Three weeks before the 2015 Red Hook Crit, we bumped into Neil Bezdek on a weekday at around 7:30 a.m. in Central Park. Well, sort of. He blew by us on an Argon 18 Gallium while we were spinning out a few laps before work. He didn’t rub it in, though. Since 2008 when the RHC began as a birthday party for race director, David Trimble, Bezdek has won the Red Hook Crit four times — once in Milan and three times in Brooklyn — and finished on the podium an additional four times. During that time he’s alternately been a bike messenger, a pro racer for SmartStop/Mountain Khakis, and (currently) a planner on the bike share program for the New York City Department of Transportation. As track bike crits go, Bezdek is royalty. Despite a long day of qualifying and stiff competition, he was kind enough to let us inside his world as one of the most unique bike races in the country unfolded.
For Red Hook Crit Royalty, There’s Always Next Year
Neil Bezdek is a four-time winner of the Red Hook Crit in Brooklyn and Milan.
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