Last weekend I convinced the OA team crew (Bradley and Justin) to head up to Nevada City Classic, a notoriously hard crit that always draws a strong field. On Saturday we stopped in Sacramento for a little crit to get the legs going. It was a flat, fast D-shaped course with 2 easy corners. Somehow a couple of guys managed to crash on a straight away right in front of me, taking me out. With only 4 laps to go and a bent rear wheel I didn't bother finishing. Luckily I wasn't too banged up, just a bit of road rash.
Sunday was Nevada City, and it didn't disappoint. The course was unlike any crit I've raced. A steep 3-part climb and a fast straight downhill through the start/finish. I managed to get a pretty good starting position and just tried to stay in contact with the leaders while conserving energy for a long hard day. Riders started getting dropped immediately, and with 10 laps to go we were down to maybe a 15 in the front group chasing Scott Nydam (BMC) and Justin England (Toyota). I managed to hang onto the group and finished 11th, not bad considering the quality of the field. Definitely the hardest 90 minutes on the season so far!