Review of 2007 Tour of Walla Walla

The Tour of Walla Walla was the 2nd race that I entered as a cat 4 - again way above my head at that point.
I wanted to review the road race course first, starting with the neutral roll out. According to my Garmin 305, the hill in Walla Walla is only 0.8 mile long and 168 ft elevation gain with the average grade around 5%, the steepest approaches 8%. On subsequent passes I measured 2 miles and 555 ft same grade%. So count on 2 miles with 555 ft climbing. Not that big of deal overall, just a naked hill with no trees to make it look more intimidating. I'm not sure what the big dip is in the grade curve - it is to be ignored = irrelevant.
The race officials kept the group together up the hill at about 10mph. When the horn sounded at the top, I reset my computer and promptly shifted from my small ring to the big ring, dropping my chain. When I shifted the pack in front of my slowed, and I lost forward momentum. Exit stage right, put chain back on with my hands, in the ditch. Nice way to start the race, eh?
The best part of this course is the 766 ft descent over the next 7-8 miles. I was able to catch back on to the pack without much problem - just in time for the first crash. It seems like I can smell the burnt rubber before I see the rider go down.