Photos + Words : Charlie Sears
@thisischarliesears / www.charliesears.co
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Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York – April 30th, 2016
Hundreds of racers and thousands of spectators gathered for what is regarded as the largest fixed gear specific event in the world. With the Statue of Liberty and the NYC skyline in the background, the stage was set for a wild night racing.
I showed up in the early afternoon, well before most of the spectators and just in time to catch some of the Men’s / Women’s qualifying :
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Those that didn’t make the cut for the main had one last chance – The Last Chance Race :
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Women’s MAIN :
Over 80+ women registered for RHC and the women’s main proved to be incredibly intense with a large crash taking out most of the field on the last lap! Ainara Elbusto led most of the laps and some how miraculously avoided the pile up to take home the WIN.
WOMENS FINAL :
1st : Ainara Elbusto
2nd : Ash Duban
3rd : Vittoria Reati
Ainara Elbusto also won both Primes.
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And that’s all I got for ya.
B-b-b-but where’s photos from the Men’s MAIN!?
Well, for starters, my camera crapped out – got this horrible error message that I couldn’t fix. Also, RIGHT after the start, there was a major pile up. Turns out, a motorcycle that leads the race stalled and about half the racers crashed cause of it.
After the crash, I knew it’d be about 30 minutes til they got the track cleared off and the riders lined up again. I still had to ride back to my hotel room in Manhattan and get ready for the TD Five Boro Tour the next morning. It was already almost 10pm and I needed to be up at 4am so yeah – sorry I don’t have photos of the Men’s Main Event. I heard there was ANOTHER crash after the restart… cruise around the web and see what you can’t find out. Sorry again that you can’t find it out here.
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All in all though, crazy day at the 2016 Red Hook Crit.
Definitely a day to remember.
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www.theawarewolfs.bigcartel.com
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Photos + Words : Charlie Sears
