Rodalink West today was much slower than the last. 42kmh instead of the 47kmh. But still, I was dropped. I started the ride by arriving just in the nick of time, when the group was rolling out onto the main road towards Jalan Buroh. It was a pretty large group.

Noticeably though, there was a break that made it a few seconds up the road, and they stayed away for quite some time till the lights caught them. No doubt they were strong, but I think some of their team mates were helping to do some blocking in the pack. That's done by pulling the group, but at lesser or same speed as the break away. Perhaps that's why the ride was slower, with some people blocking and the other strong fellas in the break? Heh, or perhaps they were already starting to taper for next Sunday... Anyway I made the dumb move of trying to bridge up to the break (when they broke off AGAIN) after seeing Daniel do so. Wrong move, as I ran out of steam before I made it (perhaps they were waiting for Daniel and took off once he joined?) It was just round the Tuas Checkpoint u-turn, and I was totally blown out after that, just dying to catch my breath. That's when the chasing group came. I slotted in near the front few and tried to stay, but after a while my aerobic capacity was lacking to ride at the required 45kmh, and I was starting to leave a gap. So I pulled out to the side and let myself drift to the back of the group. Unfortunately, that's when we hit the straight that goes 50+ kmh, and I could not latch on to the tail end... I tried to stay, but finally I was caught at a traffic light junction, and by the time me and another fella made it through the group was gone. But anyway today I was in the zone (and on my race bike instead of my commuter), and I chased using a more forward position, pivoting over the tip of the saddle. It was much easier to generate power that way, and I was able to hold 41-44kmh all the way till I caught the group as they stopped at the traffic light junction (although very breathless).

Next was the preparation for the sprint. I was near the rear, and moved up to mid-peleton just at the foot of the final hill, but then someone in front started leading out, and I had to start sprinting just to hold on. The group was stretched out, and my legs started feeling crampy (a result of the forward riding position)and I started to drift back. Basically I died before the real sprint started. I could see that there was some form of a lead out train, as a few guys were peeling off the front of the group... Even so, there was still a girl in the front group!

Better luck next time.