About half way through the first lap there was a crash at the front of the group. I was about half way back and behind the crash. The guy fell down on my side, I braked and swerved, and narrowly missed him (I was close enough to be conscious of where my pedals were in rotation so as not to slam his back). Just at that moment the pace picked up tremendously. I chased for quite a while and was never able to catch up to the group in front of me. It was pretty tough mentally, as I matched their pace for several miles, but just couldn't catch up. Then there were small groups of riders together for the rest of the day. I ended up riding a lap or three with comrade Josh. We were caught by the 4s (who started 10 minutes or so ahead of us) just before their finish and the road guards erroneously waved us off to the side. We sat there for a few minutes until we saw another group of 5s roll by. We chased back on to them and found comrade Roy among them. Then we finished the last lap mostly together.
 
It was a tough, tough time. I don't think I could have stayed with the front group without the crash anyway, but it was nice to get out and put in a good effort and--maybe more importantly for me--not quit. At this point, I feel like I'm right on the edge of ability. If everything is smooth, and I make good decisions, I can be in the mix until the end. But I'm not strong enough to make up for chance or poor choices. I’m looking forward to the Carl Dolan race in a few weeks.

-michael