Race Report: 2026 Berkeley Streets Criterium - Men’s Novices/Cat5

Race: 2026 Berkeley Streets Criterium - Men's Cat 5/novices

Date: 04/19/2026

AVRT racers: Colin Vignon

Top Result: Colin Vignon (2nd), Omnium 1st

Course: Slightly less than 1km loop, 30’ effort. Corners are pretty ok, last is bumpy. The way to the finish line must be 2 % gradient or so.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/18174001447

Nutrition: 1 gel before, some water

Recap (written by Colin):

A tip they won’t tell you: bike shoes are a must-have when your plan is to actually participate in the bike race, not just watch it.

Yes, I forgot my bike shoes, yes it was 6:30am when I realized that, on the parking lot of the race, and yes life’s bad. But, I mean, as it was maybe my last race in Novices’ (update : it was, woohoo!), I had to do something novice.

So, here it is – I did something novice.

And so an unexpected dilemma arose, too early in the day : should I still try racing with my mountain bike shoes (flat 5-10s, for those who know) ? The pros (yes I should) : the 1hr drive from Palo Alto, my roommates that would make fun of me (they’re nice, and I would have understood, a 5am wake up for a did-not-start is somehow funny. I guess), the fact I paid for the race, the “come on, let’s do a full omnium and complete the two races” spirit, as well as the fact a guy told me “waaah man, that would be badass if you would” (yeeah). The cons (no I shouldn’t) : that’s dumb. +Risky for others (but I would spend the whole race staying in the last position of the field – is what I had in mind).

Anyways, to help myself take a decision, as I have to start warming up or do something with 15’ to go, I go ask an official to figure out if it is technically possible to get reimbursed. And here comes a rider from the women race, who will race right after us, and seeing how pitiful I was (or must have been), she asks me what’s my feet size. 42, « oh, same ! ». Type of pedals ? Look keo (yes, I’m a bit patriotic when it comes to bike pedals choices) - « same again ! ». So nice of her, I could borrow her shoes.

« No crash with my shoes, right ? » - yessir.

With a feeling that this day was a lucky day, I finally go do a couple of warming laps with 5’ to go, and then go to the start line. Also take a gel, because who doesn’t want a gel before 8am, right? Wearing my magic shoes, I have this extra bit of motivation—what a day already! My legs feel more or less okay after BHRR the day before. Small peloton, about 15 riders. Yesterday I ended with the front group, so today I should secure top5 or so, and that should be fine for the overall omnium ranking.

Right from the start, a guy attacks. My first reaction is, “maaaan ». I’m still thinking about the bed I left too early.

Then I follow.

I think about the well-known last-kilometer attack strategy, probably overrated. I come to the conclusion that a first-kilometer attack is way more gracious — so of course I try to make a gap with him and take a pull.

That doesn’t work.

The first laps are a bit spicy, but definitely not crazy. Corners are going pretty well. Then the race starts to slow down a bit, weirdly. It’s already pretty short (getting closer to a pasta cooking time than a bike race )(I prefer long distances). A few of us take turns attacking, one after another, but no one commits long enough—and I don’t quite have the legs to do it myself—so it gets a bit frustrating to open 5-second gaps and then sit up. At this point I just don’t care anymore about the initial plan (‘you do nothing but just follow the real attacks’, not to say I’m just lazy), and prefer to have fun. The course doesn’t help either, with a turn every few dozen seconds.

The race goes on, and I spend most of the time sitting in 3rd/4th position. We’re 15 anyways, so I have to sit somewhere. With two laps to go, we try the same move again with the guy who attacked in the first kilometer. Well—he launches it, again, and I follow, again. To be honest, I follow him mostly because he made 4th the day before, so I have to make sure I rank not far behind if I want to stay ahead of him in the omnium ranking. Turns out we’re only about 5 riders with a mini-gap on the field with a lap to go, but I don’t even realize it (someone will tell me afterwards), focused on holding the wheel of the guy in front.

Last corner, I’m in 3rd position, 2 Stanford guys in front of my wheel (we race with some collegiates). They launch some sort of weird sprints, both moving to the left (you’re a team, guys). I launch mine staying in my line. Very short sprint anyways (I try to convince my legs it’s gonna be OK at this point). I quickly pass the two Stanford guys and no one seems to come around me. That’s odd. I’m terrible at sprinting. I’m a bit confused then, but the finish line seems to get closer. If only I knew where it was.

Still confused by the fact no one passes me, I keep going and start looking for the finish line—something I clearly need to work on, did I realize after this crit and BHRR. I mean, I see the huge white tent in the middle of the street, of course. But I don’t clearly see a line on the road.

I’m a straightforward person. A finish line with no line would not make sense, so where is it ? I do need a line.

During this highly intellectual reflection, which must last for at least 3sec, things still happen, obviously. I’m 10/15 meters away from the tent now, and I think at this point I ease up just a bit too early, and a rider comes past me right on the line (fair enough—I did the exact same thing the day before). So I do 2nd but that’s fine.

Grateful to this pair of shoes. Still unsure the 5am wake up was worth it, but too late anyways.