Early Bird #3: I guess that's bike racing.

I went into this race with a plan, which was really the first time. My plan was to do my best Levi impression and sit on wheels the entire day. On the last lap I'd make my move up to the top 10 and then I'd either move off the front in the last turn if it was slow or wait for the sprint if it was fast.

I did everything exactly according to plan, but unlike the last two weeks where I had good results, this one was the definition of mediocre. It was fast and so going into turn four I decided to follow a small train of guys going up the outside to set up for a bunch sprint. As we made our way up some homeboy on the inside decided it was his time to shine and he jumped WAY, WAY, WAY too early. Usually, this move could be ignored because he'll fade and you can laugh about it later. Unfortunately his way too early jump meant he needed to get to the outside and his path went through the front end of my bike. Fortunately I was able to get out of his way but the sudden move made me forget we were still a long way from the line and I started to sprint. 200 meters later my legs stopped cooperating. I sat down and coasted in giving up about 15 places to other guys who weren't sprinting at all. But, sometimes that's how it goes. You do everything right and the luck just isn't on your side. At least I kept all my skin.

The picture above is pretty much how I felt going across the line. And it proves my non violent nature because I should have been pointing my finger gun and to the fool who tried to kill me. But, as we all know, I'm way too nice for that!