First race in the books!

Had my first race of the spring fling crit series in Lawrence, KS. Overall I'd say the day went fairly well. I didn't crash and I didn't go off the back in the first couple laps which was my goal. Had a little bit of pre race jitters.....still trying to find a good warm up routine, figure out when and what I need to eat and drink pre race so I can just go when the race starts. Started the race with my teammate Steve V. We were the only 2 Colavita racers in our Cat 5 group. First couple laps were fairly fast and chaotic. A couple riders attacked right from the gun which had everyone strung out all over the place. Finally bridged up with the leaders and tried to settle in. A few riders were already falling off, although I don't feel like the pace was that high. Spent the good portion of the short race moving up and down through the main group, trying to stay near the front. Felt really comforatble through all the corners, I guess my crazy motorcycle background prepared me for tight corners in a pack. On the last 2 laps the pace started to slow up, and I found myself in the front with a couple guys fighting for my wheel. This went on for about a lap and a half and I was never able to get out of the wind as everyone was content to stay back. 1/2 lap to go and people started breaking and I just didn't have the legs to stay up. Took the last corner trailing the leading group of 5 or so and was laboring pretty good. Got passed by a few more in the final stretch and pretty much coasted through the finish line. Ended up not scoring any points for the race. Still have a lot to learn and need to work on sprinting. Looking forward to next week though.