Hopkins

The Hopkins Raspberry Fest criterium went better than Northfield. Most likely because there was no hill, even though I was racing with all 4/5s instead of just the Masters 4/5. I managed to hang on until just a few laps to go, and pulled off before I would have gotten lapped. With such a large field I didn't want to be the cause of any crashes. There was a minor crash in the field, which I barely managed to avoid, and people rode a bit more conservatively after that. My bike handling seems to be pretty good, as I was able to move up in the field on the corners by pedaling through and staying on the outside. Tuffy raced in my field and managed to stay with the main group until the end. Plus I got a free little massage from a local spa! Thanks to my faithful girlfriend/soigneur/pit girl/feed zone girl/photographer Lynne for coming out and bringing the car, taking pictures, helping out and cheering us on!

__Lynne wanted to stay for the Women's 4 race, which was interesting. Like the Northfield crit, a 16 year old Junior raced with the women and won. She's on the Alan Factory Team, a junior development team sponsored by an Italian bike manufacturer known for their cyclocross frames. Morgan just got a deal on an Alan frame that he's building up for cyclocross season. __She's a smart girl - having no teammates in the field since they're all racing Juniors, she just sits in near the front, and unleashes her sprint at the inevitable bunch sprint at the end. Fortunately for her, the Women's 4 field is pretty disorganized, and in spite of a contingent of Birchwood women, the field pretty much stayed together the whole race. We may be seeing more of her later. It's great that Alan sponsors these young athletes with potential. They also have a cyclocross clinic series coming up this fall.