for those that dont know its chocablock full of hills about 3 per lap, with a steep one leading up to the finish.
i went with adam, and also john from mosquitoes was there. before the race i had told myself, and adam that i was not going to to anything for a few laps because my legs were a bit tired from the training group on saturday. my plan was to treat this more as a training rid
as the race started a man went up the road, but i restrained myself from going after him...for about 30 seconds
. i sling shot my self out the pack up a drag and pulled out a nice lead on the group. i halved the gap between me and the other bloke, but i knew i would be too far into the red if i pushed myself much harder, so i decided to get into time trial mode and wait for someone else to join me. eventually i dynamo rider came across to me and we got a through and off going. as we hit the finishing hill though, the pack had bought us back in. then someone else attacked and i was into the red big time, hanging on for dear life!i spent the next couple of laps recovering near the back, and had a bit of a talk with adam. on the third lap there was a crash at the head of the peleton with 2 riders, it looked pretty nasty. we managed to avoid them but i ran over one of there bottles, with exploded under me, giving adam a nice shower
.by lap 4 i had completely recovered and headed back up to the front, and went with a couple of attacks, but did no start any of my own. i was starting to get a bit a tired again, and probably did a bit too much, as when a huge push went up the finishing hill that split the pelton in half, i only just managed to jump the gap over to the front group. sadly it came back together anyway, and my efforts were in vain
with three laps to go i felt good so i went to the front and did a few long pulls to get a good work out.
on the second to last lap there was some more action, and attacks. i went with one, but it got pulled back in. then as we hit the finishing hill a group of about 15 riders split off the front, i knew that if there was going to be one break i needed to be in it would be this, but it would be hard work on my own, so i got onto a duwlich riders wheel, and got a tow up to the front of the peleton, where i saw dave kennett about to make a move. i got onto his wheel and he halved the gap, i did a short pull, and another rider came round and took us the rest of the way. unfortunately it didnt stick, and it came back together.
the last lap was pretty tame...until the final hill. adam put in an attack and got a good gap, with no one wanting to chase him down. but then a few people went, and so did i. i was 4th wheel back in a really good position, with only 200m to go. i put in a push to get round someone and into third in line, i knew that the last 65 odd miles had been leading up to this moment.....then disaster, i got cramp again
!!!!i couldnt believe it! i was completely gutted, but i only had myself to blame, since i had forgotten to powder in my drink. it was awful watching what was left of the peleton come passed me, only about 40 left, out of about 70 or so.
ah well, you live and learn
stu
