I am way behind on race reports so I am going to give a brief summary of each. I haven't been on blogs lately. I blame Face Book. You can all friend me on Face Book if you use it:).
Belterra Circuit Race 3/28I believe there were about 70 racers. The race was a hilly 2 mile circuit and I knew that there would be a quick selection. I made sure to get a slot at the front of the field at the start line. I got a decent start. I hammered the first lap to stay with the front. As expected, on the 2nd lap the selection happened. I went away with 3 other riders. All were from different teams. We worked together very well. One of the riders was struggling to stay on and was skipping a lot of pulls. We opened up a considerable gap. The finish was a steep uphill and I could only manage 3rd.
Driveway Criterium 4/2The day was extremely windy and we only had about 35 riders at the start. I felt decent, but not great throughout the race. I felt like I did too much work early on. As we approached the finish I was charging up on the left. There was a boble inside and the guy to my right veered over and we rubbed wheels. I didn't go down but it killed my momentum. I soft pedaled across the line for maybe 20th.
Driveway Criterium 4/9We had 60-70 riders at the start. We ran the full course - 2 miles. As the race got underway, I wasn't feeling very strong. I took some early pulls, but then decided to sit in and try to regain my mojo. I started to feel a bit better as the race wore on. On the last lap I jumped on a wheel coming by fast. He pulled us into first and second. I stayed on his wheel a bit too long before pulling through and got swarmed by a group coming through on the left. I jumped on, and then sprinted for the line. I finished 10th. This one came down to me missing my opportunity and waiting to long.
Fiesta Grande Criterium 4/11We had 50-60 riders at the start. The course is a police academy driver training circuit - ie flat with lots of corners. I got a great start and was sitting in 3rd after the 1st lap. I felt good and decided to push up the pace. I opened a gap of about 50 meters which lasted 3 laps, but nobody would come across. I was bummed out because a few good riders could have easily gotten away. So I made the decision to go back to the pack and let things play out. I won a preem shortly after that (6 pack of Tecate). For most of the rest of the race I stayed in the top 5 or 6. There were some accelerations, but nothing super hard. About 500m out on the last lap, I charged right and a few others charged left. We came into the last corner and I was in 4th. That was were I finished - 4th. This was a failure on my part of letting it come down to a sprint when I am only a mediocre sprinter. A local San Antonio bike racer R. Mercado took some pictures at this crit.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjicBfafcTrPXi4EzjzDvUL3dq4z9TjlZx9NTMIPsXMaZ3gE9YRDCf-9wz2YNOTDww3NaCRNo4om5eRqMQrxKqzJ_NEItmJhgFnZCU7AyKz8rRfeOwKj0JDilrUhsG-NavNgJmS/s320/343379165112_0_BG.jpg)
Coming back to the pack after my break.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgKWf9jch8-eWDQM0b3_OREJb4JiuMkHGjLOMkVYCoMbVzEKMx05z8bOjfUNupxxFnVpQ8QfUa1V8n7evT54aU_bIHfbi5MNYVh1rBRl8ZVrW5LC1w6cN7mOpPh7FryEbNllg/s320/388789165112_0_BG.jpg)
Going through the 180.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUmfB1QnGKu80GG6BaK94AQX26Kd9vWhvtzNzOQDEY_kxcUSTNlBJZWk38p_3WjQsL6ZgeajYsZbumTvcUoxEf49rkq9VbgdvueH03bYkWQ7zBwwxoZjbeVi_Fh23Yg4cPMiV/s320/463379165112_0_BG.jpg)
Somewhere along the route.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJXmvpavPsnGXKuQgDA-2fDsPOIQjpyGpEzpOgJgxsiZdfeKc-vqrJgzsh3eQh3rqBF43cDTA4n-sjUZ96fB3VsL5TNQ1-nFZZNmxD7viGOzeX0-QVCuw2lEUzZypVhiHSNJJ/s320/726899165112_0_BG.jpg)
The difference between winning and not winning. He is elated with his arm up. I am disappointed with my head down.