Raced the Irving TX Wednesday nighter yesterday evening, 4 July. Reminisced with my fellow old school buddy about how, back in the day, 4 July always had a big NRC-type race in Dallas.

Then we segued into how the weeknight crits, while great and all, seem to be siphoning off racing funds and enthusiasm from the weekend races. Here in TX the past few years it seems to be harder and harder for promoters to get people to drive more than an hour or so to a weekend race, unless it's just a super-important race on the calendar.

Anyway. Flat course, no real corners or challenges. Block headwind on the finish stretch and the course layout means that it's super easy to sit in.

I hit the front again and again, following moves, trying to get a separation to stick. No dice. Lap cards come out at 5 to go and immediately the sketch factor quadruples. Holy ****. Riders who've been sitting in for 45 minutes suddenly appear and start squeezing into gaps.

I miss the old Tuesday course... a tiny bit of elevation and oriented so that the prevailing winds are sure to tail off the weaker riders.

Results: diddly.