Rookard Pools Therapy Downtown Twilight Criterium, May 4, 2019 Stage 3

The Rookard Pools Downtown Criterium takes place in the heart of historic Wenatchee over a six-block loop, and right after the Apple Blossom Festival Grand Parade concludes. The start and finish is on Wenatchee Avenue, between Palouse and First streets. A large beer garden near the finish line attracts hundreds of spectators. The pictures in this gallery are a few of the Men's 4/5 featuring Bailey's Soccer coach Ben riding for his Walla Walla team, finishing 4th in the Cat 5.. Most of the photos are the Men's 1/2 which began at 8 pm. The lights were not turned on till almost too late. There was one major crash stopping the race. According to a racer, the pace was 32+ MPH for the race. Shooting dark and fast, I was not able to get a ton of photos, but hopefully these convey the atmosphere. The announcer was encouraging donating money for Primes and people coughed it up. There was an 800 and a 1000 prime as well as many 100's. This made the race that much faster and we were scared you know what watching the racers. The team came over in the Pack at the finish and lost no time in the overall standings
I tried to get some good closeups but spent too much time worrying about our racers.
Enjoy the pics.