I really wanted to win the IL jersey in Cat 4, so I had been diligently peaking for the race this past Saturday. I was fortunate to come to the line with Adam, John, Nick, and Emanuele, who were proved to be decisive in keeping the field together for my sprint. In addition to chasing down several hard attacks, John sat on the front for the last two miles, keeping me in perfect position coming into the final climb. This, of course, would have been too easy. So, a flurry of riders attacked over the yellow line into oncoming traffic on the climb. The officials DQ'd a few of the people that they could see, but the damage was already done. By the time we made the turn I was somehow 15th wheel, so I hopped up as many as I could, eventually closing up to 3rd overall and 2nd among the IL finishers. Ultimately, I knew I was the strongest on the day, but that's bike racing.

Still very angry about my result Saturday, I was out for blood in the crit on Sunday. I got a call up as the leader of the IL cup and announced to everyone that they should follow my moves. I only left the top 3 wheels once the entire race when I was forced into the grass for a bit of CX practice. The race got a bit interesting when a dogfish rider attacked with 5 to go and I had to ally with a few strong riders to pull it back. With 2.5 to go we were back together and I drilled the tempo. Two wildcard riders set up a leadout to my left and I slotted in. I knew that I needed to come to the final corner first or second wheel and second it was. The sprint was into a bit of a headwind and I powered to a relieving win.