Well, Mt. Hood didn't go exactly as planned. I went in hoping for a stage win, but I ended up with the sprinters jersey instead. Strange, huh? And one of those jerseys now has a big hole in the back of it. In case anyone missed it, I took a nasty fall in the last lap of the criterium yesterday, taking both myself and my teammate David Clinger out of the break, just before we would have had the opportunity to sprint for the win. I don't get to point the finger at anyone, I just got too cocky and went into a corner a little faster than I should have. It wasn't the ideal way to end the week, but at least both of us were ok in the end. David was remarkably gracious about it too. That was a pretty terrible way to say thanks given all of the help he gave me in defending that jersey yesterday:


Other than the fall, it was a great week. I had a lot of fun racing here in Portland for the first two days, and the Mt. Tabor race was especially great. I only managed one good attack all night, but the crowd response was great. It was so motivating to hear my name being yelled all around the park. Plus, almost all of my concerns about the course being too narrow proved unfounded. In the end, there was really no way I was going to sprint against a guy like Hilton Clark, but it was a satisfying night nonetheless. Thanks to everyone that came out.

Now I'll be working on relaxing and recovering for a little bit before I head off to the east coast for the Philly week races at the beginning of June. Today was the ideal way to start off a block of recovery. I was riding the scooter across town when I spotted my former teammate Roman Kilun and his girlfriend Martina Patella in the Health Net team car. I made a quick U-turn and they suggested a stop at the downtown Stumptown. We hung out there for awhile, drinking tasty coffees and watching the messengers come and go on their tricked-out fixed gears. Erik Tonkin also stopped by unexpectedly in the middle of a photoshoot for Kona. After that we headed up to Molly Cameron's shop, hung out for a bit, then all of us had a great lunch at an outdoor table in the Pearl. All of it on a beautiful, sunny day. I love this town.