4/6/08: Koppenberg Circuit Race

The first race (that counts) of the 2008 season was postponed for a week due to inclimate weather. On race day, the wind was kicking and temperatures were moderate. The following day, rain, sleet and snow fell, so the timing of the race could not have been any better.

Getting to the start line posed the biggest challenge of the weekend. It first appeared that the race would be rescheduled for the 20th. However, it was announced on Thursday the 3rd that the race would run on the 6th. I was slated to be home alone with my son while my wife and daughter headed up to our condo in Keystone for the weekend for some "girl time." I started to take it personally when all of our babysitters ended up being booked solid already - I guess visits to prospective colleges and dates to the Prom are more important than bailing me out. Go figure! Finally, on Saturday morning, I found Noah a playdate with a friend whose parents were more than happy to have him over. Thanks, Lynne and Mike!

My goals for this first race were simple and straightforward: Stay with the front group and then see what shakes out. My overall endurance & fitness is less than it was at this point last year - on purpose. Winning this race was never in the cards and I knew that going in. Which is fine. When it counts later on, I'll be going for victory. For now, a hard race was just what the doctor ordered.

The first lap, as always, was a cluster f**k. Everyone has champion legs and wants to be on the front. After a clean start, I found myself in the middle of the pack as we headed on to the dirt and to the base of the climb for the first of six passes. The Koppenberg is a deceptive race. 6 laps of 5.5 miles, half off-road. The dirt is pretty smooth but the jarring adds up and causes extra fatigue and, in some cases, cramping to occur. The overall topo of the race isn't challenging - the hill is too short to be decisive to the outcome - but the dirt can be the X factor.

The first time up the climb was interesting. A guy right in front of me realized about halfway up that he was in the wrong gear and started to fall over. I had to go into the rut between the 2 "clean" paths up to avoid getting hit by him, which in turn stalled my progress. Just as I was contemplating putting a foot down, someone behind me yells, "Keep pedaling!" Jolting me into "instinct mode", I grinded the pedals over and re-found my balance. "Thanks" to whoever it was that yelled out! As I hit the peak of the climb, I passed a teammate, Jeremy Collins, who had been knocked off and was running his way up the final meters. If he fought hard enough, I thought, he could (and would) catch back on.

In every race, there is at least one jerk off who has no clue as to what's around him. I noticed one such clueless wonder throughout the first lap. Anytime I found myself near him, I did my best to get the heck away from him. As we completed the first lap and hit the dirt for Lap 2, I thought, "If there's a crash today, this guy's causing it." Heading into the climb for the second time, I decided it was time to move to the front. The legs were feeling strong. Not snappy, but as I expected they would. Without incident, the peloton wound up the dirt and re-hit the pavement. I went off the front here, leading into the 90-degree turn back on to Marshall Rd. I had no delusions that I could break away for 4+ laps (about 55 minutes of racing), but I wanted to try to accomplish several things: (1) I wanted to test my legs a little bit, outside the confines of the peloton; (2) I wanted to up the pace of the race; and (3) I wanted the hangers-on to start falling off sooner rather than later. The quicker the lead group gets whittled down, the safer the race becomes.

Toward the top of the hill on Marshall Rd., I got swallowed back up. In another minute or so, it would become all too clear just how prescient my prediction would be. On the fastest part of the course, a couple hundred meters before the sharp turn leading behind Costco, a string of riders went down at about 30-35mph. More riders piled into them, a ghastly sight. Luckily, I was out by the yellow line and just far enough behind the crash so I was able to easily avoid it, in no small part because the guys directly in front of me did not panic. Diran, another teammate, also missed the crash but only because he deftly weaved his way through the carnage. A few riders ended up being carted off in the ambulance. And, no big surprise, the squirrelly loser I predicted would cause a crash was right in the middle of it. Nice.

The next 2 laps were relatively mundane. Sure, there were some attacks, but none was taking seriously and all were swallowed up in due time. Things got interesting leading into Lap 5. A VeloNews guy - strong guy, built like a sprinter from Hell - took a dig. I thought about bridging up to him once his lead was a good 100m and the peloton wasn't responding to it. But I realized there was still a good 25+ minutes left to race and my legs weren't feeling all that great. "April fitness" for sure. I figured if he stayed away for that long then he deserved the win and good for him. However, he didn't last and I was happy I had decided to stay put. He still ended up 2nd on the day.

My first of two blunders occurred on the dirt of Lap 5. Into a mostly headwind, I went to the front of the group. I wanted to be at the front up the climb, feeling that some attack would come on the hill or just after it. I hit the hill in prime position, but my legs were completely flat. I had no juice. After cresting the top, I had to fight really hard to catch back on. I had spent too much time on the dirt in front and unprotected, and it nearly cost me the race. "OK that was friggin' stupid, Nate!" At this point, there were between 20-30 of us still together. It was time to play the waiting game and react the best I could to whatever happened in the final 15 minutes.

On the final lap, I stayed tucked in until we crossed the bridge and were approaching the final climb. My legs were still flat but more energized than during the previous lap. I knew I needed to be at the front on the climb if I wanted to avoid getting dropped into the finishing straight. I hit the climb near the front and dug deep to get the heck up it. Someone behind me yelled, "C'mon Feedback!" Not sure if he was trying to get me up the hill faster or Greg Ross, a teammate who was also in the front group at this point. I took it personally and did my best to squeeze a few more watts out of the legs, but without success. I had to fight my ass off to latch back on to the front group as the race headed back to Marshall Rd. It was about this time that I found out someone was off the front. Maybe more than one person was off. At any rate, the race for first was over. Great job to the guys who attacked at the end there!

My goal was to mitigate the damage and be in the thick of things at the finish. A couple guys pressed the pace climbing up Marshall Rd., which split the pack for the last time. Luckily, I had just enough to hang on to the back of that front pack. It didn't hurt that a line of cars was squeezing us into a single file and ruining everyone's ability to attack all over the road. I did what I could to suck in some final O2 and prepare for that deceptively long, uphill finishing sprint.

We hit that final right hand turn in line then quickly spread across the road for the final sprint. Blunder #2: Thinking I would have to fight just to stay on, I got out of the saddle and started pounding the pedals. Surprisingly easily, I shot past a handful of guys. It was then I realized I should have waited a good 150m before doing what I did. Instead, the hyperdrive stalled ala the Millenium Falcon. I was one bike length behind a cluster of 4 guys and there was nothing I could do to catch or pass them. At the very end, one guy shot past me.

Final result: 10th. Not bad. Good enough for a first race. And, Feedback had 3 guys in the top 20 with Greg Ross coming 17th and Jeremy Collins coming 20th - a great result given he was knocked off his bike AND got stuck behind that crash on Lap 2. Our 4s crew fared well, too, with Bryan Myers nabbing 6th and Jerry Kupcake coming home 12th.

The best is yet to come.

Ride safe,
Nate