Category: 4
Result: Top ten

After the various stressful incidents at the start of our race, it was good to take a break from running the thing to racing it.

Matt the coach sent me away from the course to do a warm-up away from the course to let me get my head into race mode. I did this by riding round the old twilight course at Encylopaedia Circle (Garry's idea). After loosening the legs, it was back to Matt's tent for the higher intensity part of the preparation.

I started the race floating near the front and stayed relatively close to the front the whole race. The plan was for Mike Z. and Pedro to provide a bit of a leadout towards the end. This sort of happened. Mike went to the front with a couple of laps to go and did a good job of keeping the pace up. I was sitting in the top ten at this point.

With a lap to go, Mike was more or less done and I had to fight to maintain position. I got a bit swarmed in turn 2 and had to dig deep to make up ground into turn 3. I was in 10th or 11th into turn 4 where a rider 2 in front of me slid out turning the final corner into chaos. I was able to avoid the wreck by maintaining my line and sprinted for the line, neither gaining nor losing ground to the riders who stayed upright and crossed it in 8th. Respectable.

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