3rd in a Chipper Circuit Race

Tuesday night was the start of the Hillingdon evening circuit races. They run from now until August. Normally the 1st night is a crash fest so last year I decided to miss the 1st week for that very reason.
Normally the race was split in two with the E123 race and the 4th Cat race. This year it was split but a bit different. The 4th cat race had a real bad repetation for crashes. This year they introduced a different race. This was for 3rd cats & 4th cats but without the BC points. It is to be an experiment to see if people just wan't to ride for a bit of fun and to take the manic sprint for the line for 10th spot and that one BC point out of the equation. I personly think that people new to the sport focus too much on getting to the next level rather than learning how to race safe etc.. So this race if for people who want to learn to race or just race for a bit of fun.
I've been a 2nd cat for years but dropped down to 3rd this year as I didn't really race on the road last year to gain the points required to stay up as a 2nd cat.
For bit of fun & training I decided to enter the 3/4 race rather than get my legs ripped off in the E123. There was only 26 riders entered which is quite small. Although this was a 3/4 race there were some pretty strong riders. My former team mate Rudie Marais is pretty strong but seems to be back down to 3rd cat. He's pretty strong and attacks a lot but would be a big fish in this race but not so in the E123 perhaps. There were a few mates who were with me who had dropped down to a 3rd. We were in this for fun.
The race started pretty quick and it was like that for the entire length. Probably because I was one of the stronger riders and my love of attacking I was pretty much down the front and out of trouble. I thought we had had a 4 man crash early on around the back of the bunch but I was wrong. The crash had come from the E123 race on the 1st lap.
We only raced for about 35 mins and I had a little dig for a few laps but nothing really came of it. As soon as I was back in the bunch we were shown the 3 laps to go sign. The next three laps is where normally if there is going to be a crash there would be. I kept myself in the top 10 and made sure I was up there. Now with just over a lap to go a rider jumped away. I had no idea of this. Where was I looking at the time I wonder? Normally I'd have a clue but this evening I just didn't. Coming into the final bend I was convinced I was sprinting for the win. I was third wheel in the sprint and Rudie was leading it out. the young chap on his wheel heistated so much that when Rudie kicked he just sat there blocking me in. Eventually he let me past (maybe I sould have been less polite but we are supposed to be teaching these guys how to race.) but Rudie already had about 4 bike lengths on my. I drove for Rudie's wheel but I just don't have the power for that now. My little legs have turned into diesel legs now. A bloody good job as well as if I'd caught and past Rudie I would have thought I had won and you can guess what an arse I would have made of myself.
So 3rd in a Chipper Circuit race. I will do a few more of these 3/4 races and move up to the E123 where I should be.