Summit Crit #2: more learning, brake pads FTL

Well this one just didn't work out like I'd hoped, but I learned why just a few hours again. To recap, I felt pretty good lining up this time, although there was a brutal wind that was sure to factor into the race. Fellow Cat 6er Danno lined up with me, so it was nice to have a teammate in the race! Because of the wind, I moved right up near the front to avoid ever getting dangled off the back into the wind. This strategy worked well. Too well!
__After a while I noticed we kept shedding riders. I was happy to be hanging onto the front group though, until finally the front group consisted of me and three other riders! Those riders were playing cat and mouse all pro-like, and it was all I could do to hang on! Finally coming around the corner leading into the wind again, one of the riders gave the other two the 'Lance look' and I realized I was hanging with Cat 3 racers. WTF am I doing with these guys?!?! Still, it was cool to see these tactics going on after racing n00b races so far. After 'the look' though they made yet another accelleration and I decided it would be best to drift back into the main group where I belonged. Having learned from Opus not to totally sit up and get spit out the back of the pack, I managed to settle into the main field for a bit. Unfortunately I found it hard to keep the pace, and did eventually get spit out the back. From then on it was a training ride and cornering practice - I was going to get my $15 worth of racing damnit! Danno rode strong and consistenly and finished with the field.
__Drew, Brett, Mark and Rick showed up after our race, and Drew put in a commanding performance in the regular 3-4-5 race (see picture of Drew putting the hurt on!).
__So today as I'm waiting for our Wednesday spanker team ride out to the NVGP St. Paul crit, I'm fiddling with the bike and discover that the rear brake pad is dragging on the rim! There's extremely little clearance with the oversized carbon seatstays, so the pad was being held near the rim by the stay, such that the slight out-of-trueness of the wheel was causing the pad to rub! Guess I can't feel too bad about getting dropped yesterday then!
__More on the St. Paul crit and the nimble squirrel tomorrow!