managed to come around by about half a bike length.
Super exciting finish — and to top it off, I even came away with my 3rd best all-time 30-second power PR.
And a special bonus - 8 upgrade points for my (finally) Cat 3 upgrade!
Race Report: 2026 Tucson Bike Classic W P/1/2/3
2026 Tucson Bike Classic W P/1/2/3
Date: Feb. 19-22, 2026
AVRT racers: Steph Hart, Robin Betz, Louise Thomas, Sophia Hu
Overview: With the strong sprinters at the Panamerican games, this seemed like a stage race that would support breaks and big time gaps. The major teams included Twenty28, Automatic, Monarch, United, Terun; a few Devo teams like Canada’s TAG, and some strong solo riders including Lauren Stephens and Holly Breck. For Louise, Sophia, and I, this was our first national level stage race, and we were in for a pretty steep learning curve. As usual, Robin’s experience of two previous TBCs was much appreciated in terms of logistics, bike mechanics, and race tactics.
GC results (67 racers): Steph (13th), Louise (36th), Robin (55th), Sophia (57th)
Day 1: Time Trial
Results: Steph (23rd), Louise (31st), Sophia (39th), Robin (40th)
Course: 4.3 mi of flat bike path with one curve in the first mile and a ripping tail wind
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17454655213
Race Recap (written by Robin):
I’m down quite a few watts right now due to getting a new job and being up in my career, so this weekend was all about being a good teammate, having fun, and racing smart. I warmed up on the roads around the course while praying for a headwind since my main advantage on the TT is aerodynamics, but I received a stiff 16-20mph tailwind instead.
I start off as hot as I can and settle into my mega aero position with forearms parallel to ground and my chest so low I could hit the buttons on my bike computer with my nose. Fortunately for my low wattage I don't experience much of a power drop in this position, so I focus on holding it as best I can and riding by feel. There is one corner near the beginning that's a right then a left hander that I checked out ahead of time with my teammates since it threw me off my game last year and noticed most riders were too far on the inside. As I approach it I switch my hands to the drops while staying low and take the outside line. The first part of the corner is glorious and I feel so fast but I forgot about the part after that wasn't visible from the road and had to really brake hard to not overcook it. I laugh a bit as I sprint back up to speed and then fold up again for the remaining flat 4 miles.
There wasn't a finish line super visible although there was a tent with the cameras at the end, but I have been confused by similar things before so kept going for an extra few thousand feet. I probably could have saved a few seconds if I'd been able to empty it at the line and not messed up the corner, but looking at Strava I appear to have done probably the lowest watts in my field, which made me pretty happy about still beating about a third of them. There's always room to want more out of TTs, but all you can ask for is your best effort on the day, which I did. Most importantly, Wil was there with the camera right before the corner when I was looking extremely aero.
PC: Wil Gibb @breakaway_photos
Day 2: Road Race
Results: Steph (17th), Louise (49th), Robin (59th), Sophia (62nd)
Course: 60 miles, 3 laps of a 20 mile loop with rollers at the beginning and a gradual 2-3% climb at the end.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17464268607
Race Recap (written by Louise):
Coming into my fifth race season, I feel like I’ve got a pretty good handle on how road races usually work: there are certain spots to watch for attacks, but in between you can usually switch off and chill on someone’s wheel. This was nothing like that.
For the first eight miles through the rollers, I averaged only 150W, but it took all my concentration just to hold position as the people in front sped up and slowed down in not always predictable ways. In NorCal, I’m used to racing in fields of 5–15 people, and here there were more than 60. It felt like a whole different ball game.
My aim was to stay in the top half, but even that was a struggle. From near the back, I mostly had to go with the flow. Every now and then someone would attack, but even if I’d been strong enough and willing to chase I was often boxed in. As the race went on, though, I started to get the hang of it. When things got strung out and then the front eased, I could use the accordion effect to slingshot forward.
At the end of the first lap, there was a time bonus for the first riders across the line, but an oversized truck was taking up most of the road at the finish, leaving only enough room for a few riders to squeeze by at a time. After that pinch point, some people attacked, and after a few hard miles I thought things were back under control. What I didn’t realize was that someone had counterattacked and was already out of sight.
The next time we came past the feed zone, someone yelled “8 minutes,” and that was when I realized there was someone off the front. Unfortunately, eight minutes is also a very long gap. On the rollers, another attack went, and this time I didn’t quite stay on and found myself in a chase group. For the next ten miles or so, we worked together, with the main group tantalizingly in view the whole time. Robin was also in a chase group behind mine, and at some point, she caught up to us, and we joined forces in a well-intentioned but fruitless effort to catch the peloton.
At 500m to go, a different truck had broken down in the middle of the road, disrupting everyone’s lead-out trains. Someone got some cool drone footage of our race going around it and the sprint finish. If you pay attention, you can see Steph.
In our little chase group, Robin led me out to get second in our group. Since it was a timed stage race, everyone in our group got the same time, so it didn’t really matter, but it was still fun to sprint for something. Definitely learned a lot in this one, and I’m looking forward to doing more big races in the future.
Day 3: Criterium
Results: Steph (7th), Louise (31st), Robin (55th), Sophia (59th)
Course: 0.75 mi with four corners and a downhill U-turn, generally poor pavement (75 min)
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17477280141
Nutrition: pre-race scandinavian swimmers, courtesy of Sophia
Race Recap (Written by Steph):
After watching several teammates crash in the W345 race, and one girl crash in the P12 warm-up, goals for this race were to keep the rubber side down and not get pulled from what would be a race of attrition. After a 300W “neutral lap” of the course, AV settled into second row staging, getting all the help we could.
The first ten minutes were a pretty hot pace, but honestly I sometimes get into my own head on the tactics of bike racing, and to just ride really hard is kinda awesome. I was having a ton of fun hanging on corners and sprinting out of the hairpin every lap. We shortly settled into groups, and I was with the front 19 riders (everyone else eventually got pulled). Knowing I was the least qualified person to be there, I pretty much just chilled in the bunch and avoided crashes as best I could. The next 50 minutes were pretty uneventful, but it was awesome to hear the cheers of all the AV riders on course.
With 3 laps to go, Lauren Stephens attacked; she was followed by Cara O’Neil and they quickly achieved separation (surprised United and Twenty28 didn’t try to close out of GC/bonus seconds concerns). Just before the bell lap I came out of the hairpin 5th wheel, and with little enthusiasm from the peloton to pull, I ended up on the front for the majority of the last lap. This felt like kind of a poor use of energy, but I still had a few matches left, and with my lack of sprint I might as well be in a good position. I rounded the last hairpin in the front of the pack and then started to sprint, feeling a little silly about my lack of watts, but I figured the entire field wasn’t going to come around me. Four girls came around, and I finished in 7th place, which given the fact that I didn’t crack 100rpm in the sprint wasn’t too bad- but there’s certainly a lot to work on for future races.
