Race Report: Copper Valley Circuit Race - Men’s Cat 4/5

Race: Copper Valley Circuit Race - Men’s Cat 4/5

Date: May 31, 2026

AVRT racers: Suhith Rajesh

Top Result: 4 / 11 (Cat 4)

Course: 60 minutes on a 5 mile (2 1/2 each way) out and back divided rolling road, with a u-turn on each side. Pavement is good quality but there are a few rough patches to be attentive about.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/18732502373

Nutrition: 1 bottle with 60g of carbs + 1 bottle with some water, and a gel about an hour before the start. Neutral water was available from the nifty Bottle Grabs!

Recap (written by Suhith):
With a small 13-rider field (11 four’s and 2 five’s) , my plan for the race was to attempt to join a breakaway that would go all the way. I thought two or three motivated riders could stay away with fewer riders in the peloton to chase. So, I made it a priority to stay near the front to be able to jump with any moves. The biggest team in the race was Rio Strada Racing with three riders; there were also a couple of teams with two, and the rest were solo riders.

From the start, there were three riders who were particularly motivated to get away. I did some chasing, thinking, “Hey, don’t leave me behind, I want to play in the breakaway too!” I sent an attack over a ‘climb’ but was brought back shortly after; this was also the case whenever I joined an attack of one or two other riders. Note to self for the next race: if there’s a double-header race weekend, keep an eye on the folks who did well the day before (our eventual winner also won the day before).

The rollers and the wind kept most breaks close, and the field had enough motivation and legs to quickly chase back nearly every attempt. Two solo riders, on separate occasions, were given a few seconds of leash after I heard an RSR rider mention they wanted to let them dangle for a bit to burn some energy. With the gap not too large, I opted to sit in the wheels for these moves, and the riders were usually brought back or fell back within a lap.

Heading into the finale, it was clear we were going into a sprint. I leaned on my self-imposed lesson from Golden State and made sure to be third wheel into the final hairpin, and sure enough, two riders jumped hard. I was happy to be the third, so I followed hard, but we were all very quickly caught by the rest of the group. The field rolled cagily toward the 200m mark until someone opened up, and my sprint was good for 4th.

Overall, this was a fun race with lessons learned. I do think the course could suit a break, but it requires attacking at the right spot and the right combination of rider and field motivation. For our field, on the day, it was not to be.

Note: AI helped me mash together this photo from: the real shot (which I missed) + a solo photo..