knackered in the rain

So hard day today... Decided to head in to work early to be able to skip out early to get in a few miles pre-crit. Rain be damned, I need to become harder before Europe. So snuck out of the shop around 3 with Steve-O and Geoff and headed into the Gats. After deciding to do a reverse loop (up Blacks) we quickly encountered a dead man. Seriously, the dude was dead on the side of the road, looked like he had a heart attack cresting a hill. Luckily some motorists had also just pulled up and called an ambulance as we checked his vitals. Cold, and quite dead. After the proper authorities arrived, we were allowed to continue our ride, slightly shaken up but also with the company of local strongman JS. After working on my power big ringing/low rpm'ing up the climbs in the rain, we proceeded to separate for our different routes to the crit. Arriving at the crit minutes before the start, I quickly jumped in, forgetting that I had not eaten anything all ride, which was now approaching 3.5 hours. Deciding that I wanted to get 5 hard efforts in and then spend the rest just riding some tempo and playing pack filler, I launched up the road to bridge up to a solo Mr. Boocock. After catching him, we decided to attempt to inflict maximum pain on each other, he had also just finished a long ride. Unfortunately for us, other riders began bridging up and our gap continued to open. Realizing that I may be in for the long run, I began to work. After some time, I realized my mistake (other than the pain, I was running a little low on fuel). By this point the brake was of decent size, so I began to sit out some turns, and decided that I would not let go. As the attacks started near the end, I spent my last remaining bullets closing gaps and trying to not get popped. This worked until about 5 laps to go, when the pack began closing the gap, with 3 riders now ahead of us. Finally, I sat up and got swallowed by the pack like the rest of the break. Like I said, I'm knackered. Needless to say, I'm off to bed. But will see you back on the road again soon.