The Bike Races this weekend (Aksarben TIRC and Papillion Twilight Crit) review

For anyone who doesn't follow bike racing: this past weekend the Omaha metro hosted two days of criterium racing (short, fast races on closed city streets), the Twilight Crit on Saturday and the Papillion Crit on Sunday. I raced both days. I'm writing this up because it was disorganized and, in a few moments, unsafe, and I think people should know.

Quick bit of context so this makes sense. Officials can "pull" riders, meaning they take you out of the race before the finish, usually to clear slower riders off the course. Racers are also grouped by skill, from CAT 1 at the top down to CAT 5 for brand new riders. Normally you only get pulled once the leaders are about to lap you.

Day one, the Twilight Crit. There's a 180 degree turn about 200 meters after the start line, which breaks the group apart right away. Riders were getting dropped in the first minute, and officials started pulling people almost immediately, before anyone had even been lapped. Most of the beginner field was gone within 15 minutes, and a chunk of the more experienced racers went with them.

The reason we were given was an incoming storm. Then the women's field got sent off into it anyway. A barrier blew over in what looked like a 50 mph gust and came close to a rider. That race got stopped after about 10 minutes. If the weather was bad enough to pull half the field, it seemed too bad to keep anyone out there at all.

The Masters 40+ race was cancelled outright with no refund. The offer was basically stay another night and we'll fit you in tomorrow, or jump in the pro race.

Day two, the Papillion Crit. We actually talked to the officials beforehand about the early pulling from the day before, and they said they'd only do it if there was a real safety issue. It happened again anyway.

Day two also had a lot of crashes. Several people ended up in the medical tent or at the hospital. And look, we all know Omaha drivers are their own special breed. You can't merge onto the interstate without someone treating the on-ramp like a drag strip. Apparently that energy is contagious, because it seemed to reach the course too. The lead vehicle (the car that paces ahead of the riders) was driving aggressively, and at a few points riders were cut off and nearly clipped in the corners. It was enough that a lot of us noticed.

One guy drove in from five hours away and left before his race even started. He said it wasn't worth waiting around just to get pulled. That pretty much sums up the weekend.

These are community events that draw people into the metro from all over the region, so it's frustrating to see them run this rough, and a little concerning on the safety side.

Anyone else out there this weekend, racing or watching? Did you see it the same way?