PC: Wil Gibb @breakaway_photos
Day 4: Circuit Race
Results: Steph (12th), Louise (47th), Sophia (53rd), Robin (60th)
Course: 2.7miles 4 corner circuit, with the finish line midway up a 1 mile climb, 190 ft climbing/lap (60ish min)
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17489164829
Race Recap (written by Sophia):
Despite the climb being relatively short, this race looked hard. Between the heat, the lack of shade, and what I’d seen watching earlier fields, I expected it to be really attritional. Like the rest of the races in a big field like this, staging was going to be important, so we got to the line about 20 minutes early and got a good spot. Unfortunately, once the whistle blew, I was slow to accelerate after clipping in and immediately found myself at the very back. That turned out to be a bad place to be. With such a mixed range of cornering abilities in the field, the back meant long, repeated sprints out of every corner just to stay in contact. After about three laps of that, I was still hanging on but still near the tail end, very aware I had burned too many matches.
Then there was a crash in the field, and our race got neutralized for about 25 minutes. The remaining laps were shortened, and everyone who had been dropped was brought back into the main group. Thank you to Stephanie, Kathay, and Hannah for coming down and giving us ice and water during that break <3
When we restarted, I got dropped on the next lap and ended up in a small group of about eight riders, including Robin. I knew we weren’t going to catch the main peloton again. Robin told me to conserve energy for the final sprint, then went to the front on every downhill and used her excellent cornering to keep our pace high. I did my best to sit 2nd or 3rd wheel to conserve momentum through the corners. Since I was able to sit in and recover, I felt pretty good at this point and made it my goal to win the field sprint to make Robin proud.
With about a minute to go before the finish, someone launched an attack where the climb steepened. I started my sprint then, got a gap, and held it to the line. That’s the only field sprint I’ve ever won, and a nice small win from the weekend :)
In retrospect, I should have used the downhill to move up from the back of the pack to mid‑pack earlier in the race. Instead, I relied on the uphill to gain positions because it felt more comfortable and there was generally more space. I need to keep working on pack skills and clipping in quickly. TBC was my first stage race, and was a great experience. I’m used to racing fields of fewer than 20, and it was inspiring (and humbling) to line up with so many strong women.
PC: Wil Gibb @breakaway_photos
Race Report: 2026 Snelling Road Race - Men’s Cat 3
Date: February 28, 2026
AVRT racers: Vasyl Stokolosa, Wil Gibb, Clark Penado, Kevin Kauffman
Top Result: Vasyl Stokolosa 1st
Course: 5 laps of a rolling 12.6 miles course with generally mediocre pavement that became quite bad on the back half of the course. 63.2 miles total
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17558910411
Nutrition: 2 bottles 500ml (90g carbs), 2 caffeine SiS gels, 2 SiS Beta Fuel gels
Recap (written by Vasyl Stokolosa):
The group had 22 riders, with Dolce Vita as the largest team (7 riders) and Moonshine with 3 strong riders. We raced in Cantua Creek, knowing Moonshine had powerful breakaway riders, and we expected Dolce Vita to attack with their numbers. Last year, a Dolce Vita rider won solo by attacking with two laps to go. Our plan was to stay at the front, cover all attacks if both teams are present, and see if we could break away on the final lap—either Wil and I or by leading out in the last kilometer.
The race began as planned: Dolce Vita attacked on the first climb, and we all responded. The pace was high early, but we covered all moves, especially in the first two laps. Kevin and Clark helped to cover attacks. Then, in the final two laps, Dolce Vita tried a breakaway, with one rider and a Moonshine rider getting a good gap. Wil stepped up and covered that move. On the last lap, a Moonshine rider attacked again, and the Dolce Vita rider followed. I was at the front, and with about a 5-second gap, I decided to bridge to them. Once I bridged, another rider joined, and we worked together smoothly. The four of us built a solid gap, and in the final stretch, I launched a full-gas attack. None of the others responded, so I finished with a good gap. It was a fantastic team effort—Wil did an incredible job closing gaps and staying at the front.
Race Report: 2026 Tucson Bicycle Classic - Men’s Cat 4
Day 1 - Prologue TT
Pre TT warmup
Race: 2026 Tucson Bicycle Classic Prologue TT - Men’s Cat 4
Date: February 19, 2026
AVRT racers: Adam Beliveau
Top Result: Adam Beliveau 17/41
Course: 7.23km slight false flat (0.3%) bike path with one S turn. https://www.strava.com/segments/38619019
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17452794493
Nutrition: 1 90g bottle drink half before during warm up, half after during cooldown
I tried my best to be aero, but it ain’t that simple when my legs' CdA is not optimal lol. I could have used aero socks and other aero garments, but it was also my first TT. I think marginal gains can be sought once the aero position is locked down. I'd better practice staying low while pushing power a bit more. My gap to the leader was 1:22 on a ~10-minute TT, but it wasn’t a big deal, as TBC is an omnium-based GC for Cat 4.
Day 2 - Sahuarita Road Race
Race: 2026 Tucson Bicycle Classic Sahuarita Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Date: February 20, 2026
AVRT racers: Adam Beliveau
Top Result: Adam Beliveau 12/43
Course: ~30km lap, 300m elevation. Mix of rolling hills, big descent and slight uphill finish. Nice pavement. https://www.strava.com/segments/9060244
Strava:https://www.strava.com/activities/17463431007
Nutrition: 2 90g bottles, half during warmup, 1 bottle during race, half during cool down
The race started with the rolling hills. Nothing much happened, and a few attacks occurred, but no one was actually serious about their attacks. The rest of the lap was very Z2, so much so that I thought the racers at the front were sagging. It turned out there was a gnarly headwind at the front that I was completely sheltered from at the back of the pack. There were omnium points on the line on the first lap. With about 500m to go, a small sprint field launched, and it sparked a series of attacks and counters throughout the rolling hills on the second lap. I was still pretty fresh by that point, as I had spent most of the first lap in Z2. I attacked on the downhill and broke away with another racer. We got caught by the group after the downhill, right before turning onto La Cañada. The headwind was still present on the small climb to the finish line. I tried to position myself for a sprint finish, as there was no way anyone was going to go for an attack. I thought I was well placed, being on the second row of a dense pack, but with 500m to go, the left lane became free game, and I was boxed in and missed the leadout. I still tried to sprint, but I could not really launch, as I was stuck behind slower sprinters.
DAY 3 - Downtown Criterium
Race: 2026 Tucson Bicycle Classic Downtown Criterium - Men’s Cat 4
Date: February 21, 2026
AVRT racers: Adam Beliveau
Top Result: Adam Beliveau 4/44
Course: 1.15Km lap, 7m elevation. Super bad pavement (one of the worst I’ve seen and I lived in a northern climate where roads are obliterated by winters.). Good pavement in the sketchiest part of the course though which is a downhill into an hairpin. https://www.strava.com/segments/38617887
Strava:https://www.strava.com/activities/17474010552
Nutrition: 2 90g bottle, half during warmup, half during the race, half during cooldown.
This was a very effective sprint interval training ride.
The race was very attritional, and I managed to stay in the front pack the whole time by constantly fighting for my position and moving up. A solo rider (the GC leader) broke free on the first lap and completed most of the race alone. He was on another level. Every lap, coming out of the hairpin, it was a matter of putting down power as fast as possible to stay in the game. I still had some legs coming into the last lap, so I positioned myself on the third wheel and launched out of the hairpin. I managed to finish third in the bunch sprint.
Day 4 - Oro Valley Circuit
Race: 2026 Tucson Bicycle Classic Oro Valley Circuit - Men’s Cat 4
Date: February 22, 2026
AVRT racers: Adam Beliveau
Top Result: Adam Beliveau 17/41
Course: 4.36Km with 54m elevation per lap. Nice pavement, 4 wide corners, very draftable uphill. https://www.strava.com/segments/38626970
View from the warmup area
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17487376458
Nutrition: 2 90g bottle, half during warmup, half during the race, half during cooldown.
