Koppenberg

I've been looking forward to Koppenberg ever since last April. It was scheduled for this spring, and postponed twice because of bad weather. Last year, the Koppenberg was my first road race in Colorado. I failed miserably, blowing up on the climb and dropping out without completing a single lap.

Koppenberg is my type of road race course--short and with lots of dirt--so I was hoping for a better time this year. Indeed, things went much better.

pic from dmoynihan

Terrie, Lindsey, Therese, and I raced the SW 1-2-3s. The lower section of dirt was loose and really hard to ride. There was usually only one good line through the dirt, making passing anyone quite difficult. Things split up on the hill as soon as the 1st lap. Beth Fisk and Lisa Strong were just soaring up the hill every lap. Things would always regroup, minus a few riders, on the top section of dirt.

After the first lap or two, Terrie got on the front and drove the pace the entire way around the course. She would deliver me and Lindsey to the steep dirt hill in front of everyone else. We didn't have to stress about our lines or place in the pack at all. It was perfect and allowed us to respond to Beth's killer efforts up the hills. We also had first dibs on the good lines and didn't get stuck behind anyone who couldn't ride the section. Then Terrie did it again, and again, and again--until it was the last lap and there were just seven of us (and two were 3s).

pic from dmoynihan

We did everything we could to avoid a sprint with Beth--Terrie drilled it up the final hill, then I attacked, then Lindsey attacked. But Beth was too strong and smart and managed to bridge to us every time and still take the sprint. Lindsey got 3rd, Terrie got 4th, and I got 5th. (Gwen was 2nd.)

Even though we missed out on the win, we raced SUPER strong. Terrie was a superwoman, and Lindsey had her best finish ever as a Cat 2. I felt good, had a great time, and am super excited for all the skinny-tired off-road riding to come this fall. CYCLOCROSS IS HERE!

Edit: The best part about Koppenberg is browsing photo galleries for the massive clusterf*ck that that happened on the hill. See here and here.