Brad Lewis Memorial Criterium 2010

Last Saturday was the Brad Lewis/Boat Street Crit, the annual race held in the U-district in front of Recycled Cycles. The 5th race in the Cascadia Crit Series, and I had a pretty solid lead in the 4/5's.

As a part of the RCR team I worked the race all day, helping set up before-hand, sweeping the corners, etc (starting at 6 AM!). Also worked registration later in the day, and enjoyed a great day of racing - even though it rained a little.. but it was some great urban racing.

The Cat 4/5's start, with a few of us in blue n' gold up front. Kyle & I got the call-up so we got nice spots up front.



Heading into the first corner, a little uphill into a one-lane section. That's Adam on the front, in 2nd place overall, a strong dude:


Another shot of the first corner:


Heading into the second corner:


Second corner:


The 3rd corner:


Leading the pack through the finish straight - notice the big cracks in the road, love it:


Leading again, a little further down the road:

(thanks to JC for taking those photos during my race)

At another point, attacking and/or going for a prime:

(thanks to Todd for taking that photo)

As you can see from the photos I spent a good deal of time of the front of the pack, perhaps too much. But with my 26 points I actually didn't want the points you get from winning, which would force a mandatory upgrade (at least in theory) so I sat up on the last lap and let everyone duke it out. I still came in 7th overall, so I guess I sprinted but I made sure to do it from 10th place or so, not from the front of the pack. Seems silly now to try not to win, but with one more race left in the series I didn't want the five points you'd get from winning this race.

After our race the women's 4's race went on, and then the 3's race - usually the 3's are thrown in with the p/1/2's, but they at least got their own race. Unfortunately not many women showed up due to the rain most likely, but I thought it was great the organizer at least did that for once.



The 1/2 women raced as well, along with the Cat 3's, juniors, and the kid's race. Eventually it was time for the p/1/2's. I was working the registration booth when many of these racers sign up and I can attest that they seemed mostly human, quite surprisingly.


Video of the 1/2's going through the second corner, chasing a breakaway most likely.


The 80 minute p/1/2 race was certainly more animated than our race was, with a breakaway of five or so off the front for one half of the race, then a different set of 4-5 off the front for quite a while. In the end there were two off the front (I if recall correctly) who got to sprint for the win together.

It was a great day of racing, watching racing, and working the race. Glad I finally got to do this race!! Thanks to Recycled Cycles and the Cascadia Crit Series for putting it on. Already looking forward to next year.

Tomorrow is the Tacoma Twilight Crit, looking forward to it! I'll be in the money no doubt tomorrow, and should be able to hold on to 1st place overall. Then it's time to move up to the Cat 3's!