dnf

Today's race went well. Jay got 2nd, Brian 7th, Ladd 12th.

At the start things looked epic. Freezing cold and a sleet "downpour". We all were wearing everything we brought and then some. I had 2 of Brian's vests and his winter hat...also Jay's extra shoe covers and his extra gloves. It was crazy...

Once the race started things mellowed...the rain/sleet stopped and it warmed up a little bit. I felt really good and rode near the front all day. The climb to the finish was manageable but I knew I wouldn't be a factor at the end...too many strong/fit guys. Masters racing is pretty hard! Lots of cat 1's and 2's.

On the next to last lap I was near the front with Jay and there was a group of 3 about 15-20 seconds up the road. Jay was nervous about the break cuz they were some hard core cat. 1 types and he thought if they got more time we'd never see them again. It was just him and I at the front so I decided to go "all in" and started chasing as hard as I could. The breaks teams were all right behind us so there was no help. Brian and Ladd were stuck behind riders. I tried to keep the break in sight then as we got near the climb I dug deep to to get them close enough to allow Jay to bridge on the climb. He launched and I exploded...over the climb I semi recovered and did a half hearted chase to get back on but rode solo the last lap.

It worked out that Jay caught them then got away with 2 others finishing 2nd. Ladd and Brian patrolled the pack on the last lap. It was a pretty fun race...