At the Red Hook Crit, It’s Anyone’s Race
Cyclists of all stripes come together in Brooklyn for backstreet racing and good times
By Ian Landau
March 23, 2011
STROLL ALONG THE WATERFRONT in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn on a cool March night and you might feel you’ve been transported onto the set of Gangs of New York. Hulking Civil War-era warehouses loom over you. Old piers jut into the darkness of New York Harbor. There’s little or no foot traffic. There are no cabs.
But come Saturday, nearly a hundred cyclists will line up in this very place at the unlikely hour of 11 p.m. to take part in what is possibly the country’s coolest bike race.
The Red Hook Criterium pits messengers, trackies, roadies, and fixie fanatics against one another to vie for some sweet prizes, like custom Giro helmets, jerseys from Rapha, and every racer’s favorite, stacks of cash.
Participants will complete 20 laps of a challenging three-quarter-mile course replete with cobblestones, potholes, a tricky chicane, and hundreds of loud-mouthed hecklers.
Your typical downtown criterium it isn’t.
“I’ve been to national-caliber races and this is different,” says cycling photographer Marco Quezada. “It brings in people from different parts of cycling, and even people not into bike racing. I’ve never really seen anything like it.”
Once Clandestine, Now a Fast-Growing Race
The brainchild of David Trimble, the Red Hook Crit began three years ago when the Alaska native and current New York resident decided to celebrate his 26th birthday by throwing a bike race.
A veteran of bare-knuckle alleycat races (in which bike messengers blaze along busy city streets and stop at checkpoints along the way), Trimble wanted to combine the city racing experience with the organized events he’d competed in as a road and mountain-bike racer.
He promoted the inaugural Red Hook via online forums for fixed-gear cyclists, luring a handful of brave souls to come out one drizzly spring night to race their brakeless track bikes.
“The philosophy of the Red Hook Crit is to bring out normally divergent cycling communities to one event,” Trimble says. “On this level, it has been a massive success.”
Since its humble beginnings, the race has grown quickly and attracted some big sponsors, including Eastern Mountain Sports, the Brooklyn Brewery, and Cinelli.
This year’s winner will take home a veritable bike-trailer’s worth of swag, $500 cash-paid in $1 bills, per Trimble’s tradition-and not least the coveted cobblestone trophy, à la Paris-Rouabix.
Eclectic Mix of Riders
As Red Hook’s stature has grown, so has the competition.
“In addition to having some of the best street riders in the world registered, this year I have strong, pro-level cyclists,” Trimble says, “coming from road, track, cyclocross, and mountain biking.”
By Ian Landau
March 23, 2011
STROLL ALONG THE WATERFRONT in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn on a cool March night and you might feel you’ve been transported onto the set of Gangs of New York. Hulking Civil War-era warehouses loom over you. Old piers jut into the darkness of New York Harbor. There’s little or no foot traffic. There are no cabs.
But come Saturday, nearly a hundred cyclists will line up in this very place at the unlikely hour of 11 p.m. to take part in what is possibly the country’s coolest bike race.
The Red Hook Criterium pits messengers, trackies, roadies, and fixie fanatics against one another to vie for some sweet prizes, like custom Giro helmets, jerseys from Rapha, and every racer’s favorite, stacks of cash.
Participants will complete 20 laps of a challenging three-quarter-mile course replete with cobblestones, potholes, a tricky chicane, and hundreds of loud-mouthed hecklers.
Your typical downtown criterium it isn’t.
“I’ve been to national-caliber races and this is different,” says cycling photographer Marco Quezada. “It brings in people from different parts of cycling, and even people not into bike racing. I’ve never really seen anything like it.”
Once Clandestine, Now a Fast-Growing Race
The brainchild of David Trimble, the Red Hook Crit began three years ago when the Alaska native and current New York resident decided to celebrate his 26th birthday by throwing a bike race.
A veteran of bare-knuckle alleycat races (in which bike messengers blaze along busy city streets and stop at checkpoints along the way), Trimble wanted to combine the city racing experience with the organized events he’d competed in as a road and mountain-bike racer.
He promoted the inaugural Red Hook via online forums for fixed-gear cyclists, luring a handful of brave souls to come out one drizzly spring night to race their brakeless track bikes.
“The philosophy of the Red Hook Crit is to bring out normally divergent cycling communities to one event,” Trimble says. “On this level, it has been a massive success.”
Since its humble beginnings, the race has grown quickly and attracted some big sponsors, including Eastern Mountain Sports, the Brooklyn Brewery, and Cinelli.
This year’s winner will take home a veritable bike-trailer’s worth of swag, $500 cash-paid in $1 bills, per Trimble’s tradition-and not least the coveted cobblestone trophy, à la Paris-Rouabix.
Eclectic Mix of Riders
As Red Hook’s stature has grown, so has the competition.
“In addition to having some of the best street riders in the world registered, this year I have strong, pro-level cyclists,” Trimble says, “coming from road, track, cyclocross, and mountain biking.”
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