Weather was very warm for February, about 60 at the start and finished in the low seventies. Lucky for the 2nd year in a row. Although there was a little bit of light rain. Because of the recent resurfacing plus lots of rain in the area lately, the organizer decided to leave out Smith road which is 5 miles of big clay hills that don't deal with water very well. It was replaced by a parallel paved road that was very quiet and still had some good hills. I decided to make sure I didn't screw up this time at the start and have to chase the first surge so I positioned myself a few riders back as we tore down the hill from the Goose. The first little dirt climb didn't feature any attacks surprisingly, and I somehow was at the front when we topped the hill, so I descended quickly but not hard, and I looked back and had a huge gap and the group wasn't chasing at all. At this point the front group was already whittled down to 14 others and they were content to just ride an easy pace. We soon got on Sims road for pavement rollers and I soft pedaled while the group caught me. I moved to the back and not long after, last year's winner had to drop off due to a bizzare mechanical and I assume he DNFed. Eventually the attacks came and I tried to stay in the pack and not give chase but I had to do this a couple of times. The group really lacked cohesion and we never really got a good rolling paceline going. Pretty much all of the guys in the group were strong enough to hold on to almost any attack, given the terrrain, which wasn't really hilly or the dirt difficult enough to cause separation. So we had lots of time soft pedaling while no one wanted to work, followed by full gas attacks. One of these came as we turned onto the highway overpass of I-16, where there was a head/cross wind that was very difficult for everyone to deal with and I let a small gap form as I drifted back through the group and at the same time someone really turned the screws and It took the 2nd hardest effort of the day to catch back. It was a stupid mistake but really the only misstep I had in this race. Lots of people had problems navigating and more than one person veered off course and had to be yelled at to save them. A strong solo off the front by eventual 2nd place was thwarted when he blew way past a turn and had to chase back. Another attack was with eventual winner and 5th place and in a turn he hit a rut and lost his bottles and had to stop to grab at least one. This was at mile 70 something so he had to finish the race with only one remaining bottle. The group was together at the aid stop and after a little bit of soft pedaling, the attacks came very soon. After several that were brought back eventually it was apparent that the rest of the group couldn't chase them all down, so I eventually and reluctantly launched myself off the front in chase, and bridged with what must be some of the most painful moments of my life on a bike. it only took a few minutes but it seemed like eternity. I joined the 3 most powerful riders in a break that was very likely to stick. The other 3, especially the eventual 1 and 2, really wanted to push hard and get a good gap and it was all I could do to hold their wheels. I contributed to the pace as best I could but it was a little less than my fair share. Eventually at the same gradual clay/gravel hill that I was dropped finally on the first year, I and the eventual 4th place fell behind and we knew they were gone. I pushed fairly hard but at a somewhat sustainable pace and looked back and saw I had a decent gap. I pushed on harder, seeing a podium if I could keep the power down. There was still 17 or so hilly miles to go and I had to ride on the rivet to keep him at about 2 minutes or so the whole time. I gained steadily but could still see him on long straights so I was worried. I also saw the front 2 on the same straights and the gap gradually went up from 1 minute to more than 3 over the remaining miles. I was extremely happy to top the hill in Irwinton and enjoy the flattish run to the Goose. I am, very happy with the podium.