Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Tonight's Crit CANCELED

The weather looks too iffy for tonight, so the crit is canceled for tonight. Around 7 pm the forecast has been ranging from 40%-70% chance of rain, so the likelihood is a bit too high.

As much as I know many of you don't mind racing in the rain, getting people to corner guard in the rain is another matter. Plus I would rather err on the side of safety as we don't want to see any crashes as a result of a wet course.

Sorry to cancel - see everyone next week.


Thursday, May 22, 2014

Learning to Race Criteriums

A reminder to any aspiring crit racers that during the B race (starts ~6:30 pm), experienced racers are available to provide on-the-bike instruction, so be sure to ask about it at registration if you are interested.

And invite anyone who might be interested in learning to race to the practice crits, whether to watch or to participate (including Amy Ellis).


Warmer Weather Brings out the Masses!

Three weeks into the practice crit series and the hot Tuesday evening brought out the largest number of racers yet (62 racers).  And we even had to turn away a few corner guard volunteers - thanks to everyone for stepping up!

Also, thanks to a few practice crit sponsors (and David Blomme from Trek), we also had some worthy prizes for the top finishers in each race!  And we want to thank again our vehicle sponsor, Smart Motors, for providing a truck each week used to transport the road closure barricades (it was a sweet truck this week - too bad the guys in the picture take away from its beauty!).




Thursday, May 15, 2014

Racing Reminder

Just a friendly reminder, if you do the A race, you are not allowed to do the B race.  In other words, the B race is only for B racers. The only exception is by prior arrangement in which an A racer shadows a B racer or small group of B racers to provide instruction.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Week 2 Notes

We are still in need of more volunteers to corner guard, for both the B race and the A race.

  • A racers come early and B racers stay a little later so that you can help corner guard; the safety of the other racers is more important than a warm up or cool down for a practice crit. 
  • In another week or two, "hard ass" rules will begin in which those who race each week and never volunteer to help will be called out.
  • If you are assigned a corner guard location and notice a busy corner/driveway unattended, please say something over the walkie-talkie. A car entered the course from corner 2 this past week and started driving the wrong way on the course. Thankfully nothing serious happened given the person assigned that corner left it unattended.
Warmer weather is on the way, I just know it!

See you next week.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Successful First Crit

Glad the rain held off tonight, but let's hope for less wind and warmer temps for next time!

A couple "lessons" learned about coordinating the practice crits from the first crit of the season:

- In order to start on time, it would be helpful to have several people show up around 5:30 pm to help load and set up the road barricades. We had to wait a bit for helpers to show up tonight, which then means the races start a little late.

- After the last race, it would really be helpful if some of the A racers would break down the barricades at each of the corners and place them in the grass so that we can get them loaded and put away more efficiently.

- We could also use some help loading the barricades into the truck and then unloading them; 2-3 volunteers would be great, and it gets down quickly.

- B racers, please make it a point to stay and corner guard for the A race. We were a little short tonight (meaning a couple driveways were left unmanned). It is also worth mentioning that corner guarding the A race is also a good learning opportunity (watching how A racers corner, how they draft, when they attack, etc.). Plus you race the B race for free if you corner guard the A race.

Thanks to all of you who did help tonight!

See you next week.


All Set to Go!

Looks like we are ready to start the 2014 Practice Crits tonight - slight chance of rain, but it is likely to hold off until after the race.

We will begin closing the course to traffic starting about 5:45 pm, and a few volunteers would be appreciated to help set up the road barricades. Meet at the registration area (Rosa Rd and Research Park Blvd intersection).

Please be sure to thank all the new volunteers as this year we have new officials (Jason Austin & John Tedesco) and new registration and corner guard coordinators (Ben Grabow, David Davis, Shawn Bass, & Kenny Kemp) - without their stepping up the crits would not be happening! Also, please be patient too as this is the first time in these roles for everyone.

Also, a license update for UW racers (or other collegiate racers).  According to USA Cycling: If the collegiate license is purchased first and another license is added later, the rider will only need to pay the price difference of the two. Collegiate licenses are only valid for use in collegiate events. In other words, you are required to have an annual USA Cycling license (or a 1-day license) in order to race, the collegiate license is only valid for collegiate events.  The annual license would then cost $35 if you already have the collegiate license.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Latest Updates

Just a few more days until the first practice crit of 2014, and looks like the weather (at least as of today's forecast) may actually cooperate as well!

I spoke with someone at USA Cycling and, as it turns out, there is a release form that will apply to the entire 7 race series, so you do not need to complete a release form each and every week (think of all the trees we are saving!).

The form will be available on-site, but I encourage those of you reading this blog to download the form in advance, fill it out, and bring it to the crit as that will help streamline registration.

USA Cycling Series Release Form


Final Reminders
- bring exact change ($5 entry)

- you must bring your USA Cycling license the first time you register (if you do not have a license, then purchase one in advance, a 1-day or annual, on-line rather than on-site)

- remember to save your race number and bring it with you each time

- check this site for weather cancellations (will try to post by 4:30 pm)

- volunteer to corner guard!


See everyone Tuesday!