A week after the Cascade Classic massace would I have pro-level legs?  Not really, but you can always do the right things in a race and hope for the best, and being THE premier bike race in the team's hometown we had to represent as well as possible.  This is also the race where I got my biggest career result with 4th place in 2006 so I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well.

Though the field was smaller than in other years partly due to the pro/1 status, most of the top criterium riders in the US were there, with Toyota United, winners of the race in 2006 & 2007 being the favorites.

I was planning on sitting in and getting into position for the final sprint with taking primes a secondary goal, while the ultimate shot at making the winning break again was in the back of my mind.  At 30 minutes into the 90 minute event I saw a strong move form and jumped across to it through the start/finish line.  I immediately felt the effort and sat on the break, eventually doing what I could to help out, but I always felt like I was just hanging on.  The break was doomed from the start since there were two Toyotas and the USA Crit series leader Adam Myerson from the Time team ultimately cancelling each other out.  The only way it would have rolled for good was if Toyota's series leader could bridge, but we were chased down by the Inferno team of Jeff Hopkins.

It was awesome to see the team active in the race, but I'm pretty sure eveyone felt about how I did--out gunned and a bit tired from Cascade.

Heading into the latter stages after having been lapped by the Toyota-Time trio, I tried to get near the Toyota lead-out train.  The thing is, the guys that have been doing this all year and for many years at this level, were doing the same thing so I'd soon find myself back in 30th.  With around 5 laps to go I made a last ditch, ill-fated and unadvised attack over the Toyota train right before turn three.  No one came with me, and though my name was announced on the PA, I was reeled in exactly one lap from where I escaped.  I again sought to remain near the front, but the tempo steadily increased along with the intensity of the fight for position.  I was jettisoned from the pack after having to cover some gaps opened by others in front of me having given it a valiant but fruitless effort.

The team was really motivated to have some revenge on some amatuers after all the punishment we'd taken at the hands of the pros.  Off to Hidden Springs we went to try to win some medals and money.  Six of us appeared for the race and felt we had a good chance of dominating the race.  In addition to the Idaho amateurs a few out-of-state riders also started.

After an aggressive start to the race we established a breakaway group that included three of our riders, but the pressure was so high that only Calvin and two other riders remained in front after a few laps in front.  We continued to control the field that tenatiously set tempo in a futile bid to close the gap that held at 40 seconds.  I was able to take the two primes offered the field with the help of the other guys.  With 5 laps to go, Justin Rose escaped and broke the elastic to secure 4th place while I bidded my time with Erik Slack controlling the field into the finale where I took the field sprint for 5th.  Calvin came in 3rd, giving us 3rd-5th, not quite the three in a row we wanted, but still a dominant team performance.

Now after some more good training, and upcoming rest, it is off to the national championships where I have been deemed a protected rider by the team for the race since it may come down to a large sprint.

Then it will be straight to the Tour of Utah where we will have a mix of survival riding and fantastic perfomances I'm sure.