I can give some missing context to the tactical decisions of VFR in a race that played exactly into our hands until 2 to go. This was the 2nd day of racing for the Berkeley Omnium that had real prize money on the line, including a big $2500 check for 1st. After the Berkeley RR we went in to the day with 1st, 4th, and 7th in the omnium. We were confident our crit guys (Ryan and Max) could finish ahead of the skinny guys from the day before in a bunch sprint and I figured both of them rolling in within the top 10 would secure their omnium spots. Our goal was to keep it together all race, and I assumed the rest of the field would know this and try their hardest to smash the race and break it to pieces to make our life difficult. Luckily for us a 2 man break went up the road 10 minutes into the race. I kept waiting for guys to go across, for the race to get harder, for guys to try to stick it to us. That didn't happen, so I spent my time grinning on the sidelines and talking trash to Chris every time he went by. This made it a very enjoyable race for me. Meanwhile I had the guys on the front control it. When the gap went out to 15 seconds I told them to start bringing it back. It started coming down too fast, so I told them to back off again and it went out a bit. They ramped it up once again and it came back a little earlier than we wanted at 3 to go. Job well done! Then 2 things didn't go to plan, one small and one big. 1) Jackson laid down a savage attack with 2 to go that we missed. By that time the boys wanted the stage win as well as the omnium, so Max burned some matches to bring it back. No big deal. 2) Big crash that took down both our guys. Ryan is alright, but Max is broken and separated and stitched and will be out a while. Send him some love.

was grimacing from 3:28 to 3:33 thinking "surely this guy is about to get chopped"

As an Aussie I feel like the aggression in American crits is pretty full on.

NorCal Cylings next video: Racing in the drops Vs the hoods

3:27 - Man that wide angle makes it look like wheel overlap!

Well, there’s only one way to settle this. Put on a L69ion kit and duke it out.

The new camera work is fantastic

Haven't seen it said here yet... Kudos to playing the Reikert card here, he's an absolute beast! I can appreciate that Voler let the break stay away but the fact that had to burn all of that energy up to do so and put them on the back foot once Chris was caught played into your favor more than they wanted. Keep up the awesome commentary and racing. You're the reason I built the confidence to get into crit racing myself!

Eamon in drops, Ryan on hoods with left elbow sticking way out. 9:23 Zoom in

Really cool to see your take on this course and this race, and glad you enjoyed our new course! Hope to see you and the entire crew out there again for our race next year! As a small collegiate team is really awesome to see the big names show up for our crit.

Cool new camera! A definite game changer for the channel!

Ouch!! Hoods vs drops seems to favors drops

whoever the new video guy is, do not coach him. let him continue to do his video thing.

Nice! Great footage and loved the lead out.

I just got an insta360 X2 a couple weeks ago. It makes for some absolutely incredible shots on the bike.

Great footage and discussion!

The fact that you train, race and also do commentarys is crazy. Where do you find such a nice family

I think with Eamon’s reputation we can assume there was more bumping/contact going on than the camera shows, but there’s a point at which one must drop it and just keep pedaling/figure out another way to win. In all honesty these videos with pros racing like this are fun to watch but not sure it’s the best example of how to win a wheel or how to decide what’s worth fighting for. Jeff has shown on here that he’s won lots of wheels, and has had to give them up on occasion but we’ve never seen him in a situation like this after all these years. Honest, hard, and fair riding and education are what we come to this channel for imo. I get that it’s different being a pro, but I see this stuff in the lower categories and always just makes me shake my head lol

Fuck man, these videos with Eamon are killer. Also amazing camera work, some of the best content you've released imo.

I see i'm not the only one freaked out about 3:28 jeebus christmas! I'd be looking for a fresh pair of bibs after that! Damn the comments goin off. I'd say racing incident. If there is blame to be placed, it is shared.

Hell yeah! Let’s go!

I asked Ryan but maybe it was not appropriate to ask him. Im not a crit racer but I enjoy watching these videos. My question is why not just draft behind Eamon and sprint it out at the last 200m? Was the turn from the finish line less than or at 200m? Or is it that they have equivalent sprint numbers so it would be harder to win from behind?

Eamon I remember you from your time in the Red Hook Crit series!!!! How I miss those events!

this comment section is absolute gold

Hey, what Mount are you using for the instant360?

