Course: Traditionally this has been a standard four corner criterium with an added loop through an alley behind the courhouse. In 1995, construction caused the courthouse loop to be omitted.
Course Description: The course is pretty straight forward four corner crit if the court house loop is left off. If the court house loop is left in it will be more technical and tend to string out more.
Distances:
Road Surface: Half good, half not so good.
Gearing: Standard flat course criterium gears.
Facilities: Porta cans, and plenty of places to eat in beautiful downtown Merced.
Weather: It's still February, so expect it to be a bit chilly. Luckily, Merced is far enough south to miss a lot of rain that would hit the Bay Area or Sacramento.
Feeding: N/A
Rules Specific to this race: N/A
Race Advice: Be careful going through the second turn. The inside of the turn can be very rough and you are leaving a wide road for a narrower road. If you're on the outside watch yourself as you might get pushed towards the curb by the other riders. At the end of this stretch the course will either jog left and go around the court house of make two 45 degree turns and then the final 90 right to the finish. The pavement on either of the "jog sections" is a bit rough with cracks. If the course goes behind the court house beware that the alley is very narrow.
Lodging: There should be plenty of lodging in Merced.
Back to the Race information Page
Corrections and additions, please email me!
Kevin Metcalfe
[email protected]