So it is a day later and my memories of the race are no better or worse than they were right afterwards when I was talking with Holly, so in terms of race reports this will be a little unconventional.  As Holly lined up for the women's elite race, I went up and into the warm up tent to put my bike on one of the cycle ops trainers that were provided.  I got my bike hooked up and spun on the trainer for about thirty minutes to warm up the legs.  Normally, thirty minutes on the trainer would have been torture, but between my mind being occupied by the race and making every effort to keep my body warm, it was pleasant to have something to do with my legs.  So it did not feel like it was very long before we were all standing around outside in the cold waiting for our name to be called.  There were 167 registered riders, 98 showed up and I lined up at about 88th place.  A few rows up there was a guy with dollar bills pinned all over him asking everyone to keep their hands off until after the first turn.  The top 15 guys got called up to claim their spots on the line and then had to go up to the finish line so they could be announced.  After they were all back and the rules were read they announced that there was a minute to go.  After time gets inside 30 seconds, they can fire the gun whenever they feel we are ready.

 

The course conditions I felt were the best they had been all weekend.  The temperature was right at freezing and the sun was out.  This melted all the snow and soften upped most sections of the course.  It also made tons of mud.  The course itself was great and the race was going to be fast.

 

The gun went off and we were racing up the hill in a fury.  I picked a spot far to the left and it was pretty open on the hill so I was able to move up a little and rode as fast as I could.  And then things get a little blurry.  Specific sections and laps are mixed together.  The first lap was really aggressive, but not as aggressive as the other UCI races I have done and that was probably in large part because of the conditions.  We just could not ride as close together as usual.  The first lap was two or three wide whenever possible as people tried to make up positions.  I was doing fairly well at moving up through the pack.  I rode the first lap pretty clean, well I did not fall down, I did get really dirty.  Over the line, the counter said five to go, six total.  I made it through the second lap clean as well, and made up some more positions.  Going into the third lap up and through the first turn and ditch I caught a rut wrong and went down for the first time.  Not bad, but I still hit the ground hard.  A quick recovery and I was down and around the pond.  After passing the pits for the second time I caught another group that had Kevin in it.  It was cool to ride together as people were shouting "Killjoy!"  We rode together for a little while which was cool and then I broke away from that group.  Up the hill and over the line I was already on the fourth lap.  Shortly after I crossed the line I could hear the officials blowing the whistle, signaling for riders to pull from the course.  I knew this was to be my last lap, so I gave it everything I had and put forth every effort to catch as many people as possible.  I fell three times in the race, twice in this lap, once on a hairpin turn, where I slid out sideways pretty dramatically.  The second time was in the still frozen, extremely rutted area near the pedestrian crossing.  I lost my line and went face first into the ground, it was pretty awesome.  Neither of the falls were critical, but they both put me on my ass.  Also on the last lap, as I went through the ditch near the stairs, my right hand slipped off my bars entirely.  I rode out of the rest of the ditch one handed and surprised myself by not eating it hard.  Atop the hill and at the finish line was the finish of my effort.

 

 

 

I still felt strong and given another lap I know I could have caught some more guys, but overall I was happy.  The course was super fun and the competition was awesome.  I got to watch the finish of the race, and watch Johnson make his move to be in the lead.  Once again there were a ton of people shouting for me on the course which was awesome.  Beyond that there were a ton of spectators period.  Not one section of the course was empty.  The hard parts of the course were loud as everyone shouted and wanted the riders to make it through the section just as badly as the riders did.  A group of guys had brought out a couch and set it up on top of one of the slippery hills.  All of my thanks go to Tim and the Klugs.  Kevin drove the whole way both ways, the best.  It was a great weekend spent with a lot of awesome people.

 

I did learn a thing or two.  Starting line position means almost nothing.  The last person called into the starting grid finished on the lead lap, all the way from the last row behind me.  I had written a strong finish off, solely based on my starting position.  It would have greatly helped to start farther forward, but being last does not mean you stay there.  Also, winning takes a ton of effort.  The guys who really excelled in the race knew every inch of the course.  They knew exactly what lines to take and how to take them.  They did not slow down, they did not foot down, they just kept going, super fast.  They were out on the course everyday.  They found the lines and went over them over and over.  They had people watching the women's race for them just to make sure.  They also had extra bikes, equipment and kit, a pit crew and mechanics taking care of their bikes for them.  An extra bike would have been awesome on race day because it was so muddy.  With a full national calendar scheduled for next year it will be a necessity.  I feel like there should be more to say, but really all there is left to say is that it was an amazing end to a great season.