My Proctologist's Exam!

Sorry. Nothing but mixed-metaphors right here. It's the whine. Er, wine.

Proctor. Illinois State Criterium Championship. Yeah. I wanted this race bad.

Whatever.

I could complain about how the hell did I fall asleep and let him get off, when all week that was practically the only tactic we talked about...

I could complain about how I was just as complacent as everyone else with 5 to go...

I could complain about how strong I felt but didn't really apply myself, HTFU, and sling my own pair around with a counter-attack into that wind...

I could complain about how I worked my way up, probably no more than 5 wheels back with ideal position on the outside with 2 turns to go, just going into my jump, yet had to bail out onto the curb to avoid the flying bodies right in front of me...as the entire race went from a guaranteed top-10 to DFL in the span of about four and half seconds...

But I won't.

Because at least I got to race. Just getting to start is a privilege, and the chance of a finish like that is, frankly, what gets the heart racing and makes it all so fun in the first place, especially for a guy like me who, otherwise, has basically just been banging his head against a brick wall for the last 6 weeks. I consider myself blessed to have even been in that race at all, let alone being the factor that I was up to the bitter end.

Unlike David Jones, who spent 6 hours in the backseat, only to be told he couldn't race at all. And David can race, and deserved to. But it goes to show you can't rely on the USCF site to have to have the most up-to-date results when you really need them. Especially if you've been using day-of licenses this whole time.

So David, get that resume done, and get the annual license. We'll see you at Superweek.

Speaking of Superweek...I will be taking the inside of the turns, since I can hold my line.