State Crit.

Went over to St. Paul for the state crit. I rode University over, and was convinced that I would pick up a hunk of glass and flat before I got there, but I ended up being okay.

I was feeling pretty good on the warm up, had 10 miles or so on before, and tooled around another 10 before the race with a few sprints in there. Got to the line warm for once.

Gun went, and I was 3rd or 4th wheel off the bat. I led a few laps, and was feeling good. I had planned on going with 3 or 4 to go, so I got a bit of a gap. The pack kept on chasing and closing any gap I could get, so I sat up. I was waiting for Jason to make a jump, but he ended up clipping a pedal on the 180 with 1.5 to go. Bummer.

Anyhow, I stayed up towards the front on the last lap. I drilled it at the bottom of the hill (maybe 300 yards to go), and was passing people on the left. Then some dude from LSC popped out of the group and cut me off. So much for all that momentum.

I ended up finishing in the top 10 (I think??). I was pretty bummed since I raced aggressively and was feeling good the entire time. I think I would have had a shot if I didn't get cut off.

I had a lot of fun, and learned a thing or two about tactics. I still get antsy and want to lead, which usually doesn't play out in my favor. I end up burning too much energy and can't get that final jump. Randy told me that I had a grin on my face every lap I was leading, but I am pretty sure that was my pain face.