RED HOOK CRITERIUM BCN 2014

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Last weekend, Walton and I met up with Kyle in Barcelona for the second stop of the Red Hook Criterium. This is, by far, our favorite stop of the series, with weather being one of the factors rating the event trip. Kyle and Walton are living on opposite sides of the United States currently, so the opportunity to meet in Spain to train, beach, explore, eat, and see friends quickly filled up the calendar.

8-30-2014

Over the past few years traveling with the Red Hook Crit series, we have watched the event grow, on all fronts. On this day, entry was capped at 250 riders to qualify for the the main race. Qualification breaks the riders up into smaller groups, who have 20 minutes on course to set their personal fastest lap. All the riders have timing chips on their bikes which record the lap times as well as update the app with riders’ positions during the main race. The 85 fastest qualifying laps earn riders the corresponding slot on the start grid. Dave held a race following the last qualifier round to let a number of the fastest racers who didn’t qualify to compete in a “last chance race” which places the top ten finishers in the last ten slots on the main race’s start grid.

More international awareness of the event brings more crashes. The level of competition has risen, peppered with first-timers, some national and pro level racers, who are finding themselves for the first time racing a brakeless track bike in a criterium-formatted event

The Red Hook Crit is a spectator sport, both on, and off the pavement.

Dave Trimble

The RHC courses are all intentionally very technical to keep the races spread out, which makes them ultimately safer. It also makes choosing your gear very important since you have to factor in course speed, finishing speed and length, as well as course features like hairpins where you have to slow down and repeatedly sprint back up to speed every lap.

Marc Marino had a top 20 result at RCH Barcelona after building up for US Track Nationals a couple weeks before.

DSC wasn’t able to make it to Spain for RHC in person this year, but SheOne was on hand to hold it down.

Andrea Schiliro always brings the PMA.

Neil Bezdek is the road captain of Foundation Cycling, Kyle’s local road team in New York. This means he decides on the race plan and keeps the team organized and updated on tactics to execute throughout each race. Neil has gained the knowledge to do this through his years as a domestic pro. When he comes to the RHC, Kyle gets to use everything Neil has taught him against Neil.

Stefan Vis TAOf our four-racer roster, only Kyle and Walton could make this stop in the series. They wanted to make the guys back home proud. Although both Walton and Kyle have spent time on the podium in this criterium series, it is worth noting both racers’ strengths are long-distance road races with climbing being part of the topography. The RHC is 45 minutes of flat, fast, crit laps. Their experience with track bikes on the street, as well as time spent on most types of bikes has helped them develop a well-rounded cycling base. All these tools and experiences come together, making the RHC special for this reason.Walton and Kyle made it to the event just 15 minutes before the group 1 qualifier. This delay caused a bit of a scramble and timing chips got crossed, so Walton’s second row qualifying time went to Kyle in the end.

Walton carries a unique posture that is easy to spot in the field.

Working together, they put in top 20 qualifying times out of the 250 entries.As the Red Hook grows, so does the results board. With several qualifiers, a running race, women’s crit, and a last chance race all before the main event.This race community was born from outsiders. This still shows through the expression of custom cycles and self expression.All racers feel lucky to go home with no injuries at these events. There is not enough luck for everyone.

Dave, at the start of the Men’s final.Kyle, calm before the storm.There are two motorcycles at these events. One leads the first wheel or group and the second sweeps racers off the course who are about to be lapped by the lead group.The lead group forms quickly, often assembled of faces from past series podiums.No matter the growing budget for the series, there is always darkness to be found.Kyle, fighting back to the lead group, after going down with 10 laps to go.Walton stayed top 10 (the app showed Kyle’s name due to the timing chip error) On the last lap, sitting 4th wheel, he was swarmed in the second hairpin, pushing his line outside and getting involved with one of the mentioned racers. This is what the RHC feels like for many, with luck playing a massive role in your end result.What a fighter. Happy with his effort, it is time to celebrate.This moment, Kyle happy on the podium, says a great deal to me. No matter what outsiders may perceive MASH to be, we are a small bike shop and network of friends in San Francisco. With larger corporations getting into the fixed crit racing, and buying teams, this photo reminds me why we are here—friends having fun racing bikes together. It is really simple. It may end up being a chapter in the bigger story, but these times will never be forgotten.

By now, he should know how to open Champagne.

Or maybe saving it for the sweet, sweet end.After months of preparation, and the race day complete, Dave finally takes a shower. He must know at that moment, it always comes together. All efforts are worth it in the end.

Congratulations to this stop’s racers/winners. Thank you for pushing what is possible on these bikes. Thank you to the city of Barcelona and its community that supports swarms of visitors traveling to race and cheer for one night in August, 2014. Thank you to all of the infrastructure that makes the Red Hook Criterium possible.

Until Milano, have a fun ride.