Oakland Criterium September 25, 2011 Men’s 35+ 3/4
It was raining as I left Fairfield and it got worse as I arrived in Oakland and thought, “Do I really want to race in the rain on a twisty course?”
- Karl Wuzbach
There were only sprinkles at race time with a field of about 45. The course is very similar to Benicia Criterium with an uphill finish but only .85 mi. long and a hairpin turn similar to Vacaville Crit. The pace was fast the first few laps and the pack separated quickly. I bridged up over the next lap and found that we were a group of 15. There were several manhole covers on the course, which we tried to avoid as the wheels slid easily on those. No real breaks were made in our pack of 15 but we lost 5 of the guys dropping off due to pace and 1 flat tire. My legs felt good and I was trying to stay out of trouble and not crash. I moved into top five with 4 laps to go and 3rd wheel on the final lap. Winner was 2nd wheel and jumped with 400m to go. We came off the last turn uphill and I held 2nd wishing I would have downshifted going into the hill. My wife was elated that this was the last race of the season and I'm looking forward to being ready for next season.