Nice footage. I was wondering how you attached the camera to the bike ?

Guy who crashed was also being aggressive here and by the video looks like he just leaned to far into Eamon and lost balance or something and crashed. Can’t complain about aggressive riding if you are also aggressive. You want to be safe or fair? Then let the wheel go and hop onto Eamon’s wheel and give it a go from there.

jeff what mount do you use for the insta360?

3:27 and that VFR guy made me real nervous. Could be the fisheye lens, but that's close for comfort in the corner with overlapping wheels

Not enough talk about the rider who crashed (hope he's ok btw) sprinting on the hoods with elbows out. It's hard to know exactly what led to the crash but you've got to be in the drops there.

Hi Jeff, I just noticed you wear prescription glasses. If you do not mind me asking, do you also use prescription while riding?

Jeff please describe your insta camera set up maybe share a photo of how you hooked your camera up to your bike, and the process for overlaying data. I'm super interested. -Rick

Watched the crash 10+ times, here's what I objectively observe: Alex and Eamon pass Ryan on his left. This implies that Eamon had already established Alex's wheel. Ryan ascertained that was the winning position and decided to try and fight for Alex's wheel while on the hoods with both elbows flared out. From what I can see, it appears Ryan tries to push Eamon towards the curb and gets his bars pushed because he's not protecting them. Eamon had every right to protect his position. The difference is that Eamon was in the proper position to fight for a wheel, and Ryan wasn't. Sucks to see anybody go down, and I hope Ryan and especially his teammate recover quickly. Opinion: Racing in the drops, especially in the final few laps, is crit racing 101. You have to protect your drops if you're going to try and fight for a wheel. Ryan failed to use this simple and elementary position during a key point in the race, which ultimately led to the crash.

Camera setup video/short?

The new camera is awesome.

I feel like Eamon does deviate his line but he’s following the wheel of the guy in front, but I’m no expert. I also feel that Ryan in the hoods makes it easier for him to lose the bike when bumping but again I’m no expert. Just two observations I made

Eamon's hair - better than MIPS. 😂

What mount did you use for the jnsta360?

In the shadow, it appears ryan had his elbows out into eamon to win the front wheel and just got a tad bit too close that eamons knee hits the end of ryans handlebars and that caused ryan to lose the front wheel.

8:08 dude is motherfuckin jacked, looks like an inflatable Ken doll

Crit beef!!! 🎉

crazy that no one went down at 3:30

That front tire crossing over and over at @3:35 😬😬😬

Please have eamon on more man he’s a beast and I’m glad to see he’s been more active on social media recently!

At the time of the crash, what was Alex thinking? He didn't have a teammate in his wheel. Unless he thought he was going to ride Ryan and Eamon off, what was he doing out front?

I wonder if you could slightly lower the FOV angle for the camera for less distortion

Glad you got the 360 dude, Gopros be kicking thr bucket wayyyy too often.

can you link the mount for the camera?

It sucks to see this happen, no matter what the circumstances. Having crashed on my first outdoor ride this year, resulting in left shoulder reconstruction surgery, I’d love to hear tips and advice for getting back to training/shape. I’m 3 weeks post surgery, 6 weeks post accident. Still in a sling and will be for 4-6 more weeks.

Being on the hoods is also not ideal and part of the reason.

Hello, I was just wondering how I get into races like this. I am 16, and I'm getting a road bike later this year, and I'm not sure how to get started. If you have any tips, it would be much appreciated 😁🚲 🇬🇧

Excellent cinematography.

At least I can Watch some interesting racing footage when I can´t race by my self (last race chain snaped 2nd round in a 6km course)

Now makes perfect sense why Eaman texted me last year if I’m gonna get back to racing. Big bro doing it big in Cali now.

Ryan here. This is another massive mischaracterization. Just like the Santa Cruz video where Eamon gave Andrew a shot as he was moving up to help with the leadout while Miles was on the front. You can clearly see that the distance from the curb to Eamon's line changes during the time I get pushed from behind. He goes from 8" off the curb to about 3' off the curb. Meanwhile he generates a force with his arms and upper body that is high enough to start my front wheel sliding laterally and actually FOLD THE TIRE OFF THE RIM. There is a huge difference between elbows out to defend your own space and giving someone a shot to the handlebars. He straight up rode through my handlebars from behind. I'm fine with aggressive/physical racing but it needs do be done in a way that the other riders have an option/out other than crashing. Leaving out a bunch of context here is only further support. Like the fact that this is part of a 2 day omnium including the district championship road race the day before where I rode away solo from your whole team and was leading the omnium headed into this race (with $2500 on the line for first). Like the fact that Mike's hasn't won a single race this year against Voler. And like the fact that this was a wildly physical race with Mikes actively getting into the VFR chase line and Eamon physically moving riders off of their teammates wheels throughout. I get it, you guys were desperate for a win and you got one the only way you could. Let's call it how it is though.

