I had done this race last year and knew what to expect and as opposed to most people I love the course.  A short course with lot”””’’s of bike handling and very necessary to stay at the front. Days and hours before the race I did a lot of visualization about having a good start and staying at the front. My trainer was set up by the notorious P-turn and every couple of laps I would hear metal grinding from crashing riders.  I saw a Team Swift rider go down and his arm got rolled behind his back. Another NorCal rider (forgot name) in the 3”””’’s went down on one of the bott dots. Seeing and hearing all of these crashes wasn””””t too reassuring but most people that were going down were in the middle or the back. I was gonna be up front so everything was going to be ok…right?! 

I had a good start and kept myself up front. A Clover guy went off the front and everyone hesitated and he opened up a 15 second gap quickly. A 3rd Pillar guy that soloed several laps at Rhonde attempted to bridge and I was kicking myself for not being there as he seemed to be a sure bet to the leader. I felt better though when I saw that his attempt would not be successful. A couple of times during the race I had some unfamiliar faces go by so every time that happened I knew I had to put in effort and move up again. Some of the bike handling was really bad into the P turn. I would be sitting 2nd or 3rd wheel and I couldn””””t believe how much people were braking or changing their line at the last second. I actually found myself yelling at guys two different times. Usually I keep my mouth shut when I race. 

With 5 to go I just focused on maintaining my position. With one to go it was fairly aggressive, fighting for wheels with some contact. One guy made a big jump/attack by the start finish line which was a good call because from there it”””’’s a lot of bike handling and a tailwind section going into the P turn. He went off to get second in the field sprint. I was sitting 9 or 10 going into the turn and ended up passing a few guys for 7th. When I came accross the line I couldn””””t pedal any more and felt like puking so I guess I went as hard as I could. I was suprised to pass a couple of guys in the final meters because if you have ever seen my legs you would know that I am not a sprinter.

Thanks for reading, Royce