Race Report: 2025 Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Race: 2025 Berkeley Hills Road Race - Men’s Cat 4
Date: April 26, 2025
AVRT racers: Wil Gibb, Vasyl Stokolosa, Sam Moskal, Adam Beliveau, Marc Osswald, Kevin Lin, Phillip Maier
Top Results: Wil Gibb (1/47), Vasyl Stokolosa (5/47), Adam Beliveau (9/47)
Course: Three laps of the 3 bears loop for a total of ~53 miles and ~4000 feet including the 2-mile neutral rollout. The main feature of the course is the “Three Bears,” climb which is a sequence of punchy climbs in the second half of the loop. “Mama Bear” is the first and takes about 2-3 minutes to climb (with a descent in the middle); “Papa Bear” is the second and takes about 3-4 minutes to climb; and “Baby Bear” is the third and is a short kicker at the end of the lap. The race finishes with a final climb of Papa Bear.
Strava: https://strava.app.link/ay9LhDWKVSb
Nutrition: Two bottles of 110g skratch high-carb, 60g PowerBar caffeine gummies
Race recap: Written by Wil
I was excited going into this race because I felt like the punchy climbs were well-suited to my strengths, and I was grateful that the team offered to support me as the protected rider during our pre-race meeting. Our general plan was to stay near the front to avoid crashes, and an attempted lead out on the final climb.
The race started without incident, and we made sure to avoid the large cracks in the bike lane. Going into the 3 Bears climb, the pace was high, requiring near-max efforts from the group, which mostly stayed together. Unfortunately, a crash up Papa Bear took Phillip out. Those who were not completely dropped on the climb were able to catch back up on the descent, which was ~50mph at points. One thing I learned during this race is that being at the front during a descent (at least for me) isn’t really an advantage, because I would get swarmed from both sides and get boxed in.
Heading into the 3 Bears climbs on the second lap, I made sure to stay glued to the wheels of the first 2-3 riders to enjoy a draft but not get shuffled back in the pack. On Papa Bear, three of us put a decent gap in the peloton (20-30 seconds?). However, we were easily caught on the descent. This encouraged me to be extra smart on the third and final lap to conserve energy for the finishing climb. It was clear a breakaway wouldn’t stick.
Vasyl did a good job setting a high pace on the final lap – either being on the front or off the front the entire time. I stayed in the front third of the pack, which proved to be crucial as we were constantly coming up on or being caught by other fields. Despite this race being extremely well organized, I was surprised at the lack of field separation by the moto refs – at one point there were at least 3 fields riding together. Given the chaotic nature of this, I had to work very carefully to make up wheels on the narrow back roads leading to the finish.
I knew the race would come down to a steady 10-12 minute effort, which kicked off on Mama Bear. I made sure to stay in the top five wheels to conserve energy behind the other strong climbers. As we zoomed down the final descent into the finishing climb, Vasyl flew by me and had me get on his wheel, setting a hard pace on the first part of the climb. Since the climb is a solid ~4 minute effort, my goal was to stay in the saddle and keep my cadence high to minimize muscular fatigue. It turns out that strategy worked, as I was able to keep that effort consistent all the way to the finish line for my first win. I was extremely grateful for the excellent teamwork, and would highly recommend this race, especially to those who enjoy Egan!
