Snowball Crit #1

Hit the rescheduled February Snowball race today. Beautiful 75 degree day with some moderate winds.
After last weeks disappointing effort at Casey, I was determined to get a better finish today. There was about 34 in the field today and the majority was from 4 teams. We had 6 guys and Fat Frogs had about 10 it seemed. The Kitty Hawk guys showed up and the Casey crew were strongly represented.
I got another front line starting position but managed to not clip in and slid my foot out on the first turn. That cost me about 10 positions. The pace settled in and I was mid pack. There were a couple of moves around 15-20 laps in but nothing lasted. The UNCW boys had all three out front trying for a break but that was quickly brought back in.
The rest of the race I just sat in and didn't try a move. The horrible sights and sounds of the first Snowball crashes were in the back of my mind. With 3 laps left the field was all in a straight line but then would check up as we got caught in the headwind. On the bell lap, the field spread out and I either was sprinting harder than everyone else in the mid pack group or they were gassed. I managed to pick up several positions at the last 50 meters and probaly got a top 15. Joe probably got a top 5 and Jimmy probably got a top 10.
I used my AC 350 wheels again this week. Last week I experienced the well-documented "wobble of death" you get from cornering on the 350s. This week I didn't get that feeling at all and I hit the corners pretty hard. My 420s should be in this week and will break those out for the Conte's Classic in downtown next Sunday.