Little write up of a 62km race I did yesterday. I was using this as a long training session more than a race so the result itself was less important to me. As such, out of 157 riders on the road I was in 120th out the pens by the time we got to the start/finish banner on Upper Thames Street. I slowly moved through the field, working with little groups and picking off fast starting / slower riders so that by the time we hit the start banner on the Mall I was around 100 and in a group of about 10 riders. As the laps progressed (5 x 10km) we dropped some, and gained others, and lost the wheel of 2 much stronger riders. I wasn't feeling massively strong as I'd stressed myself a lot the previous day on stage 5 of ToW but was OK in the group. With 1.5 laps to go it was just me and one other guy (D cat in the race but clearly not really a D cat!), with another B cat chasing on. We tried to drop each other a few times but I don't think either of us were trying too hard. Coming through the Piccadilly under pass I surged up the hill and gained 6 seconds on him; there was still a lap to go so I expected him to get back on (I coasted down to St James Palace) but at least this told me I could climb better than him which I could use in the final lap.
He had caught me by the finish banner on the Mall and the chaser caught us the other side of Green Park going up to Parliament Sq. From there to Harrods we were playing cat and mouse; each one doing a quick surge to see if we could drop the others, letting gaps form then sprinting away to drop the 3rd rider. Really good fun (well for me anyway, I bet the other 2 thought I was being a twunt

). I guess they were both expecting me to attack as soon as we came out the underpass but i sat on their wheels instead. 1/2 way up there is a flatter section, as they were reducing power into this I went to 5 w/kg and held about 4 until the top and into the descent to St James. I gained about 10 seconds but I continued to attack down the descent and along Pall Mall. I could see they were both chasing hard and the gap closed slightly. As I came into Trafalgar Sq I used my aero PU and put in a bit more power and this pulled me clear and I could then see they were giving up.
In ZP I came 17/17 (there were 30 starters in B and only 23 finishers on the road). I only average 2.9 w/kg over the 1hr 40 mins. but still, really enjoyed that and it was a good workout.