I didn’t know what to expect for this race, as I’m not optimized for uphill. It turned out alright, as the hill was very draftable. We were flying up it at around 30 kph. The race started hard and didn’t stop being hard, as it was only 30 minutes. Nothing notable happened on any laps, as there was no attrition at all in my field. There were small attacks here and there, some of which I covered, but they were always brought back given the short length of the race. On the downhill, there was a small, punchy bump where I channeled all my knowledge from the many Egans I have attended. It gave me an edge where I was not working as hard as the competition to stay in the pack. After four days of racing, my body was a little fatigued from the hard racing, which showed in my HR staying over 200 bpm for the majority of the last lap. It was clear that it was going to be another bunch sprint finish, and I had nothing left to give, so I gave nothing and maintained a steady power until the finish line.
Day 5 - Bonus Mt. Lemmon
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17498744996
Recap (Adam): Solid morning climbing Mt. Lemmon in the goal of eating a giant cookie at the top. Definitely recommend the climb if in the area.
Midway up the climb
Cookies
The whole group
Race Report: 2026 Tucson Bike Classic - Women’s 3/4/N
Race: 2026 Tucson Bike Classic - Women’s 3/4/N
Date: Feb 19 - Feb 22, 2026
AVRT racers: Hannah Chen, Samantha Dewees, Stephanie Hayos, Katie Monaghan, Kathay Tousant, Katarina Zgraja
Top Result:
Marana Time Trial: Kathay (11 of 45)
Sahuarita Road Race: Stephanie (10 of 48)
Rio Nuevo Criterium: Stephanie (1 of 50) !
Oro Valley Circuit: Stephanie (10 of 49)
Stage race GC: Stephanie (7 of 55)
Day 1: Time Trial - route
Nutrition: Bagel with vegan cream cheese for breakfast and a gel 15 minutes prior to the start of the TT.
Course: A short, flat 7.8 km one-way Merckx style time trial with one S curve near the beginning. It was raining and cold.
Recap (written by Kathay): Going into the time trial, I had mentally prepared for about a 10‑minute effort. But as Hannah and I drove to the start, the skies opened up in a full downpour, and I knew immediately that this segment was going to feel a lot longer than I’d planned. During my warmup on the course, I focused on testing my aero‑hoods position, something I’d been practicing for weeks. My strategy was simple: stay aero, keep my power as steady as possible, hold FTP for the first five minutes, reassess, and then try to build toward 110–115% of FTP.
As I lined up, the rain and nerves were unrelenting. Just as the official started counting down for the rider two ahead of me, I heard a loud crash, she had toppled over while being held for her start. It was jarring and instantly made me rethink my plan. Instead of opting for a held start, I decided I’d clip in myself.
When my countdown began, all I could think about was not fumbling the start. It took five awkward single‑leg pedal strokes before both feet were finally clipped in, and then I was off. Adrenaline took over, and I blasted through the first 90 seconds at 130% of FTP, far higher than I wanted. That effort carried me into the chicane, which I navigated cautiously with the active rain and slick pavement.
Once I accelerated out of the turns, I settled in and focused on pushing consistent power, dialing back to around 113% of FTP. Within minutes, I realized I was catching the rider who had started before me and soon after, I overtook another. With the finish line in sight, I kept my head down and emptied the tank. After crossing the line, it was awesome to see my fellow AV teammates crushing their own time trials and to cheer them on. Even though we didn’t start together like in a typical road race, the team support and presence were absolutely there and it made the day that much better.
Day 2: Road Race - route
Nutrition: peanut butter and banana on bagel
Course: Two laps of a relatively flat (max 3% grade) 20mi loop. Center line rule opened up 500m before the finish line and there was a broken down semi truck blocking the right lane on the last lap.
Recap (written by Katie): This is longer than I’d like but I swear I always try to keep it somewhat amusing. So read away or scroll to the crit and circuit:
Following the TT, Kathay and Kat were our top 2 finishers. Our plan was to try to get Kathay in a break and to keep Kat fresh for a sprint. The course did not have a lot of defining features. It was mainly flat with a few rollers in the beginning. We were racing 2 laps. This was a change from last year where 3s were a separate field and raced 3 laps. This year, the race combined 3/4/5 and we raced 2 laps for 40ish miles.
Off the gun, Kat, Hannah and I threw a lot of attacks. We figured the race was short so why not start early. Nothing was really sticking and most attacks were brought back fairly quickly. This continued through 75% of the first lap. At one point during this lap, I gave Kathay a heads up that I was about to attack and told her to counter me and I wouldn’t chase. She did a great job with the counter but unfortunately was also brought back quickly. In the future, I think we need to repeat this same attack/counter attack within a few minutes for it to be more successful. I know she has the power and stamina to stay away, we just have to catch the field at the right time. Side note: huge shout to Kathay for taking on a race of this caliber as her second real racing bike experience. I’m excited to see her crush this season.
I sat in the wind towards the front for the remainder of the first lap to be ready to follow anything but not pedaling very hard. At one point during this time one of the Milton riders came up to me and told me, “Girl your saddle bag be swaying, she sagging”. For context, Milton was the largest team in our field. They are a junior Canadian development team. Overall I was actually pretty impressed how well they rode together. However, this is not the first time I’ve been made fun of for my saddle bag. And apparently high school never ends and you can be dunked on by 18 year olds mid race. So FINE, to everyone who has told me that, I’ll buy a new one. You can thank the mean girls of Milton racing (who later in stage race gave us all friendship bracelets lol).
The pace picked up a lot going into the lap 2 rollers. After sitting in the wind for the last 25% of lap 1, I almost got dropped. I noticed Kathay was also falling back so I put in a pretty big effort for us both to catch back on. Honestly, thank god for this. My motivation and watts significantly increase if it means I’m helping someone else and there is a chance I might have thought I couldn’t do it if I didn’t have Kathay on my wheel.
Attacks chilled after that. It was clear no one was getting away and it would come down to a sprint. I noticed Kat positioned herself towards the front on the final stretch leading up to the finish. I pulled around the whole group and got myself in the front with the hope of leading her out. At 2k to go, this is exactly what happened. A united girl attacked, a gap opened and tried as hard as I could to bridge the field up for Kat. Unfortunately I had nothing left and just got swarmed instead. Kat tried to chase herself but this burned her final match for the sprint. Ultimately the united girl got caught having started her sprint too early and riders who were 3-4 wheels back in the peloton were freshest for the sprint.
Overall, I’m okay with how this race played out. As a team, we took some risks that burned matches but sometimes in bike racing you need to be willing to try something that might lose you the race to ultimately win it. One of these days those risks will pay off and we are constantly getting better at choosing the moves that are worth it. Also we have to do a better job of protecting and using our sprinters. Kat actually set a personal best 5 second power PR of 1024W at mile 12 during one of her early attacks. I’d love to help set her up to showcase those numbers in the last 100 meters instead.
Day 3: Criterium - lap route
Nutrition: over 9000 caffeine, PB/banana sandwich, 1 muffin top and 1 gel before the start, ½ water bottle during the race
Course: Technical downtown crit with a U-turn. The start/finish was on a hill, which led to a left and 3 rights on poor pavement before a long straight downhill into the hairpin for an uphill finish.
