Jeff Cup - didn't drive that far for nothin'

Waking up Sunday morning I wasn't quite sure how the weather was looking in Charlottesville and checking MSN's weather report wasn't making me very pumped up, but I knew I had teammates that were going to be out there so I decided to take my butt down the road anyway. Throughout the drive down 29, the weather was looking nicer and nicer and I was starting to get pretty excited about racing.
I got to the school to start getting ready at around 1. Got warmed up and lined up for the neutral rollout to the start/finish line feeling excited, hydrated and fueled. The race was your usual Cat 4 race. The pace wasn't too difficult and when we caught someone who had broken away, everyone slowed down. When we came to a hill, everyone slowed down. When we turned into the wind, instead of forming a good paceline or echelon, everyone slowed down and even when we went downhill, lots of people still slowed down. There was the usual bumping of elbows, overlapping of wheels, riding in the gutter and sending people into the gutter, that happens in these races. Swearing and yelling abounded.
At some point on last 4, the last lap, a group got off the front. I had no idea this group was away. I knew there were two people up the road that were still in sight and I figured we would catch them on the final stretch to the finish, which we did. But, apparently there were two more guys in front of them. My legs felt pretty good going into the finish so I knew I had a pretty good chance of winning the field sprint. I felt like my position was horrible with about 800m to go so I knew as soon as I saw some daylight I was just gonna go. At about 500m I got that opening on the outside edge and I just stood on the pedals and sprinted in for 3rd place and $30.
My real "fun" started after the race when I realized my lights were left on, so my battery was dead and my keys were locked inside my car. I spent the next 3 hours trying to track down a slim jim, tow truck and waiting for AAA to come and break into my car so I could get home. I ended up giving my winnings to the tow truck guy who eventually got me into my truck. I also want to give a huge thanks to Dave and Cheryl Osbourne who helped me out big time and actually stayed with me and my wife to make sure we were squared away.