Started off right up the front as I wanted to be one of the first onto the dodgy sections of track, 5 miles on a nice little road then sharp right onto the farm tracks with some big potholes on the corner, Kevin Knox from Dulwich unfortunately puntured.
The pace was hot and I was rotating on the front with the fast boyz then 3/4 the way round we snuck through a farm and onto the infamous off road section here I really thrived and came out the other side in 4th position, here the pace really went up and the peloton was split I was in a lead group of around 10 riders with the likes of Warrick Spence Billy Joe Whenman, Darren Barclay and Jody Crawforth. I was holding my own but finding I really had to power the cranks to keep in this group.
Everytime we hit that really bad section a couple more riders would either have mechanicals or crash out, to me it seemed fine, and loads of spectators were cheering us on which really helped get the most out of yourself and push even harder. This muddy track split the pack and as a few riders struggled to ride through the muddy ruts.
I saw a few of Adams mates in Orange but couldnt see him, then out of the blue Adam popped up in the lead group with a few more riders after they had chased their way back from the mud.
We started through and offing and as I came to the front then a rider came past me and shouted at me to come round, I thought that some of the others should take their turn, so I quickly glanced round and realized we had a 100m gap on the lead group. So we worked together for a few miles but were slowly reeled back in.
Back in the group and the pace was relentless I was beginning to feel the heat and found myself at the back of the group, this was about mid race and I was struggling to hold wheels, A couple of riders had attacked and the speed was fast. I was sprinting to get back on but it was taking so much out of me that I fell off the lead group.
After what seemed like almost a lap by myself, I teamed up with another dropped rider and we worked together then we caught Adam who had also been dropped from the group. Then after a while the 3 of us were joined by Marcus and in tow was the second bunch on the road.
We through and offed but my legs were feeling it and I was suffering with the work and dropped back further, a lap later caught by the 3rd group on the road with 2 laps to go I was toast and pulled over as I didn't fancy riding the remaining 2 laps on my own.
Still enjoyed myself, had a good kicking, which I'm sure is character building stuff and look forward to riding this great event next year, although I wouldn't fancy earning a living riding at that pace I can tell ya'll
DANIEL RUDD ARCTIC/PREMIER RT s.t. 
