Carlsbad Crit
 

I had no idea there was a crit practice up in carlsbad, anyone do this? Is it somewhat organized? What's the speed vs fiesta? How are the riders, safe, sketchy, mix? Is the course closed?

It's in an overflow parking lot; not closed but very lightly used. The course is rerouted when there are a bunch of cars and people. It's pretty well organized.

It's a great workout. The ride starts at 6pm Thursdays in the lower (overflow) lot at Legoland and goes for 50 min+ 5 laps. The course isn't technically closed but the lot is generally empty and I've never seen a car get in the way. The speed is usually a tad slower than Fiesta but much safer. It's a wide course with a long sprint and good pavement.

What?! Why wasn't I notified!?
Thanks for asking this. Freakin' criteriums going on in my own backyard and I wasn't even aware. :lol:

Join the Swamis google group.

X2. Not that I could keep up anyway, but I'll be out there a week from Thursday to give it a shot!

Thanks, I will. Any other juicy insider local secrets you've been holding out on us?
I'll probably ride up to watch a few times (and am looking forward to meeting you there MrC and perhaps hitting Karl Strauss afterward), but my training schedule precludes my participating.
(And by "training schedule", I mean "fragile ego.")

Yes.

It's just practice. If you go otb, you can wait a lap, cut across the lot and rejoin the group or join other groups that form. If you show up late, you can jump in. If you get tired, you can leave and go home. I'm ususually the oldest and fattest guy there so I drop off after 5 minutes. I thought I was doing pretty good until I found out there was a 5 minute warmup.

^

Is there anything better than a good laugh?

Well...maybe a good ride, too...:)

GP- Thanks for the info. I have been looking for something like this. Fiesta is quite a chunk of time to drive down, get dropped, then drive back to North County. Now I can get dropped locally!

CChris- Sounds good, I probably won't make this until 4/14. Kids are on spring break this week and next, gonna be busy spending my time and money with them.

If you do go OTB make sure you jump in at the back of the group. People will get pissed if you jump in the middle and can't hold the pace and let a gap form. Usually a "B" group forms after 2 laps or so. It is usually safe till the end of the season, for some reason that is when all the crashes that took place started to happen last year.