The course suited me, my anger from yesterday's ill-conceived solo break was fresh in my mind, and based on technicalities I still needed two more points before I could officially cat up. And I was still upset at myself for the previous day's idiocy. The course was a long rectangle, three blocks by one block. The long sections were a big ol' downhill on one side and a slight incline, rising into a steep block-long kicker on the other side. Kind of like a non-technical, much-less-severe Snake Alley. So we all knew what I would do, it was just a matter of when I would do it. Did I mention I was upset about yesterday? Grrrrrr.

Three out of 22 laps in, I hear Morrissey's pre-race comment in my brain: "Whoever's stupid enough to attack from the bottom of the hill," and immediately act stupid, attacking from the bottom of the hill. Maybe this way they won't catch me on the massive downhill, I think. They didn't. I then spent 18 laps dodging dropped Cat 4 and Cat 5 riders, yelling at them (sorry if I offended anyone) through the turns to either "Stay inside! Stay inside!" or "Stay outside! Stay outside!" Never have I talked so much as I did in this race. I employed some track strategy that would have made Kevin Perez proud by slingshotting myself off as many lapped riders as I could on those downhills, yet still trying to conserve enough for the uphill. I was angry about my gross miscalculation the day prior at Holy Hill, so I rode fairly angry. I was completely and utterly confident (that's a first) that I could ride faster through the turns than anybody else out there, so once I opened up the gap, it was just a matter of avoid the lapped, moving obstacles. Glad they shortened this one from 25 to 22 laps. I almost forgot to enjoy this victory on those waning laps because all I was thinking about was next year's trip up Snake Alley. Let's hope that result is as good as this one.