May 9, 2011 (Sandy Springs, Georgia) – Last race of the series was one of the best. Great course with a few changes in grade with left and rights throughout. I liked this course right away. The pace was very fast through the corners and the hill was the perfect distance for me to stand the entire time from top to bottom. I was in a great spot right from the start and had no problem holding it in the top 30 for the entire time.

I did have a very close call in one of the corners when my tire just popped and it left me on a complete flat at 40kms an hour going sideways. I kept it cool and let the bike slide with my foot down but I was very lucky not to have laid it down. Got started again and got right back into position.

With this being the last crit of the week I had hopes of getting off the front early on but I just didn’t have it in the legs or mentally. This week has taken it toll on the body and my mojo. I battled to stay up front instead and was hoping for my best result of the week.

I was in my best position coming into the sprint and got a few spots down the line to go neck-and-neck with the toothless wonder from (Red Truck Racing), Mr. Adam Thuss. I was convinced I had cracked the top 20 and even edged him out in the sprint only to have found out there were 15 guys off the front in a break.

So no top 20 for me.

Then I was just going to be happy with edging out Adam at the line. That’s when he very happily told me he was the last guy in the money at 30th place.

I was very happy because that meant I had to have been 29th… nope he got me and I was 31st. Lost my top-ten, beat by a hair in the sprint, and my chance to be a top Canuck was stolen once again.

Karl Menzies took the win and United took all three steps on the podium for the overall. I loved every minute of this trip and I will be there again next year – 100%.

Full results here