[longtrousers]

I was super impressed with Arnaud's ride today. He just went for it, right from the start and amazingly held it. I rode pretty easy until after Hilo, but even when I was riding hard he was maintaining or even extending his lead. Then on the final descent (which was the wettest and windiest I've seen) he rode like madman and put even more time in - he was 8 min ahead at top of Kohalas, then 14 at the end. Of course I was playing it very safe down there - it was extremely sketchy. So Chapeau to him, valiant effort that paid off. Me and Tony spent a good chunk of the day together which was nice.