Recap (written by Stephanie): Going into the crit, the squad didn’t really have a plan for tactics - I think most were focused on getting through the race safely due to the tight u-turn and large field. I had serious nerves, as I was hoping for a good result and recognized this was a good course for my skillset. That morning, I pounded enough caffeine to light up a mini horse and did my best to choke down any food possible, then rode over to the venue from our Air BnB. All of the AV ladies squad participated in the clinic or group course pre-ride, in an effort to get familiar with the hairpin at turn 5.
The peloton was forced to take a neutral lap before they lined up, but it looked like our whole squad was a few rows back on the line. Quickly after the whistle was blown, I pushed up through the group towards the front 15ish riders. I hung out there for a bit, as there was a lot of mixing going on. From the get go, Kat got right to the front for good positioning and I saw Hannah staking her claim in the front half of the field.
The first couple of laps made it very clear that the peloton took the easier corners for granted and the u-turn made most uncomfortable. The majority of the lap efforts were occurring at the top of the descent and on the S/F climb. We didn’t see much for tactics and most teams operated as individuals focused on good position and surviving.
A prime was called out about 1/3(?) of the way through which pushed the pace and Kat snagged the winnings - this started to blow up the pack. As Kat went through the S/F, the organizers called out another $100 prime but it didn’t push the peloton, as they all sat behind Kat recovering or waiting for someone else to make a move. I attacked about 1/3 of the way into the lap and railed the hairpin a bit harder so I didn’t have to waste a hard sprint to collect the preem.
The next couple of laps were a blur, but, with 7 to go, Kat slid out in the hairpin (which I later learned also claimed Katie early on when she tried to tail gun) and jumped back up in an effort to stay with our pack. She was starting to chase, but the moto pulled her for a free lap and then was told she could not rejoin as it was the end of the free laps. She got totally jilted!!
The race was status quo until 3ish to go; I was sitting 3rd wheel ready to ride whatever tactics to the finish. Going up the climb, a Milton girl threw an attack so I jumped on her wheel. She did manage to string out the group a little bit, but didn’t open up much of a gap.
On the bell lap, I started an attack right before turn 2 and managed a decent gap going through the crappy pavement. I kept pushing watts around the next 2 corners and downhill, where another rider was slowly making up some ground. I took the hairpin conservatively, as we were entering pretty hot and did my best to accelerate out of the corner and minimize the draft. About half way up the sprint I knew the woman to my rear left wasn’t going to catch me so I eased a little bit, but then I saw another coming from my back right so I got out of the saddle for another push to make sure I wasn’t overtaken. Super stoked to catch a W for AV and a few upgrade points! All in all, I really enjoyed the course and was proud of the results.
Day 4: Circuit - lap route
Nutrition: A muffin for breakfast, then I panicked on the way to the race realizing my stomach was grumbling. Mooched a banana and PB+J sandwich from Hannah and Kathay (thanks guys!!), and had a pack of shot blocks 30-ish mins before the race. 30-ishg carb in 1 bottle for the race.
Course: Non technical four right-turn circuit ending with a sustained climb of 2-4%.
Recap (written by Kat): With the last race of the weekend, everyone seemed to have gotten their nerves out. Our best GC rider Stephanie was sitting in 7th place prior to the circuit race. We did not pigeon hole ourselves on any specific tactics for the day, just to end the weekend on a strong note, whatever that meant for each individual. For myself, I wanted a bit of redemption after my frustrating crit the other day, but I also made a purpose to not put too much pressure on this race, as I may have done that the day before and it was a harder pill to swallow when things did not go my way.
In classic fashion, about 4 minutes before our race was to start, Katie’s rear tire started making a hissing noise. I can say maybe my biggest achievement of the day was utilizing my race day flat kit (dynaplug, co2, and applicator), plugging her flat and zapping it with co2 in a matter of minutes. I knew it would be of use one of these times.
Once the race was off, I was mostly focused on positioning. I spent the first lap checking out how the other girls were doing, and keeping my head on a swivel to see where my teammates were. I thought that moving up in the group would be difficult in this race (as was heard from some other folks prior to the race), but when we were in the race I did not seem to have many troubles which was nice. I ended up following the wheel of a girl in a purple-ish jersey for much of the race, which very conveniently kept me in the front 7-ish riders consistently, and also prevented me from sitting at the front.
On the last lap, the pace quickened, a girl accelerated hard before the corner heading into the downhill, and got a bit of space on the front of the group. The United girl (GC leader) chased her down. I remember there being a slight gap between those two and the rest of us. I’m pretty impatient, so I jumped on to close that gap. As I accelerated, I remember thinking that was a dumb idea, as I was using up energy before the climb to the finish, but I was 3rd wheel now. Then, before I knew it, I wasn’t generating any power. I looked down and my chain had fallen off on the outboard side of my drivetrain. I tried desperately to pedal it back on, but it wasn’t going. I heard Stephanie pass me, she cursed on my behalf and I wished her luck on the final slog. I eventually got passed by the main first group (maybe 20 girls?). As I was coasting along, I managed to reach down and guide my chain back on, thank goodness. I pushed as hard as I could to the finish but I was in no man's land at this point in time. Although frustrating, I was at least happy to cross the line this time. In the end, Stephanie played her stealth game well, and crossed the line in 10th! Kudos to Hannah who finished in the pack at 14th on the day as well! Kudos to Kathay who finished the race despite her seatpost completely slamming on her… And kudos to Katie and Sam for powering through on the final day of a mentally/physically challenging weekend! We’ve got a great team.
Race Report: 2026 Valley of the Sun Stage Race - Men’s Cat 2
Races:
Stage 1 - TT
Stage 2 - Road Race
Stage 3 - Crit
Date: February 13-15, 2026
AVRT racers: Paul Levy
Results: out of 46 starters
TT - 15th (-1:28 from stage winner)
Road Race - 8th (-0:46 from stage winner)
Crit - 37th (pack finish, same time as stage winner)
Overall GC - 14th (-1:41 from GC winner)
Course:
TT - 10 mile out and back with a right turn, u-turn, and a left turn.
Road Race - 4.8 laps of a 16 mile loop consisting of 3 very straight road, 3 right hand corners, and 470 ft of climbing per lap. The finish is at the top of the climb.
Crit - 40 minutes on a flat, figure eight shaped 1.6 km (1 mile) course. It is traversed in a clockwise direction. The finish is approximately 250 meters after the last corner.
Strava:
VOS Stage 1 - TT | Ride | Strava
VOS Stage 2 - Road Race | Ride | Strava
VOS Stage 3 - Crit | Ride | Strava
Nutrition:
TT and Crit - Juicy Burst pouches throughout the warm up and a caffeinated GU 15 minutes before my start time.
Road Race - Two 750 ml bottles with ~100 grams of carbs, one 750 ml bottle of plain water. Carried one in a pocket and swapped mid-race to avoid needing anything from the neutral feed.
Recap (written by Paul):
TT - Full TT bikes and TT equipment were allowed for this race. I don’t have a TT setup which put me at a major disadvantage, but I did my best to get aero on my road bike with bolt-on aero bars, aero water bottles, a Velotoze ribbed arm baselayer over my tightest fitting kit, and Velotoze aero socks and shoe covers. I did not invest in an aero helmet, but some of my friends from Sacramento who are TT nerds were also here and one let me borrow his aero helmet.
