Today was a near duplicate of yesterday. A flat 4 corner criterium, wide open, nothing else. It had field sprint written all over it. But, it almost wasn’t. A group of 5 got away with 20 minutes to go or so. Brian Jensen made the group and we were good with that. But, it wasn’t to be. We caught the break with about 400 meters to go. 100 meters before the last corner. Everything got pretty shuffled up at that point. Shuffled up enough that I came mildly close to winning the race. Chad Hartley jumped early when the break was caught and only Colby Pierce, who was in the break got on. I came from a ways back and latched on to them coming out of the last corner, 300 meters from the line. Mainly downhill. I tried to shift into my 11, but alas, I was already in it. I went by Pierce and was coming up on Chad in the last 20 meters, but Dan Schmatz and Cole House came by on either side and I was so taken by surprise I didn’t quite get by Hartley for 3rd. They were going 5 mph faster than me. I guess they started pretty far back. I’m not sure of the results of the guys behind me. These races are rolling along pretty good, but the courses haven’t been hard enough. Tomorrow’s race is in the Italian district and has a hill. But, probably not a big enough hill to split it up. We’ll see.

Leading Shad out for a prime. Guess I'm alittle done judging by arm position.

Catherine's claimed spot in the hotel room. She's proud of her organization process.

Today’s race was in the Italian section of St. Louis. The race is on a hill. Not a big hill, but still a hill. Rectangle, 4 corners with the long sides up and down. Downhill sprint. Pretty long, 500 meters or so from the last corner to the finish line. The race was supposed to start at 5:50, but the women had some rain and had to be neutralized to clear the carnage off the road. (Brooke Miller, Tibco, won for the 3rd day in a row.) Anyway, we started pretty late. Late enough that we were going to finish in the dark. With no lights.

The race was going pretty good. Pretty steady fast. It was looking like it was going to be a field sprint, but towards the end a small group got away. Finally only two were left. We were coming up on them pretty fast, but Coby Pierce couldn’t be denied and won ahead of a charging field. Dan Schmatz won the field sprint for 3rd. I was buried. The photo finish camera wasn’t working, so I’m sure the results are all screwed up. But, the prize money here isn’t anything to write home about until tomorrow, so it is nearly irrelevant. I was somewhere between 10th and 15th. Pretty pitiful.

Tomorrow is the final day. The prize money is nearly triple. Over a grand to win. That makes it way more interesting. Except, it is another 4 corner, flat criterium. Not really what I’m/we’re good at.

Bromont's modus operandi for making sure he isn't getting ditched going to the race.