PORTRAITS: See The Riders Who Braved The Red Hook Criterium

RED HOOK, NY — Cyclists riding fixed-gear, brakeless bikes sped through the streets of Red Hook in April in an annual race known for its velocity, nasty wrecks – and characters. Photographer Harry Zernike set up a mobile studio nearby to capture the brave riders who tried to take home the gold.

The Red Hook Criterium pitted about 100 riders from more than 40 countries against each other on a 1-kilometer track that wound through the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on April 28 for the 11th race.

This year, Italian rider Filippo Fortin took home the gold in the men's race while Canadian rider Raphaele Lemieux won the women's.

The technically challenging competition is famed for its high speeds — with cyclists averaging between 27 and 28 miles per hour — and bad crashes because of the crowded field and riders' inability to make sudden stops.

The 2017 event made international headlines after dozens of riders wiped out at the start of the woman's race, with Italian cyclist Virginia Cancellieri tearing a ligament off her ankle in the crash, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation News reported.

Zernike has been attending and shooting the event for about six years, generally focusing on the race itself, but this time he partnered with Clif Bars and the Bicycle Film Festival to shoot portraits of racers, he said.

The photographer set up a mobile studio inside the terminal building itself and spent most of the day shooting racers and support staff who were either waiting to race, in between heats or just finishing the dangerous course.

Zernike plans to make a zine of his photos to be handed out at the Bicycle Film Festival in June, where he'll also be screening a film he made.

Images: Sean Martin; Kym “NonStop” Perfetto; Don Walker; Dazie Holt; Jurgen Ignatzy; Eddie B, Dave R and Filippo G; Luke Maher. (Photos courtesy of Harry Zernike)