Had a good start, Doug Long and I lined up next to each other and were the first off the line. They started the 35's, 45's and 55's fifteen seconds between each group. Doug and I caught the tail end of the 45's by the top of the starting straight climb.
My goal was to go as hard and aggressive as possible the first lap to open a gap on Doug, it worked. After banging elbows with him the first few turns I was able to pass some riders and create a small gap. I kept working on that by accelerating out of turns and climbing as hard as possible.
I think I was much more aggressive in passing than I had been. Use every little straight sprint then not be worried about crowding them in the turn, make them slow down.
My favorite moment in the first lap was the double track followed by the sharp left to the mud hole. I came up on two riders side by side one in each track. I didn't slow down, just took the middle and shouted "COMING THROUGH" and sprinted between them. Made the hard left and saw five riders lining up single file to take left line around the mud hole. I had made a point in preriding to ride the right side. Didn't slow down, took the less obvious right line and passed all five at once. FUN!
Over all I felt good, tried to always pedal hard out of the turns and take advantage of any straights and the road where I could turn it up a notch. I open about a 15 second gap on Doug that I was able to hold most of the race. Although he did gain back some on the last lap.
Over all in the masters I finished 1st in the 55, 4th in the 45 and 11th in the 35. Fourth and eleventh were less than 10 seconds ahead at the finish.
