Charles Kyle wrote Bunny Hop Crit Okay, these entries are starting to sound the same. Felt like crap, got into the race, raced hard, rode smart, and did not finish. Well, same thing today. You can stop reading if you want...... So... you decided to stay. Today was the Bunny Hop Crit. My start time was 3 PM so Evan, Andy and I went out for a little recovery ride this morning before the race. All three of us got to the race around 1:30 or so and began questioning our sanity for racing today, especially after I raced yesterday. I did not feel great, possible a little dehydration from yesterday. I did have a good ride this morning, decent breakfast and lunch. I had packed my pre, during and post race drinks, trainer and bike. I was physically ready but not mentally. We lined up for the race and from go, the race started single file. I was sitting in the mid pack when I saw the Cycle life crazy rider and the Velo 1 guy who caused the wreck from Saturday (or at least was in the wreck). This is the same guy that I saw dive all of the corners at Smithfield thus I had no desire to be near (or behind) him, so I immediately moved forward. Now don.t get me wrong, this guy is strong and is normally in the front and has much better finishes than I, But I just was not going to take a chance and be behind him. So I moved into a top five position. The pack stayed single file for the first 10 minutes about 7 laps. At some point it calmed down, but when it did the main field began to form six or seven across. I found going into the corners like this was just to dangerous. We came around and were told there was 27 or so laps to go, about 50 minutes. At this point, one of the Coppi riders (Andrew??) started moving to the front and taking the lead. For the next 15 laps, there was Andrew, myself and a few others that basically rotated and pulled the entire group. We occasionally got a few seconds on the main field but normally one through ten were single file and then the rest of the field. There were a few break aways that got a couple of seconds, but Andrew and I would chase then down and bring everything back together. The only time that I was not sitting in the top ten was the premes and finish. With two laps to go I moved forward adn really started going hard. I felt really good adn not taxed at all. The course was setup to have a left hand turn and then a gentle 500 meter false flat to the finish line. With less than 700 meters to go I was still in the top 10 or so, but things were starting to get chaotic riders moving up to get in position. At this point in time it was where I failed. Instead of taking the inside line that I had taken for 35 laps, I gave up the position and moved to the outside, we came around the corner and started on the straight away, my top ten faded quickly an I powered to a pathetic 27th. WTF???? I worked all of the time and settled for 27th. Why????? If anyone has any insight I would love to hear it. I was NOT smoked at the end, I had not burned all of my matches, I just did not finish. I should be winning these races or at least in the money. Oh Velo 1. Yeap... in the money. Great :-( ***