Race Reports
Race Report: 2025 Tucson Bicycle Classic – Men’s P12
Race: TBC Marana Time Trial - Men’s P12
Date: February 21nd, 2025
AVRT racers: Cameron O’Reilly, Florian Costa, Devin Wilson
Top Result: Flo - 24/113
Course: 4.5 mile flat TT on a bike path.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13689155783
Recap: Written by Flo Costa
The Tucson Bicycle Classic started off with a short time trial in the town of Marana, just north-west of Tucson. Given the late morning start, Cam, Devin, and I decided to ride to the race from our AirBnb. This way we could spin out our legs and warm up without the stress of driving and finding a last-minute stretch of road to warm up on. It’s always convenient to be able to ride to the start of races, and I find that it’s both relaxing and effective as a warm-up (as long as you are not running late). For all categories this year, the TT had to be ridden on a mass-start legal setup meaning TT bikes and aero discs were off the table. This meant it would just be me and my road bike, and my aero helmet, my aero bottle, my aero socks, my aero shoe covers, and my long-sleeved Eliel skinsuit.
Based on the distance and (lack of) elevation, I was targeting a 10-11 minute effort all out. My legs weren’t feeling great during the warm up, but as soon as I got to the start line I locked in. My only focus was to push as many watts as I could while staying aero. About 6 minutes in I caught my 30-second man, which gave me a small respite as I made the pass. My legs were hurting, but this was more motivation to keep cranking out the power. I continued to stay aero, but my form slowly deteriorated as my whole body started to ache. With 800 meters to go I could see the finish area and emptied everything I had left until the line, just passing my 1-minute man at the finish.
I finished 24th on the day with a time of 10:11 - a solid result by my standards. More importantly, I had completely emptied myself and my legs responded well, so I was quite happy with the effort. Still, there were a couple things I could have improved on. First, I should have done a recon of the course in the days before the race to familiarize myself with the one turn on the course. The day of the race I came into the turn with a lot of speed and was too conservative not knowing how much I needed to slow down. Next, towards the end of the TT my aero position broke down a bit. Here I could have been more disciplined to stay in position, and could have done a better job working on my flexibility as a part of regular training. All in all a good effort on a fun course. After the race, I immediately had to switch my focus for the Crit that same evening.
Race: TBC Twilight Crit - Men’s P12
Date: February 22nd, 2025
AVRT racers: Cameron O’Reilly, Florian Costa, Devin Wilson
Top Result: Flo - 18/113
Course: 45 min crit near downtown Tucson on a fast P shaped course featuring a small hill and a tight hairpin turn.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13691883378
Nutrition: Bottle with Gatorade and Malto. Gels and Caffeine before the race.
Recap: Written by Flo Costa
After the TT earlier in the day, I ate a solid lunch and took a nap. The Twilight Crit was after sunset at 8pm under the lights. The course was pretty unique for a criterium, with the main feature being a very tight 180 degree hairpin turn after the longest straightaway. This was going to be a fast race, and positioning would be critical given the technical nature of the course. Watching the previous races and seeing the results confirmed this, as prior races had completely shattered on the course. With a good nap and some caffeine, I was excited and ready to race.
Things were pretty messy at the start line area and unfortunately I didn’t get a good starting position, with about half of the field in front of me. This meant that for the first 5 or so laps I worked fairly hard to get to the front. Starting position is really important for hard crits like this since the cost of moving up is so huge. With the tight hairpin and a rapid succession of turns on the back side, the field got strung out very quickly. To make matters worse, the group would bunch up going into the hairpin which meant it was an all out sprint out of the turn to catch back up to speed. However, in the first 10-15 wheels, the turns were much smoother and it was easier to carry speed. Once I got near the front, I had more control of my lines and didn’t have to burn as many matches to sprint out of corners.
The race was still quite hard, and with bonus seconds available at the finish of every lap, the pace never settled down. Gaps were opening up in our field and people were hanging on for dear life. I was in full race mode, and got in a nice groove figuring out the places on the course where I could move up and how I could be efficient in the turns. On a couple occasions I was in the right position to grab bonus seconds, but both times I was passed right at the line, and didn’t want to spend too much energy sprinting in the middle of the race. In hindsight, this probably would have been worth it to move up in GC.
There were a few crashes but overall it didn’t feel too dangerous. We were going full gas and the field thinned out significantly. With around 3 laps to go, I was battling to stay in the top 10 wheels for the finish. This is always a key point in the race as everyone has the same ambition to be in front. At this point, my mentality is to keep moving forward at every opportunity, even the slightest. However, any small mistake results in you instantly losing 10+ positions. Unfortunately for me, an ambitious line on the outside gutter resulted in me pedal-striking the curb, causing me to drop my chain. I quickly caught it and put it back with my front derailleur, but by then I had lost momentum and lost many precious places in the group. I slowly inched my way back forward in the last couple laps, but the best I could do was 18th in the end.
Another solid result in the end, but still room for improvement. I made a crucial mistake in the last few laps and had still not been aggressive enough to be near the very front in the end. Ultimately, the order of riders entering the final hairpin turn was nearly identical to the finishing results, showing how important positioning is in a race like this. This race was incredibly fun and I enjoyed racing in front of all the spectators that came to watch.
Race: TBC Sauhiritia Road Race - Men’s P12
Date: February 22nd, 2025
AVRT racers: Cameron O’Reilly, Florian Costa, Devin Wilson
Top Result: Devin - 24/113
Course: 4 laps of a 20.5mi loop. 1000ft of climbing per lap. Mostly flat, with a shallow climb heading into the finish. Max gradient ~3%. FAST course.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13699583633
Nutrition: Bottle 1: ~60g 1:1 glucose:fructose. Bottle 2: electrolyte mix. A few GU’s in the pocket. Nothing super heavy for this stage.
Recap: Written by Devin Wilson
Entering the road race, everyone was coming off not much sleep from the late night crit the day before. Luckily, we had a mid-day start which made things a bit easier on us rather than the 8am start for the first wave. The later start did mean we were out in the heat of the day at a whole 75 degrees. Paired with the dry weather though, it was good to have a feeder out there. Our goals coming into this race were to get Flo in the break as he was sitting highest in GC. With 3 riders in a 100+ rider peloton, this was a bit easier said than done.
The race started off pretty quick (as they usually do) but things kept together for the most part. The first lap was pretty chill, I moved up to the front to check things out and to stay out of whatever business was happening in the rear of the group. iSpeed, Landis/Trek, Tag, and ABC, and Kelly Benefits U23 were the main players in this race. Project Echelon was in the GC lead, but with only 2 guys it was going to be hard for them to keep things together.
There was a pretty nasty crash about 20-30 wheels back on lap 2. A lot of guys didn’t end up making it back after that one… I was right behind it and even had to put my foot down, but made it out quick enough. Flo & Cam were right there with me which was quite reassuring knowing our GC guy didn’t get caught up in anything. Of course, the group surged after the crash. This meant that the second lap up the climb was also our fastest - where I believe we were going around 25mph up the 2% grade.
Breaks had been going all day at this point, with smaller groups of riders sneaking away plus a few more bridging up. The most notable breaks of the day happened during lap 3 on the climb and at the start of the last lap. Flo did make it into the last break of the day, but Kelly had a guy drill it on the descent into the feed zone to bring it back.
Coming into the finish, people were trying all sorts of last minute solo moves as the teams were setting up their lead outs for the sprint. I sat myself right about 20 wheels back, trying to stay out of the wind but far enough forward to follow an attack if need be. The teams kept things together, so none of the solo attacks stayed away for very long. The finish itself was really just a game of positioning - nobody behind 10th wheel was in for much of a sprint. I managed to keep myself forward amongst the battle to stay forward and managed to place 24th of 110 or so riders. Since I was a bit further back, it was really just a seated acceleration into the finish.
I’d say this was one of the less difficult national level road races I’ve done. Being swept along at 28mph for 80 miles can be pretty fun, but it can also be scary, especially being one of the first races of the season (and with a 40+mph descent). I felt pretty confident having done a few races already heading into TBC, but for many of the riders this was their first road race of the season. All around, a great race with not much TSS heading into the circuit.
