NVGP St Paul criterium

So we rolled into St Paul instead of doing our usual spanker ride, although there was a sprint at the St Paul town sign since we rode down the east river road. A stiff wind was at our backs the whole time, and we had a nice group, so pacelining down the river road and Shepherd at 25-30mph all kitted out was exhilarating! The best part was a point where we had a wide shoulder and had a double paceline going, and a squirrel ran right through the middle - and made it to the other side! He looked like a little Frogger - racing across the highway, then stopping abruply at our group, darting through, changing directions, all with lighting fast reflexes. I dub him Super Squirrel! This must be the result of decades of evolution living in urban environments. This squirrel is clearly going to get laid and further his genes for some time to come!
__The crit opened the NVGP, with the idea being to start with a crit instead of a time trial in order to mix up the riders wearing the yellow jersey. Typically in a stage race, the ultimate winner is the best time trialist who can just hold on in the road races and crits, since they typically finish in a bunch with no time difference. If you start with a crit, then the winner is probably not going to be the best time trialist, so the jersey will change hands at least once to keep things interesting. The crit is new this year, and was an L shaped course around Mears Park in St Paul. There was enough of a rise on the backside of the course to wear people down. We arrived in time for the men's race, and heard the announcer announce the podium - which included Teresa Moriarty in 3rd! Awesome!
__I was rooting for the new Minneapolis-based Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast team. Unfortunately I missed their appearance at Freewheel on Tuesday because of the race. They had a couple of strong riders who rode near the front, but couldn't organize anything against the likes of Toyota-United and Navigators. It was a fun race to watch, and excellent refreshments were provided by Drew. Sascha was a hero and scored some sweet black/white/gray argyle socks from Twin Six for me! I'm going to look so pimp at the Mankato Crit!
__After the race I chatted with Neil and rode back with him and a couple other Loonies. I always enjoy riding with other teams - fortunately there's very little 'we're too cool to ride with you' attitude in the community, at least that I've seen anyway.