Timaru 12hr - rinding for the Cyclery

I got invited to ride for the Cyclery team (Timaru bike shop) at the Timaru 12hr this year. I was very happy to do this because otherwise I would have been doing the 6hr solo and I would be in so much pain right now. I still had stitches in my hand so my control wasn't great but the course wasn't too technical so I coped all right. I started for the cyclery and my plan was to try and lead into all the single track because I knew that's where I would lose the most time because of my hand. So, I had great start leading all the way to the single track and up the first climb. But seeing I haven't done a lot of intensity training by this stage I was pretty much gone. Anton attacked at the top of the climb and I surprised myself as I stayed on the wheel. But as we slowed up Brad did another sneaky attack and that was the end of me. I lost the wheel so I couldn't draft on the flat section. I got slower and slower throughout the lap but did hold my 4th position. It wasn't the greatest of starts for the team but it put us in 2nd place 12hr team which we held for the rest of the race. The rest of my laps were quite good. Pretty consistent and I started to feel better after the 6hr mark. The first 6hrs took forever and the last went too quick. And at about the 6hr mark one of our riders, Tom, had to stop because of his continuing knee problems. It was a good fun race and we did very well considering the problems we had. Oh,  forgot to mention that Simon got a puncture on our last lap and had to run to the finish, and Cameron burped his tyre on his first lap and had to stop and fill it up. I can now take a lot out of this race and apply it to my training. Thanks to the guys from Timaru and the Cyclery for the great race/weekend!