Race: TBC Oro Valley Circuit - Men’s P12
Date: February 23nd, 2025
AVRT racers: Cameron O’Reilly, Florian Costa, Devin Wilson
Top Result: Flo - 14/113
Course: A 4-corner circuit with some slight twists & turns. A fast, but slightly pitchy climb into the finish (~7%). Overall a very fast and fun circuit!
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13710309683
Nutrition: Just water for the race. Heavy breakfast due to a late start.
Recap: Written by Devin Wilson
This one was a fun one. Right from the start, people were sending moves off the front (namely iSpeed) trying to get away. The course was a lot more dynamic than the day before, with a very quick descent coming into a short flat section followed by the climb into the finish. The top and bottom ends of the courses were the places to move up or to relax, while the descent / climb were where things really lit up. The bottom end of the course however was a great spot for riders to send an early attack up the climb or to reinvigorate a chase.
Things split up pretty early on in the race with a massive breakaway of 15-20 riders. There was a good representation from each team, but Project Echelon wasn’t in it. There were also several other teams who weren’t happy with the move, so all we had to do was sit in and let them chase. At no point in the race did things let up - there was always someone trying to chase down the break or to attack up the climb to be the first across the line for the lap.
I made sure to sit toward the front as much as I could, but it was difficult to maintain a good position without being shuttled to the front or being caught with riders shooting up one side or the other. This made for some good fun but it did make it slightly tedious to stay forward. At a few points in the race I found myself attempting to solo bridge to a move, only to find that I had the entire field on me (my mistake).
Coming into the last few laps, Flo and I were trying to stay close together so we could place him as far up as possible. If I could get him on my wheel and drop him off somewhere near the front, he’d have a good chance at moving up in GC. This was going to be sort of an ordeal given the high pace, but by the end of the race it was easier to predict where the forward momentum would be going in the field.
Coming into the finish was pretty fast. There was a lot of squeezing into small gaps and fighting for position just as one would do in a crit. What made things unnecessarily interesting, however, was the crash about 20 wheels back with only 400m to go. With some stroke of luck, Flo & I were just behind it, and managed to move around it pretty fast. I gave it my all into the finish, not knowing if Flo was on my wheel or not. In the last 100m or so I watched him fly by me to come in 14th as I rolled in 16th behind a POA rider. Cam managed to roll in unscathed with the main peloton.
Race Report: 2025 Bariani Road Race – Women’s Cat 4/N/Masters 40+
Race: Bariani Road Race - Women’s Cat 4 / Novice / Masters 40+
Date: March 16, 2025
AVRT racers: Hannah Chen, Chris Davis, Samantha Dewees, Katie Monaghan, Janene Ostrow, Katarina Zgraja
Top Results: [combined Cat 4/N]: Katarina (1/28), Katie (8/28), [Masters 40+] Chris (2/6)
Course: 2, 20 mile laps of a mostly flat course. The most notable “hill” was about 3 km to the finish of each lap. It was super windy, I believe wind was blowing from the south, direction NNW, which meant pretty hefty headwind on an early portion of the lap, crosswinds along the back (northernmost) stretch of the course, and then headwinds for the finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13903043901
Nutrition: Sis Go Isotonic Gel on the start line, 2 bottles of Precision Fuel (2 scoops / 30g carb per bottle + 1 scoop UCANN Hydration Mix) during the race and 1 UCAN Gel at mile 25-ish.
Recap (written by Katarina): The race started off extremely slow, disorganized and boring. Everyone seemed to be playing games. All of us Alto Velo riders had positioned ourselves within the group, no one was really up near the front. There were some sprinkles, Monarch riders up at the front, trying to figure out who was going to sit at the front of the group and pull. As we turned left into the first headwind section, the pace slowed to a crawl. Chris, our hero, got fed up with the shenanigans and rushed to the front and started pulling a great pace. It was awesome! It got things moving again. We all settled in for a bit.
After a while, I started to feel like maybe I should help Chris out, after all it is a “long” race (maybe not long compared to other fields races, but long compared to, say, a crit). I made my way to the front and told Chris that I’ll hang out here for a bit. I picked up the pace, pulled ahead slightly to get the others moving, and then after they caught up to me, we kept chugging along. At some point in time someone else came up and pulled, and I settled within the pack again for much of the first lap.
I spent much of the rest of the first lap chatting with a few teammates and riders on other teams, honestly it was very much coffee paced. There were a few surgy / challenging sections with the wind, and it was really hard to find shelter, even being in a somewhat big group.
I had never ridden this course before, so I was trying to keep an eye out for the “hill”. There were a couple of smaller rollers, then we started up the main hill of the course. I was just settling into a pace, when one girl dropped her chain. A few of us scooted around her, and kept riding. I looked up to the front of the group, and everyone just seemed to be in a bit of disarray. There were girls slowing down, looking around. Without really thinking things through, I came out to the left of the group, put a solid acceleration down and attacked on the hill. I didn’t look back for a while, but it ended up being somewhat effective, as I had managed to get a good little gap on the group. I assumed that once I hit the headwind section of the 2nd lap, I would be caught up with, but I focused on continuing to push a solid power since I had a surprisingly decent gap on the field.
I ended up settling into a consistent just-below threshold pace for the rest of the race, and the longer I rode, the more realistic it became to me that I would end the race by myself. It was a cool experience to be a rider off the front, as I’ve never done that before in a race. When I attacked, I was not doing it to get away, and was fully planning to get brought back to the group since the wind was such a strong contributor to the race. Even though it was not the plan for the day, and to be honest a little bit boring riding by myself for half the race, it was cool to try some new things, and also cool that it worked out with me staying away and winning.
Race Report: Cat’s Hill Classic - Men's Novice/Cat 4/Collegiate C/D
Race: Cat’s Hill Classic - Men's Novice/Cat 4/Collegiate C/D
Date: March 22, 2025
AVRT racers: Adam Beliveau, Clark Penado, Sam Moskal, Vasyl Stokolosa, Wil Gibb
Top Result: 2/18 Vasyl Stokolosa (Novice), 8/23 Sam Moskal (4)
Course: 30 minutes around a 0.90 mile course. L shape with 6 corners and a punchy 0.05mi/ 35ft climb at avg 11.8%, max 20% grade followed by a gradual descent to the finish
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13956235530
Nutrition: 40g carbs during registration. Went with no bottles as this was a very short race. Other riders had 0.5-1 bottles of water.
Race Recap:
We entered the race as the third-largest team, behind Mike's Bikes and Cal Poly, in a mixed field of 50 riders. Our strategy was to cover attacks from these teams and any other threatening solo riders. The course profile favored our most powerful riders, Wil and Vasyl, and we aimed to have one or both of them in any breakaways that formed. We didn't have a dedicated sprinter and planned on working with whoever had opportunistic positioning.
The start of the race was crucial. We anticipated a fast beginning due to the wide range of skill levels, so it was essential to be at the front early to navigate the hill feature without braking. Wil and Vasyl took the lead almost immediately, alongside Cal Poly. Within the first five minutes, a group of about 20 riders separated from the rest of the field. Wil and Vasyl worked hard at the front to control the pace and maintain speed through corners. I wanted to contribute but couldn't find a safe opportunity to move up without chasing down my teammates, so I settled into the draft and rode smoothly for the next 20 minutes.
With four laps remaining, a Cal Poly rider launched a solo attack up the hill, but we didn't respond since they were in the collegiate field. Soon after, Vasyl briefly opened a gap but was eventually caught. We started passing lapped riders with 4 laps to go, which added some confusion as to who was still in contention. As we entered the final lap, Wil led the field, and the lead group had dwindled to 12 riders, with four of our team members still represented. Wil maintained the front through the top of the hill, where Vasyl and two Cal Poly riders took over. This formation held until the end of the race, with Vasyl sprinting to second place in the Novice category and third overall (note: we believe that Vasyl actually finished first in the Novice category due to the officials accidentally counting a lapped rider first) . I finished eighth in the Cat 4 field, closely followed by Adam and Wil. In hindsight, I should have contributed more to support my teammates throughout the race or prepared for a stronger sprint, as the podium was within a second or two. This was the first time our group raced together, and we're looking forward to the next event. Thanks for reading!
