There were 6 of us in the Masters 35+ 4/5 C group. We tried to ask the officials to let us tag onto the back of the B group or get into the Cat 5A group, but both groups were too full. So they sent us off as 6. We all agreed to work together for a while. Once in the headwinds and cross winds it was sort of a cluster-F. I just did my pulls and tried to stay as protected as possible. Once in a while we would get a decent pace line going, but then it would fall apart. After a while it was clear that one rider was doing very little work. Either he didn't have any gas in the tank or he was purposely not doing any work. Finally as we approached I-5 heading east one guy put in a nice attack, I quickly jumped on his wheel and so did another rider. So 3 of us had a small gap. It came back together, then I put in a nice attack over the overpass before the right turn. That did a little more damage but it came back together again. As we turned downwind the original attack guy put in another hard dig, two of us followed. Another small gap opened but it came back together again. Then finally I put in one last hard effort and we finally dropped Mr. No Pull guy. So 4 of us were left blazing downwind to the finish line. Then one unattached rider said to me "you guys can have the sprint, I'm just trying to keep my bike upright." As we got near the right turn to head over the overpass I made sure to be 2nd wheel. They put in a decent effort up the overpass, and I just stayed on their wheels. One guy started to fade early with about 300 to go, then I notice the other guy who said he wasn't interested in the sprint go shooting by on my left, yeah nice try buddy. I was 3 back at this point, so I shifted into my hardest gear and then with 200 to go came around him and sprinted to the line for my first win! It was a great experience and I'm super stoked, even if there was only 6 of us in our field! I got my first Velo Promo t-shirt and $20!
Here's a photo of me blasting across the line!
