The Outcome of Today's Ride

Today was a "practice race."  An email was sent out, and the valley's top riders showed up at the corner of Hill and Seaman's Gulch.  We took off from there up around the dump loop to the finish on top of the last climb.  Here are my thoughts on that:

1. I'm almost ready to crush.  This is right where I should be.  I can hang with anybody, but I can't quite kick it over hard enough to beat everybody.
2. Exergy should have beat us up, but instead everything fell apart.  A broken chain and a dropped chain made everybody else's day easier.
3. THIS IS GOING TO BE THE TOUGHEST 1/2 FIELD BOISE HAS EVER SEEN.  There are 3 really good elite teams (a.k.a. 2 more than normal).  If Exergy has a guy or two, that counts as a 4th.  The fields are going to be bigger and the tactics much more dynamic.
4. Crushing yourself for the first hour of a ride is not the best way to do things.  I continued on for another 2 and a half, and was a tired boy by the end.
5. I need to improve the nature break skills.  I've been trying to learn this ability for a while now, and today was the first time I got rolling flow going at all.  It was less than proficient though.  It's a good thing I put on my neoprene booties after the practice race.
6. Chicken + rice + pineapple + bell pepper = awesome.