Santa Cruz Crit

I love this crit... went to school here so I feel like a kid, which is appropriate cause I'm on a bike too.

Heard that Justin had won the 3's even before arriving, got the call from Chris Patterson of Form saying the team work was great.

As far as my race, note that it's not always a great idea to do two crits in a day. I guess it's good for me long term, but in the very very short term it was just painful. I've gotten in the habit of doing two crits since the Cat 4 days because they were really short. You do a 40 min Cat 4 race then the 40 min 35+ Cat 4 race. Velo Promo cuts five minutes off each of them because of an earlier crash and you barely had a workout.

I haven't been feeling so good all week either. So, trying not to contemplate the 50 laps (47 miles) that make up the P/1/2 race, I decide to do the 35+ 1/2/3 first. It's only 20 laps, right? Problem is, that means the old guys are really going to crank it up... I don't feel too bad, staying up in the top ten or so for most of the race. I really give it up to bridge onto a break that looks dangerous only to have it fall apart. Sat in a good spot with a good lap to go but the Discovery train blew by me too fast. Delivering LaBerge to the win.

The P/1/2 race was off the hook. Full Kodak contingent. Cal Giant was there in force since it's kind of a hometown race for them. Within a lap it was one long string of 110 riders. You gotta line up on the front line of these things if you plan on being part of the race. I didn't SEE the front until 35 laps later, after a break of 13 guys was off the front and the pace slackend, and I was able to recuperate some. I even started to feel better. By then, two Kodak riders. As much as I wanted to just stop pedalling, seeing the detritus on the sidelines as the pack fell apart made stay in... and stay in... and stay in.... I mean this thing added up to 47 miles! and fast!

Long story short: two Kodak riders who were in the rest of the pack go to the front and start to lead out the lapping Kodak riders for the 1/2 win. Last ten laps sped up all over again. I was actually starting to feel better, hung in for some spot. Will have to wait for VP to spark up the old computer before I know what spot it was. Top thirty? Alright for my first real p/1/2...