Mason Lake Road Race Series #1 of 3

The Mason Lake Road Race Series #1 of 3 was held on Saturday.

The course:

A 12-mile loop around Mason Lake with rolling hills and no major climbs. Repeat for 2 to 6 laps, depending on the race category.

Report:

Just the thought of “rolling hills” at race pace sends my legs into a state that resembles rigor mortis, so our report and commentary come from race correspondents Martha Walsh of Team First Rate Mortgage, and Coach Russell Cree of Herriott Sports Performance.

Martha says: “IT WAS SUNNY! Lots of flats during the morning races. The cat 4 men may have been the only race without a breakaway for most or all of the race. It was windy for the afternoon races.“

“There were 44 women in the cat 4 race, 17 in the cat 3 race, and 12 in the cat 1-2 race.” Martha figures that about “20% of the total racers were women, which is pretty good in a traditionally male-dominated sport. The cat 3 women were excited to have their own race and played team tactics the whole way. Teamwork was a factor in the women’s cat 4 race, but so too was the huge range of strength among these beginning women racers.”

Next week, Mason Lake #2 will be the second race in the Luna cat 4 women’s series and the fourth in the Luna cat 3 women’s series. Cat 4 women racers can look forward to a post-race coaching/race analysis clinic offered by Tricia Bailey and Suz Weldon from Wines of Washington.

Both Martha and Russell recommend keeping an eye on former triathlete Robin Secrist (First Rate Mortgage), who finished second in her race at Mason Lake, and had the 2nd fastest time at last week’s Frostbite Time Trial. “Robin is winning more Luna bars than she knows what to do with!”

I met Robin last fall and I agree with Martha that “she is about as modest and unassuming as bike racers get.“

On the men’s side Russell advises us to keep an eye on “Ben Collins (First Rate Mortgage), age-group world champion, who won the Mason Lake cat 5 race by riding solo off the front for the entire race.“

Other men’s highlights include “Ian McKissick (BMC), who had a good ride (as always) at the Frostbite, and Patrick Stanko (Hagens Berman) was only off the pace by 2 seconds. Not bad for a working stiff in his 30s who juggles bicycle racing with family life and a full-time job at Microsoft.“

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