Mason Lake Road Race # 2

Here is a report from -Greg Snyder-. Our Category 5 Captain.

I went out to Mason Lake for my first race of the season which turned out to be a good day. The Masters C/D race was starting at 9:40 so I had to get up at 5:30 to make it out the door by 6:15 to make the drive down to Mason Lake in time to register and get warmed up. Had a quick bowl of cereal and headed out the door
The drive down was good and the weather was cold but dry and clear.
I got down there just before 8 am and registered for the Masters race figuring it would be a little safer and maybe a bit smaller than the previous week. Got a 30 minute warm up on the trainer, had some water and 1/2 of my PBJ and it was time to race.
No teammates today as most of them had done Sequim on Saturday so it was just me in a group of 46 starters. There were a few First Rate Mortgage guys, a couple of Byrne and some team from Olympia who had about 5 guys and a few other scattered teams. The first lap was typical except that about 1/3 of the way in a FRM rider went off the front and a Wines rider soon went after him. The Wines guy came back to the group after a couple of miles saying he couldn't hang because the other guy was too strong. I used the first lap to try and see how easy it was to move through the group and preview the course since I hadn't done it yet. I was able to move up fairly easily and decided it would be best to sit in and see how things played out. I certainly didn't want to get my nose out in the wind too much without anyone working with me.
As we passed through for the first lap the FRM guy had 30 seconds on the pack which I figured would not last. During the second lap one of the stronger riders from Old Town tried to bridge up, but ended up coming back to the pack which was good. He is a strong rider who usually finishes well so I was trying to keep close to him especially as we got to the end.
I worked with a couple of guys on the 2nd and third laps on the front to chase down the breakaway rider and once I could see him and was confident we would get him decided to sit in and not waste anymore energy. I was feeling strong though and was feeling like it was going to be good result for me as long as I stayed up front.
As we got about 2/3 of the way through the last lap we caught the breakaway rider and I concentrated on staying in the front 5 to 10 riders. When we got to the 1k everything sped up as it usually does and tried to come up on the left side for better position and was sitting about 6th or 7th wheel at the 200 meter sign. Then everyone went and I was in the same position, but between two riders and couldn't get around, but just before the end those two riders separated and I was able to shoot through for 6th. I think if I had 50 more meters I might have been able to get into the top three as I wasn't spun out and was feeling strong.
So I am pleased with my result - it was my best so far, but I'm not satisfied.

Greg Snyder