Race Report: Cat's Hill Crit W3/Masters
Race : Cat's Hill Crit W3/Masters
Date: March 22, 2025
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Kat Zgraja, Maeve Roach, Kristin Hepworth, Janene Ostrow, Steph Hart
Top Result: 1/12 Steph, 3/12 Kat (12 total field, 7 cat 3 riders)
Course: 0.9 mile course (L shaped, 6 corners) and a punchy 0.05mi climb (11.8%)
nutrition: birthday cake gu ~5 min before the start (can’t say I’d recommend that flavor)
Photo credit: Wil Gibb
Race Recap
Steph’s POV:
The plan for this race was for me, Louise, Kristen and Kat to spend the race attacking, and if the field was still together at the end, then we’d lead Maeve out. Shortly after the start Louise attacked and stayed away for ~2 laps, AV did a pretty good job forcing Eclipse and Super Sprinkles (in this case just Sophia Hu) to chase. As soon as Louise was caught I countered and was off the front for 3 or so laps before being brought back by the field. Kat countered with a nice attack as well, and by the time the race was back together, (25 minute mark?) we were all pretty cracked. It's been fun getting this attack/counter attack train going smoothly in the last few cat 3 races. With 5 (?) laps to go, Louise attacked and Shantalle (Sycip) and Stephanie Hayos (Eclipse) buried themselves to bring her back just before the hill. I took the climb pretty hard and then attacked just cresting the hill, and the rest of the field seemed too tired to follow (good tip from Louise’s pre-race brief). I managed to stay away for the final 4 laps with maybe a 20 second lead for the win. In the field, Kat was just edged out in the field sprint by Stephanie Hayos, and came in 3rd.
Last lap Kat’s POV:
Thanks to Louise’s great pre-race tip, I planned to position myself at the front of the group on the last lap on the hill. I crested the hill in front of the group, then put the power down hard. This spread out the group a bit. I think it ended up being me, then Stephanie Hayos on my wheel, and Maeve on her wheel. I was focusing on a good lead-out for Maeve. Stephanie ended up starting her sprint just before the final corner (surprised me to be quite honest), and pulled ahead. We were taking the final corners pretty hard and aggressive I’d say, and some of the field fell behind a bit. I couldn’t keep up with Stephanie (Eclipse) after the effort I put down in the earlier part of that lap, but I am happy that I still had the legs to finish the race/sprint somewhat strong.
Photo Credit: Adam Meyer (thanks for capturing my pain face)
Race Report: Land Park Crit W3/4/5/Master’s/Juniors
Race: Land Park Crit W3/4/5/Master’s/Juniors
Date: March 15, 2025
AVRT racers: Louise Thomas, Sam Dewees, Kat Zgraja, Katie Monaghan, Steph Hart
Top Result: 1/50 Steph, 3/50 Kat, 6/50 Louise
Course: Flat oval course (~1.1 mi) with a chicane, headwind into the finish line
nutrition: espresso gu ~5 min before the start
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13892978235
Race Recap:
From Steph’s perspective in the break:
The start of the NCNCA womens series brought out 50 (!) women in the combined 3/4/5 masters/jr field- largest field of the day outside of the men’s 1/2/3 race. As soon as lap one, several solo attacks went off the front, but everything was brought back quickly. The chicane section was pretty sketchy with this large of a field, which was a good reminder to be in the front of this section to avoid crashes. In the third lap, Lousie attacked before the chicane section, and when the field brought her back, I countered and got a bit of separation heading into the headwind section. No one appeared to chase, and after a few laps solo I was holding a 30-45 second gap. From there I spent the next 35 minutes humming radio shack to myself off the front while riding a little below threshold (noting Bariani was the following day so I didn’t want to totally trash myself), and managed to stay away for the win.
From Katie’s perspective in the field:
This was the best race of the year. Steph got away early and then Louise, Kat and I quickly assembled to the front of the peloton to slow down the field. I heard a few girls shout at us that we were purposely slowing it down and that felt super satisfying. There was a lot of racing between Steph’s break and the final laps that included some sketchy corners, a little bumping elbows and small attacks.
With three laps to go, I notice I’m the only AV jersey I’ve seen in the main peloton for a bit. I think to myself did I suddenly get the fitness of a god and somehow am the only one who stayed with the group?! Believe it or not, this is definitely not the case, Louise was sitting at the back plotting with Kat exactly what she wanted for a sprint.
With about 5 laps to go Louise rides up next to me and goes “okay Kat wants a 10 second sprint, one of us is taking through the first two corners and chicane and one of us is taking through the final corner. Which do you want?” Katie “uhhhhh, idk??” The pace picks up again and we split.
Entering into the final lap, I see Kat has gotten herself to the front. I’m probably mid to back of the back. Louise comes around me and gets in front of Kat. Again Katie thoughts “woah, cool, okay Katie time to make yourself useful” so I come around the outside the peloton and get in front of Louise to start hammering for the final lap.
To my surprise, I think I was putting down some pretty good power because I stayed there for about 75% of the final lap. I was super excited to finally to get to take the left before the chicane like I wanted to instead of the accordion effect on all the other laps. I just redlined some and listened to Louise’s encouraging words behind me go “come on Katie, you’re doing great, one more corner, come on, you’ve got this” I’m currently seeing stars but how the heck to let the nicest person in the world down at that point? Shy of the final corner I pull to the side and Louise pulled around me and I slow pedaled to the finish.
Kat’s perspective in the sprint:
After Steph’s attack, Louise, Katie, and I worked to prevent the group from catching. It was pretty effective. Based on the course visibility, we could see Steph noticeably getting away. About 4 laps to go, we now started to focus on the field sprint. Louise came up to me and we discussed strategy. We ended up deciding that Katie and Louise were going to lead me out for the field sprint. Louise rode up to Katie to tell her to start getting to the start of the pack on the second to last or beginning of the last lap. We assembled ourselves pretty well. Katie came to the front of the group right at the bell lap and pulled like a beast until just after the chicane. Then Louise was right behind her and put the power down. There was a girl who managed to grab Louise’s wheel, so I was 3rd wheel in the leadout. Closely after the final turn (~400m to the finish?), Shannon Pidd pulled out from behind me. I quickly grabbed her wheel, and then it was a race between me and her to the finish. I was gaining on her, but the finish line did arrive quicker than I expected, so I ended up being maybe 6” behind her. I guess I need to start practicing my bike throw. All-in-all a great effort, the pace on that last lap was epic, and our teamwork really worked out quite well. I just need to work on executing that field sprint win in future races :)
photo credit: Daniel Alvarez
Race Report: Snelling Road Race W3/4/5/Master’s
Race: Snelling RR W3/4/5
Date: March 1, 2025
AVRT racers: Chris Davis, Louise Thomas, Maeve Roach, Rachel Hwang, Robin Kutner, Sam Dewees, Steph Hart
Top Result: 1/31 Rachel, 3/31 Louise, 5/31 Maeve, 6/31 Steph
Course: 50 miles total, 4x 11.4 mile laps with a 5 mile moto start
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13763587090
Race Recap: Rachel Hwang’s Perspective
Our team strategy was to have me as a protected rider to get my last remaining upgrade points to cat up, and have the rest of the team attack and counterattack, make the race more exciting.
Right off the bat, Louise attacked, and given the race had just begun, no one chased. For the first lap Louise was out there on her own, a few same people tried bridging, but made poor attempts and were uncoordinated. In addition, Robin did a great job of riding in the front of the pack discouraging others to chase, or sitting 2nd wheel behind those who tried to chase, and refused to pull, once again disrupting any chase attempts.
One lap in, the race was turning into a coffee ride, and Steph decided to attack. Maeve and I followed thinking we could break off from the larger group, join Louise, and have a 4 person team break. That failed horribly as the rest of the pack was right behind us. Although we never want to chase our teammates down, my thought here was to have a sprinter and a teammate in the break to ensure a win at the finish line. Instead of slowing down once again as we should have done, Steph continued pushing the pace until we caught up to Louise, at which point she had about a one minute lead. While we should not have chased down our own teammate, the field was not cut in half, and people were getting tired.
