On Saturday, May 2, I participated in the Koppenberg Circuit Race in Superior, Colorado. I did this race last year, too, coming in 3rd place in the MM40+ 5 category. I felt like my training has been a lot better this year, giving me a good chance to do well again, this time in the MM40+ 4 category.
The race itself consists of 5.5-mile laps, about half-dirt and half-paved. The dirt section includes somewhat rough flat roads, and a short but difficult climb of about a 17% grade. There are usually about two good lines up the climb, with deep, rough ruts everywhere else.
The climb tends to be the defining moment in this race, where everything can be won or lost. In order to have a chance at this race, you really need to make sure you get to the climb early. If you are too far back in the crowd, there is a very good chance that someone in front of you won't be able to make it up the hill, and have to hop off the bike and run up. And once someone stops, everyone behind them will most likely have to stop and run, too.
In order to be at the front on the hill, you really want to be at the front at the start line. It may take a little extra energy to get up there, but it will be worth it.
I arrived at the course nice and early, to give myself plenty of time to get ready. I picked up my bib numbers, got dressed, and pinned on my numbers. I got the bike on the trainer and started my usual warmup routine. It seemed like I still had plenty of time, so everything was going right on schedule. As I was finishing my warmup, a couple teammates stopped by. As I was loading the trainer into my trunk, we talked a little about the course, and teammate Brad mentioned that his bike had just broken on his trainer. Crazy. So, instead of racing, he would be up on the hill cheering us on. But that little bit of chatting totally made me lose track of time. I looked at my bike computer, and saw that it was 9:30, only 16 minutes before the race start.
I quickly put the rest of my stuff away, and rode over to the start area. Unfortunately, I also needed to make a quick stop at the restroom. With that taken care of, I made my way to the line, only to find everyone else already there. I was basically dead last. Again. This is the third time I've made that mistake this year. Other times, I was able to take some time and eventually make my way up to the front and put in a good effort. But this course was different. First of all, I didn't have a full race to catch up. I needed to be near the front for that first climb, in only about 2 miles. And a narrow road packed with racers was going to make that very difficult.
I managed to pick up some spots during those first couple miles, but nowhere near enough. I was in the middle-to-back of the group of 60-ish racers when we got to the first climb. And as expected, that was a big problem. With thirty or so riders in front of me, someone was bound to have a problem on the climb. And sure enough, many people had issues. As one person fell, and then another, the racers behind were forced to stop and hop off their bikes. And once you're off the bike on that hill, you're not going to get going again. The only option is to pick up the bike and run, cyclocross-style. So, that's what I did. Bike on shoulder, I huffed and puffed my way up the hill. Once at the top, I saw a number of people pulling off the cyclocross-style mount, but I had never done that before. As they jumped on their bikes and started cruising away, I was stopped, swinging my leg over the saddle and slowly getting moving. To make matters worse, once I actually got myself going, I realized that my cleats were packed with mud and I couldn't clip in. I banged my shoes against my frame a few times, and kept trying to clip in. I eventually managed to connect shoes to pedals, but it took about 1/4 mile. I was getting really frustrated.
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| Carrying the bike on the first lap. Not exactly part of my plan. Photo: Scott Shoup |
After getting back up to cruising speed, I pushed hard to catch back up to the group. I think I moved up quite a bit, getting close to the back of the main pack, but never quite connecting. But as we cruised around on lap two, I got to the hill in basically the same place as on lap one, behind a whole bunch of people who were having trouble with the climb. And once again, I got stopped and had to run my bike up the hill. And once again, I had trouble clipping into my pedals. And once again I watched the field ride away. This time, I wasn't able to catch up like I did the previous lap.
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| And this is how you end up in trouble on the climb. What a mess. I'm at the lower left, bib number 534. Pretty sure this was taken at nearly the exact same time as the other photo above. Photo: Bo Bickerstaff |
I managed to connect with a few people along the way as we finished this lap, and started the third. But we were far behind the main pack. As this point, it was just a bunch of stragglers kind of working together, but it wasn't anything organized. I don't even know if we were in the same category. Because we were just a small group, the third time up the climb was much easier. It's still a difficult climb, and picking your line is important, but it goes a lot smoother when there's no one around you. I made it up the climb just fine, and kept on cruising. Again, I connected with a few more people, and made my way to the final lap.
The fourth and final lap was pretty much the same as the third. Working with a few people here and there, but completely out of contention, and at this point we're all just basically on a bike ride, not a race. We cruised around, making our way around the course a final time. Nothing very eventful, and I eventually approached the finish with a few other guys. I'm not sure why, but we all sprinted even though we were so far off the podium it wasn't even funny. I ended up finished in 31st place, about 3 minutes behind the winner.
Not an ideal finish, to be sure. Far from my 3rd place finish last year. But I learned a valuable lesson. Well, I hope I learned it. I thought I learned the same lesson earlier this season, but apparently not. DON'T BE LATE TO THE LINE!!! After this mess, I've decided I am willing to sacrifice a few minutes of warmup time to get myself near the front of the line.
Race: Koppenberg, Circuit Race
Category: MM 40+ 4
Result: 31/66
