At least it was warm.

The second Mason Lake was back to normal, well it wasn’t in the low 40’s but it rained.
The pineapple express is good for something… I was completely soaked the entire race, but never got cold.
The race started with Pruit attacking during the neutral rollout, I guess since Jonny wasn’t here somebody had to do it. Three guys rolled of the front, and a minute later Peterson, says” well I guess we should bring that back” and attacks. I and a few guys go with him, we catch up fast, and on the next incline (I don’t want to call it hill, I’ll save that for some later races) Peterson accelerates hard and four of us surge of the front. Right before the far corner a few more riders bridge up and before you know it we are motoring of the front. Looking back I realize I went too hard the first few miles, and it catches up with me pretty quick. By a lap or so I’m skipping a pull here and there to try and recover slightly, but we are going. Garage has three guys is this break, so that is good, but at this pace I’m not sure how much longer I can stay. .. As we start lap three I’m feeling better. As we get to the top of the “hill” on the highway, James flats, and as Nathan pulls of, Peterson accelerates and brings three guys with him(Emde, Teufel and Rodes) .. I look up from the back of the group and see the gap too late (+ I’m too tired)… it opens up slowly and then suddenly they are gone… nearly Four laps to go. The four of us work together another 1 ½ laps before Nathan drops of. Then next lap we get caught by 3 riders just storming by, and we start to chase really hard again.( now it really hurts). ½ lap later we catch Emde. And then 1/3 through lap 5, Ongers takes of .. and will eventually stay away for 4th… ½ lap to go we get caught by a big group of about ten riders….and this is the first time all day I can stop pulling hard and actually skip pulls and sit back a bit. During the last few miles s few riders slip of the front, and the rest of us are fighting for the remains. Jason attacks a few times during the last stretch, I make one last attempt to get of with about 2.5 miles but it gets brought back in a hurry. I finally manage to take fourth in the sprint, despite my tired legs and 11th overall.
This was the hardest race I’ve done in a long time, for the first hour my HR was 175 average….it’s the kind of race where you really start to think you haven’t trained enough, because it surely can’t be this hard on everyone else, right?...
Chris took a well deserved 2nd place.. he is going to kill this year.

Sequim on Sunday was organized and put on by my team and Petit Oil of Sequim. This year the race is back to the old 3 race series, which enables us (Garage) to at least ride one event each…there should be enough volunteers. After all the rain on Saturday the enthusiasm was slightly down when we were met by rain Sunday morning. Driving from the ferry in Kingston, we could see blue patches of sky; maybe the old rain shadow thing would work again today, time to sacrifice that chicken.
After helping out at the finish line with picking of the riders numbers for the morning races (I pretty much managed to pick the first and last rider of each group…everything else was a blur, yeah… I won’t be getting that job again) I got ready to race. I decided to not wear any leg warmers, only the second time all year (first was an hour ride on Wednesday)..it is always a nice feeling… and it just feels easier to pedal.
This race was completely different the Saturdays, well at least for me. The early break with Hone and Rodes went on lap one,. Peterson was once again honoring us with his presence, but today he was a marked rider, as soon as he flinched he had 10 riders on his wheel… he had no way of getting of… I nearly felt bad for him. By lap three of four they were getting close…and three more bridged up, the original two eventually came back. The last two laps we organized a chase, Peterson was working very hard, we had all of our riders chase (I know not smart, and would probably come back and haunt me). Recycled helped out with a few riders and eventually BRI. Nathan pulled for nearly ½ lap by himself, and put a big dent in the gap…(next time he needs to jump and bridge, we all know he is plenty strong enough). I think we finally caught the break with about 6miles to go. With Nikos sitting back and waiting for the finish I decided to try and break it up in the last few miles…. I briefly got in a 3, then four man group that lasted a few pulls each. As soon as we got caught I went again, no luck yet. I drifted back slightly, Ongers attacked and I jumped on his wheel…and right as we got caught I went again… this time they let me go. I had just over 2miles to the line. I got a gap as the pack sat up, then it nearly closed down, before I managed to claw it back open again. The headwind before the last corner was relentless.. As I go around the final right, and though 1k to go I still have a pretty good gap. ..at 500m I look under my arm..maybe…if I can just crest the hill right before the 200m mark…I can’t go any faster, but as the pack lines it up for the sprint, they close that last gap alarmingly fast and blow by me at about 180m to go.. I just hold my line and try not to get run over as riders pass me on both sides in full sprint mode…


I'm right at the back on the left (with right arm showing, wearing black arm warmers) getting blown by...oh yeah...what a feeling...


There is always next week….right?