Race Report: 2026 Brompton World Championships

Race: 2026 Brompton World Championships California

Date: April 18, 2026

AVRT racers: Robin Betz and Simon Parton

Top Result: Robin Betz, 1st female, 10th overall

Course: 3 laps of the Laguna Seca race course: a 2.2 mi circuit with a ~200ft climb each lap, followed by a fast descent. Corners are banked for cars so extremely fun on a bike, especially the hairpin on the backside of the course. Le Mans start with Bromptons folded!

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/18166023430

Nutrition: the sweat and tears of going uphill while undergeared and wearing regular pants

Race Recap:

On some kinda AV ride, Simon mentioned to me that he was signed up for this race, which requires that you be riding a Brompton to enter. I jokingly asked if he had a spare Brompton and of course he has two and very kindly lent me the best-geared one, an 8-speed G line.

My intentions were the same as for any race I enter-- to have a silly fun time and to enjoy going fast, but with a bit more emphasis on silly than typical. It was the weekend after Redlands and when I initially signed up I imagined that it would be a nice treat after a week of very serious racing, but when the squad fell through for that race (catch us next year!) I started thinking a bit more seriously about this one.

I’d raced the Laguna Seca course before on a road bike so knew about the climb and descent, and Simon warned me that the race had a Le Mans start where you had to sprint to and then unfold your Brompton. I knew I’d probably be one of the stronger people in the field but needed to be able to nail the rest of it in order to be able to use that fitness to full effect.

So I practiced. I took the front carrier block of Simon’s Brompton (for aero reasons) and put my saddle on (for pure survival reasons). I forgot to take the tool kit out of its hiding spot in the frame but at 30+ lbs of steel bike it’s not like that would make a huge difference. I folded and unfolded the bike in my driveway about 10 times while my husband laughed at me, and then took it out to Kings Mountain Road (where Jen from Terun spotted me in full team kit headed to the hill and probably also laughed at me). I also put my power pedals on so I could get an idea of what my threshold power feels like on the bike. I’m very glad I did because I found that I had enough gears to uncomfortably climb out of the saddle, the handling on the downhill is very twitchy! You can’t think of steering as an input to the bars at all otherwise you end up oversteering. Instead it was more of an imagining going around the corner and letting the brain figure it out. Simon’s bike also has UK-style brakes where the right lever controls the front brake so I make extra sure to be conscious of that.

Before all that practice I also went to the thrift store and bought the most orange pants I could find; gotta wear team colors while following the rules of “no lycra.”

The next day I headed down to Sea Otter and enjoyed the expo before lining up for the race! It was a full field of 100 starters, with 12 women (10% is typical in bike spaces so this was about what I expected). I looked around for tan lines and modded Bromptons and picked out my main competition which was last years’ winner.

I had thought about things I could mess up critically and other than crashing on the corkscrew descent, the start offered the most chances for failure. First, I needed to make sure I found my borrowed Brompton amongst 100 other folded ones at the Le Mans start, including quite a few of identical make and color. I therefore placed it right underneath a sponsor logo on the fence so I looked first for the logo and then for the orange bike.

The unfold went okay — I knew I would lose time here and I also perform worse under pressure so just tried to be methodical and deliberate and make sure everything was actually tightened. I was about 50th percentile for the unfold maybe? Not great not terrible.

In retrospect I should have put my bike further forward as while I thought I’d minimize running it actually ended up maximizing chaotic riding through other people getting on their bikes. The vast majority of the other riders weren’t racers so the concept of holding your line didn’t really apply, and moving up was a bit challenging for someone who is more safety-minded than aggressive. As I approached the climb things thinned a bit and the road was quite wide so I set my eyes on the prize of passing Simon and then my main rival.

As a competent and seasoned Brompton owner, Simon has a fast unfold and was almost at the top of the climb by the time I was approaching the bottom. I noticed I had pretty good gearing relative to some other riders, and just stood up and mashed at maybe 350W? to the top, knowing I could go pretty deep if it’s only 3 times up the hill. I pass him near the top but am too locked in to say anything funny.

The descent was glorious, no brakes required and an instant 35mph without trying. I got low and made up tons of spots here for free, especially approaching the corners where I didn’t have to brake at all thanks to the previous day’s practice. Same on the backside of the course where it was a bit windy and my ability to put my chin near the handlebars came in handy. I passed my main rival here on the first lap and consistently reeled in a few men here each time on subsequent ones.

At the top of the climb on the second lap a spectator told me and another rider we were in the top 10! I deliberately didn’t ask if there were other women up the road because I never want to know — I’m doing my best regardless and if someone was up the road at that point, well good for them and I should unfold faster next year.

Stayed locked in and I actually wasn’t that slow vs. the road bike a few years ago - 10% slower up the climb on a bike that is 150-200% as heavy! Third time up I’m lapping riders which made me feel super fast but also bad for the people that showed up on singlespeeds. I try to catch one last rabbit but can’t quite pip him at the line, but the guy right behind me thanks me profusely for finishing and making him have to do only 2 laps instead of 3.

I know I’m the winner when I finish because everyone starts cheering and I hear my name on the announcements a whole bunch! It feels awesome but I need to stop and catch my breath and find water. I talk to many friendly people and get lots of congratulations, and find some AV-ers and we wander back to the Brompton tent to receive my rewards. I actually messed this part up and should have stayed at the racetrack for photos and media, but I am clearly unaccustomed to winning. I guess that’s my goal for next year!

I won the best thing I’ve ever won: an entire Brompton bicycle! I got to do a champage spray celebration and be interviewed, too. The bike is a one-off paint job for the winners, with an upgraded carbon fork and titanium rear triangle! Its “4 gears perfect for city riding” have already tested me quite a bit, so I’m planning some drivetrain mods. The Brompton community is a really fun bike subculture I didn’t know about and it’s really neat to learn about! I already took my bike to a Brompton meetup in SF which was super fun.

I’ll definitely be back next year and highly recommend this race as a fun experience, even if you’re not typically a racer.

Media coverage: Instagram | Gran Fondo Daily News (lol)