Yesterday was the first of several Twilight evens at the race track, which allows local riders to hop on the track and test out their descending skills on the "corkscrew". A test of fitness comes just beforehand on the short, but steep climb to the sharp downhill left-hander. The wind was howling as usual, making the ascent as challenging as ever before.
After a 45 minute warmup, we went to check out the new crit course, which is stationed between turns 11 and 2, taking advantage of the pit row for the return loop back to the start line. Majority of the tarmac is suitable for this race; however both of the (U-) turns (11 and 2) are very narrow and come off a fast slightly downhill descent. This will be a dangerous part of the course and proper positioning will be very important. The first U-turn is followed by a narrow and relatively steep hill climbing back to the pit area (you are now riding counter to the usual flow of traffic on the course) and breaks will be formed here. Right after the hill is a 1-2% descent throught the pitts, leading to a narrowing road with a sharp 90-degree right hander immediately followed by the second of two U-turns of this course. You are now below the "corkscrew", back on the tarmac and making a left hand turn which takes you past the pitts and back towards a slightlly uphill start/finish line. The finish line is about 250m from the last turn and the winner will emerge from the top-5 entering into the last U-turn.
Happy Racing!
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