boulder- the windy city...

Alright, so calling boulder the windy city doesn't seem quite right, but after my weekend of racing here thats what i am going to call it, at least until my wounds heal...
so this past weekend here in boulder held two UCI races- the redline cup and boulder cup, both within 10 minutes from my house- and that is something great- no bikes to pack, no airports/shuttles to deal with- fabulous.
after being really really sick from food poisoning and missing out on last weekends usgp, i really wanted to do well and grab some points. at least that was the goal. saturdays course wasn't my favorite, but ended up flowing better than i expected- more sand than i have ever ridden/ran through (more running than riding most of the time) which made it much harder. i was the last one called up (hence the reason to nab some points) and went aggro on the start, moving up to top 15 by the first part of the lap. i felt really good, and continued to reel in more spots throughout the race. i was happy since i didn't fade, which has been my problem since the beginning of the season. i was closing in on 10th, but as i was rounding the corner towards the last set of barriers and the last few minutes of the race, a barricade along my right side which held a banner decided to fall on top of me. a gust of wind had caused it to blow over right as i came by...talk about bad luck- it pinned me to the ground and spectators had to pry it off of me, while another guy straightened my bike out- i thought i broke my wrist, and was pretty pissed off. i finished the race in 11th place, right out of the points, again.
the next day i was determined to be top 10- i was really excited about the course too, since last year i had to watch everyone race it on the sidelines. the wind was strong, and i made a point to be no where close to the barricades this time... but alas, the wind would be the fall of me at this race too- and a bad cleat/pedal combo. Being called up at the back i had a plan to sprint crazy hard behind my teammate barb at the start. well, after pulling out of my pedal 3 times within the first minute, i knew i had to go through the pit to change bikes. i had decided to ride the new bike that i had put old pedals on. not a good decision on my part. but before getting to the pit, and trying to improve on my horrible start i was sprinting around some girls on the back side of the course, and as i was pulling up on the bars my wheel caught a bit of air (i was wearing my carbons) and a gust of wind got my wheel and threw me to the ground- hard. i laid there for a while, wondering if i should get up. now i really needed to go to the pit, since my bike was slightly off to one side from the crash. so, i cruised down, wandered around in the pit for a while looking for my second bike, and then decided to keep riding, since i needed a workout for the day anyway... i was way off the pace, a good 5 minutes. i did end up catching a few girls by the end, but my head wasn't into it- i mentally gave up after the crash. i knew i didn' t belong back there in 25th place. i thought about quiting the whole time, but thats not me. having a DNF next to my name is something i absolutely hate seeing. its only happened after major mechanicals in 2 races the past couple years at norbas, and i was very upset about it even though there was nothing i could have done to finish the race. so, since i had a working bike i was determined to cross the finish line. i did, but very far back in 17th. not one that i am proud of. there is always another race, and this coming weekend in durango i hope to get my revenge...