This would be my second attempt at this race. Having finished 7th with a descent race last year I was hoping to make the podium as it's the last chance at a state title race for 2011. The race promoters put a 12 pack of beer prime for the first lap finisher. There was a lot of peer pressure from local race support to claim that beer. I would do my customary fast start and see if the opportunity would still remain. Sure enough riders stampeded recklessly at the front, over shooting turns and choosing bad lines through the excessive mud. I traded leads with the other lead rider(Stuart Robson),but in the end his line choices relegated him behind me as I got the prime and got ready for the counter move that would surely come. A chase group of 4 formed and played cat and mouse with one another, leaving me dangling off the front by 5 seconds at best. After 2 laps or so the chasers attacked each other in an attempt to bridge across, effectively blowing apart the chase group. One rider from that group (Peter Jensen)would catch me at what was the top of the course and lose contact through the flat section of course. Fortunately for me the finish was at the end of the flat section of course and I would nurse that small lead to a sprint finish separated by a bike length or two. This is my first year securing 2 state jerseys in one year.
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