It was a sunny Saturday, uncharacteristically warm for early spring in New York—a perfect day for a perfect bike race. Loading docks and shipping containers flank the 1.25 km course. Across the Hudson in the distance the Statue of Liberty rose from the horizon. Bikes circle through, putting extra attention on the hairpin turn at the end of the circuit and the bend halfway through the lap that slingshots bikes around a wide island—these are the places where racers must wrestle with control and speed and positioning to advance; the tight, technical, high-risk zones.