I either got sick or hit with some extremely bad allergies on the drive to this race so I wasn’t feeling my best for the TT or road race. During the races I felt fine, but my sleep was terrible and I felt extremely tired as soon as I was cooled down. Even in good health, the extra dry desert air hitting the lungs stings a lot more than the moist NorCal winter air.
I might have gone out slightly too hard, but overall pacing felt in the right ballpark. Although I hadn’t put a lot of practice in on the clip-on TT bars, I was able to stay in aero position most of the time, although I was extra careful and got out of position on the turns and over a few dips in the road because someone had fallen earlier and was getting taken away by an ambulance as I was rolling out. I finished 1:28 behind the winning time of 20:15 and 15th for the day which felt decent for the slapped together TT setup I was working with. It would be interesting to see a breakdown of what gear everyone was using and compare times between full TT bikes, aero clip-ons, and just standard road bikes.
Road Race - The course is along three fairly straight roads and the gradient is similarly consistent featuring a long steady downhill, a long flat, and a long steady uphill to the finish. The first lap (of 4.8 total) was fairly mellow with one or two attacks that the group wasn’t taking too seriously.
On the second lap the action picked up with more people trying to get away. As more of a breakaway style rider myself, I tried to keep an eye on the moves and look for opportunities to get into a group with a gap without committing too much energy to a hard bridge effort. I ended up with a couple guys for the latter half of the second lap until we got caught on the long descent. Even though this break didn’t stick, I think it saved me energy on the climb by taking it more steadily in the small group.
Almost immediately attacks started going again and I pretty soon found myself in another break group of 4 or 5. Everyone was committed and worked together well and there wasn’t a lot to report on until we were caught by a chase group of 4 or 5 just after the first turn on the final lap. At this point we were a pretty large chunk of the whole group (having only 46 starters), so whether you call it a break or not at this point we did have a gap on the rest of the group and all seemed motivated to maintain it at least until the climb kicked up. I was at the back as we started the final climb. Besides not responding quickly enough myself, I was also behind a few riders getting dropped as the pace picked up. I passed these few riders right away but never caught the rest of the break group ahead. Then I got caught in the last 500 meters by someone from the larger group behind us and finished in 8th. One spot too low for any upgrade points in this field, but still happy to finish ahead of the main bunch.
Crit - This race felt fast from the gun. Several moves tried to go but the field seemed determined to keep them all in check. I tried to save my energy and go for a late flyer. I had neither the fitness nor the skill to stay away today and I finished near the back of the group as the winners sprinted it out.
GC - To really be competitive at this, you need a TT setup and you need to know how to use it. The top 6 finishers at the TT were also the top 6 finishers overall with just a small amount of shuffling as two riders leap-frogged up a few spots finishing ahead of the pack at the road race. The crit didn’t affect anyone’s GC time.
Race Report: 2026 Cal Aggie Criterium - Women’s 4/5
Race: 2026 Cal Aggie Criterium - Women’s 4/5
Date: January 31st, 2026
AVRT racers: Sandrine Veillette
Top Result: 12/25
Course: We raced a oval-ish route around Park Land, with a chicane (~4x 90-degree corners)
Nutrition: Oatmeal for breakfast, and Gatorade prior to the race
Recap (written by Sandrine Veillette):
This was my very first “real” crit race after attending the Early Bird race clinic. My goals were simple: stay in the front pack, be safe, and have fun. I’m happy to say I executed well on each of those.
It was foggy when I arrived at the race site, but the fog lifted just a few minutes before the start. Conditions were dry but windy. We raced for 40 minutes.
I started mid-to-back of the pack. I didn’t know the course well, and it took me a few laps to get comfortable with the turns, especially the chicane. There were several attacks in the first couple of laps, with different teams taking turns launching moves and immediately covering each other. Many of these accelerations happened just before the chicane, which favored more technical riders (which I am not). Nothing stuck, but the repeated surges definitely kept everyone alert.
I quickly realized that my cornering was my biggest limiting factor. I tried to position well before the chicane to avoid having to chase after it, but that didn’t work very well. I burned a lot of energy closing gaps after the technical section. I was very worried (potentially unnecessarily) that the group would split early, so I stayed hyper-aware and reactive to every move.
With about 1.5 laps to go, the speed increased significantly. The front riders consistently tried to pull away, and the peloton became very stretched. I stayed mid-pack and focused on holding the wheel in front of me as much as possible. In the final stretch, a group of about 12 riders separated from the rest of the field. I came out of the chicane around 7th wheel, but I had already reached my maximum effort before the sprint even began. The final 100 meters were humbling; riders came around me as I had nothing left to give. Two girls were able to get away in a very short break just before the finish and held it for the win.
It wasn’t the most strategic or well-positioned finale, and I clearly have a lot to learn. But I’m proud that I stayed with the front group in my first real crit. My biggest takeaways are the importance of positioning (especially before technical sections), continuing to develop my cornering skills, and getting to know the other racers so I can anticipate moves better. Most importantly, I genuinely enjoyed the thrill of it.
Looking forward to the next one!
Race Report: 2026 Pine Flat Road Race - Women’s P/1/2/3/4
Date: February 15, 2026
AVRT racers: Sophia Hu
Top Result: 2/6 in the combined women’s field, 1 of 1 in the W/P/1/2/3 field
Course: 62mi / ~4k ft. The course starts with a 22 mile out and back on rolling roads, then heads down into a flat valley until mile ~45, where the main climb begins. The main climb (“Wildcat”) is ~3 miles at 6% and gets progressively harder with the final mile averaging 9%. Another fast descent leads into the final climb (“Wildcat Junior” - 1.5 miles at 5% with a steep ramp to the finish line). This was the prettiest road race I’ve ever done, and a fun contrast to the flatness of Cantua Creek the day before. I’d highly recommend it if Velo Promo puts it on again in 2027. Weather: sunny, probably 50-60F and low winds.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17410421063
Nutrition: 200g of high-carb drink mix, 3 Maurten gels. I wasn’t sure if there’d be a feed so I brought two big bottles (there ended up being a neutral feed during the main climb).
Race Recap:
Since I already drove out for Cantua Creek, I decided to do day-of registration for Pine Flat even though nobody had pre-registered in the W/P/1/2/3 race. My friend Haley was racing it and the weather was looking very wet in San Francisco, so I figured it’d be a good scenic training ride. They ended up combining the fields so I raced with the Women’s 4/5 field.
Haley and I threw a few attacks on the rollers heading out but they got brought back on the descents. On the way back, Haley attacked on a longer uphill roller. Jean, another rider, bridged and I sat on her wheel and counter-attacked. Haley bridged to me and the two of us rotated for the rest of the rollers, and through the initial descent to the valley. At this point, Jean bridged up to us but we couldn’t see the rest of the field. I was happy with a third person joining, so I could recover a bit before the main climb. The three of us rotated for the next 20 miles.
At a steep roller approaching the main climb, Jean dropped off. When the climb started (on aptly named Watts Valley Rd) I resolved to try to hold Haley’s wheel as long as I could. This turned out to be 1 minute. After getting dropped, I paced the rest of the climb in tempo to not completely redline. I was fairly sure we had enough of a gap, but in case I got caught, I wanted to save some energy for a sprint.
