Some bad racing today from me ... yay. First races since crashing out a few weeks back, super timid, super weak, and shoulder pain = no sprint power. Jumped into the RedKite Cat 4 and Cat3/4 crits. Quickie write-ups are below:

Cat 4; pack finish: First race back in the saddle. Objectives were to be safe and position well. First thing I noticed was that the time off didn't do me any favors as my fitness had dropped a bit. More or less I just sat in for most of the race and just stayed safe. I felt VERY timid and wasn't assertive at all. If someone wanted the wheel I was on, it was theirs. No good Anyway, fast forward to 2 laps to go. Crash on the finishing straight that took out a few guys, I got caught behind it and slowed up significantly. Crash on the back side that took out two guys, another crash in response to that crash that took out a few more. Crash on turn 3 of four on the last lap that took out most of the field and those of us that survived soft pedaled in. I think we were pretty much neutralized at that point since the ref was on course directing us away from the bodies strewn across the course. The crashes were frustrating and I was happy to stay out of them.

Cat 3/4, pack finish: After the cat 4 crash party, I wasn't sure I wanted to jump into another race, but a couple teammates showed up so I went with it. My objectives were somewhat similar, be safe and try to position well for the finish. If any decent moves formed, try to join in. This race was MUCH safer and crash free. About halfway through a group of 4 got away and had some time on the field so I jumped across to join in. As soon as I got there, 3 of the 4 dropped off leaving 2 of us. I was hurting from the bridge and did what work I could, but my breakmate was doing much more. We stayed away for about a lap and got pulled in by a prime lap. I reshuffled and jumped on the wheel of a guy that usually does quite well and was hunting for upgrade points. Little did I know, he was shot and by the time I realized this we were getting close to the end of the race. I tried to hammer up on the outside to position myself well, but realized it was too late. Lesson learned from my crash out race was that some days you just have to let it go and not try to force things, so I coasted it in and got passed by quite a few guys sprinting for 20th.

+'s: stayed upright and got a bit of confidence through the day

-'s: still pretty timid, had limited fitness, and shoulder has some residual pain which limits ability to pull on the bars.