For the next lap, some attacks were made, none successful, chased down each time. As it was the same few people chasing, probably those stronger in the pack, they were getting tired. Then for a bit, attacks stopped, and the ride started becoming a coffee ride once again. I chatted with Robin, saying it was getting boring, that I want to attack but I should keep my energy, and that’s when Robin said she could attack. She did just that, which set off a chain of events leading to the eventual win. As Robin attacked, others chased, and I followed drafting behind the others. As Robin was brought back in, Sophia counterattacked, Louise chased, and I jumped on Louise’s wheel. Mile 23. I have never been in a successful break, and thinking strategy, always play it conservatively, and as the protected rider, didn’t think I should pull. Because I’ve never been in a successful break, I was also very skeptical of a break sticking for 25+ miles. As the three of us struggled to figure out how to keep the break, with Sophia and Louise trading pulls, I could see the two of them struggling, and asked Louise if I should pull. She said, “maybe a little.” A fourth girl, Kelly, had bridged up to us, and that point, had been maybe a minute in a successful break, already longer than I had expected. With four people, I decided to give it a good go and with the help of Louise was able to get the four of us to rotate and take quick turns pulling. I would count in my head up to 10 slowly before flicking my elbow and moving aside for the next person to pull.
Robin’s perspective in the main pack: with our protected rider in the break, Maeve and Steph and I patrolled the front of the peloton to interrupt attempts at paceline organization. After a few miles, the break was out of sight. Steph attacked at one point on a roller in favorable wind conditions, and nobody chased her down. When she was maybe 30sec ahead, Maeve then attacked (looking around to make sure she hadn’t brought any opponents with her), and turns out she was able to bridge to Steph. Strong!!
We traded pulls for the remainder of the ride, with the moto informing us our lead of 30s, 1min, and 2min. I felt pretty fresh, and really wanted the break to stick. As the pace would drop a little, I’d pull a little longer, yell some encouraging words, and especially up the hills, keep a strong pace and pull us up, but trying to be careful not to push the pace too much as I needed the other 3 for a successful breakaway through to the end.
As we entered into the last lap, I was trying to gauge how the other riders felt. Louise told me she didn’t think she could keep that pace much longer, even though she was killing it and I couldn’t tell, and Sophia and Kelly had strong but short pulls, so couldn’t tell how they were doing.
Robin’s perspective in the main pack: now we had two AV groups up ahead, and it was just me in this chase group (plus the Chris/Sam group somewhere behind). Having shed a few riders to the front groups and off the back, the riders around me started rolling turns. I didn’t want to just sit on the back of the rotation because then I’d be too far from the front to respond to anything. So I sorta sat in the middle of the rotation and when riders noticed the next person wasn’t pulling through, they’d glance back, see it was me (and understandably roll their eyes!), and create a mini-rotation in front of me. It felt like a sneaky move, but it was successful, since we then lost sight of Maeve and Steph. This was my first time majorly defending teammates up the road.
With less than 3 miles to go, we turned a corner, with me and Sophia in front, and the next time I looked back, Louise and Kelly had dropped off. I wasn’t sure how many miles were left so looked over at Sophia wondering if we should go ahead or wait for them. They were getting farther behind so we decided to work together to the end. I later learned from Louise that she purposefully slowed her and Kelly down so that I’d only have one person to sprint against. As Sophia and I were on the last stretch of road before the last turn, we traded pulls, and Sophia moved aside for me to pull, then said, “It’s the last corner.” I replied with, “I know” and decided to pull the rest of the way. But Sophia wasn’t sitting right behind my wheel and I wasn’t sure why she wasn’t maximizing the draft, then I speeded up a little, and as soon as we hit the corner, I sprinted. About 15 seconds later I look back and she’s still far behind but don’t let off the gas. Another 15 seconds later I look back again and she is nowhere near catching up, so I slow roll through the finish line.
Robin’s perspective in the main pack: with all my teammates up the road completely out of sight, I was free to race for myself. There were ~10 of us and I knew the last stretch into the finish had corners, sand, a bottleneck, potholes, and would be a sprint – not great for me. I attacked the field 3k out trying to shed some people and knowing I’d have time to recover. That didn’t achieve anything – not sure what else I could have done at this moment to improve my potential in this group (any suggestions?). With some trepidation about the “road features”, I approached the finish in poor position but managed to catch a couple riders who faded during the final sprint. It was great to see that the cat3 teammates whose position I had defended finished extremely well!
Sam’s perspective: This was my first road race, so my intention was to follow the team plan to control the pace and help Rachel win in a sprint finish. I used the first lap to observe the dynamics and get comfortable riding in a pack. Louise attacked early, so I tried to stay with the group in a decent position and prepare myself for attacking later on in the race, if necessary. Unfortunately, I learned after the first lap that positioning is critical at all times during a race, especially if there are rolling hills, and anticipating pace changes is key to staying in a good position. The first lap ended with an uphill stretch which was followed by a downhill section, a right hand turn, and another uphill stretch, and it was at this moment that a rider attacked and I found myself unable to respond quickly enough and lost the front group. Fortunately, Chris and several other riders lost the group as well, so we formed a chase group and rode together for the remainder of the race, trading pulls. Chris developed a strategy for our group: prevent the chase from bridging back to the front group so we kept some competition away from our teammates. She also lead me out at the end of the last lap for a sprint finish, and I managed to edge in front of the other riders, ending my race on a higher note. While it was not the race I expected, I had a good experience overall and learned lots for future races!
Nutrition: 1x 24oz Fluid Fresh Citrus drink mix, 1x Torq gel per hour (2x non-caffeinated, 1x caffeinated). My second bottle flew out of the bottle cage on the first lap from the bumpy roads.
Race Report: 2025 Huffmaster Hopper Pro Women Long Course
Race: Huffmaster Hopper Gravel Race
Date: February 22, 2025
AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang
Top Result: 7/12 W Pro Rachel Hwang
Course: One large 90 mile loop, 54% paved, 46% dirt, some bad roads that resemble gravel, 3900 feet, longest climb 2.3 miles 830 feet climb
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13699370358
Race Recap:
This is my first gravel race. I’m borrowing Maeve’s gravel bike and have for the last week. I’m at the start line. I’m looking at Kate Kourtney in her Red Bull helmet. I’m telling myself this is supposed to be a fun race. I’m also telling myself to push harder than I normally do in my mountain bike races - those last year I told myself to pace to not great success - and to imagine myself on the dirt podium with Kate Kourtney.
The message of this race today, to push and power through and stay with the people in front of me.
I start off with the Pro Men and Women’s fields (the messed up my entry and ended up scoring me in my age group), about 50 men and women riders in a tight pack, very chill drafting 23 mph without putting out much work. As soon as we hit the gravel, people attack, and within 20 ft into the gravel, we hit a mud pit, and a Monarch girl goes down. I unclip and go around her, at that point, already too far behind to catch back up with the legs I have. But I tell myself to push, so I dig deep and ride as hard as I can, constantly seeing the group just too slightly out of reach in front of me. Soon enough, we hit road, and a Monarch girl is drafting behind me. She’s strong in short bursts, but not able to pull much. I trade pulls with her until we catch up to the main group, at which point we’re exhausted and glad they’re going 18 mph. These surges happen throughout the first 28 miles. Each time, I’m shot off the back, and each time, struggling to catch back up.
Eventually, at mile 28, we hit a slight consistent 2-4% gradient on potholed paved road leading up to the gravel climb. Now people are attacking on the paved road. Because of the paved surface, the group is able to stick together, but because of the paved surface, the more peak power I seem to be putting out. With each surge, I learn to move up so that I have more buffer to get dropped. The entire time, I tell myself to power through no matter how I’m feeling, that I know that I can stick on, and that it’s a mental game of whether or not I want to stay on. I tell myself getting dropped is not an option.
This is my first race back this year, and my first long dirt race after many seemingly failed attempts to do well last year at Sea Otter, Tahoe Trail, and Leadville. Within an hour, I’m already screaming in my head, “And I have to do this for 4 hours??”
Thankfully, I’m able to stick with the pack until mile 40, where we hit the 2.3 mi, 800 ft gravel climb, before the field is blown apart. I am giving everything I have, not thinking about pacing or bonking, and not thinking about the next 50 miles of the race. I know I’m in front of Jen, my only reference of how I’m doing in this race, and surprisingly, beat her to the top. As we descend, she catches up, to which I stick behind her wheel. We catch a third and the three of us, mainly the dude, take turns pulling, picking up a few more people, gathering up to a group of 8, riding together slightly uphill until mile 68.
I only have two water bottles, 21oz and 24oz, with the plan of stopping at mile 45 bottle drop to swap out one of my bottles, but I’m knee deep drafting Jen and this guy, and decide that since I’ve only had 1 bottle in half the race, I could make the other bottle last the rest of the race.
