Pescadero Road Race Women Short
Race: Pescadero Road Race Women Short 1,2,3,4,5
Date: 07/11/2026
AVRT racers:
Cat 4/5: Samantha Dewees, Kathay Tousant, Kira , Apoorva Setlur, Hannah Chen , Meghan Kransz
Cat 3: Orthja Efinger, Katie Monaghan
Top Result: Orthja Efinger (1st)
Course: 27mi loop (x1.7), 2hrs effort, 2 short hills on stage road, flat-ish section on 84 with tailwind and 1 longer climb up Haskins.
Strava:/
Nutrition: Oats for Breakfast, gel (50g carbs) before the race, another gel halfway during the race and I realized then that I should have brought another one because this race was longer than I thought it would be (27miles not km)
Recap (written by Orthja)
We all met about an hour before the race, did a warm-up ride together, and Kathay gave us a course briefing and we talked tactics, including the best places to attack.
Then we lined up at the start. Unfortunately, just as we were getting ready to roll, Meghan had to exit the race after getting an unfixable flat right on the starting line 😞. One AV down, seven left.
The race started with everyone rolling pretty comfortably until we reached Stage Road, where the pace began to pick up. As always, Katie did an amazing job launching attacks and trying to establish a breakaway. The field was strong, though, and the peloton managed to bring everything back together.
Near the end of Highway 84, I launched an attack and got away with a group of about four or five riders. Unfortunately, we were reeled in before reaching Haskins. Still, all those earlier attacks had taken a toll on the field. By the time the group caught us, it had shrunk significantly. The field got even smaller by the top of Haskins.
I started the descent from Haskins alone, caught up with the rider in first place, and then rode solo for a while. When I looked back and saw a group of three riders chasing, I decided to wait for them. The four of us, all from different teams (two in my category and one from the category below), worked well together, taking turns pulling. Katie crested Haskins with five other riders, but after getting caught behind a few cars on the descent, she was unable to reconnect to the ride leaders but was at all times just a stones throw away from re-connecting.
When the leading group reached Haskins for the second time, it was every rider for themselves. I wasn't able to stay with Haley, who absolutely crushed the climb, but I did manage to hold off the Supersprinkles rider to overtake me. Honestly, she was cheering me on the whole time, and I felt a little bad not letting her pass because she was so nice! In the end, I finished 2nd overall and 1st in my category, since the overall winner was actually racing in the category below mine.
Katie also had a fantastic ride, although helping drag Sherri along for the remainder of the race and supporting her all the way to a 2nd-place finish. Samantha, Kathay, Kira , Apoorva and Hannah had a strong race as well and rolled into the finish line together.