As with the Hueston Woods race, a fair number of masters from the Northern part of the State showed up that I don't recall seeing in previous years. I didn't recognize their kit and didn't care enough at the time to register what team they are on, but there was a group of four and as with Hueston Woods they showed very good fitness. Last year I think I did 20 Cat 3 races and maybe two masters so keeping track of the masters fields is just not something I'm used to.
Anyhow, the race started uneventfully but the second time up the hill one of the above referenced guys took off and no one chased and he was gone for the rest of the race. Six of us went around on the remainder of lap 2 with three or four having been dropped. Anyone who has raced Malabar knows the drudgery of the long flat straightaway on the final leg, always into a tough wind, before making the turn into the park. It calls for a smooth rotation or at least some degree of sharing pulls. On lap two there was no cooperation and guys were trying to save their legs for the upcoming hill. I kept trying to get a rotation going with no success. By the beginning of lap 3 it was five of us and then two more of the previously referenced northerners took off on the hill with a fairly impressive accelleration and now it was just Tym, myself, and a tall lanky guy without team kit that Scott Young introduced me to after the race as an accomplished mountain bike racer but as usual, I have forgotten his name. So the three of us road out the last of the race and essentially didn't care enough to charge up the hill the last time and instead rode it out at 80%.