The rest of the race was uneventful since I was riding alone. The descent after the main climb had a few cattle grates that surprised me, but was straightforward otherwise. Nobody passed me and I finished 2nd place. I knew Haley is a very strong climber from training rides, so this was basically how I thought the race would go. I was a little more fatigued than I thought I’d be by the climb, so I will work on incorporating some 15+ minute climbs at threshold effort during long rides.
This was a really fun weekend of racing. Now it's time for recovery before TBC :)
Race Report: 2026 Cantua Creek Road Race - Men’s Cat 3
Date: February 14, 2026
AVRT racers: Vasyl Stokolosa, Jack Lund, Keegan Worcester, Kevin Ash, Drew Mathews
Top Result: Vasyl Stokolosa 3rd, Jack Lund 6th
Course: 24 miles out and back on mostly flat roads with two U-turns. 78 miles total
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17399226038
Nutrition: 2 bottles 500ml (90g carbs), 2 caffeine SiS gels, 2 SiS Beta Fuel gels
Recap (written by Vasyl Stokolosa):
We came into the race expecting a chill start, everyone said it would be like a coffee ride until the final kilometer. But as soon as we hit the neutral zone, three guys attacked: one CycleSport rider and two Moonshine riders. We started rotating and kept them on a leash at about a minute. We didn’t want to catch them too soon, our plan was to keep Jack fresh for the last kilometer.
On the second lap, when some riders started skipping pulls, I stepped up with Kevin, Keegan, and Drew to keep the pace high. At the start of the third lap, Gavin from CycleSport attacked on a climb, dropping the Moonshine guys. I tried to bridge, thinking either I’d make it across or the group would come with me. After about 10 minutes, the group caught me, and we kept working. We caught one of the Moonshine riders, but the other was still two minutes up the road.
I pushed our group to pass the Cat 1–2 field, but then they passed us again, and we got neutralized. That was a mistake, since it allowed the breakaway to extend its gap. On the final U-turn, we caught one Moonshine rider, but the other was still ahead. I knew we couldn’t catch Gavin, so I focused on bringing back the second Moonshine rider. We passed another group (I believe it was the 50+ field), then they passed us, and we passed them again. An official wanted to neutralize us. I told her we had a rider up the road (he was about 20–30 seconds ahead). She said we either had to commit to the chase or slow down. I decided to chase, and we bridged across to him, leaving only Gavin ahead.
After that, I dropped back to recover, and we rode together into the final kilometer. Jack was in a good position and kept the pace high. No attacks came until the last 200 meters. With 50 meters to go, I felt good and launched my sprint, but an Everyday Heroes rider passed me near the line. I ended up second in our group and third overall.
Lesson learned: If you don’t have a strong, committed rotating group, leaving a breakaway out there too long is risky. You end up passing other categories, and the officials might neutralize you. If we were neutralized again, we would have been stuck, and the break would have finished far ahead, leaving us fighting for fourth. Looking back, we should have caught the break on the second lap when we had the chance. It’s better to catch them early, just not too early 🙂
Race Report: 2026 CBR #2 - Men’s 2/3
Race: CBR #2 - Men’s 2/3
Date: February 1st, 2026
AVRT racers: Henry Mallon, George Wehner, Levi Ritter, Michael Bektas
Top Result: Michael 2nd, George 4th
Course: 0.8 mile 4 corner crit, very wide roads
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17254309686 (last lap video here)
Nutrition: 500ml water + Maurten 320 (80g carbs)
Race Recap: written by Michael
There’s not a whole lot to say about this one and that’s probably indicative of us finally racing the way we have been intending to all season. We had enough evidence from previous races that we needed to stop hedging ourselves to try and win from multiple race outcomes. Going into this one, we were going to force a sprint, leaving it up to George and myself to get a result.
Deus Velox, race winners of CBR #1, were highly motivated for this strategy too. They had won the last one from a sprint and had a strong group of guys who could put a well organized leadout together. Henry and Levi stayed in the front third of the pack to work with them and keep the field together. Thanks to their efforts, I was able to do essentially nothing and wait for the last 5 laps.
The wide roads made it easy to move up and I was able to find Levi’s wheel with one to go. After he peeled off, I was able to surf a few more wheels through the next corner and find Henry, taking his final pull. The speed was high, but not too high to move up. I moved into the wind and to the outside in the second to last corner. This would sadly be where the race was lost. Even though I was carrying a lot of speed, I was (rightly so) squeezed wide and had to grab brakes to avoid going outside of the cones and getting DQ’ed. I was able to make a lot of the lost places back in the final corner but the Deus Velox guys had all the momentum and their sprinter won again. George was able to successfully sweep behind me and roll some other sprinters to come in 4th.
This was really encouraging though and we definitely needed this one after a frustrating January. This group of 4 has put in a lot of races together this season already and this was a great stepping stone as we look ahead to Tucson!
Race Report: Cal Aggie Criterium - Men’s Cat 1/2/3 Master 35+/50+
Race: Cal Aggie Criterium - Men’s Cat 1/2/3 Master 35+/50+ (35+ and 50+ picked separately)
Date: January 31st, 2026
AVRT racers:
Louise Thomas
Paul Levy
Rachel Hwang
Sophia Hu
Steph Hart
Sue Lin Holt
Top Result: Paul Levy (14/28 35+)
Course: Flat 1.1 mile course at Land Park in Sacramento. One technical chicane in the middle of the lap.
Strava:
Steph’s ride: Cal Aggie- Masters Men’s 1/2/3 | Ride | Strava
Paul’s ride: Cal Aggie Crit - Masters 35+ then P123 | Ride | Strava
Nutrition: Paul - Started with one 600ml bottle of plain water and one 600ml bottle of homemade drink mix consisting of sugar, maltodextrin, honey, lemon, lime, salt, and lite salt.
Recap (written by Steph Hart and Paul Levy):
Steph’s perspective/Women’s team (blissfully ignoring the macro-level race dynamics):
In the spirit of ripping the bandaid off race season and making the drive to Sacramento worthwhile, Rachel, Louise, Sophia, Sue Lin and I hopped into the Men’s masters crit before the Women’s 1/2/3 race. As the women’s races tend to be short on riders, my goals were to get some practice riding/cornering in a large field while conserving energy before racing in Tucson.
Kudos to the guys, because honestly this was a super smooth and safe race, with zero sketchy cornering, etc. The race stayed together pretty much the whole time, and by the end I was getting the hang of which spots were good to move up each lap when the field tended to accordion together. I found that because I didn’t actually care what was happening at the front of the race, I was free to focus all my mental energy on just sitting on good wheels in the top half of the field, minimizing surges, and always moving up when the opportunity arose. I think Robin Betz calls this “lizard brain” when you’re only worried about the handful of wheels in front of you, and its actually very fun and borderline meditative. Rachel and I stuck with the field the whole time, but kinda backed off on the last lap to avoid any crashes/burning matches. Overall, it was a pretty chill “ride to vibes” 40 minutes and a good warm-up before the women’s race.
Paul’s Perspective:
This is a hometown race for me, only a few miles from my house and a typical loop for me to ride over lunch. But while I didn’t have to drive very far to the race, I did get there early to cheer on friends racing in various fields all day long and set up a little tailgate spot for socializing at the chicane with coffee, snacks, cold beverages, and (sonic) jams. So it was actually kind of a hectic day for me before my race even started.
