Off we went, I was towards the back - riding all day I figured there was no rush.
The gravel road then proceeded straight up the hill, I figured it would catch a few people out.
Shit ! Kid falling over in front of me, under my front wheel he goes.
Pulled hard on the brakes, avoiding his helmet with my chainrings.
You OK kid ? Yep.
Off I go again.
First lap it was drizzling, just like the last one.
Stopped after lap two and put on knee warmers.
Happier now.
A slightly shorter lap than last year; they took out an extra pinch that was killer on the single speed...
At least I had gears this time.
So, a lap was taking me about 35 mins and I wasn't rushing things this early on.
"start slow, try to get slower"
After 3 hours and about 5 laps I was bored and hungry for some proper food.
After another lap or two I pulled into the pits and went in search of some chow, and a couple of coffees.
Kerri slipped past me at this point and put a lap into me.
This wouldn't be a good outcome if she beat me.
I'd never live it down.
A few more laps I caught her up and we rode together for pretty much the rest of the day.
She wanted to go faster, I said slow down or you'll fry yourself like an egg.
With the laps being only 6 km we were clocking them up quickly, but it felt like we were getting nowhere.
Oh, yeah. My food choice was appalling.
Gels, Perpetuem mixed weakly and Chomps.
There was pizza, but I've learnt not to go crazy on that stuff....
Starting at 9 meant a 7pm finish, which couldn't come soon enough.
I was done.
Kerri won the Ladies, so we hung around for prize giving.
She did 22 Laps.
Me 21.
Oh dear.
On the plus side, I can't believe how clean I was at the finish.
Am I enthused about doing it next year ?
Not at this stage. Needs longer laps.
