SF was sunny and warm on Monday. The race feels like a big event and is a really great location. I raced M35+ Cat4 with 3 other team mates (Mike M, Robert and Mark), I was a little nervous until we started. Once the whistle blew, I went right to the top 3-4 bikes and sat for 1.5 laps to get the feel of road and initial speed. The short climb was of no issue this year and I felt comfortable with the pace. Brian Z, Chris G and Mike M gave me good information that helped me consider the hill differently. Last year I pushed hard on the hill since I thought that was the main place to get in trouble, turns out on this course it is an accumulation of corners that gets you out the back… but not this year! Stayed with the main group the whole time and moved up as needed. Decided to hang in the mid to back most of the time as this felt safe and had my team mates close at all times. Midway a large crash occurred on the downhill straight and made a ton of noise and one high flying bike which landed just to my left. Robert was behind the crash and Mike and I slowed up to see if he was down or not. He quickly rejoined us and we pressed on. The crash seemed to make the group uneasy and the rest of the race felt like a tension in the air, maybe it was just me. The pace picked up with 3 to go, I just sat and Robert moved toward the front. Mike M was riding very smooth and was waiting for the right time to move up. Still feeling good I made the decision at the bell lap that I would ride in for a pack finish and end the year on a positive note. Going into turn 5 one guy decided to sprint from the back and ran into or avoided Robert when his rear tire slid out, this guy launched over the curb and into the wall of the building. This time I sat up and looked back to see if Robert was getting back up, he looked mostly OK but I wasn’t sure. Finished the race for a DNP and told Garry that Robert was in a crash, not sure why I didn’t just turn around…. Good news was by the time I got back to where he went down he was gone and I was relieved. Robert is tough as nails! Mike Miu finished a strong 15th, congrats Mike! Mark worked hard as usual! Thanks guys for a fun race.