Race Report: 2025 Giro di SF Men’s 3

Race: Il Giro di SF - Men's Cat 3

Date: September 1st, 2025

AVRT racers: Matt Carvell, Wil Gibb, Kevin Kauffman, Jack Lund, Drew Mathews, Clark Penado

Top Result: Matt Carvell 9/50

Written By: Matt Carvell

Course: A 6-turn, 0.76 mile, L-shaped course. Small ‘climb’ partway through the course that is very big-ring-able. The course has potholes in several turns that require racers to choose their lines carefully. Generally a fun atmosphere and crowd, aided by kids races.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/15664764144

Nutrition: One full bottle of Skratch strawberry lemonade. It was a relatively hot day for this fair-weathered San Franciscan.

Recap: 

Having taken this year off from bike racing, I was tentative about racing one of the more technical and larger criteriums of the year. But the Giro is just around the corner from my house, and I love supporting local SF racing and culture, so I decided to give the Giro a try. And the SF crowd, the race, and the friendly nearby brewery made for a sweet Labor Day vibe.

I biked over to the race and introduced myself to my teammates Wil, Kevin, Jack, Drew, and Clark. Side note: back in the day, I thought it was odd how some teams had riders who would meet their teammates at the start line of the race. How would they be able to ride together? CAN they ride together? Is this that guy’s first race? Well, life came full circle. I was that guy.

Wil has seen some strong results recently, so we thought he’d be one we could work for. Clark was coming off some strong early-season fitness. Drew was my other SF-local compatriot who gave us all pointers on the course. Kevin was cheerful and excited, which served as a welcome distraction from the pre-race nerves. Jack just got his Cat 3 update and was diving into the thunderdome of crit racing.

We didn’t have a substantial race strategy. As none of us were true sprinters, and knowing that this would be a race of attrition, the idea was to ride together and evaluate who was ‘feeling good’ towards the end.

The race started off quickly, and I clipped in successfully. Wil immediately took a powerful flyer off the front, and we all began to settle into the rhythm of the race. By “rhythm”, I mean navigating a washing machine of riders moving through the peloton, while trying not to drop a chain, mechanical, or crash through the bumpy course (sadly, at least one of these scenarios would happen to each of the other AVRT riders).

About halfway through the race, there was an established 3-rider breakaway off the front. I had started feeling pretty good, happened to be near the front, and was pleased to find someone who wizzed by me, seemingly eager to catch the breakaway. I jumped on his wheel and we were rippin’. But as we approached the start/finish line, we were neutralized by the race officials. Apparently, a crash occurred that required the race to be restarted. So we all lined up and started together.

The restart of the race was tough on my legs, which had been working at their maximum and then stood around cold for 5-10 minutes before being asked to max out again. Others may have felt the same, as I barely dodged another crash in front of me.

With three laps to go, I got quite swarmed near the front. There was no major team controlling or ‘leading out’ the race at this point, so the metaphorical washing machine was on a max spin cycle. Fortunately, I regained a lot of position on the downhill section. I gunned it on the start/finish straightaway to pass another group of riders and found myself around 5th wheel going into the last lap. Perfect.

A Terun rider took a flyer off the front to start the last lap, and his teammate sat on the front, somewhat soft pedaling. As we went through the turns on the railroad tracks, nobody wanted to make a move to bridge to the lone Terun rider. So I sprinted around the group and sent it up the hill section of the race. I caught the Terun rider partway through the downhill and quickly realized he was cooked. Since I was fully committed at this point, I went around him (oof, this is going to be a long effort). 

Caught the leader. My brief lead!

I then heard a crash behind me (phew, glad I wasn’t caught up in that… wait, does this mean that I now have a chance to win? I’m gonna win!). But to my not-quite-surprise, the lead riders caught me on the last turn of the race. I sprinted with everything I had left and held onto 9th. 

Just kidding. The lead was fleeting.

Overall, a fun day, despite the crashes. A few riders grabbed some beers at a taphouse along the course and heckled the pro racers (#crossiscoming).

Thanks for reading!