Let me start by saying that this is one of the biggest criteriums in the nation. There were more than 40,000 spectators and $60,000 on the line for the finish as well as prime laps. So as far as money goes, this IS the biggest criterium in the nation.  I started the race in the back again. This is becoming a recurring theme for me in these big races. I think the race for a good starting position is about as tough as the race itself, and with 20 or more riders called to the front, it gets pretty difficult. Maybe subconsciously my warm up timing is more important to me than my starting position. This is an eight turn dumbbell shaped loop, with two right turns and 6 lefts. The strait aways pass each other, which is crazy when a breakaway is off the front because the breakaway riders go right by you in the opposite direction. I lost a bottle after hitting a pothole in turn 4 just before the first strait away. It popped out and fell between my calf and crank arm. So I stopped pedaling in a failed attempt to recover it, which left me scrambling to hang on to the last wheel of the line. There were 137 starters and I was sitting 137th. I didn’t panic, but three bottles would have been nice instead of two considering the heat that night and my problem with cramps. In the back of the group you get the YOYO effect. Basically the front keeps a steady 30mph through the turns and straits.  When you are in the back, it bunches up and gets slow in the turns, which means to catch up on the straits you have to accelerate to 35-40mph. This for most riders is a dead sprint! I knew this would happen over and over until my race was over if I didn’t move up.  After the 40mph sprint through the straits, I would simply keep digging as the pack came back to bunch up, and see how many people I could pass before slamming the breaks and finding a good line through the turns. I feel like I almost wrecked at least once a lap. By the 30 minute mark, I moved up behind the front bubble. I think I made up the term bubble, referring to the large circle shaped group in the front of the race. There is usually a short line of attacking riders or a lead out just in front of this bubble, and a very long line of struggling riders behind it, simply trying to hang on. The bubble is a comfortable spot. You cannot participate in the race behind it but getting in front of it is a challenge. You have to either squeeze past it in the gutter and hope you don’t get pinched out or move around it at 40 mph when it gets lined up. I chose the gutter route and made it. Now we are down to business. It’s not easy in the front either because you are going with attacks, behind single riders, or simply fighting to squeeze into line with your head in the wind. I stayed in the front for a good deal of the race and even attacked the United Health Care lead out train and bridged to a failed attempt at a breakaway. UHC bullied the race in the likes of HTC, just as a good sprinter team should. They went with and sat on all the break away attempts.  With 15 laps to go, they started increasing the tempo as the finish got closer. I tried to shove myself into this beautiful UHC choo choo, but one by one each rider in the train simply placed their hand on my hip and pulled himself past me, until I was with the other 15 riders fighting for the tail end of the train. Jonathon Cantwell stayed glued to that train like a champion and got cut off in the sprint.  I guess that is the benefit of having the lead out train and sprinting from the front. I lost position late, and in the last few laps it only got worse. The pace got faster as I cramped more and more. As I went around left hand turns my left hamstring would cramp. Then I would turn right, and my right one would lock up. I would have to stand through some of the curves, which is not safe or efficient. There were twice as many left turns as rights. This might explain why my left hamstring still feels pulled. In the last lap, I was simply closing gap after gap until the gap seemed too big to close. I looked back and had about 12 followers.  I slowed up, went to the back of my group and then sprinted past the majority of them in the finishing strait. The payout went 30 riders deep. I finished 29th. I was much more pleased with the way I felt and raced than the 29th place finish and the 85 bucks that came with it. I know I can race with these guys, and that is a good feeling. I want to especially thank Jim Brock and Will Hibberts for all of their training help lately. Jim has a funny way of pushing me to my very limits on the bike. 😉  Hope everyone enjoyed the helmet cam video.