The Koppenberg

Boulder Racing put on another great Koppenberg race this weekend. Some intense road work and grading did some great work on the hill and on the bridge over the last few months and the race looked to take a bit of a different shape. Without the hugely technical aspects of the climb in the past, the early races were ending in group sprints from selective groups.

I arrived with Breeze as she was racing at 8:40 and Breeze Bars were a sponsor for the day. I spent the morning setting up the tent and shuttling gear to the finish line and cheering on Breeze. She was awesome and took 5th in the women's 4's. My athlete, Neil Smith, was strong too and barely missed the win in the 35+ 4's. I wasn't racing until 2 pm and had offered my services as a domestique, as I was a bit concerned with my legs from the work in the morning.

The Vic's boys had a nice showing with 6 of us in the field that was deep. Mix 1, Westside and Rio Grande lined up full teams as well and a tactical battle was on the way. We rolled out for 8 laps on the course and that meant 8 times up the dirt and 8 laps up the Kopp. The weather was pretty good, 50's, hazy sun and little wind.

As usual, the first lap was a bit nervous. We rolled up the dirt at high speed and it was a little difficult to get to the front. Not a mile in I heard a tire explode. Unfortunately I found out a bit later that it was teammate Neal Henderson. He was done within the first 10 minutes of the day. I hit the hill in 10th or 11th wheel and I wasn't happy about it. Bikes and bodies were all over the place and the lines were a bit confused and as we hit the top we were strung out already. I remember thinking that people were probably already dropped as we cranked across the top. Things regrouped a bit and despite the usual attempts to get a gap we hit lap 2 in a big group. On the second lap Westside flexed a bit. They sent a man to the front and we were on it up the dirt. The pace was high. My guys were all tucked in behind me. Sutter and Frank were right where they needed to be. This time up the hill, I went to the front and hit the Kopp hard. As I led across the top, I looked back to see a long thing line strung out behind me. Not minutes later Sutter rolled up and gave me a nod and I told him "wait until next lap."

As we hit the hill on the third lap I really laid it down and at the top I had a gap, but not the legs or the friends. I was intending to hammer the top and get away, but I was not going to do it alone. By the time Robson got up to me the field was with us and there was no where to go. The middle laps were agony. Hammering the dirt and trying to close down moves from mix 1 and Westside. I felt like I was on the front for all of 4,5 and 6. On Marshall road on the 6th lap it all went down. I had just closed down a move by Carlos Casali and then Bob Dahl launched an attack. I looked left and smiled broadly when I saw it...Mike Sutter was on the move and I knew almost immediately that it was the day's break. All the major teams were in the move and myself, Frank and Westside relaxed at the front. I was ready for a bit of a cruise to the line, but there were more fireworks ahead.

As we entered the second to the last lap, the Westside man from the break was on his way backwards. uh, oh and as I thought that up to the front came Jeff, Carlos and the boys and the hammer was down. Gibson was on the front and we were flying. As we hit the hill, it was obvious that Jeff Hartman was their guy and he hit the hill on the front ready to bridge. I was 3rd wheel and was going to suck his wheel to the front so I could set up Sutter. It didn't happen, the guy between us was not as strong as Jeff and when I got around my mind and body cracked a bit and I sat up. The boys out front were left to fight it out. Paul Esposti took the win, then Dahl, Hartman, Gates and Sutter. I did my job and got our boy in the break. I managed 12th after a huge load of work on the day.

It was a super fun day out and I think I speak for all of us when I say, I cannot wait until next year.

Photos from 303 Cycling