Holy Hill was formed by sediments deposited into a hole inside a glacier. At more than 1000 feet above sea level it is one of the highest points in Wisconsin. It is in Hollister (pop 12k) and carries the abbreviated name of the catholic shrine on top of the hill, Holy Hill National Shrine Of Mary, Help Of Christians.

Our race was supposedly a tour of this hill, though we saw neither the actual hill nor the shrine at the top. The course was an 8 mile loop of rolling hills, with the worst of the climbs (and the mile and a half of subsequent downhill) being on loose gravel.

The makeup of the 4s race has changed since last week. A few people have upgraded to cat 3 and some others have gone back to work. In their stead is one U-boats -worth of angry sounding Germans. I'm not really sure if they speak English, but having them around gives the race a certain euro-credibility, and they're outstanding bike handlers besides.

Our race started at 9 but it was still dry and hot. I kind of started vomiting half-way through, but it was only because I had some air in my stomach and I was trying to burp too hard. Otherwise I was fine. We came into the finish all together and I lost ground in the pack sprint, finishing 18th. I was still in the money, but not nearly as deep as I had hoped.

This was the last road race of the series, it's nothing but criteriums for the rest of the week. Seeing how malnourished my current criterium technique is I'm looking forward to trying some wild new things. I've got nothing to lose, and there's no better place to learn.