With heavy rain, thunder and lightning battering the house at 3am I wasn't so sure about the race that would be on later that day. It was another night race, starting at 6pm and finishing at 9pm. The rain continued throughout the day, so once I reached lunch I packed my bag for the race, and commited to a crazy day on the bike.

With 16 laps and 120km ahead of us, the peleton rolled out in driving rain and freezing winds - all of my favourite things! There's a sense of satisfaction when you enjoy something that other people hate with a passion. On the first lap there were several close calls and a few breaks tried to get away, but none succeeded. The peleton stayed as one throughout the race, until the 60km mark when a group of riders rode clear. I waited for the gap to increase before I made my move and jumped across. The group worked well together and we quickly had 5 riders with a 20 second lead. But the peleton would have none of this, and soon chased us down! Darn...

At the 75km mark there was a small dispute in the peleton and that soon settled down with one rider almost being sent on a detour. But moments later, a touch of wheels brought down one rider, then two and then me! I had nowhere to go except for onto the wet grass verge. I went sliding along at 50km/h across the grass and ended up in a small ditch. The two culprits came off pretty badly with possible breaks or fractures. I had no chance of catching the break and once I was back on the road, all I could do was ride to the finish and get pulled out. Better luck next time!

I've had some solid rides since then and can't wait for another shot...