Race Report: 2026 Snelling Road Race - 50+ Cat 3/4

Date: February 28, 2026

AVRT racers: Shai Traister

Top Result: Shai Traister - 1st / 26 (!!)

Course: 4 laps of a rolling 12.6 miles course with generally mediocre pavement that became quite bad on the back half of the course.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/17558689701

Nutrition: 2 bottles with carb drink, 1 protein cookie. Yes PROTEIN - you read correctly. This became my go-to ride food. I know all about the theory of how carb turn into ATP and all that, so don’t confuse me with the facts. This thing works!

Before the race:
Going into the race I knew I would be the only rider from AVRT, so my strategy was to stay hidden in the pack and conserve energy, and spot/follow dangerous moves (pretty easy, right?). Also my winter training hasn’t been the best (3 weeks off the bike around New Year), and this being the first race of the season, my target was to podium.

Race Recap:

4 laps on the course today and the race played out pretty calmly for most of it. The first two laps were almost surprisingly relaxed. There were a short-lived attacks of single riders that would gain only five to ten seconds before being reeled in by the peloton. It seemed that the race would go for a sprint finish. I stayed tucked in the back of the pack, conserving energy and staying out of trouble. The pace felt so comfortable that I actually caught myself joking that my Garmin might label the ride as “de-training.” At one point I even wondered if the drive to the race had been worth it. By the end of the day, I got my answer: hell yeah!

On laps 3 and 4 I anticipated the a break could form, so I started moving toward the front, though I never actually sat on the front. I noticed a pattern where riders would attack on the short climbs but then ease off afterward. Instead of following those moves, I let myself drift back a few spots on the climbs to save my legs and stay smooth, knowing I could close the gap if one formed.

Midway through lap 3, two riders got away on a headwind section. I waited a moment to see how the field would react. One rider I had marked as a good wheel sprinted across, and two others followed, making it five up the road. I was just about to launch a bridge when a few riders around me started the move first. We worked together, closed the gap efficiently, and everything came back together.

The final lap was more of the same — individual riders would get 5–10 seconds, but nothing stuck.

So it was clear the race would come down to a sprint.

After passing the finish area several times earlier in the race, I had noticed the tarmac was much smoother on the left side of the road, so my plan was to stay near the front on that side. Conveniently, that also meant the faster outside line into the final turn.

With about 2 km to go we got swarmed and things got hectic, but I managed to latch onto a strong wheel and move up.

We hit the final turn and I found myself in perfect position — about 4th wheel on the outside.

One rider drifted all the way left (onto the rougher pavement) and opened a small gap. I immediately jumped to close it, but the gap hovered around 10–15 feet. I expected to get passed from behind but I managed to hold my position. I didn’t look to see what’s going on behind as I was focused on the rider in front. I wasn’t able to close the gap as the road flattened briefly before the final bump to the line. As we hit it, I could see the gap finally starting to shrink.

Last effort. Full gas.

Right on the line I managed to come around by about half a bike length.

Super exciting finish — and to top it off, I even came away with my 3rd best all-time 30-second power PR.

And a special bonus - 8 upgrade points for my (finally) Cat 3 upgrade!