Athens Twighlight Crits

4th yesterday in the Cat 4/5 35+ criterium. 45 minutes, 10 laps, 1.28 mile loop with a hill from turn 4 to the start / finish. 24 mph avg speed. Got boxed in on the sprint and had to wait to move around people. Jeff Gaines got first, Jeff Blau got 7th, Joe Remling got 15th - Joe was at the front of the race all the way to the end. The top 10 finishers from our race qualified for the amateur finals at 6:00pm, along with the top finishers in every race which includes pro,1,2,3 and 4. USA Cycling moved me up from a Cat 5 to a Cat 4 for the race. Also got $30!

After our amateur finals race was the women’s Pro, 1,2,3 race and the men’s Pro,1,2 race. (national teams). My race included 4 laps with the group and then popped off the back along with all the other 4's and a few others. We grouped together for about 4 more laps or so before we were pull from the race as the big boys were coming back around. We lasted about 16 minutes of the race. I saw 5 crashes while in the race. It was fun having thousands of people cheering and screaming for you while your racing.

Dana and Lisa raced in the women’s race. Dana stuck in with the pro women to the finish! The men’s race was 80 laps at a blistering pace. When the peleton came by it was like a NASCAR race with the wind blowing you down. I was lucky enough to hang out with the Aarons team in their VIP tent in the corner of turn 2, thanks guys! Thousands of cheering people under the lights... very fun!