MFG #5 Marymoor Park

The weather has definitely turned to the wetter, and this past weekend was no exception. The once grassy hills of the Marymoor velodrome were transformed into tacky, slick, and deep mud. The rain through the morning ended before the afternoon races began but the conditions didn't get any better. So, the 2012 Starbucks/SCCA race would be a mudder.
Coming off my win last weekend I was motivated to keep things rolling and got to the front through the first corners and stayed with the lead group for the first sections of the race. After a little bit of back-and-forth attacks, one rider managed to get off the front. I pulled the remaining chasers for a little while before I started to tire and fell to the back of the group. I managed to stay there, just off the last of the leaders for about half the race before I started to slowly sink back. At this point in the race we were dealing with thick traffic from the large number of racers on course, and you would occasionally get stuck behind a slower rider through the tight technical areas and lose more time.

Finally the last lap started, and I managed to claw my way past two more fading riders. Unfortunately, in the last few corners, I too was overtaken. As I made my way back onto the slippery front straight I ended up ninth for the day. Not the top finish I was hoping for, but good enough to hold the series lead, although by a small margin of 6 points between myself and second place. With only Woodland Park remaining, I will have to bring my a-game and stay up front, otherwise the series may be lost.
I learned after the race that about 2/3 of the Men's 3 field was lapped and removed over the course of the race! Nice to be able to finish with the lead group.

Congrats to our other racers who braved this thick and treacherous mud:
Steve Berard - 17th - Men's 3s 35+
Jenny Dallas - 4th - Women's Singlespeed
Melissa Desimone - DNF - Women's Singlespeed (Better luck next time!)