So this weekend I decided to go to the Berkeley Bike Club Race School run by Scott Saifer of Wenzel Coaching. I decided to do this instead of Santa Cruz because the clinic is worth 5 races and $90 is cheaper than the average cost of the equivalent Cat 5 crit plus hoteling, fuel, and time and the risk of crashes.

The Race School was a 2-day event. I spent two nights in Berkeley and, being an adamant conservationist, decided to ride to Alameda in the mornings. Riding through Berkeley and Oakland at 7AM was both nostalgic and fun. I rode through quiet, rundown sections of Oakland. According to EBBC's map of the area, you can take the Posey tube if you ride on the sidewalk on the left hand side.

This was an extremely bad idea. Riding through the Posey tube was easily the most terrifying cycling experience I've ever had. When you ride on a road with a narrow shoulder, you always have the option of taking the lane and the danger you face from drivers last only as long as it takes for them to pass you.

The sidewalk on the Posey tube was raised from the roadway about 2 to 3 meters. There was a railing but the width of the sidewalk between the railing and the wall was barely the width of my handlebars. There was absolutely no room to crash. Riding this sidewalk will distinguish the riders who use rollers from those who don't. Portions of the railing were missing altogether. When they were there, you didn't feel any safer since it was possible to catch your handlebars on them. Cars hurtling in the opposite directions filled the tunnel with constant noise. I rode it about at 10 MPH. I even had to stop in the middle to collect my nerves and calm down. I rubbed against the wall once but I eventually made it out in one piece. If you want to ride to Alameda, do yourself a favor and take the Fruitvale bridge, as I did on the way back and the next day. It's right next to the BART station. Riding through the Posey tube was worth something I suppose, since afterwards I decided that I was no longer afraid of crits.

The first day we covered riding skills including gutter riding, hard counter-steering, bunny hops, crash avoiding, and hard bumping. The afternoon session covered training programs.

On the second day, we rode the Alameda Twilight course and had a mock criterium. We practiced high speed cornering, moving into positions, shooting through double pacelines, and mooching off of a paceline. During the double paceline-shoot exercise, I rode the head of the right line and pinched the guy shooting up between me and the other pace line (I was trying to act challenging). The 3 of us were bumped to each other. The group was startled but we recovered gracefully.

The afternoon session included a bike fit, a body fat measurement, and race tactics. Scott Saifer says you shouldn't chase your teammates. Why is this? He says you risk leading others up to him and you sometimes be more valuable as a blocker. The body fat measurement was useful for me. I am at a dangerously low 4.7%. Some people go down to 3% but you can easily get sick.

The indoor sessions were held at the Bladium on the Alameda NAS. During the lunch break on both days, I did intervals with people up and down a wide 0.6 mile airstrip right off the parking lot. It was fun! The pavement is concrete so it has less give than asphalt. You have to watch out for the buckle recesses which hold down the concrete plates and occasional patches of dirt. Riding down the airstrip reminded me of that scene in Top Gun where that guy rides down the airstrip in his motorcycle. In the afternoon, the winds off of the Bay give you a great tailwind. After 5 PM, the wind was at about 35 MPH, a real challenge to stay upright in but lots of fun riding down. I was able to sprint up to 45 MPH! Absolutely thrilling! When riding upwind, you get a nice panoramic view of SF, some old navy ships and some hangars. When you ride down wind, you get the feeling that you are crossing some alkali salt flats in a rocket car as you blow past buildings faster than you can imagine. I recommend that everyone try it if they get a chance.

The Twilights course has excellent pavement. Take the corners with impunity! It is nearly impossible to slid out on the pavement. I can't wait to shoot past timid Cat 5's around turns!