Penultimate Ninigrit of 2008

I draw your attention to my cadence during tonight's Ninigret training crit: 100.
The field was quite full tonight. Should I drop names? Ah hell, why not. In no particular order, but ladies first: Lynn Samartano, Silke Wunderwald, Billy Mark, Bill Doonan, Mike Maloney, Mike Cavros, Mark McCormack, Rick Kotch, Bill Yabroudy, Jim Peters, Ted Shanstrom, Todd Buckley, Chris Dale, Larry King, Rick Desmarais, Adam Sullivan, at least 3 Keoughs, Jonathan Lowenstein, and about 40 others who I hope to name here in the future. It was a typical Ninigret field, but the wind was quite calm, which is rare. Lots of guys had arm warmers on, and towards the end when it was getting dark, I was glad for no wind, because it would have felt a lot cooler than 57 degrees. We averaged 26.5 mph and no one got away for long. In the field sprint, I was positioned rather poorly and got shut down as I tried to wind it up going into the final bend before the finish. I don't know where my head "was at" in the last 5 laps, but my mad dash to get to the front with one lap to go didn't quite happen. That, and I was feeling less than stellar- kind of like racing was a chore.. I burned a few matches as part of a few different breaks, and I didn't like the way it felt to be in a 28 mph rotation (per usual, I'm like a bloodhound when comes to detecting un-necessary work, and I sit up when I'm in a mix of guys who I know aren't well matched, or when the group is too small, or when I just plain know that the high octane field is going to catch us with just one acceleration), so I often felt tired and cranky and so I retreated to the back for a few laps, thinking I'll save it for the sprint. Pffffft. Apparently I didn't want it bad enough to deliver myself to the front in time, so it's no surprise that 15 or more guys smoked me at the finish. Serves me right. It's been a melancholy couple of days as it is, and the cancellation of the Bob Beal Stage Race was a buzz-kill too. (Lots of people were watching the weather reports, remembering how the 2007 road race stage was in the pouring rain- and MANY people had plans to register today at the last minute..) On the bright side, the data from tonight's crit is encouraging, and it seems to prove that I'm in much better form now than I was last September just before Bob Beal. So now what? The weekend is wide open and I'll probably go for some early morning LSD (long steady distance). I should also finish painting my house's 40 windows and shutters. I can finish it this weekend if I really put my mind to it. Only about 10 left..