Home for a rest

Well, not actually rest just yet. First we have that little suffer fest called Nationals to go. Nothing but a little 180km of hills. At least the crits are done. Bit of an odd Lachine last night. I've always heard stories of how tough these things are and how sketch... they are really not that bad (well the frist was pretty bloody fast at the end thank to the S-train). So far I've learned that they are like any other crit, maybe slightly faster at point: the middle of the pack is the worst place to be. So with this theory, I spent the first half of the race riding the front guarding against counter attacks (Guillaume had got himself into the break of the day with Rollin, Parisien and Lacombe) and generally following wheels and attacks. There was a big crash at one point which lead to 80% of the field being held up and rolling in for a free lap, much to the dismay of the commies. So they re-started the race, with a 5 second gap for the break. I sat myself down in the front again with my gears now jumping all over the place. I guess the douche who hit me from behind (no, I didn't go down) also managed to bump my derailleur. I pulled in for a quick Formula 1 wheel change hoping for the best, but just ended up with more of the same. Luckily managed to jump back in the back 3rd wheel anyways. With 10 to go I felt my efforts and drifted back a bit. As soon as you leave the control and speed of the top 20 you are now into the jungle of sketchiness and battle for random top 16 wheels with a million wankers who are wayyyy to into the red. With jumping gears, and a little tired from my efforts I settled into the caboose poistion with a large amount of good riders who had missed the break. The back is nice if you have the power, things are much less sketchy and you can go through the corners much faster by leaving a gap in the corners and then not having to sprint out like a banshee. In the end, a good race. But I am sick of crits. Sipping a coffee back in Ottawa now before my ride. Should be a nice day....