this is for my souljas

The last day before my self-imposed month off, and I'm racing a Wednesday night. I was more excited about the Tokyo Drift League cars setting up for their competition. I have a little malaise at this point, and I was feeling like a training session, not a race or two. Hence the upcoming race vacation.

Seconds into it, a solo xXxer off the front with 3 teammates sitting up at the front. Puh-lease. I chase, but not too ferociously, just stretching it out, maybe 3-4 of us can get up there without too much effort and we'll witness the rarest of birds: a cat 4 breakaway in a 2009 crit. Nah.

You can always count on some fool to reel it back in, and that fool was me. I knew it and it didn't really bother me, and I was experimenting with the "controlled burn" - taking my sweet time without having to jump or hammer. Turns out I spent 9 minutes doing this...uh, that's not part of the plan. Guys were hanging out behind me, then jumping up to the break. Hm, clever, but not on my part. Finally, with 8 up there, and not much gap, I closed the last gap. If one good thing came out of this, it was that the field was neatly split in two. They weren't pulling lapped riders, so at least they all got to stay in their own little B group.

Fast forward to the end: I maintained a top tennish spot, then a couple preme attacks go off. Lou Kuhn and Ben Popper are at the front, and when Lou goes with 2 to go, Ben says "Go for it Lou!" Uh oh...is there some cyclocross brethren pseudo-teamwork going on here? Dangerous. I can't tell if Ben's sitting up, and half a lap goes by. I am NOT pulling again, so I wait. A guy with a hammer and sickle calf tattoo chases (I see this guy everywhere, I have to figure out his name one day) and I'm on his wheel.

We catch Lou, but now there's less than a lap to go. We're on the back stretch. Hammer and sickle realizes he's in the worst spot: the front. He looks back and slows up. No way. I'm not leadiing out anyone to the line. I probably should have jumped, but instead I wait for someone else to do it and insert myself somewhere. A few spots further back than I'd like, but whatever. We hit the corner and all pretty much maintain position through the bends. No room for a proper sprint, so I hang on for 6th, maybe 7th.

Back at it minutes later, my "last" crit of the season, and one lap in I flat. I'm slightly relieved for a second, but I've never DNF'ed in my life and I'm not starting now. Lew gets me back in, I chase on, grab a few spots here and there. My plans to work for Max and (new teammate) Al "Roadhouse" Pearson go into the can.With 4-5 to go I make a big move to get into the top ten and some dippy lapped rider goes off to the right (as instructed), but not by very much. So, is he continuing to fade to the right, and will he pinch me out? or do I be a total ass and blast through the narrow gap between him and the pack? I should have done that, but one little lean into the next turn and he'd have boxed me in at speed. This is why they usually pull lapped riders. This race was filled with them.

So I lose all my spots and that's about it for me. Pack finish. On to a month or so of race-free living.