With fairly flat terrain for the first 60km, it was almost impossible for any breakaways to get away from the bunch, never mind survive what was still to come. I got bumped by a UCI Africa rider (not a favourite in the peloton) and this nearly put me into a car parked in a refuge bay… But a quick flashback to Yarramundi XC MTB saw me jump over a divider, and then onto a refuge island and back onto the road. Since I was so pumped up from adrenalin, I decided to also chase the break which had just gone off down the road! I pulled it all off much to everyone’s amusement.

Once the field reached the climbs, with 55km to go, the race turned into a whole new game, with Konica Minolta launching several aggressive attacks up the steep climbs. With a field of 170 being reduced to a struggling 80+ riders, it seemed their tactics worked! I also managed to hang in, if not by the skin of my teeth. The roads flattened out and the remaining group worked hard to keep clear of the chasing stragglers.

With 10km to go, I lost focus, as the bunch swerved to the right. This left me facing 70kg of dead canine. Only option it seemed, was to well…. Jump over the dead dog. It seems you can’t rely on the course marshals to properly sweep the course, so watch out!!

Once the field reached the final stretch of tar, before the left right combo; the pace really picked up as we hit speeds in excess of 60km/h. Then we hit the brakes and swept through the left hander, and then into the long right hander into the finish straight. I went from rear of field, to mid field in the corners, and back to rear of the field when the sprinters played their cards. Not ideal to go from near the front to 51^st place but these things happen.

Well I’m off to the bike shop to replace a broken spoke, and then back home for a swim. I hope everyone is doing well, and I’m still waiting for some emails from Aussie to hear what you guys are doing!?!