Hola from sunny California again!
Just showered off after the crit and we're getting ready to kick it in downtown Redlands for dinner. Today's crit...AWESOME! I love crits. I get scared out of my wits before big ones like todays, but only for a millisecond and then I remember how pumped I am (real tired too of course) when they're over.

The course - a 9 very tight cornered course with a slightly uphill straightaway finishing straight. A recipe for absolute fun. I'm SOOOO glad I got to race today. I can't tell you how excited I was to see that I made the time cut, just so I could do today's crit.

So, we began our day again at 6:30AM Cali time (been waking up super early as the sun is already pretty high by that time) with everyone gathering in the kitchen around the coffee pot. Watching everyone come back to life in the morning as the coffee kicks in is like watching Neanderthal men come life that were frozen in a glacier, OK, not like that's really possible, but you get the drift. So the jokes begin and the snickering picks up, and before you know it we're roaring with laughter at everyone's quips about how pinned they were yesterday or how thier eyes were bleeding or how they were seeing visions from the pain or other unmentionable bodily functions occuring at bad times. We have such a good crew at this race, real laid back, just here to have a good time experiencing a huge pro race together. I'm the rock star today. I'm the lantern rouge. Quite a distinction. One I'm very happy about actually b/c it means all the guys that didn't make the cut unfortunately don't get to race today...so to the races!

I get a decent start and its fast from the gun...and then it gets faster and never lets up for 90 minutes. Just like I expected it. No complaining here. I'm doing what I love, even though it hurts. There are some real bad crashes here and there throughout the race, but I manage to keep a great position in the top third of the field (139 starters - that's a big field). So do the rest of the guys. We all do a fantastic job staying up front as much as we can. I look down at one of the 'slowest' corners on the course: 30 MPH. We would end up averaging 27.5MPH and cover over 42 miles in just 90 minutes. Sick, but totally awesome. All of our guys stay upright. Alex Candelario, a pro, ended up with a broken collarbone unfortunately from one of the spills. That always sucks.

Anyways, with 1.5 laps to go, I blow up, drop anchor and can't keep the speed that's been bumped up to something like mach 5...I finish the race just a few seconds off, but I made it. And it was a blast. My shins, face, legs and arms are covered with black dust: brake dust. We were filthy after the race. So - tomorrow is the last day, another hummer of a RR, up into the foothills above Redlands. I guess alot of guys just drop out as soon as we hit the circuits so the can get a GC finish spot, so unfortunately, I may not hang onto my Lantern Rouge spot...in fact I may have lost it today...depends on how many guys got shelled during the crit...we'll see.

Anyways - thanks again to all for reading and for your emails of support!
Hopefully I can write a final report, but it won't be tomorrow night - gotta jump outta the chamois and into a car to speed to the airport to catch my flight home so I can be in at work bright and early. Someday this will catch up to me.

Your 2nd most faithful scrivener!
-Marc