My race went like this;
Lap 1: I'm still not used to group starts, so didn't fight too hard and let people swarm past me. It took pretty much the whole of the lap for my body to wake up.
Lap 2: Saw Andy and Jules weren't too far behind me at the start of the lap; I set myself a target to keep them behind me as long as possible. Andy passed me about 0.5miles from the end of the lap.
Lap 3: Jules passed me at around the point where I spotted him on the 2nd lap but I managed to keep pace with him throughout this lap and for most of the next. At the end of lap 3 I was looking for Phil near the start line so I could lob my empty bottle at him. While doing this I wasn't paying too much attention to my surroundings and was oblivious to the (eventual) womens sport winner shouting that she wanted to get by as I weaved around in front of her
Lap 4: After quickly stopping to grab a fresh bottle, I caught back up with Jules and stayed with him for around half the lap and then I got too big for my boots and passed him then fought my way round to the end.
Lap 5: At the start of this lap I knew I still had 2 to go so I used the last of my gels and found a steady pace to see me through to the end, all the while expecting Dan or Mike to lap me, which fortunately they didn't do
As I reached the end of the Lap, Alistair stood in the middle of the track and told me that as the elite guys were nearly finished they were cutting it short so I didn't have to go out again. I was still buzzing from gels and adrenaline and it took me 10mins or so to settle down again
This is the exact opposite of Tunny, where I'd come in for what I
thought was my final lap, having used all my energy, only to be told to
go out again!In short, I'm glad I pre-rode the course, it was a tough one and knowing what to expect meant I had greater confidence from the off. Cheers for the support of everyone who was there, it was a cracking afternoon.
I came 31st of ??
