Unbelievebly race the start of Race 10 saw me in the leaders jersey. Quite how this happened I'm not entirely sure and to be honest I still think that it was a setup. Nevertheless I was resplendant in the Yellow Jersey - an event that was so unlikely that almost everyone asked me what had happened!
Being only 1 point ahead of George and with the race finishing at the top of the Anniseed hill I didn't really entertain any thoughts of keeping the jersey at all. Chris N was pretty upfront and said that he was going all out to finish ahead of me in the series which was nice of him. Technically this was possible but I hoped it was to prove unlikely.
Dean launched the first attack almost immediately after the neutral zone. Dean was probably the only person who was likely to take what looked to be a 2nd place overall finish from me. Chris C immediately came to the front and started the chase. We had quite a way to go so I didn't want Chris to burn himself out too soon. I took some turns with George and Chris N doing a couple but the bulk of the work was done by Chris C.
As I drifted back through the group I heard Chris N talking to Murray about how he was going to attack on the 2nd to last lap of the Hope Circuit. As there were other grades racing on the same circuit we would often come across small groups of riders which we had to pass. A larger group brought the opportunity for some entertainment. Riding on the front I could see that there was a large group ahead and that we were coming into one of the corners which has a concrete island in the middle of the lane. It looked like we would probably get to the corner at nearly the same time. I wondered if I could time the contact just right so that a small group of us squeezed around before the other riders. I increased the pace and strung out our group in a long line, sneaking around the corner just as the other group came to it and then carried on down the hill. Chris C had made it round and came up to me saying that he hadn't seen a group split that way before.
On the 2nd to last lap coming into the Aniseed corner Chris N took off with George and Murray in tow. I pulled out to chase and collided with Richie H. We both grappled for control and for a moment it looked like we might hit the deck but fortunately we managed to separate and regain our composure and chase onto the back of Chris's attack. We caught Dean on the 2nd to last lap so now we were all together. Chris came and asked for any full water bottles I had and then gapped me, Henry and Richie H off the front. The 3 of us worked together and had a small lead coming up to the start of the climb.
The first part of the climb is pretty steep so I decided to not go all out. I had also done a lot of work beforehand and that coupled with a chest cold that I had developed in the preceeding week meant I really didn't have any options. I was soon joined and then passed by George, Chris N, Thomas & Kieran. Thomas almost immediately stopped - he had gone too hard and needed to recover. Kieran was just ahead but I had no chance of catching George and Chris N. As the road leveled out a little I increased my speed but just finished behind Kieran. Chris N had just won the race on the line from George. Dean finished next behind me and Chris C got to the top of the hill before realising that he had another gear that he could have used.
In the end I finished the series 2nd overall. Chris C finished 10th so together we did quite well. It was certainly an educational experience.
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