Mason Lake #2 race

After going and watching Mike Rabas race on the 1st installment of the Mason Lake classic on Sunday March 7th, he persuaded me to give it a try. So I geared up for the second race at Mason on March 14th.
Gina was very helpful in making sure I had started my previous day and evening with a good diet to sustain the upcoming early morning effort.
We headed out at around 5:30am for a 2 hours drive to Mason Lake WA.
We had to show up early enough in order for me to set enough time aside for regestring, purchasing the race license and race number for the day.
I was so nervous as I heard so many racers crashed on the previous week, one even sustained a head injury with an amputated finger!
The lowest of the official category racers is CAT 5. We were to start at 9:35am for a 36 miles, 3 laps around Mason Lake.
Before that, I tested my blood glucose at 8:45 to find myself to be a little low for a hard effort that was about to start. I think I tested at 99. Gina instructed me to drop my basal and set it at 20% of normal usage.
Mike and I went off for a little warm up short ride where I popped a banana in my mouth and a 28gr carbs bar. Drank some Gatorade and went to the start line.
9:38 rolling start, I was so stressed out! But quickly felt at "home" as if on a regular Wednesday evening ride with the Woodinville Bike shop crew. And having Mike at my side was very comforting.
Mike started a small breakaway which I supported and before the 1st lap we were off in the front in an attempt break off the main field.
We succeeded but no one else were willing to join us in the effort so we decided to draw back and re-join the main field before we would get too tired for an escape we wouldn't have been able to sustain for 2 more laps.
Second lap was easy enough and no real attack came from the main field but we could hear a lot of crashes starting to happen behind us from riders probably now getting tired and loosing their focus.
As we crossed the line for the last lap, we could hear the bell ring and soon after the pace picked up, almost as anticipation from the main field to get this race over with.
After the smooth portion, Mike started to move up in the front and string the main field apart as I was keeping my eye on a Cucina Fresca racer since I thought he looked strong enough to make a good finish. Soon enough the 1k sign appeared and Mike was now a little ahead of me, about 5 bike length to my right in the middle of the road, and I was still pacing that Cucina Fresca guy on the yellow line dividing the road as we are not allowed to cross it until the 200m to finish flag.
Then came the last turn and ahead you could see the flag, with now about 400 to 300 m to go. I was still in the Cucina Fresca's wheel and a little before the 200 m flag realized that we had a little gap behind me on the next group of riders. I took that opportunity to cut behind Mike's group of 5 going from the far left of the road to the far right, and started my sprint hoping Mike would be able to catch my wheel and follow.
at about 100 m from the finish line, I started to fade and could feel another racer come in the far left of the road, were he ended up beating me with about 2-3 bike lenght.
Oh well, I find my self lucky I didn't crash, that my ride was pretty safe and I didn't cause anyone trouble. i was also happy to know that Mike made it to the finish safelly.
Looking back, I think I should have taken the wheel of Mike's group for another 100 m and only then jump to the right and start my sprint to the finish as I don't think I would have faded at the end giving then perhaps no chance for other to catch up.
Immediately after the finish I came back to the line to meet Gina, Lauren and Mike to check my glucose levels.
I wanted to vomit as I wasn't feeling good at all from the effort, and tested with a whopping 323
I treated and felt immediately better, probably not from the insulin but from the adrenaline wearing off and being able to breath again.
For the rest of the day, other than to 323 correction, I set my basal back to 100% and ate the following with NO bolus at all what so ever:
Banana, 24gr carbs protein bar, Gatorade, strawberry/banana protein shake, turkey whole wheat sandwich.
I never went high again, but was hovering around the 100 for the rest of the day, AMAZING

http://picasaweb.google.com/tdouet/MasonLake2#