After sleeping in, I arrived at the race barely 20 minutes before the start, and got a quick warm up in.
As usual, I staged at the back of the field, and started off at the very back. After two laps, I realized that the accordian effect back there was brutal, and after braking through the turns, there was some fast accelerations afterwards. One guy was yelling at another for breaking in the turns, but in the middle and back of the field, that was the only way for everyone to get through safely. I decided to move up to the front, and found that the riding was way easier up there. In the top 5-10, I could take smooth lines through the turns, no need for braking, and maintain a steady speed on the exit.
It is the accelerations that wear you out, not the speed.
One guy was off the front, and I took a few turns pulling until I suddenly saw the pace car in front of us. I never saw him come back to the field, and afterwards I heard that he crashed out.
I focused on staying near the front on the final laps, and came through the final turn in 8th. At speed, I felt my rear wheel bouncing across some of the chop in the pavement, but no real issues.
The sprint for the win was close, with Colombia taking it.
I think I actually really like crits.
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