The Davis 4th of July human bbq...er, criterium

Hell, why not? Seems like everyone else has one, and myspace kinda gets on my nerves. So...where do i start? Wed. was the lovely and charming 4th of July Davis Human BBQ/Criterium. With a description like that, you can probably guess that i didn't win. Didn't even finish. Hot. Middle of the outback kinda hot. At this point i'm quite sure that i no longer funtion properly when the temp hits triple digits. I did the 3's race instead of the masters so i could be done in time to get things ready for the ProMan girls. The pace was pretty reasonable, but i had nothing. Nobody i knew in the field had anything. My teamate (Gary Stein) dropped out...the other photographer racing that day (Chris/Jamphoto) dropped out. But...some guys did have something in their legs, and they managed to finish all 35 laps, and one of them won the damn thing, not sure who...but hearty congratulations 'cuz he deserves them. ProMan Shelley warmed up by doing a bunch of laps in the Pro-1-2 race. Didn't look like she had any problems staying in...very cool. Six of the all-powerful ProMan ladies took the start of the Women's Pro-1-2-3 race: Shelley Olds, Nicola Cranmer, Tracey Ford, Kristin and Helene Drumm, and the eventual SOLO winner (yep, that's 2 races on the trot won in that fashion) Rachel Lloyd. To say they totally handled this race is pretty much the understatement of the year. They started launching attacks about a lap in and never let up for the duration. They won ALL of the primes, and Rachel got into a 2-up break after the halfway point. With 9 to go, she took off and stayed away for a great win. Helene took care of second, and her sis Kristin managed second in the field sprint for 5th.
Tomorrow is the Carrera de San Rafael. Fun course, and it's only about 4 blocks from my place. Very convinient. Hopefully i can manage to actually finish this one...i'm hoping the fact that masters' nationals are happening this weekend will mean the pace is reasonable enough for me to hang. Just go fast on the last couple of laps, ok guys? Race report to follow...