Race Report: 2026 Cantua Creek Road Race - Women’s P/1/2/3/4

Date: February 14, 2026

AVRT racers: Sophia Hu

Top Result: Sophia Hu 2/8

Course: 24 miles out and back on mostly flat roads with two U-turns. We did it twice for 47 miles total. The finish is on a 2-3 minute climb composed of an initial steep section, false flat, then a little kicker to the top. The pavement is good quality. On the second lap the wind picked up, and we had a strong headwind coming into the finish. 

Strava:https://www.strava.com/activities/17398059587

Nutrition: Maurten gel, Tailwind high-carb drink mix. There was a neutral feed at about 1k to go.

Race Strategy: 

This was my third year racing Cantua Creek. Last year, I attacked too early and 3 riders passed me on the false flat before the finish. I was trying to be patient this year to avoid that scenario. 

Going into the race, I was not sure what tactics would unfold. Only 8 women pre-registered, almost all individual riders. I have a decent sprint but probably not the best of the field – I had marked Hannah from Terun as a good sprinter. 

I was hoping that on the finishing climb, somebody else would lead out, and I could come around them and do a 30 second to 1 minute effort. Spoiler alert: When you’re racing alone, it’s hard to make your dream scenario come true!

Race Recap (written by Sophia): 

The race started out (and stayed) very tame. I threw out an attack in the beginning, it got closed, and then I found myself on the front for a full 10 minutes pedaling in Z2. It seemed nobody was motivated to counter. Our peloton did a rotating double paceline for the rest of the out and back.

As we approached the finishing climb on the first lap, I decided to attack on the steepest part of the climb just for fun... I got a small gap but Hannah closed it and sat on my wheel. The rest of the field quickly followed. After this, I figured nothing would stick.

For lap 2, we kept doing the rotating paceline with nobody attacking. I noticed on the way back to the finish that it had gotten significantly windier (like 20mph headwind). I reminded myself to be patient and not eat too much unnecessary wind.

At the finishing climb, it felt like we were playing a game of chicken. I was at the front with a few others around me and we were all looking at each other, waiting for somebody to attack. We were all in the drops looking around, it was pretty funny. Nothing happened until we could see the finishing tent, then when we were 100-150m away, I figured it was now or never, and started my sprint. I got passed by Hannah by the end, and rolled in for 2nd. 

I am happy with my result - my best placing in my 3 years at Cantua Creek! Today was also one of the few times I’ve actually been in position to sprint from the field for the win. Usually I’m too far back in a crit, there’s already a break up the road, or I’m in the break myself. This was a fun season opener before the Tucson Bicycle Classic and I am excited to race more this year.