I felt strong, couldn't control myself and started to get in breaks after the 2nd lap.
After the 2nd/3rd attempt I stayed away in a break of about 7 and thought it was going to stick but it was eventually brought back.
Still feeling strong and feeling the bunch was tired, I went up the road again. I let myself dangle at the front and was joined by another 3 riders and off we went. Gareth Thomas then joined us with another rider making it 6. We worked really well together and nobody was skipping turns. It was 35 miles to the finish which we averaged at 25.6mph. My only regret was that it wasn't another 30 miles as I wasn't feeling any fatigue.
Approaching the last lap, Gareth Thomas attacked and I bridged over to him with another Paceline rider. The front of the race was now 1 Addiscombe and 2 Paceline riders. The inevitable started to happen with them attacking me but I didn't find it an issue as I stopped doing turns. I countered and Gareth bridged over gapping the other rider but he managed to get back on.
While my relentless endurance engine is ticking over fine, my fast twitch muscles are in the coffin and Gareth outsprinted me at the finish. The remants of the break caught us and I was pipped close to the line for 2nd.
I wasn't worried about 2nd as that would have made me a 2nd Cat (lucky I had that mechanical at the handicap).
While not a win, it was my best and most enjoyable performance of the year. Ive managed to get in 3 winning breaks out of the 4 3rd Cat Road Races I've done do not a bad return.
Considering I couldn't walk or ride a bike for 5 mins without being in agony a couple of years ago, I'm pretty happy with the way things are going.
We'll done to the other Addiscombe riders today aka Dave K, Marek, Matt & Ashley. The club is having a good year.
Paul