We pick up a girl in black, and another guy, both who are really strong and start surging and blowing up our group. Mile 68, we hit a gravel incline, and the two of them take the opportunity to attack. At that point, I had almost been dropped multiple times, with people going around me to fill the gap, and again, me telling myself it’s a mental game, able to dig deep and manage to stay with the group, although unable to effectively pull. So when they attack, I know that’s it, and that my time pacing and drafting a group was over. Jen and the other dude I started off with pull ahead as well, although behind the other two, and I’m trailing behind them, very quickly seeing the gap grow on the open climb.
Soon after I start to feel my legs cramp, and sure enough, my inner thigh from my groin all the way to my knee cramps. Generally when I start cramping, I chug my electrolyte water, but in this case, I have no water, and am not planning on stopping anything soon, so all I can think of is “oh shit.” I look at the map and see there are only two small climbs left, less than 0.5mi each. I pass an aid station and decide not to stop for water, and hear a bunch of AV people cheering my name. I love the AV community and support. By the top of the last climb, I’ve given it more than I normally do, feel my legs giving out but still working, and am so tired my descending becomes so horrible I veer into bushes on the side and other things a couple times. It was embarrassing.
By the bottom, there is about 15 miles left and I’m going my own pace when a girl passes me. She is clearly stronger than me so I hop on her wheel and she proceeds to pull me most of the way back. I trade of with her frequently, although it is very clear every time I pull, I’m holding her back, so she goes ahead and pulls ahead as I draft behind her. The entire time, I’m going back and forth thinking, “If I stay on and draft the whole way back, I could outsprint her,” and “She can easily drop me at any point if she wanted to, it’s very nice of her to let me sit on her wheel.” I feel about 7/10 at the beginning of the draft, on gravel, and as we hit road, still am feeling pretty good, but as we hit gravel again for the last 5 miles, it becomes very choppy at some points, and I am having to put a lot more power down to stay on her wheel, and my butt is getting very saddle sore from every bump in the gravel. I can no longer keep up easily, and am just thinking about making it to the end with her. I keep checking my Garmin route to see what’s ahead, and prepare for the final turn, still thinking maybe I can sprint at the end. As we turn the last corner, the straight path to the finish is 0.5mi, and the girl puts down just slightly more power, and immediately I knew I could try my hardest and she will still have more in the tank, so there is no point in burning the last matches, so I stay the same pace through to the end line.
Nutrition: 1x 24oz Crank Horchata drink mix 1st 45mi, 1x 21oz Fluid Fresh Citrus drink mix 2nd 45 mi, 3x Torq gels (2x caffeinated) and 1x Carbs Fuel Energy Gel one per hour
Race Report: 2025 Bariani Road Race - Men’s Cat 5
Race: Bariani Road Race - Men’s Cat 5
Date: March 16th, 2025
AVRT racers: Vasyl Stokolosa
Top Result: Vasyl Stokolosa (1/28)
Course: Two laps of a mostly flat 20-mile course with very high winds
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13902719216
Nutrition: One bottle of 90g Skratch high-carb, 1 SiS GO Energy + Electrolyte gel
Recap: No teammates—racing solo. Super Sprinkles had three strong riders, Chico Cycling Team and Mike’s Bikes Development each had two riders. We started off a little chaotic and fast. I wanted to stay at the front since the high crosswinds made riding in the group quite dangerous. Two guys crashed at the end of the first lap after touching wheels. My plan was to try to break away with strong riders and win the sprint 🙂
After 20 minutes of racing, I decided to attack and managed to create a good gap between myself and the chasing group. Since the race was only 40 miles, I chose not to wait for them to catch up and instead see if they could close the gap. When I finally lost sight of them, it was a relief—I settled into my tempo and kept rolling.
With half a lap to go, a rider from Super Sprinkles caught me. I hadn’t noticed him at the start, so I asked if he was originally in my group 🙂 He told me the rest of the chasing group had given up, but he kept pushing. We worked together until the finish—luckily, he didn’t attack me, as I was pretty cooked. In the end, I won the sprint!
Thanks for reading!
Vasyl
Race Report: Land Park Criterium - Men’s Masters 35+ Cat 3/4
Race: 2025 Land Park Criterium - Men’s Masters 35+ Cat 3/4
Date: March 15, 2025
AVRT racers: Michael Matthews
Top Result: 3rd Place (of 29 starters)
Course: Flat oval course with a chicane and only one corner that cannot be pedaled through. Head wind on the start/finish straight. Tail wind on the back straight. Cool morning weather. No rain, but wet sections on course from prior day rains.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13891888713
Nutrition: ~100g of carbs in a bottle for pre/during race nutrition. Typical breakfast eaten before leaving the Bay.
Event Recap: Decided late to do this race. Saw that the weather was going to be good and had already done this course at Cal Aggie about a month ago. Not a race day I was targeting results for and I was solo, so my plan was to react to any real moves, but largely let the race play out and take an opportunity if it was presented. I knew the turny bits at the top of the course better than most so was in the front 10 heading into the chicane nearly every time. Started to realize that I was carrying more speed than anyone else and creating a small gap each time. The group seemed pretty lethargic. I was first into the chicane on the first prime lap and decided to ride it out, taking the prime and seeing another rider trying to bridge, I let him latch on and we went to work. Soon a third rider was bridging and we had a gap. Party time. We went to work for the last 20 mins or so and the gap continued to grow. Eyes on the lap board (this time). Last lap. First into the chicane, then some leadout games. I teased out a jump from the Titan rider so that he would take the wind. When I went to come around him I dropped my chain and coasted in for 3rd. Time to get ready for the Cat 4 race! Rear puncture.
Race Report: Land Park Criterium - Men’s E4
Race: 2025 Land Park Criterium - Men’s E4
Date: March 15, 2025
AVRT racers: Michael Matthews
Top Result: 10th (of 39 starters)
Course: Flat oval course with a chicane and only one corner that cannot be pedaled through. Head wind on the start/finish straight. Tail wind on the back straight. Mild morning weather. Sun was coming out and the roads were dry.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13891889774
Nutrition: ~100g of carbs in a bottle for pre/during race nutrition. Plus a Clif bar between races.
Event Recap: Decided late to do this race. Saw that the weather was going to be good and had already done this course at Cal Aggie about a month ago and the Masters 35+ race before hand on the same day. Not a race day I was targeting results for and I was solo, so my plan was to react to any real moves, but largely let the race play out and take an opportunity if it was presented. I knew the turny bits at the top of the course better than most so was in the front 10 heading into the chicane nearly every time.
After fixing my between-race puncture - picked up a piece of glass at some point shortly after the masters race I was ready to go at it again. I felt good considering I had just spent half of the first race in the break. I was, again, carrying more speed than anyone else and creating a small gap each time. This kept my at the pointy end of the peloton and at the front of the pack. At one point this resulted in a post-prime move going up the road for about a lap. We had a group of four at one point that could have held off the pack, but we didn’t well/hard enough early on enough to create the separation that we needed.
The group was reactive and jumpy throughout. My power profile tells the story. I really starte to feel the legs fizzle about halfway through this race. This one was headed for a bunch sprint. I made sure I was first into the chicane and held a top 5-7 spot into the finish straight without taking wind. My legs just didn’t have the pop left in them and I push as hard as I could through the line for 10th. Great day of racing, with my family there to watch and cheer me on!!
Race Report: 2025 Bariani Road Race – Men’s Cat 3
Race: Bariani Road Race - Men’s Cat 3
Date: March 16th, 2025
AVRT racers: George Wehner, Kevin Kauffman, Ryan Dyke
Top Result: George 4/34
Course: 4 laps of a 20-mile, mostly flat course with a short hill about 3km before the finish. Winds were very high on this day, around 15-20 mph from SSE; the final climb and finish line were both into a block headwind.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13901966058
Nutrition: I ate a packet of Skratch energy chews (40g carbs, 50mg caffeine) on the start line, then during the race I drank 3 full bottles with 90g carbs each (30g fructose, 60g maltodextrin) and ate another pack of Skratch energy chews.
Recap: (Written by George) Going into the race, our plan was to have Kevin and Ryan cover moves and keep me sheltered, while I waited for the sprint. I was hoping for a hard race that significantly reduced the group and left everyone with tired legs. Dolce Vita and Terun were the main teams we were looking out for, as Dolce Vita brought 5 riders and Terun brought 3, and both teams have seen some early season success this year.
