Mason Lake #3 RR

I survived my first road race! I was so nervous about the race but as it turned out I had no reason to be because I never rode with the pack anyway. I guess my opinion of a "neutral start" varies drastically from everyone else's. I lined up in the back of the pack and got hung up when a girl ahead of me stumbled getting clipped in to her pedals. The pack took off and that was that...I was dropped from the start.

About 3/4 of the way around the first lap I hooked up with two Starbucks riders and a rider from Team Group Health and we started working together which gave me a much-needed break. I had been riding frantically trying to catch anything. We worked together pretty much until halfway around the last lap. The TGH rider was stronger and she peepled off and one of the Starbucks riders was struggling pretty hard so she fell back and her teammate went with her.

In hindsight I should have worked harder to keep up with the TGH rider. At least I got some race experience and I definitely rode at a pace I've never ridden before. I'll be looking forward to getting out there some more and getting some pack experience. I think I was one of the last Cat 4s to roll across the finish line but I know there were a few riders behind me so I wasn't quite last. They only post the top 25 finishers so I'm not sure where I ended up. The field looked to be about 35 riders.

Photos are courtesy of Amara Boursaw at Wheels in Focus. More Mason Lake #3 photos.