The 360 camera makes for excellent analysis of the crash.

I'll never understand how people can be comfortable riding that close to one another lol.

The fisheye lens should be mandatory. It's a more realistic perspective. . Plus I like seeing the shifting and braking.

His tyre deforming like that, to low pressure?

Eamon a big goof

Direct result of low pressure too.

Ouch, tough to see. No broken bones from that one I hope?

Why no mention of the aggressive arm movement/elbowing by Eamon? He's at least partly responsible for the crash.

I came to blame you for the crash but the video makes that pretty hard.

I think I cannot blame eamon on this one,the other guy came from the back to fight for the wheel and loose that battle

3:26 I am hoping that is just minor warp form the 360, that rider overlapping the wheel about to go in a corner....oof

Watched it back numerous times on 0.25x speed from 7mins 12. Eamon deviates left initially as Ryan pulls across with his arms out (as stated by Ryan) ✅, over to the curb. As the video plays through he does move over into Ryan in response to this. Stating he doesn’t deviate isn’t true, over the course of about 2 seconds (pre - post crash) Eamon has moved from the left side of Alex’s wheel to being on it. Almost certainly hitting Ryan in the process. Racing incident (completely) as ruled by the commissars, but don’t hide behind a ruling @NorCal Cycling, absolving someone completely and proclaiming innocence using your platform isn’t the right way to be humble. Naturally a lot goes on in a race which adds fuel to any fires. From watching many channels and races it’s not hard to believe shoulder to shoulder is going on all race and forceful riding is almost certainly happening. Shade can be thrown in any direction. Hopefully everyone recovers well and you all keep racing and putting out the content.

2 Important Points: 1. This video has been edited and paused with associated commentary to portray the context from only 1 team’s side of the crash. 2. Eamon states “my line didn’t deviate” precisely when the video shows his line deviating. He begins from the left side of Alex’s wheel mm from the curb, and ends up a foot or two from the curb on the right side of Alex’s wheel. Fighting for wheels in the last laps of a race is commonplace, but when you’re pushing through their handlebars you’ve removed the option for that rider to escape an inevitable crash.

How can you go 30mph for so long 😅

Not sure I’m loving the new camera, there seems to be warping all over the place, looking at the levers makes my head hurt

I liked the gopro footage better. The insta360 gets you those side views but generally it's just way too wide of a view. Too fish-eye

Hilarious to read the noob armchair QB comments. Both Eamon and Ryan are class riders with tons of pro level experience and skills. Sucks that it happened but we will see them battle again.

A 1k course and 250m straights, 4 corners......you guys have successfully turned bike racing into nascar

y'all ripping on 28s or 30s for these crits

“Ryan comes into me and takes his own front wheel out” What a fucking joke. You missed the part where Eamon was physically fighting me for my own teammates wheel like 20 minutes into the race for no reason.

Jeff, I liked your videos better when you were by yourself commenting on racing and explaining tactics. Your guests bring unnecessary ego stuff. You are a very fair racer but are now involved in overly aggressive if not outright dangerous bs from guest speakers.

Mikes straight up lying about not deviating from the line. You were clearly not behind Alex’s wheel. Look how close to the curb you were.

a case of common denominator to me. second norcal video of Mike's Bikes riders being overly aggressive and this time resulting in a nasty crash. Jeff, your content has always been better than this. Zero humility or remorse coming from you and your guest on this video.

Crashing out your competition through reckless riding, posting it in 4k, and then blaming him for it is crazy work 😭😭😭 NorCal Gaslighting back at it again ☠️

That was such an amateur crash. I'd bet that guy didn't start riding a bike till he was in his 20's.

Jeff - What program do you use for data overlay? Virb G-Metrix is thoroughly dead now with Google changing its API. Thanks. -U10