As soon as the race started, it became apparent that the race was going to be quite attritional due to the high winds. The long stretch of road on the northern part of the course was a ripping right-to-left crosswind in which it was nearly impossible to find shelter. The race was also extremely fast during the tailwind sections which made things very difficult. During the first two laps, I stuck towards the middle of the pack, which was probably too far back as I was mostly unsheltered during the crosswind section. People were getting dropped left and right – we lost about half the field within two laps, including Kevin and Ryan.
On lap 2, a breakaway with two riders got off the front, one of them being Chaz from Data Driven Athlete who had won Snelling two weeks prior. They gained time on us for a full lap and were about 1.5 minutes off the front at the start of lap 3. However, people realized they were still catchable, so the pace increased significantly and the race got even harder: this would end up being the fastest and hardest lap of the entire race. I didn’t want to get guttered, so I moved towards the front to contribute to the chase and get into an echelon formation with the other chasers; while this meant I had to spend some time on the front, it was worth it because I got the benefit of the echelon when I wasn’t on the front. We ended up catching the break near the end of lap 3.
After we caught the break, everyone was cooked and no one wanted to pull. I was pretty much coasting in the draft during the headwind section, and even the tailwind section was relatively chill. However, once we got onto that long crosswind section again, people started ripping the pace and trying to gutter the field again. I was hanging on for dear life at this point. By the time we turned right into the headwind, the field was down to about 10 people. Things calmed down during the stretch before the hill as everyone wanted to save their legs.
Once the road turned up, it was full gas, and pretty much a contest of who’d be the last one to crack. A Team California rider and a Hot Tubes rider were pushing the hardest. I was surfing wheels and ended up on the wheel of Aubery, a strong solo rider who I thought would be able to hold onto the pace, but he lost the wheel near the top of the climb so the two frontrunners got away. I was in a chase group with Aubery, Sean from Mike’s Dev, and Jeff from Dolce Vita; however, no one wanted to sacrifice their race to catch the riders off the front, so the gap blew out and we were racing for third. I was sitting 2nd wheel behind Aubery until about 150m before the finish. I had a solid sprint, but Sean came around me at the line for 3rd, meaning I got my second 4th place result of the season in as many races.
4th wasn’t the result I was looking for, and at this race it meant I was out of the prize money, but it’s still a solid result for a hard-fought race. I’m really looking forward to getting out there and trying to get on that top step in the near future.
Race Report: 2025 Land Park Criterium Men P123 35+
Race: Land Park Criterium - Men's Cat P123 35+
Date: Saturday March 15, 2025
AVRT racers: Erik Levinsohn
Top Result: Erik Levinsohn (1/38)
Course: Ovoid ~1 mile circuit with one tight S curve, significant headwind on N stretch and tailwind on S stretch. Flat as a pancake.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13893245466
Nutrition: One gu. I can’t eat during crits so just ate a big breakfast and hoped for the best.
Race recap: It’s been a tough start to the year with some busy days at work and illness throwing a wrench in racing plans. This weekend I had planned to do Bariani though with some changing family plans over the weekend it looked like the best window to get in a race was the masters crit.
I hate crits. My strengths as a cyclist are time trialing and climbing and flat pack riding doesn’t exactly tick those boxes. However, this seemed like a good chance to get in some racing practice and finally don the AV kit for the first time as a racer.
Patience is not a virtue of mine and the first lap of the race was slow enough that I figured sending an attack on lap 2 was at least worth the thrill and the possibility of animating the race. After attacking all out for a minute or so there was a substantial gap. I hadn’t really planned on trying to stay off the front the whole race but that became the new plan.
Having primes every few laps and a relatively small group off the front chasing was I think pretty key in terms of being able to stay away. A larger group chasing or a more steady effort from the pack and I think I would have been caught. In the end, I was able to stay away for the rest of the race.
It’s my first year as a masters racer and while I plan to do mostly P12 races, it was fun to have the chance to try out something different and finally get started with some racing for the year.
Photo Credit: Daniel Alvarez | Enjoy Cycling
Photo Credit: Daniel Alvarez | Enjoy Cycling
Race Report: 2025 CBR Criterium Series Races #2 and #3 - Women P12
Race: CBR Criterium Series #2 - Women P12
Date: February 23, 2025
AVRT racers: Roz Patterson, Sue Lin Holt, Thialor Mize, Whitney Post
Top Result: Thialor Mize - 8th/18 in the women’s P12 field
Course: 50 minute four corner crit, 0.8 miles per lap, fairly flat
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13710216199 (Whitney)
Written by: Thialor Mize
Whitney and I drove from Tucson Bicycle Classic to race CBR on Sunday with the points omnium in mind (I was 4th place in the series standings). The race was decently quick, my legs were a little stale from the 82 mile road race the day before but it was manageable. The travel and stage racing took a little bit of a toll on me mentally and I found it fairly difficult to move up in the windy sections and find speed where I normally had no issue. Whitney and Roz did a stellar job of animating the race and going for primes, and Sue Lin closed a few gaps for me while I was on her wheel. Unfortunately I was out of position for the final sprint and dragged it in for a top 10, but all in all our team’s synergy worked well and I’m looking forward to building that momentum for the rest of the season.
Race: CBR Criterium Series #3 - Women P12
Date: March 9, 2025
AVRT racers: Roz Patterson, Sue Lin Holt, Thialor Mize, Whitney Post
Top Result: Thialor Mize - 2nd/22 in the combined women’s P123 field
Course: 50 minute four corner crit, 0.8 miles per lap, mostly flat with a long uphill drag sprint
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13838934045 (Whitney)
Written by: Thialor Mize
We had a full squad out in force on the day. The race started fairly quickly which was a welcome surprise for me. Everyone worked super well together to keep me in the wheels/out of the wind and made sure I got into the early break around 15 mins in. I went for a BAR prime, got it, and spent half a lap off the front to see what the field would do. When it was evident we were going to have a field sprint, Whitney and Roz rallied at the front to lead me out 3 laps to go. I hopped on the CBR points leader’s wheel when her team’s lead out overtook us, sprinted ahead of the swarm, and came in second on the day.
I’m really proud of how well the team is coming together to work cohesively as a unit and I’m happy to get a podium for them.
Race Report: 2025 Roger Millikan Grand Prix - Women P12
Race: Roger Millikan Grand Prix - Women P12
Date: February 5, 2025
AVRT racers: Roz Patterson, Sue Lin Holt, Thialor Mize, Whitney Post
Top Result: Thialor Mize - 5th/19 in the P123 combined field
Course: 45 minute crit, 0.7 miles per lap, counter clockwise Brea Challenger course featuring a fast downhill corner in T2 and a moderate climb to T4
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13587283630 (Whitney)
Written by: Thialor Mize
Our race together with our new rider Roz started out relatively smoothly. I expected a lot of breakaway attempts from riders on LEGION and Fount, so I was on watch duty following the wheels. The race was pretty animated, with several hard attacks on the climb. Whitney went for a clever late move using her momentum and cornering skills in T2 to get a significant gap on the last lap. Unfortunately she was caught before the last two turns and the race ended in a field sprint where I got fifth.
Race Report: 2025 Snelling Road Race - Men’s Cat 5
Race: Snelling Road Race - Men’s Cat 5
Date: March 1, 2025
AVRT racers: Vasyl Stokolosa
Top Result: Vasyl Stokolosa (1/19)
Course: 4 laps of a rolling 20-km course with generally mediocre pavement that became quite bad on the back half of the course
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13764382387
Nutrition: 3 SiS GO Energy + Electrolyte gels, two bottles of 90g Skratch high-carb
Recap: No teammates-racing solo. Sacramento Specialized Devo had two strong riders who were pacing the race and always staying at the front. My plan was to chase attacks if any came or try to make a breakaway on the last lap.
We started at a fast pace and passed the Cat 4 group, which had started five minutes before us. The official slowed down the Cat 4 group so we could go ahead, but some of our riders stayed with them. As a result, we ended up with only eight riders.
There were several attempts to make a breakaway, but the two Devo riders shut everything down. So I decided to position myself as the first rider through the final corner and go full gas to the finish. That worked well because the road conditions were not great, and taking the central line made it difficult for others to pass. The right side was also blocked by another group. I gave it everything I had to the finish and took the win!
