It was nice to line up without the jitters from the last two races. However, without that adrenaline and epinephrine to help me, I felt a little unfocused. With a call up, I got a much better start than last time. I felt a little squirrely on the gravel by the ball field and into the off-camber and decided to ride conservatively at the back of the leaders the first lap. This worked well, as the first time through the infield, there was a kerfuffle at the barriers (no serious injury), and I was far enough behind to respond and get around.
The leader was well off the front, and three of us hung together for the next couple laps. I decided again to go with the conservative strategy and sat on their wheels for a lap. Unfortunately, between hitting traffic and bobbling the run-up, I lost contact. I had a lap or two by myself trying to focus on racing the course, and felt good on the technical sections.
I was taken unaware by two women who caught me in the two-to-go lap. We went back and forth, and I was in the middle as we approached the run-up. I decided to be conservative again and run it to avoid bobbling on the ride. Unfortunately, I wiped out on the corner. I lost the women and was passed by a couple men. I tried to catch a wheel in the velodrome, but just didn’t have the legs. I was disappointed to move backwards in the last couple laps, but it was a good race, and I have some excellent competition. I was not disappointed by how much dirt I got out with my neti pot once we got home.