"We'll save" the best for last

Get it? Called the BRC hotline at 7:15 am and was overjoyed at the news of Wells being ON today. Woke the wife and kid, we're going to WELLSSSS. Promptly showered, shaved and packed the car in no time flat. We were on our way by 9:00, arrived at about 9:50. Fields were combined, giving me about 25 minutes to register, apply my number, pump up the tires etc. Did three warm-up laps on the course and lined up with a rather large field... Team mates Matt Kressy, Michael Andelman were there, and so were some former Colavita team mates Thad Lavalee, Kieran Lynch, Brad Buckley, Mark Stockwell, Wade Tardiff... The pace wasn't crazy fast, but there was a lot of action at the front. Bad crash about 1/2 way through on the sweeping bend. Someone hooked Mark Stockwell, who in turn went down together with Matt Kressy.. It was loud and ugly, like a train wreck- you want to look away but you can't. I wasn't in a position to stop and help so I went another lap and then stopped to check on them. Mark had no life threatening injuries, but my wife says his shoulder looked hurt- he couldn't put his bike up on his rack I'm told.. Matt buttered the course with some epidermis, a lot of it, but was otherwise okay, and even got back in and finished, with honors (third in the final sprint). I did a mediocre amount of suffering, more in the first half.. So many riders were letting gaps open up and requiring those behind to turn the screws to get around and regain contact.. Very tiring, but to be expected in a combined field. Surprisingly, no one could force a break and it came down to a field sprint..I had high hopes for the sprint and positioned myself quite favorably on the inside of the final bend, then several riders jumped early on the far left and many of us were caught in it's wake, by surprise. I was overgeared and my acceleration sucked for it. Managed to pick off a few riders before the line and claimed 9th. Damn. What a crap shoot. Or is it? Not gonna be hard on myself... Last season I was thrilled just to finish in the top 50 percentile. This year I've been in the top ten finishers numerous times. Matt took third, which is awesome considering the blood and raw flesh exposed all over him. Michael says he sat up at the end...So Wells Ave is over for 2006. I feel kind of depressed about it... March can't come soon enough. This winter will be the first where I actually try to ride and hold on to some fitness for the spring. Usually I do nothing from September until April, and I add 20 pounds in the process. Not gonna happen this time. A third contiguous year of racing is going to see me crashing podiums in 2007 for sure. I have a nice video clip which I'll try to add later.