Thanks for reading!
Vasyl
Race Report: Tucson Bicycle Classic Mens 2/3
Race: Tucson Bicycle Classic, Mens 2/3
Date: 2/21/2025-2/23/2025
AVRT racers: Leo Minami
Top Result: Leo Minami: 13/87 Stage 2 Road race, 22/97 Omnium GC
Course:
Stage 1a TT: Straight TT with squiggle in the middle Started early in the morning into a strong headwind. Sent the turns hard and accidentally pedal striked. Not great at putting down power in aero position but still managed decent power and good pacing 30/87
Stage 2a Crit: Stuck behind a crash right after the gun. Group got strung out and I was having trouble moving up. Having to sprint out of the stupid U turn every lap was not helping. Pulled halfway through. I need to work on crit racing
Stage 3 Road race: Mostly flat with some rollers. Best result of the weekend. Plan was to mark the top GC riders to see if I could steal a leadout. The end of the race was very chaotic but I was able to take advantage of this to move to the front. Rolled in for 13th. Was shoulder to shoulder and wasn’t really able to go around anyone during the sprint
Stage 4: Same basic plan as the road race. Moved up a lot in the last 2 laps. Unfortunately I chose the slow line going into the last corner and a bunch of people passed me. Had to fight to move up on the final climb. Got into my old teammate's wheel and moved up about 10 positions but got muscled out into the wind. Was able to find some wheels to follow but they were fading and I had to start my sprint super early. Ended up getting passed by a lot of people in the last 100 m 28/80
Nutrition: Fuelled with formula 369 mix and supplemented with carbs fuel gels. Aimed for approx. 100g carbs per hour. Road race was short enough that I was able to bring all of the fluids I needed to the start
Race Report: 2025 Grasshopper Huffmaster - Men’s Pro
Race: 2025 Grasshopper Huffmaster - Men’s Pro
Date: February 22, 2025
AVRT racers: Jon Wells
Top Result: Jon Wells, 38th
Course: 90 mile loop with 4800 feet of climbing and about 50% dirt. The front half is relatively flat and mostly road (with a couple dirt pinch points) until mile 40, when there is a ~12 min climb that kicks off the mostly dirt and much hillier back half of the course. The final tough climb comes 68 miles in and is ~5 minutes thru Huffmaster Ranch before gently going downhill back to the finish
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13699541766
Nutrition: 400g of malto/gatorade/salt mix in 2 bottles plus camelback
Race Recap:
Race started out on fairly flat road sections and got off to a fairly chill start as no one wanted to spend energy on the easy part of the course knowing what was to come. There were a few pinch points on the gravel sections which had large mud pits that caused chaos in the pack. Into and out of each of these sections the pace would increase, just to go back to social pace again before the next one. I was caught behind some crashes and had to dismount to run around one but had no issues catching back on.
Eventually we got to the crux of the course with the first real climb at mile 40 which comes as the course narrows to double track. I was able to start the climb near the front but the entire group blew up on this climb, leaving everyone in small groups for the rest of the race. The descent off this climb was on a winding dirt road that made for pretty high speeds.
The first aid station was at the bottom of the descent and I caught a group of 3 coming out of the aid as I was able to continue without stopping due to my camel back. Perhaps it had slowed me down on the climb but it definitely helped me get back into a group over the top.
I held onto this group thru the second big climb, which topped out at mile 52, and into the slight downhill after. We caught a couple lone riders who tagged along, until after 61 miles, right at the 3 hour mark, my legs had had enough and I was popped.
I rode alone for a little while and was caught by another group of 5 coming into the Huffmaster climb who I stuck with until the grade pitched up towards the end. Eventually I was alone for the entire descent back into town. The technical, steeper part at the top was quite a bit of fun but the long slight downhill drag after was torture by myself.
A lone rider caught me with maybe 10 miles to go who I exchanged pulls with for a while until I started cramping quite badly with a few miles to go. I was ecstatic to see the 1 mile to go sign (see big smiling photo below)!
Was definitely a bit outside my comfort zone on such a long race but was fun to get out there and try a gravel race! The grasshopper events seem to be very well put together and I would recommend trying to get out to one!
Race Report: 2025 Santa Barbara Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Race: Santa Barbara Road Race - Men’s P/1/2
Date: 1/25/25
AVRT Racers: Henry Mallon, Nathan Martin
Top Result: Henry 16th
Nutrition: 2 600ml bottles w/ 100g of carbs each, 1 900ml bottle with 150g of carbs, took in ~100g/h
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13452992482
Recap (written by Nathan):
Big field for an early season race, over 55 starters. Strong riders included Chris Blevins, pro MTBer, John Borstelmann, pro gravel racer, Jason Saltzman, former pro road cyclist, and a bunch of other names. There weren’t a ton of huge teams, most had 2-3 riders, so it was going to be a dynamic day.
I rolled off the front literally in the first mile and would spend ⅔ of the day in the break. I joined a small group that included Will Hardin, crit racer and YouTuber extraordinaire, and a few other strong riders.
We quickly got a 2 minute gap and started to really roll through with each other, even though we still had 3 hours to race.
First two laps were us just rotating, then just after the start of lap 3, Chris Blevins would bridge up to us as would John Borstelmann later, so we had a really strong group.
We would rotate really well for about a lap, then people started getting tired and skipping turns, this was a January race after all, and being in the break that long really wasn’t too fun.
We got caught just after the start of lap 5. I tried to put in a dig on the climb to get some separation, but it was to no avail and we got swept into the peloton.
On the start of the last lap, before the main climb, I made sure I was in good position as it was a bit of a crosswind on the climb and anything could happen. Sure enough, Chris Blevins would attack with a couple other strong riders and get a gap, which I would close down and stitch the group back together.
Going into the final straight, I was near the back with Henry, and decided to move him to the front and into good position. I took a decent pull up the side, bringing Henry into the front wheels, but my mistake was peeling off about 500m from the bottom of the final climb, where the finish was.
Henry would get swarmed a bit going into the climb, but still pull out a good finish given the depth of the field, and in his first P/1/2 race.
Overall a fun January race, was good to test the legs early and work on some positioning.
Race Report: Tucson Bicycle Classic - Women’s Cat 3
Race: Tucson Bicycle Classic - Women’s Cat 3
Date: Feb 21-23, 2025
AVRT racers: Maeve Roach, Louise Thomas, Steph Hart, Candice Lo
Top Results: Maeve (2/32 GC) Steph (14/32 GC) Louise (22/32 GC) Candice (24/32GC)
Stage 1 - 5 mi Time Trial
This was a point to point race with an S curve at the start. Wind played a key factor since it was on a flat and open desert bike bath. We talked before the race about aero positions and using the drops, and the plan for pacing was going out strong/at 10min-ish power effort and then increasing effort the second half to aim at increasing watts the second, finishing strong, and ending on empty. The pavement was super smooth and it was good to see the S curve before the race but would have been good to do a pre-ride of it just to see how fast you could take it and save some time. The W3 results were all so close, with only a couple seconds between the top 15 results!
Stage 2 - 61mi Road Race (3 laps)
The Women's Cat 3 and 40+ were in the same group so we had a strong showing of 5 women! Whitney, Steph, and Louise kept things interesting, making attacks and pushing the pace during the first two laps, and Candice made sure I was good on water and nutrition. Some other women in the field made attacks throughout the race as well but the peloton eventually closed the gap on any breaks. There were bonus Omnium points the first lap, and luckily I don't think many people knew about those so I (Maeve) sent a little tempo effort to secure some extra points in the GC, with the lead woman right behind. With about 5km to go tensions started rising in the peloton, and with 3km to go the tempo was still rising. With 1km to go Steph was going strong at the front of the Peloton, working hard to set up a lead out. Whitney helped play defense on a woman who was trying to box me in, and at 800m I decided to send it. Looking back, this was totally not the move! I went way too early and the woman leading the GC was right on my wheel. With 500m to go I was really questioning why I went so early, and actually down shifted because I didn't think I had much left in me. With 200m to go I heard the woman behind me shift and knew she was about to make an attack. With how hard the team had worked to get me in a good position for a stage win, I found the extra motivation to shift up and get out of the saddle to give the sprint everything I had. Thanks to the wheel throw practice we had at early birds, we secured the stage win! Earning enough points to also secure a leader's jersey in the GC thanks to how hard and smart the team worked!
