The great thing about this race, in any given year, anyone out of the 170 or so riders has the opportunity to win and take home the cash, as long as the handicap gods are smiling on you. The only drawback is you've actually got to finish.
The handicapper did a fine job this year if I must say so myself and had me 20 mins ahead of the scratch group. Conditions were good and after dropping a few of our group early we caught up with the lead bunch on top of the hill after the dam on the first lap. 30k's into it a bunch from group 7 flew past and it was a good opportunity to jump on.
Starting the second lap the group was working well together with about 20 or so riders. There was a moment; however, as I rode past my car where I thought I could peel off and jump in the car and no one would notice.
I felt the second lap was pretty quick (for me anyway) and I just focused on doing turns and conserving energy although not necessarily at the same time. With 15k's to go, we heard we were about 8 min ahead of the next bunch so as long as I didn't stop or get a puncture there was a good chance of a top 20 finish.
Heading into the sprint, my mind was willing but the legs........ were stuffed. Finished 9th overall and as per usual there was no room on the podium.
Good to see the team was well represented with Dave Crosswell, Sam Wood, Dave Melville, Adam Allen and Adam Simonelli.
1 comment:
Great work Martin, I had a DNF last year. I know it is hard race.
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