Spring Prairie 4/5

This race barely deserves to be written up. The only thing that really bothers me is that I thought I felt ok, and I can't hang my dismal performance on any one thing, but maybe a few. Overtraining this week? Running too much last weekend after taking the winter off? Too little sleep? Getting soaked in my warmup and standing around for 2 hours to wait out the lightning? Being sketched out by the wet start and playing it safe in the back? Not climbing a hill like that in years? Probably that most of all.

Whatever. Bradley and I broke off at the rollers after the start/finish on the last lap. I drafted him for a spell, then tried to pull him back to the group, but he waved me off. I caught the pack after turn 1, only to fall out again just before the big downhills. I counted a three second gap, and thought "No problem, I can close that on the downhill." Problem is, on the downhill, three seconds is three times further away. 45 mph, chin practically on the top tube, but I could not close it. If only I'd shaved my legs and carried a couple of water bottles!

34th place, two spots out of the main field, a little better than halfway in the standings. Al, however, was in top form, and cleaned it with some solid blocking from the Crew and Pegasus, who had someone trying to bridge.