Friday night I did the big money Healthnet Portland Twilight Crit. Prize list of $10,000. I got number 47, prime, so I hoped to have a lucky night. Unlucky for me it was a 'supper fun' course of 0.5 mile and 6 turns. Unlucky, I lined up in the back row. I did everything I could the first 8 min (8 laps) to move up and ride around guys, crashes and small groups before latching on to who knows what group for me. Turns out I was in the pack and 12 guys (many pros) were driving hard and lapped us in 12 min. Lucky for me while in the 'pack' I rolled through the front and won a $40 prime! Lucky for me I avoided at least 10 crashes that I saw. Unlucky for me I dug too deep to avoid getting pulled at the start and to get in the group I was in. I was dropped after 25 min, but not pulled as expected. I went a lap down. Got in and then dropped to go a second lap down and stayed in to the finish. I was 30th out of 69 starters. Lucky for me finished Crash Free! Unlucky for me, I lost one glove between the finish and the car.
It was a crazy race with a big big crowd. It was actually fun to get something like that in this year. While solo and other times I kept hearing cheers for 'Go Dan!' the whole way around the course. I concluded there were many Dans in the race. Turns out results say I was the only Dan that finished. I had a lot of support out there from all the friends we've made in town from working, bike riding and otherwise. It made it a great race to ride.