Mason Lake #3 and Banana Bonanza



Another monsoon greeted us this week. I was happy at the start to see about 16-18 riders. The first lap was pretty easy- not too many attacks. The rain was... wet. A little into the second lap, we were just cresting an elevation gain (not really a hill), Beth launch a meaningful attack and took 2-3 girls with her. I was sitting near the back a little irritated that we were coasting down the hill. I hang out on the left side and waited for a rider to... move and then took off after the little break away. I took 3-4 riders with me. We worked together, losing a couple along the way, until we were just 3. We worked to catch up with Beth and Suz. Then the 5 of us got into a rotating pace line rhythm. I had to skip a couple of pulls in the beginning to recover, but after that we all did equal work.


Yey, so I was in a break of 5. At the end of that lap, we already had 2 minutes lead. we weren't really hammering, but I knew that with one rider from each team represented in the break, the group wasn't going to be too ambitious to catch us. They probably could've though.

In the beginning of the last lap, Suz opened up a gap out of turn one onto the highway. Beth stayed with her, but the other 3 of us stayed together. It was a little harder being only 3, instead of the 5.

Rolling into the finish, I was the first one down the big hill (go figure). I chilled out on the pace, not going any faster than I wanted. I could see Lisa out out of my right corner. I finally just decided to go. Lisa surged, but I out-rolled her. However, the other rider, a Ti-Cycles girl, came on the inside of Lisa and got me at the line. It was a good move on her part. So, I got 4th in that race. I wound up getting 2nd in the series, behind Beth.




The next day....
On Sunday I drove to Hagg Lake for more abuse. I got tired just walking to registration. It wasn't going to be a fabulous day. I did alright for the first 2 laps. I wasn't bogged down by any one thing. I went up hill just fine and down hill even finer. We had a pretty big group for Banana Blizzard- about 20 racers. Cruising into lap 3, I started to hurt. Just little changes in pace were getting to me. I popped off the back and never got back on. I actually waved Lynn, the official around me. "I'm done!" She smiled and drove on.

After the race, Martha informed me that about a mile after that happened, that they were neautralized for a long time and that the last lap was pretty mellow. Great. Oh well. I've never claimed to be a stage racer.

All in all it was a good weekend. I feel liek I'm getting into great shape and my new bike is awesome.