Tomorrow evening, Mission Crit, a fixed-gear bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, will take place in the Mission. 2,000 people—both participants and spectators—are expected to attend the high-speed, high-stakes cycling race, which takes place over several hours.
A small triangular loop of streets will be closed for Mission Crit: Harrison between 16th and 18th, Treat between 16th and 18th, and 18th Street between Folsom and Harrison.
Race organizer James Grady told us he started Mission Crit after a rough breakup. "One of the outcomes was that I started riding my bicycle a lot more," he said. "Without really knowing how, I wanted to meet more people who were interested in racing. I never imagined my desire to make some new friends would turn into this."
The first Mission Crit was held in 2014, in the parking lot south of AT&T Park. "I originally wanted to do a guerrilla race on the streets, but because traffic would need to be stopped, I decided on the parking lot in the interest of safety," Grady told us. Since then, he's moved on to a legally run event on the streets of the Mission.
"The city has been great," he said. "Meryl Klein with the SFMTA has been incredibly helpful and supportive. Events like the Super Bowl don’t do much for me, and I feel the effort goes to help people and companies that don’t live in SF. It’s really encouraging to know the city is behind events run by people in San Francisco, for the people of San Francisco."
Mission Crit's rules are simple: no brakes, no levers, no lights and no water bottles. But the skill required to participate is no joke. Last year, the men's field boasted 65 participants, all hustling brakeless around tight turns in an effort to keep ahead of the pack.
Once a rider is "lapped"—passed completely by someone in the lead—they're out. As the group of participants gets smaller, the speed increases and the tension builds, until the whole crowd is on their feet and yelling for their favorite cyclist to fly across the finish line.
Mission Crit is picking up speed in the international cycling community, with racers flying in for the event from as far away as South Korea and England. The competitors are a motley crew, with elite road racers, track racers, and bicycle messengers all vying for the prize. Last year, about 1,000 people turned out for the event, but this year, Grady is expecting that crowd to double.
Hosting an event of this size that's legally supported by the city and has safety precautions in place is not easy, Grady said. “Throwing an event like this costs a lot of money," he said. “If it wasn’t for Bicycle Law and LOW Bicycles, the Mission Crit could not continue to exist. But what has been really amazing is how much the cycling community in the Bay Area has stepped up to help make Mission Crit 3 a reality.”
Tomorrow night's qualifying rounds will run from 5:30-7pm. The women's race will begin at 8pm, and the men's at 9pm. Each race runs for approximately 40 minutes. Once the competition is wrapped up, TCB Courier will host an afterparty at neighborhood bar The Wooden Nickel, starting at 10pm.