The masters race was 57 starters total, split almost perfectly between combined but picked separately fields of 35+ 1/2/3 and 50+ 1/2/3. Relatively early in the race I made one hard effort to follow a move by a buddy on Dolce Vita who I know is a solid break-mate and we tried (unsuccessfully) to maintain a gap. Somewhere else in there I tried to put in a solid dig on the front exiting the chicane to see if that would stir up the race a bit. Neither of these efforts yielded a whole lot, but I also wasn't committing too much because I had the P/1/2/3 race immediately after with a few teammates. So after these two pokes at the field, I sat in the rest of the race and tried to conserve energy. But honestly with the punchier side of my fitness still developing this early in the season, even those efforts were leaving me feeling pretty tired and hanging on more than chilling the rest of the time.
It was interesting doing both this and the P/1/2/3 race and being able to compare the two. The combined masters race was the larger field of the two and even though the average speed was only slightly lower (by less than 0.5 mph), we were hitting the turns much more often as a giant blob whereas in the P/1/2/3 we'd be taking the turns only 1 or 2 people wide which I felt much more comfortable with. I spent noticeably less energy and preserved my placement better through turns in the more strung out field. I never felt like anyone in the masters field was taking the turns in a sketchy way, but I found myself hesitating through the turns in such a large group and having to make up lost places each lap.
In the end I finished exactly midpack (14/28) in the 35+ field, then found a friend to cut my number off to reveal the P/1/2/3 number pinned underneath and went to line up for that race.
Race Report: 2026 Cantua Creek Road Race - Women’s P/1/2/3/4
Date: February 14, 2026
AVRT racers: Sophia Hu
Top Result: Sophia Hu 2/8
Course: 24 miles out and back on mostly flat roads with two U-turns. We did it twice for 47 miles total. The finish is on a 2-3 minute climb composed of an initial steep section, false flat, then a little kicker to the top. The pavement is good quality. On the second lap the wind picked up, and we had a strong headwind coming into the finish.
Strava:https://www.strava.com/activities/17398059587
Nutrition: Maurten gel, Tailwind high-carb drink mix. There was a neutral feed at about 1k to go.
Race Strategy:
This was my third year racing Cantua Creek. Last year, I attacked too early and 3 riders passed me on the false flat before the finish. I was trying to be patient this year to avoid that scenario.
Going into the race, I was not sure what tactics would unfold. Only 8 women pre-registered, almost all individual riders. I have a decent sprint but probably not the best of the field – I had marked Hannah from Terun as a good sprinter.
I was hoping that on the finishing climb, somebody else would lead out, and I could come around them and do a 30 second to 1 minute effort. Spoiler alert: When you’re racing alone, it’s hard to make your dream scenario come true!
Race Recap (written by Sophia):
The race started out (and stayed) very tame. I threw out an attack in the beginning, it got closed, and then I found myself on the front for a full 10 minutes pedaling in Z2. It seemed nobody was motivated to counter. Our peloton did a rotating double paceline for the rest of the out and back.
As we approached the finishing climb on the first lap, I decided to attack on the steepest part of the climb just for fun... I got a small gap but Hannah closed it and sat on my wheel. The rest of the field quickly followed. After this, I figured nothing would stick.
For lap 2, we kept doing the rotating paceline with nobody attacking. I noticed on the way back to the finish that it had gotten significantly windier (like 20mph headwind). I reminded myself to be patient and not eat too much unnecessary wind.
At the finishing climb, it felt like we were playing a game of chicken. I was at the front with a few others around me and we were all looking at each other, waiting for somebody to attack. We were all in the drops looking around, it was pretty funny. Nothing happened until we could see the finishing tent, then when we were 100-150m away, I figured it was now or never, and started my sprint. I got passed by Hannah by the end, and rolled in for 2nd.
I am happy with my result - my best placing in my 3 years at Cantua Creek! Today was also one of the few times I’ve actually been in position to sprint from the field for the win. Usually I’m too far back in a crit, there’s already a break up the road, or I’m in the break myself. This was a fun season opener before the Tucson Bicycle Classic and I am excited to race more this year.
Race Report: 2026 Cal Aggie Criterium - Men’s P/1/2/3
Race: Cal Aggie Criterium - Men’s P/1/2/3
Date: January 31st, 2026
AVRT racers: George Wehner, Paul Levy, Michael Bektas, Jon Wells, Jack Liu
Top Result: Michael 7th
Course: Flat 1.1 mile course at Land Park in Sacramento. One technical chicane in the middle of the lap.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17243927551
Nutrition: 500ml water + Maurten 320 (80g carbs)
Race Recap: written by Michael
We came into this race really confident. We had the largest team and there were no other significant teams who could realistically control the race. Unfortunately, this ended up being more of a curse than a blessing.
The plan was to send a lot of moves up the road to break the field down and then line it up with two to go and sprint. This didn’t exactly happen. Given we were the only big team, everyone else knew to attack us and go for a break. If moves did get up the road without us, we got no help in bringing it back. After a very aggressive first half of the race, a strong break of 4 got up the road…without us.
The break went out a long way, getting half a lap of a gap at one point. With nobody else helping, we were just burning through ourselves in what felt like a futile chase attempt. Morale was fairly low as we were all pretty tired and it looked like we weren’t even going to compete for the win. Suddenly, with two to go, the break was only 10/15 seconds ahead. Their rotation must have broken down as they started to play games before the finish. Seeing that revitalized the boys, and so began a warp speed lead out to try and catch them. Coming into the final chicane, George was going crazy on the front to try and close the last few seconds with me two wheels behind. I came by with a lot of speed in the final corner to try and hero-sprint from way too far out and catch the break but they were just a little too far. I got passed by a few others who launched at a more logical point from the line. I figured it was more worth trying to win than defend 5th.
This taught us a lot about the responsibilities that come with showing up with a bigger team than everyone else and I’m looking forward to refining those tactics throughout the season.
Race Report: Cal Aggie Criterium Men’s open/ Collegiate Cat 3
Date: January 31st, 2026.
AVRT Riders: Keegan Worcester, Kevin Ash.
Top result: Keegan Worcester- 26th out of 32 open Cat 3
Course: flat 1.09 mile course at land park in Sacramento, Ca. Technical Chicane halfway into the lap. 40 minute race.
Strava: https://strava.app.link/6MT4fPJYs0b
Nurtition: Oatmeal for breakfast. One bottle of Sis carb mix for during race.
Event Recap: Started the race about mid-pack after getting to the start line with the front row already full. I Used the outside line to gain positions before the chicane to gain positions back. My goal is always to stay near the front of the race before the chicane. Kevin helped move me up to the front of the race early on but without a team controlling, surges were intermittent and inevitable which meant being shuffled back if you didn’t want to spike your watts and burn matches. Not having raced since September of last year I was less diligent than I should have been about staying locked on to the wheel in front of me and definitely wasted a few watts closing gaps back down. No real break-way got any gap on the peloton until about 4 laps to go and I spent a third of a lap on the front (through the chicane) trying to close it down. Eventually I flicked the elbow to have Will Saalsaa (ENJOY CYCLING CLUB) come through. He helped for a bit but then Dustin Wolf attacked across and everyone surged again. At this point I was already pretty close to my limit and I used matches to stay near the front, fearing if I was dropped back I wouldn’t have another chance to gain back places. Unfortunately with 2 laps to go things slowed down again and I was stuck in the middle of the pack while many people moved up on either side before the chicane gaining back positions and shuffling myself further back. In the last lap I was completely on the limit and just not holding the wheel in front of me and didn’t have anything left on the final straightaway before the chicane. At this point I was about mid pack after the chicane and lost the wheel again and just completely blew up. Kevin Unfortunately had dropped his chain with 7 laps to go and was not given a free lap. In hindsight I think I could have saved a bit more energy staying deeper in the pack so I didn’t end up spending as much time on the front but I also don’t do well with being deeper in the pack going through the chicane due to the elastic band effect.
