Race Report: 2025 Winchester Circuit Race - Masters 35+ 123 Men
Race: 2025 Winchester Circuit Race - Men’s Masters 35+ 1/2/3
Date: May 10, 2025
AVRT racers: Jeremy Besmer, Greg McCullough
Top Result: Greg (10 of 21)
Course: 5 laps of a 4.5 mile rolling circuit. One long, fast descent. One longer climb that leads to the finish that is split into two pitches with sections over 15%. Super fun course with excellent pavement throughout and no need to touch the brakes for any corners. This race started at noon with minimal wind, but temps were already in the high 80s.
Strava https://www.strava.com/activities/14439569729
Nutrition: Two bottles of malto/fructose blend, with some nuun for electrolytes.
Race Recap:
I was coming off of some pretty big ride weeks, so my goals for this race were pretty basic: 1) experience a new-to-me course 2) get in some extra work before helping Cam in the P1/2 race. 3) maybe sneak in a good result. Jeremy had already raced the 3/4s earlier in the day and was also looking for some extra miles.
The first lap was fairly civilized and gave me a chance to look at the course. On the second lap, I kicked off the front on the hill before the main descent. I wanted a clean shot at the descent to see if it was faster alone and check out the run into the finish at my own pace. The field didn’t seem to chase, leaving me with a pretty decent gap after start / finish. I fully expected to be collected at the top of the hill and when I wasn’t, I decided to stick with an unplanned breakaway effort.
Brian Schuster and one of the Lamorinda guys attacked together on the second steep section of the finish climb, and again no one in the field chased, which gave them a solid gap by the time they reached the top. They worked together on the flats and rollers that led into the main descent, and then connected soon thereafter. I was happy to have Brian and some company with Lamorinda representation, but slowly realized Lamorinda was not really committed to the move - probably just covering for the other 3 teammates in the field. He played it well, keeping us all working just enough to stay out there a while, but without the pace to stay away. This was also readily apparent to Jeremy back in the main group, as another Lamorinda (Adam White) was pushing the pace very hard on each uphill, but would sit up on the flats so it was clear that he was just managing the break’s gap. After another lap together, the field collected us on the second to last climb, leaving a lap to get the legs back together.
On the final climb, attacks from the Lamorinda crew split the field. I grabbed Jeremy’s wheel for a bit, but didn’t have the legs to contest the finish after the breakaway effort.