The View From the Rail: Burlingame Criterium

Downtown Burlingame was the stage for this fun, fast, and technical crit race. Saskia and I had never been to Burlingame so we were pleasantly surprised to arrive to a nice downtown neighborhood. After the race we walked around, stayed for a couple of the races, and enjoyed the day. The weather was great and everyone seemed to be in a good mood and ready to race. Early on, there were some nervous racers out there, as you could hear a bunch of people yelling "hold your line", "come on!!!", and "what the fuuuck?!?" Pretty common I would say. Then the race picked up a little bit after about 15 minutes or so (I don't really know when exactly, but that's what it felt like), and as we come through the sweeping back stretch to cross the start line, I drive it up the left side only to slow down a little bit due to the feeling of a crash occurring somewhere to my right. Before I know it, there are a slew of bikes and racers going down and all seem to be coming towards me. Luckily I was somewhat "alert" and paying attention, and thankfully busted the emergency stop and eventually got up onto the curb. Hoping the guys who crashed were okay, I start up again and begin the chase(?) I think I was a nOOb for not realizing they were going to neutralize the race after that crash, but oh well, I used up a bunch of energy because I still felt I had a chance to end up with a decent result. Anyway, they re-started the race after they took someone off in an ambulance (bummer), and decided on a neutral lap and then 4 laps to go. Looking back on it, it was actually nice to have a little breather after I gave some effort in trying to chase back on, and finally on the final lap I think I did an okay job of positioning myself for the sprint finish. 3 guys were faster than me in the end and I finished in 4th, thinking I finished 6th or 7th, so I was stoked when I found out I did better than I thought I did. I think maybe I could have started my sprint earlier to try and have a chance at top 3, but who knows.... I gave it my all and rode strong. At the 4th of July crit in Davis this weekend we will try once again.