Recap(written by): Keegan Worcester
Race Report: 2026 UC Davis Flatland Circuit Race - Men’s Pro/1/2/3
Race: 2026 UC Davis Flatlands CR - Men’s Pro/1/2/s
Date: February 1, 2026
AVRT racers: Andrew Ernst, Paul Levy, and Jon Wells
Top Result: Jon Wells, 7th of 21
Course: 3.86 mile circuit just west of Davis. P/1/2/3 race did 11 laps for 42 miles total. Course has 10-ish corners and is generally a square with some long straight roads. Coming through the finish and going out on the south side of the course is the most technical section and contains most of the turns. Course is pancake flat and definitely has the potential to be exposed to crosswinds (although today was calm)
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17255724828/
Nutrition: a pre race Redbull and 100g flow bottle during the race
Race Recap:
Hate reading? Watch the race here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLZyZLMa13c
Pre race plan was to try and place Andrew into a break so he could ride off into the sunset and score a whole bunch of upgrade points. Then we would also clean up the field sprint and totally dominate the whole day. Pre race ambitions were extra high with the big teams like Cyclesport, Mikes, and Terun all missing this weekend. Isn’t it fun to dream?
Racing was super dynamic from the gun with the few teams all wanting to be represented in the move of the day. Andrew raced super hard at the front all day trying to start moves and also place himself into other moves that had gone. I tried to help get a break to stick by being a disruptive teammate at the front. This included sitting a few wheels back of Andrew’s attacks and slowly dropping off the wheel to make a gap form, interrupting rotations once moves had a gap he was in, taking big 200W endurance pulls at the front of the peloton, and cornering so slowly the cat 5 field would have been frustrated with me.
There were a couple times Andrew had made it into a move that got some separation, but eventually enough strong guys would try to bridge solo that the entire field had made their way back to the move. I also covered a few moves that went over the top of Andrew’s attacks being brought back.
Eventually, a move of 8 separated off the front around 2 laps to go. The gap never got more than about 20 seconds and the field worked surprisingly well to keep it in check. We all put some big pulls in and eventually Paul took an insane rip at the front to finish closing down the gap as we went out onto the final circuit. Once the field was back together, I locked in to try and solo surf the field sprint.
I knew I wanted to go first or second into the final 3 corners and positioned myself in the top 10 wheels around the south and west sides of the course. Unfortunately, the front slowed and there was a huge swarm. I had an option to move up in the wind but I passed on it and tried to be patient surfing in the field. In retrospect, I should’ve just ate wind because the positioning was more important than the match I would have burned. I didn’t feel very good about the field sprint during and immediately after but it ended up still being enough for 7th.
Picture is from Cal Aggie crit the day before because I haven’t seen any circuit race photos.
-Jon
CBR #2 - Men’s 3/4
Race: CBR #2 - Men’s 3/4
Date: February 1st, 2026
AVRT racers: Levi Ritter
Top Result: Levi 2nd/72
Course: 0.8 mile, 4 corner crit with wide roads
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17255867722
Nutrition: 400ml water and Gatorade before the race
Recap (written by Levi): Since I was the only Alto Velo rider, the plan was to save as much energy as possible, but actually for real this time, only getting in dangerous moves and working as little as possible, and contesting the sprint if it came down to it.
The plan went out the window again when I saw someone attack going into the third lap after the group had slowed, so I knew it was going to get a pretty big gap. I ended up catching him and doing a lap and a half off the front with him going super hard until he sat up. Since I had a pretty big gap, I kept working even though it was only me off the front. Pretty soon after, a bridge group made it up to me with all the big teams represented, and we started working together really well. The group was pretty optimal with 7 riders, all from different teams, so we were all motivated to work and not attack or try to sit on the back. We kept the pace really high until 2-3 laps to go, when we all started looking at each other, waiting for someone to attack. There only ended up being 2 attacks, but none of them got anywhere, so we ended up coming to the finish in the original group of seven. It was a long way from the last corner to the finish, so I was expecting everyone to look at each other and sprint late, but one guy (who ended up winning) started his sprint right from the corner. I tried to get in his wheel and come around him, but I couldn’t gain any speed on him and ended up holding on to second.
Overall, pretty successful race, the only thing I would have done differently is start my sprint even earlier.
Cal Poly Crit - Men’s 3/4
Race: Cal Poly Crit - Men’s Cat 3/4
Date: January 25th, 2026
AVRT racers: Levi Ritter
Top Result: Levi >10th
Course: 1 mile lap with very easy corners
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17175562472
Nutrition: 400ml water and Gatorade before the race
Recap (written by Levi): Since I was the only Alto Velo rider, the plan was to save as much energy as possible, only getting in dangerous moves and working as little as possible, and contesting the sprint if it came down to it. I was also thinking about sending a late attack if it felt right
Someone attacked right at the start, and I followed his wheel, thinking he was just trying to set a hard pace at the front, but we ended up getting a gap. I worked with him for around half the race off the front, and at one point, I even thought we might win, but we ended up getting brought back. I was bracing myself for a really hard counter when the peloton caught us, but no one ended up attacking. I sat pretty far forward in the group, which wasn’t the best idea, since every time someone pulled off the front, the next person would just completely sit up, and then someone from way back would attack when they saw the pace slowed, which was pretty hard to follow. Coming into the last lap, someone pulled off the front, and the next person entirely stopped pedalling, which prompted Gavin (who won Santa Barbara RR the day before) to attack. I tried to catch him, but my legs were pretty cooked after being off the front, so I couldn’t, and I ended up getting swarmed in the finish.
Overall, pretty disappointing to get no result after being off the front for so long.
CBR #1 - Men’s Cat 3/4
Race: CBR #1 - Men’s Cat 3/4
Date: January 18th, 2026
AVRT racers: Levi Ritter
Top Result: Levi 8th/63
Course: 0.9 mile square 4 corner crit, very wide roads
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17099106785
Nutrition: 400ml water and Gatorade before the race
Recap (written by Levi): Since I was the only Alto Velo rider, the plan was to save as much energy as possible, only getting in dangerous moves and working as little as possible, and contesting the sprint if it came down to it.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to conserve much energy since all the strongest people in the race started sending attacks one after another from the start, so I ended up following almost every move. Despite the constant attacks, everything stayed together for the finish. After getting brought back from a small group with around two laps to go, I got shuffled to the back and didn’t have enough urgency to get back to the front, which meant I was sprinting from a really bad position. Thankfully, I came around a few people in the sprint and managed to get 8th.
Overall, not a bad race. I was able to get in every dangerous move, just need to make sure I have better positioning in the end to contest the sprint.