(dramatic music)
- We're at the Red Hook Crit in Milan,
and the atmosphere is building for the final of the event.
But you're probably wondering how I got here,
so this is how.
(chill music)
- [Hank] I'm absolutely petrified.
(chill music)
- We're gonna get him a beer at the finish
'cause he's bloody earned it.
(upbeat music)
- [Host] Now while some of you might be familiar with
the Red Hook, others won't be.
So before we go any further, here are five quick fire facts
to get you up to speed.
- One, the Red Hook Criterium is a fixed gear race,
racing around a short city center circuit
of around a kilometer long.
It takes place in Brooklyn, Barcelona,
London, and here in Milan.
Two, riders have to compete
with a fixed gear bike, with no brakes.
So that means they have to peddle the whole time.
No brakes, this is crazy.
Three, trade teams compete against amateurs
and there are also races for men and women,
and there are also heats that you have to finish
high enough in order to qualify for the finals.
Four, the first Red Hook was in 2008
and was the creation of David Trimble.
It first started in Brooklyn, New York
and it combined racing and fixed gear messenger culture,
and it's really expanded and gone all around the world.
Fact Five, these races are known for their high speed,
excitement, drama, and bike-handling of the riders.
But I'm pretty nervous, because these
are notorious for big crashes.
Ouch.
Wait, who's that?
- [Ollie] All right mate?
- Is that you Ollie?
- Yeah.
- What you doing here?
- I've just ridden all the way from Look Factory in Tunisia.
(chuckles)
I figured that you were gonna need a bike.
- Ohhh, is that what I'm riding?
- I brought you an...
Look 875 Madison - Noooo.
- Yeah.
It's amazing.
- It's light as well.
- Yeah, it's really versatile Aero Track bike
and, well, it's fully carbon
and it's been painstakingly hand made in Look's Factory,
so don't crush it.
- [Hank] Mate, don't jinx it.
(chuckles)
- I've come to support you today mate.
- Man, I appreciate it.
I need it, I need it.
Yeah, I'm nervous.
- It's gonna be good.
But we need to go sign on first to the Velodrome.
- Yeah.
- You should probably have a go on that.
- Yeah, I should probably mention,
but it's probably too late now,
I haven't ridden on a track bike in, well,
a good couple of years.
(laughs)
- Let's go.
- [Hank] Oh gosh.
(thrilling music)
- While the Red Hook's scene is relatively new,
Look has a very long and distinguished history
in track racing.
In fact, the legendary R96 was supposedly
the most popular bike at the Rio Olympics.
Hopefully, I won't let them down.
Although, as well as lending me the bike,
they've also hooked me up, no pun intended,
with their fixed gear racing team to show me
how it's done.
So to ride Red Hook, you have to have a track bike
or a fixed wheel bike.
Big difference is, well, there is no brakes,
also, there is no freehub, so when the rare wheel is going
the cranks are moving also.
So that means peddling around corners
which means you have to have a shorter crank
and a higher bottom bracket to make sure you don't hit
your pedals on the floor.
(uplifting music)
- [Hank] Since I have a background in Crits,
and to a degree, in track racing too,
San-Dan decided I was the ideal candidate
to come to Milan and test my skills.
If I'm honest, I didn't really know
what I was letting myself in for.
But now I'm here, I'm beginning to understand why
they made up some excuse about being too busy themselves.
So, I made it here to Milan.
Just signed on.
Number 303.
Not gonna lie; pretty nervous.
In the track, met the Look guys, whose helped me set up
the bike and get the wheels sorted.
Now, I'm gonna have a quick spin on the Velodrome
to see how the legs are.
Woo!
(courageous music)
(lively music)
- While James signs on and gets his number,
I'm gonna explain the format of Red Hook Racing.
So every rider, including James, first competes
in a heat.
If you come in the top 20 of your heat,
then you qualify for the final race.
If you don't come in the top 20 though,
you still have a second chance
to qualify for the final race by competing in one of
the ACR races.
ACR standing for: Another Chance Race.
If you come in the top 5 of one of the ACR races,
then you also make it into the final.
Now, you don't ideally want to scrape into the final
because where you come in the heats actually has
a direct impact on how far you place up the grid
for the final race,
and you wanna be nearer the start, if possible.
Now if James doesn't manage to qualify,
then it's not the end of the world;
he's gonna give it his best shot, and it also means
that he get to start the after party earlier,
which I've heard, here at Red Hook, is absolutely
off the charts.
I think Dan Lloyd might even turn up for that part.
- [Hank] The Milan course is one of the fastest
in the Red Hook Series.
But with nine turns all squeezed in
to the 1.2 kilometer course,
it's still not at all straightforward.
Off the start and it's a big effort to get clipped in
and on top of the gear.
It's then breaking into a quick right hander
which follows into a left hander that sweeps around
the roundabout.
Once through that corner, it's out of the saddle
before backing off again into the next fast left hander.
Once safe through, it's full gas down to the back street.
This is where running a big gear will do you favors,
as it is the fastest bit of the course
with speeds touching around 50 kilometers per hour.
It's then heavy breaking into a 90 degree right hander
then straight into another tight left hander.
Back on the pedals again before breaking into
a sweeping left turn.
Then, it's full gas; one line into a super fast chikang,
before the last slippery tight left hander
and then winding it up into the finish.
(dramatic music)
- So, I've just watched the first heat
and, well, I thought I was gonna get a little more relaxed,
but quite the opposite.
It's truly terrifying, this.
