Race #3 at GTS on March 1st

They said there were 189 riders to start this race (seems like a high number) for the Cat 4's. Our goal today was to get Andre in a good finishing position and ultimately, a win. At the end of lap 2 Frank informed me that Andre said his back was hurting and he was behind us. The beginning of lap 3 saw the field start to come apart on the 2nd hill, Frank and I were beside each other and both had to maneuver around slower riders and close a gap to get back to the front group. The pace didn't ease at all as we topped the hill and headed for the turn, the pace stayed high for another mile or so, until we hit another hill and again riders starting coming off of the back. I could still see Frank (this added to my motivation even though I was tapping my red line) and decided I was going to move towards the front and stick close to him. Two guys went off of the front and then two more, I was not in a postion to go, so I hoped the group had some gas left. Eventually I was on the front and I didn't really want to work, but I didn't want to give the race away either, so I did my pulls and tried to catch the group with one other guy during the long stretch before we turned into the last hilly section. We did not get away, but now the four up the road were closer, I fell back into the group to regain some strength for the uphill finish. The pace started ramping up and now the gap to the four riders was very small, I was working my way back up to get a good position to up the last hill, I was in 6th or 7th in the main group as we made the turn, but I was fading, I decided to go to the slow side of the road and regroup for a few seconds so that I could catch a wheel and give it a go for the line. As I was catching my breath, someone decided to make a terrible move across the road (no reason, we had the entire road) and he slammed into my handlebars, now my rest would be on the ground, on my back. I got up quickly, did all prelim checks and pedaled in with my crooked seat across the line. I was very frustrated because of all of the hard work it took just to get into position and then get taken out when there was tons of room and nobody had to fight for a position. Oh well, I am walking and the bike is OK.