Stage 3 - 45 min Circuit (~2 mile loop with an incline on the back half)
This stage was hot from the start! It wasn't a technical course but everyone was pushing the pace and accelerating after corners to try and make a break. I got confused with when the bonus points were and went a lap early, and then missed the attack the next lap and worked the whole fourth lap to catch the break. After yesterday I was in my head about going too early, which led me to go too late on the last attack and not have enough of a kick to catch the leaders before the finish. Definitely a fun and challenging final stage of the weekend, all the women really gave it their best and secured 2nd in the GC!
Race Report: Tucson Bicycle Classic - Women’s P12
Race: Tucson Bicycle Classic - Women’s P12
Date: Feb 21-23, 2025
AVRT racers: Robin Betz, Thialor Mize, Whitney Post
Top Result: Robin Betz (17th/59 in the TT, 41/60 GC)
Race context: With DNA Pro Cycling folding last year, there is really only one major women’s pro team in the US: the Olympic development team, Twenty28. They were at this race and unsurprisingly absolutely dominated, sweeping every podium and winning nearly every winnable intermediate sprint or lap. Every race they were on the front in a line just drilling it and keeping the pace high, with the rest of us bunched up behind competing for scraps. I’m not sure if this is fun for them but it would have been more interesting with some competition. At least it made it easy for me to predict there wouldn’t be a breakaway.
This was my second time doing this race, having previously finished in 2023 for 38/43 in GC (12th percentile).
TT
Course: 4.5 mi of flat bike path with one swoopy curve near the beginning and a headwind.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13688410594
Nutrition: 400kcal bottle on the ride over.
Recap: Since the course was short, I wanted the longest warmup possible. It was only an 18 mi ride from our Airbnb so I enjoyed a calm morning on the bike path with a tailwind for a good hour, then rode around on the road to add a bit more intensity before my start. This was an ideal warmup for me and I felt good at the start. There was a 10 mph headwind on the entire course, which, while feeling slow and bad, was to my benefit as I am proportionally more aerodynamic than other riders and I knew I could hold my road bike max aero position for the duration of the effort without significant power penalty. I’m always down about 20 watts on race day because of nerves, so I focused on really holding the position and doing my best.
I paced by feel and passed my 30 second and then my 1 minute rider and knew I’d done pretty well! I ended up 17th/59, my best result yet at a big race and finally making my goal of a top 20. I also beat triathlon Olympic gold medalist Gwen Jorgenson because I guess she is not aero on a road bike.
Crit
Course: 0.75 mi with four corners and a U-turn, with the worst pavement imaginable (think Copperopolis) on the back stretch.
Recap: I rode to this one too, with Thialor, which was about 10 miles of not as nice bike path due to proximity to downtown. Given the course and the number of riders, I knew that position at the start line was crucial, and lined up for the start pen very early to get a good spot. I ended up ideally positioned in the second row, but then the organizers got confused and told us to take a free lap. It was a 400+ watt, all elbows, max aggressive free lap as everyone was thinking the same as me, but I didn’t realize I should have cheated and cut the course before the U-turn, which is what the majority of the field did. I ended up at the back and pulled (too early) after 6 laps along with everyone else who started at the back and placed 55/58. I was pretty upset about this as it was a failure of the officials to ensure a fair race and I was confident I would have finished if I’d had my original start position, and now I was out of GC contention. Oh well, that’s bike racing.
RR
Course: 80 miles, 5 laps of a 20 mile loop with rollers at the beginning and a gradual 2-3% climb at the end.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13698726152
Nutrition: 2.5 bottles of Robin’s 400kcal drink mix, 1.5 sleeves Clif Blocks. I didn’t want to deal with the feed so I kept a bottle in my pocket and discarded one of my original ones in the feed zone. In retrospect, the weather was mild enough that I could have started with just 2 big bottles as I ended with over half a bottle remaining.
Recap: I was a bit nervous in the big group, having been crashed out of this race two years ago, and still grumpy from the crit, but decided early on that if I was going to be here anyway, I was going to have a good time and make the most of my fitness, training, and preparation.
Thialor’s positioning was great and I tried to find her wheel whenever possible, and slowly built confidence as the day went on. The pack was needlessly aggressive, but I was able to identify opportunities to move up and mark wheels that were especially sketchy. On the rollers we’d bunch up and if I was further back, I would have to brake and then sprint up the other side, and if I opened up a gap to try to smooth it out, someone would just scoot into that space instead. I got used to anticipating this by shifting down and being able to spin up the other side of the hill in an easy gear at 120 rpm, which is a lot less tiring and more aerodynamically efficient than standing and mashing. This worked quite well for me and was very repeatable.
I found I could move up before the last climb in the section before the turn where there was a cross/headwind, by taking the turn into that section on the inside and ending up on the sheltered side of the road. I tell myself “I only move up for free” but even easy pedaling would gain me spots here even without a wheel, so I would move up here quite reliably without a lot of effort.
Lap 3 had an intermediate sprint that Twenty28 unsurprisingly won, but I was pleased to find I was able to stay in the group. I actually was able to pass people on that back climb, which was a new experience for me as last time I was fighting for my life there. Unfortunately Thialor lost contact with the group somewhere in this section.
In the last lap I started thinking about how I’d do well, and began to move up in the downhill section opposite the final climb. I found it pretty easy to move up here as everyone wanted to stay out of the wind but I could just get low and move up easily. I got on the end of the Twenty28 train and prepared myself for a fight for position. It was a battle on the back stretch but I maintained my spot into the final corner, but on the final section got pretty swarmed. I was a lot better in the group here compared to earlier in the race– willing to be aggressive, bump elbows, and assert myself to get wheels. But, I was a bit too obsessed with staying out of the wind, and ended up pretty far back because I failed to move up. I ended up finishing in the bunch sprint for 38th/57. In retrospect I made a big tactical mistake here as I wasn’t particularly tired and could have spared the energy to be in the wind for the last 3-5 min to get a better position.
Circuit Race
Course: 2.7miles 4 corner circuit, with the finish line midway up a 1 mile climb, 190 ft climbing/lap
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13709421547
Nutrition: Pre-race, two vanilla frappes with extra whip cream as I watched other races (not the best idea but still very tasty). During, half a bottle of Robin’s 400 kcal drink mix
Recap: I was nervous about this one as I remembered the course being difficult and my teammates in the earlier races were telling me it was super difficult. My other P12 teammates had also decided to leave early, leaving me to race solo. But it was the last day and I was just happy to be there.
I lined up well at the start and it was fast from the beginning and never let up. Twenty28 held a really brutal pace on the front and I made it my goal to stay with the bunch at least through the intermediate sprint on lap 3.
I ended up tailgunning a bit and moving up at the corners, since the group would slow there, but I think I should have been trying harder to move up to where it would be smoother. I managed to judge where the wind would be quite well and ended up on the sheltered side for the hill every time, and I’d also pass about 20 people in the corners each time, which felt good.
The first few times up the hill weren’t that bad. My power meter said I was doing big watts but I try not to look at it during races and I was able to hold the wheel in front of me and even move up. It felt like a less steep Egan hill, but the crosswind helped me out since I was on the sheltered side.
After the intermediate sprint I was hanging on to the back for dear life, and was going to move up and catch back into the group on the corners, but the wheel I chose passed me and then braked to about 15 mph and I lost all my momentum. This was basically the end for me and I enjoyed a good TT until I got pulled. It was great having my teammates cheering me on every lap.
I didn’t even mind getting pulled after 6 laps because I had just been redlining it the whole time. I got a 3rd best all time 20 min heart rate and ended up 32nd!
Overall
41/60 in GC (32nd percentile), primarily due to my crit result, but nonetheless a big improvement from last time!
Stage races in the P12 field are very difficult, with a high level of competition and field sizes and dynamics that are challenging to practice at home. Every year I’m rewarded with steady progress and about 10 steps up in placings, and this year was no exception. I felt a lot stronger, more durable, and able to contemplate contending for a result instead of struggling to survive. There also were obvious areas to improve– timing positioning before sprints, and being less conservative with my watts when it matters for positioning. I think top 20 in GC is not an unreasonable goal for me next year in this race, and I’ll be back.