No breaks, it started to rain, it's got greasy,
and to just top it all off, I've seen about eight people
come in with crashes and blood all over their legs.
Do I have to do this?
(lively music)
So, off to warm up and then to the start.
Bricking it.
So here, he's making sure the bike's safe,
my cleats are on,
and then I get a red sticker.
Red for danger.
(lively music)
So, now it's time for a quick warm up.
It's only a short 10 laps around 20 minutes.
So, full gas from the start
and then it's hang on and hope for the best.
(lively music)
- James' race starts in about five minutes,
so I'm just gonna watch him.
I'm really really nervous for him;
it's raining lots and the track is really greasy,
and this is the first aid station, well one of them,
and there is a lot of causalities coming in
after every single race, pretty much every lap.
It is seriously sketchy out there.
I'm gonna head over to the start line so I can cheer him on.
(calm music)
- I'm nervous.
I'm really nervous.
- [Announcer] 15.
10.
Go!
- Go on Hank!
Smash it Hank!
(dramatic music)
Hank's heat is absolutely full of hitters as well.
So, not only has he got Justin Williams
and Alec Bricks from the Rocket Espresso Specialized Team,
he's also got, get this right,
Miguel Indurain Junior.
Miguel Indurain's son is in Hank's heat.
(dramatic music)
(calm music)
- [Hank] Ahhhh!
That was pretty tough.
Ahh.
Just did a front group
and then big crash in the front group.
Two riders down, covered the road and I just had no where
to go, no where to go, so.
Bit sore on the old arm,
but I guess it's not a Red Hook if you don't crash.
So hopefully that's it out the way
and I could be free in the finals.
Fingers crossed.
- How was it?
- Did I qualify?
- [Ollie] I'm pretty sure you did.
Yeah, you were like maybe eighth.
(upbeat music)
- Well, fixed gear racing.
You can't help the crashes, if they go down in front of you,
you haven't got any brakes to stop yourself,
so I guess it's all bout rolling and crashing
the best way possible, if that's a thing.
I did crash.
I'm a bit beaten up, but I've come off relatively well.
I've got bit of a gash there;
I look like I've been eaten by a shark,
but I've earned my stripes through Red Hook racing.
Yeah, let's have it tonight.
C'mon!
(lively music)
Another really cool feature of the Red Hook
is their gridded system.
So where you come in the heats depends on where you line up
on the grid.
My front wheel will be rolling up here in two hours time.
I'm still quite far away from the start,
but the back's a long way behind.
(lively music)
It's getting dark.
The nerves are setting in,
but the atmosphere is electric.
So I'm hoping that will send me round rubber side down,
I guess.
(spectators hitting barriers)
(announcer yells in foreign language)
- [Announcer] Go!
(announcer yells in foreign language)
(lively music)
- 28 laps to go.
I just hope Hank can keep rubber side down.
Don't crash Hank, please don't crash.
(lively music)
So, we're five laps in to the race now,
and I think the grid position is really telling;
it made a significant amount of difference in this race.
Hank is riding well, but is strung out every lap
and he's struggling to make up ground for his
original grid position.
He's in about 38th place at the moment.
Hopefully the other riders will start tiring
and Hank can start to move up.
(lively music)
- [Ollie] Go on Hank!
C'mon Hank!
Hank just came through here and he's lost a wheel,
but he was trying real hard, as you can see,
he tried to chase back on to the wheel in front.
Maybe a gap about 10 meters.
Oh my, he was working hard.
(dramatic music)
- [Ollie] Seven laps to go now, and unfortunately,
there's been a split in the pack
and Hank was on the wrong side of it.
He tried to chase it really hard and wasn't really
getting much help and he just wasn't able to close the gap.
He's now inside a bunch that's 20 seconds down off
the lead bunch, which contains about 30 riders.
He's looking alright, he's managing to stay up right
which is the main thing.
(lively music)
(crowd cheering)
Hank just crossed the line now.
Who are these people who were satting behind him
just like rolled him in his group and he was so
in the long ranges.
We're gonna go find him, we're gonna get him a beer
at the finish, because he's bloody earned it.
Let's go!
Mate, here you go - Ahhh.
- You've earned that buddy.
That was amazing.
How you doing?
- Ahh, that tastes so good.
Yeah, good.
I mean, that's one of the most incredible atmospheres
I think I've ever ridden in, that rivals Tour de Yorkshire,
Tour of Britain, yeah.
That was just insane.
- Atmosphere is amazing.
I was loving it as a spectator as well.
You look like you had a really hard race,
but it looked like there was a split and you missed it
and you were tryna chase on and everyone was so on you.
- Yeah, I mean, the people up front were leaving
loads of gaps, and they just left me so much work to do,
so I kinda went too far in the rear trying to get across,
I should have been there really.
So, next year I'm gonna put in some practice
instead of just two rides.
I'm gonna do some training, and yeah,
I think I could do well in this.
- Awe Mate, fair play there. - I enjoyed it.
Bring me back San-Dan, bring me back next year.
(laughs)
- I might have a go as well
- I bet you should.
Just don't come off.
(laughing)
- Mate, I've got no idea what that was like to ride,
but as a spectator it was amazing,
it was completely unbelievable.
I've not seen quite a race like it.
- Mate, I'm glad you've enjoyed it,
'cause I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was absolute carnage, but I loved it.
And if you did too, then please give this video a thumbs up.
Now you've seen my challenge,
why don't you go and check Ollie's challenge out
of Everesting.
I couldn't do that.
So go and check that out, down here.
- He could do it.
- Nah, I couldn't.