David Visintainer
Scott,
Thanks for making the trek up to Kirkland on Sunday and the kind words on the event. We had a good turnout for the race and hope to continue for next year and making this a great event for the northwest. We will probably shoot for the same weekend next year and move it to a Saturday.
To keep the momentum going for the Kirkland Criterium, I am gathering information on the event to help improve it for next year. For those who did participate and have feedback, below are two key contacts with the city of Kirkland who are in favor of the event. Any feedback sent to them would be very helpful in continuing this event in a highly visible area.
Please take a few minutes to complete this online survey. No personal information is taken and this is for all riders, whether you did or did not participate. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=T2gcqPKOLOhPSqRc37ETaQ_3d_3d
Send feedback to the City of Kirkland
Sudie Elkayssi - SElkayssi@ci.kirkland.wa.us special event project coordinator.
Tom Hodgson - THodgson@ci.kirkland.wa.us Kirkland City Councilman
Thank you,
David Visintainer
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:44:33 -0700From: scottjones007@gmail.comTo: obra@list.obra.orgSubject: [OBRA Chat] Kirkland Criterium
OBRA Land,I'm not sure if anyone else made the trip up North to Kirkland Washington on Sunday for the Kirkland Criterium. There were no other Oregon riders in the Men Cat 3 race but myself and I did not stay to watch the 1/2 Womens or 1/2 Mens races that followed. What a great course and crowd. It was a tight criterium course in downtown Kirkland Washington, a short 3 hour drive from Portland. The course was on a tight and sometimes technical course that was pretty flat and brought out quite a few people to watch. The road was a tad narrow in places, but unlike HealthNet on Friday night, you didn't need to be at the front right away as there were plenty of available places to pass. The start/finish stretch was bumpy like HealthNet and corner #1 was a sweet 180 degree off-camber turn that was slightly down hill, but a blast to take at 25 or so mph. This was followed by a sort of "S" shaped roadway that had a hard left at the end to the "uphill" section that led back to the start/finish stretch. The uphill, was really a false flat section that was not bad once I'd gone up it a few times. Anyone who knows me knows I don't go uphill very well at all (see the Larch Mt. TT times for conformation on that).If you didn't make it up there this year I would definitely watch the calendar for next year. This was the first year of the race, but the organizer I talked to yesterday said that he would like to see it grow and become like Portland's HealthNet Criterium.A great technical criterium for the aggressive rider who can corner and hammer for 45 minutes! I hope to see you all this weekend at Swan Island and the State Criterium,Scott JonesGuinness Cycling