Did a handful of C5 crits before rushing the upgrade for safety, but ironically I've never seen a crash until tonight. Roll up to the line feeling nice and loose, and the first three laps are super fast but manageable (didn't have my computer but high 20s for sure). One guy slides out in a turn (one mangled wheel, no torn kit) and the impediment necessitates a 30+mph death march to catch up to the front group. Three more hard accelerations out of the corners and it's off-the-backistan for me....15mins. into a 50min. race. This being my first shelling, I immediately blamed fatigue from Sunday's jaunt and later realized I may have upgraded too soon.

Things I've learned:
never play with your position an hour before a race (knees were hurting on longer rides)
if you can't warm up on the course, trainer > aimless wandering for an empty lot
the hardest one for me - belief in yourself! one of my LBS mechanics is about to upgrade to 3 right at 10 races and he probably has one of the best attitudes on/off the bike.