Tour of Eagle Criterium

Cami and I snuck out of the house to do some spectating at the Tour of Eagle Criterium tonight. The P-1-2 race was scheduled to start at 9 pm but didn't roll out until closer to 9:20 pm. On the first corner of the first lap there was a crash. Luckily it wasn't too bad and most of the field escaped unscathed. About 20 minutes into the race, however, another crash occurred on the same corner taking out probably 5-8 guys. Somehow Uhl had the magic touch and wasn't involved in either, riding strongly and safely to finish with the main field. Speaking of the finish, perhaps Uhl can comment and shed some light on the situation but it appeared that the group decided the race had become too dangerous and neutralized itself, rolling easy the last 2 laps. A Bob's rider was off the front and soloed in for the win. There were lights up on all of the corners but it looked as if the remainder of the rectangular course was pretty dark. A nice sized crowd was out enjoying the race and a live band was playing in a park that bordered the course.

Congratulations to Uhl for hanging in there and finishing the race in one piece!

UPDATE (from Uhl):
It wasn't really a protest, there was a really bad crash (worst of the night) on turn one with 5 laps to go. There was still carnage on the ground when we came around again, and many of the riders were concerned about those involved in the crash. So it was the pack's decision to neutralized ourselves.

I think most of us thought we would get a re-start, but since Calvin pretty much had it won and Erik was still on the ground after we ran out the remaining laps, no one pushed for re-start. With Fun Days going on and the already delayed race, it probably wasn't even feasible.

Anyway, I was glad I used my strategy of always being on the inside in a 4-corner crit. That way there's no way someone else can take you out, and you always have an "out" by tightening your turning radius during the turn. It helps if you know how to counter-steer. :-)