Best Race Ever!

My main focus was to ride the first hill as last year i didn't have it in my legs or lungs. This year i did just that... rode all the way to the top at 96% heart rate (180 bpm ). My god that hurts! and for the rest of the ride i felt ridiculously strong (except for a lull in heart rate around the 80km mark).

I started near the front of the 2nd wave and let half of them go ahead as i monitored my HR and warmed up my legs properly. Its funny how many people are in such a hurry to get to the hill and then walk it!

I had a clear trail for most of the day and just passed people in the ones and twos mostly. noone to get in the way on the tech stuff and only a couple of times where there was no room for passing and 5 in a row...

I had an awesome time trial on the last road section and managed to hold 88% HR steady for about 8 km's and then 2 guys went passed and i put the hammer down and passed them only to have one of them jump on the back of me! cheeky. By this stage i was back up to 94% HR and then he went passed me and turned the corner into the final driveway and said to myself "no way are you beating me after you drafted me for FREE!" so i forced myself over the line a second ahead of him. And promptly had to skid to a halt so as to not run down the staff removing anklets .

What a fantastic race!

What did i do different this year from the last?
First : training on a road bike...
Second : Dietician to help with day to day, race and recovery nutrition.
Third : Set myself a regular ( but not strict) training regime.
Fourth : Listen to my body... if i feel run down i rest until i feel better. If i feel good then i hammer myself but not to the point of exhaustion.