And after collecting another silver -- and his first Olympic medal -- the born-again cyclist from Ashburton vowed in London, four years from now, visualisation will be replaced by reality.
"I was picturing the New Zealand flag in the middle to be honest. And I was picturing that gold medal round my neck. It's coming I tell ya," he said after providing the silver polish to New Zealand's record five-medal haul in Beijing yesterday.
Roulston finished a worthy runner-up to British defending champion Bradley Wiggins in the men's individual pursuit.
The climax to the 4000m endurance event played to form. Roulston made a bold start but Wiggins gradually wore him down to claim the gold with a time of four minutes 16.977 seconds.
Roulston clocked 4min 19.611secs to become New Zealand's third track cycling medallist alongside Gary Anderson and Sarah Ulmer.
While gold would have been ideal, another silver to complement his Commonwealth Games and world championship runners-up medals was ample reward for Roulston, who retired temporarily after being diagnosed with a heart ailment in August 2006.
He made his comeback two months later against medical advice, fortified by a Japanese hands-on healing process called reiki and a determination to persevere with a career that blossomed since he gave up BMX riding as a kid.
Roulston, 27, immediately declared an interest in the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010 and a third tilt Olympic gold in England.
"I'll be going through to London for sure," he said, while also forecasting a return to a European pro team.
Roulston was part of France's Cofidis in the lead up to the Athens Olympics but since then health issues saw him fade from the top echelon.
Once he decided to ride again despite being diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia -- a defect that causes shortness of breath and an irregular heartbeat -- he competed in the domestic scene, winning the Tours of Southland and Wellington.
A fourth in the individual pursuit at the world track championships in March indicated he was fully rehabilitated though he was unsure what those doctors would make of his medal-winning ride.
"That's a tricky question. I think I've basically proved my point there," he said.
"I'm not saying they were wrong, I'm not saying they right. I've definitely got no issues now.
"I've said it before -- if I drop dead at 99 with a heart attack they're going to say `see, you still have the problem'.
"I'm not going to win that battle, they can have it."
Wiggins is also anticipating a continuation of hostilities in the individual pursuit in London, if not sooner.
"Hayden's just gathering confidence all the time with the event," Wiggins said.
"It's just snowballing for him now and where he goes from here is up to him.
"I've known him for quite a few years. He was on the road with Cofidis, he was bloody good then.
"Somehow he drifted off the road and the professional ranks but he's come back strong in the last couple of years. He's showing the potential he had five or six years ago."
Still, Wiggins never doubted he would prevail.
"We went on a schedule we didn't think he could do. I knew if I stuck to it that he'd die in the last kilometre, which he did."
Roulston placed any celebrations on ice, aware he still has the team pursuit and madison own his schedule. He will sit out the pursuit teams' qualifying ride at 2pm (NZT) but join the quartet for the evening session ride to determine which nations will contest the medal races tomorrow.
Alison Shanks will attempt to claim a bronze in the women's 3000m individual pursuit tonight (9.05pm NZT) when she lines up against Lesya Kalitovska of the Ukraine.
