Race Report: 2023 Berkeley Streets Criterium - Men’s Cat 3 / Collegiate A

Race: 2023 Berkeley Streets Criterium - Men’s Cat 3 / Collegiate A

Date: 2023/04/30

AVRT Racers: Daniel Fonyo, Fraser Bulbuc, George Wehner, Josh Worley

Top Result: Fraser 5th overall / 3rd in Cat 3, George 11th

Report By: Fraser

Course: A technical 0.5 mile circuit with five turns (https://www.strava.com/segments/31580177). The asphalt at the roundabout is bad with only one decent line through it. The course is downhill into turn 3 and uphill out of turn 4.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8986842868

Nutrition: 30g carbs taken ~15 mins before race start.

Recap: The crit was the day after the Berkeley Hills Road Race and the second of two races in the Berkeley Omnium. I was leading the omnium classification after the road race, so our plan was to make sure we were represented in every move and ideally lead me out for the sprint if things stayed together. I wanted to stay near the front so that I could take choice lines and be in position to follow threatening moves.

The race ended up being relatively uneventful. Riders at the front were content with keeping a smooth yet fast pace and attacks were few and far between. Daniel, George, Josh, and I were quick to cover moves, and nothing stayed away for longer than a lap.

Many riders were pulled as things became strung out through the technical section at the roundabout and the downhill into T3. Jack from AV, who was racing the Collegiate A field for Stanford on the day, recognized that riders were fatigued and splits were happening off the back so he increased the pace on the front for a number of laps and reduced the field even more.

Things ended up staying together and the race was decided by a sprint. I was happy with my position starting the final lap as I was fifth wheel exiting the roundabout and planned to move up on the straight between turns 3 and 4. Throughout the race I noticed that I was able to carry more speed through turn 3 than many others, often gapping the rider behind me by a few bike lengths. I tried to use that to my advantage on the last lap by taking an outside line and moving up on the exit, but the rider in front of me, wisely, took a wide exit to prevent that. I had more speed but nowhere to go and was forced to brake. I hit the curb, just barely keeping things upright, and lost two or three positions. I sprinted to close the gap that opened up in front of me, but I was too far back to contest the sprint and rolled across the line in fifth. Fortunately, that was enough for the omnium win.