That's Racing...

Today was the Koppenburg redux. This past week has been a recovery week. I'd been training hard for the last two months and last weekend, body fell apart so it was good the race got moved to this weekend. Coincidently, Shawn, had penciled a rest week for me this past week months ago so we are definitely dialing the training in and understanding my body more and more. Now on to the racing....

I showed up plenty early as I was game to take it all today. Legs felt great in the warmup. Legs were great all day actually. The course is 5.5 miles long with 2.5 miles of dirt/gravel. After a quick 200m after the start there is a sharp righty then immediately on the dirt for a gradual climb. I knew that you had to be a top wheel going into the dirt b/c chaos would ensue. I got a nice jump off my front row start. A guy I met while on the sketchy Carter Lake ride last month lined up next to me at the start. He says, "just to let you know, we are going to drill it at the start." Okay...well they didn't exactly drill it by Belgian standards but I already knew my plan for the race, go hard, ride smart, and leave nothing on the course. The Koppenburg climb came up a little quicker than I thought. It was difficult to see it b/c the is literally a 100m climb at 17% cut into the side of the hill, or basically just a dirt drain. It was pretty rutted out on the right side. I managed to be 2nd wheel going in and picked a nice line and drilled it to the top. I would do this 6 times today and each time I was either the first or 2nd wheel going up. This was critical b/c I later learned from Shawn and Karl that chaos was behind me. It pays to be in front. On the 2nd lap this jag nearly sideswipes an oncoming car just so he can get the fastest line into the righty towards the start/finish. Okay ahole, we are two laps in, its a bike race, you have no contract, and you nearly destroy yourself against a car, for what?

Immediately after clearing the turn, a huge crash took out a large bit of the field. Apparently some wheel touching. When you are in front, you can't think about it. I never knew the damage going on in the back only checking back occasionally to see how many souls were still in the game. By the fifth lap, we had whittled it down to 15 riders or so. A vitamin cottage rider rolled off the front and no one gave chase. He managed to mix himself into the other category riders up ahead. Probably some drafting going on. On the last lap, I got first up the Koppenberg and was feeling good. A velonews rider who showed his time-trialing cards earlier went so I thought I had better go for it b/c this was a serious move with only 2.5miles to go. I jumped to the left side and got a gap of maybe 5secs but it got closed after about 2minutes. As we are nearing the top of the last climb, you can see the traffic piling up at the bottom of the road. FYI, roads were completely open to traffic and course marshalls didn't really give a damn about racers and cars coming together. I'm 3rd wheel going down the hill towards the righty to the finish. A rider jumps out of our 3 group and is moving his way up using the draft of the cars. Now this is a totally euro thing to do, WHEN you are trying to catch back on, not when you are in the lead group and leap frogging. I wasn't too impressed. As we neared the righty, still in good position, then a van pulls right into our line, I slow down and the pack goes around and gets a little bit of a gap that i was unable to close in the last 200m. That's racing I guess...

When i crossed the line, I was pissed. Legs were good, and I knew that I was one of the strongest today. After a short debrief with Shawn and Karl, they chimed in on their race experiences as it pertained to unluckiness. I still maintain that stuff like that happens and thats why its racing. Bike races are hard and so many things can go right or wrong. For me, I had everything in play positive, it was the car pulling out in front that popped my bubble. Ohh well, I'll be over it and prove myself next weekend. It was a good sign of fitness today so things are right on track. Two years ago, 3 riders in a chase got stuck at a train crossing in paris-roubaix. a train foiled their chances. It makes me feel better that sometimes, shit just goes wrong and you can't do anything about it. had this race taken place prior jul-26, i think I probably would have a bit more aggressive with the cars. I do admit that I'm a bit more conscious of cars when I'm going fast especially ones that are pulling out in front of you.

My brother Michael is coming out this week for some training with his new job. He is going to watch next sunday's crit in golden, co. That will mark the first person in my family to see me race hahaha =)

Super cool chick: Sarah Kaufman, friend from SF, won the NMBS(mtn bike) Marathon race in Fountain, AZ. Sarah turned pro last year and has been ripping up the enduro and 24hr scene. She ran a bike tuning clinic for me last year. Coincidently, we both studied econ and finance and dropped out of the corporate scene for bikes and racing. She totally killed the field; finishing nearly an hour ahead of 2nd place. Damn thats pro =)

Matthew