Course Work

Surrounded by about 2,000 enthusiastic fans, 160 men and women cyclists furiously pedaled over a rugged course in three separate races here Sunday.

After a frenzied 37 1/2-mile race, bicyclist Greg Medinilla beat out 62 of the nation’s top amateur cyclists to win the men’s Pro State Championship race at the Ventura Cycling Classic.

In the 30-lap Women’s State Championship, first-place winner Amber Neben, 25, of Irvine surprised spectators by beating her nearest competitor by more than a lap, unusual on a such a short, high-speed course, race officials said.

The races took place on a three-quarter-mile loop around downtown.

The event featured criterion racing, in which bicyclists race a short course many times. Each lap took about a minute and a half, and Medinilla, 27, of San Diego, finished his 50-lap race in 1 hour, 27 minutes.

The third annual event raised money for the Ventura Youth Employment Service.

The course, which many of the competitors described as extremely tough, made a long low climb east along East Main Street to Fir Street, turned left onto Poli Street, then made a hairpin turn in front of City Hall as it swung onto California Street.

In between the races, runners competed in a 3-mile run, and local youths performed flips and twists on their motocross bicycles and in-line skates, flipping off the top of a 6-foot-high ramp.

On the sidewalk near the finish line, massage therapists and their students offered $15 massages for weary racers and spectators, but with most eyes on the race, they ended up practicing on each other.

“It beats standing around,” said Tim Harris, of the Ventura County Sports Massage Team.

The slow climb up East Main Street was tough on the cyclists, many competitors said.

“This is a small field because this is a hard course; it scared people away,” said Jennifer Reither, 25, of Long Beach, who came in third in the women’s race.

Marty Church, 29, of Santa Barbara, who placed eighth in the men’s Pro State Championship race, said the event has potential to draw more spectators because of the setting near the ocean and the excitement of the short, hilly course.

“It doesn’t get much better than this as far as criterion goes,” Church said.

Jon Avery, one of the event’s organizers and owner of Open Air Bicycles in Ventura, said people don’t realize how exciting criterion races are until they see one up close.

Strategy plays a big part for the cyclists, who race in teams, he said. If one member of a team has a chance to place high in the race, the bicyclist’s team members will try to keep other racers from catching up.

When members of Reither’s team saw she had a chance for third place, they began edging slightly in front of other racers and then would slow down slightly, she said.

“We don’t get in their way, but we make it so they don’t want to go around,” she said.

Neben said she discusses strategy with her coach and walks each racecourse to determine beforehand how to handle each hill and turn.

Local racers such as Erika Coble and Ryan Yee, both of Ojai, and Church drew cheers each lap as they passed friends and family members.

“I’ve really looked forward to this race; it’s the best of all, it’s perfect,” said Coble, who placed fourth in the women’s race. “Because of the hills and because all my friends are here.”