The Koppenberg

Ben finally took the plunge and signed up for the Koppenberg race this weekend. He's been a bit apprehensive about the road scene and I sure can't blame him. Racing around at 35+ mph in a tight pack filled with bikes and people taking sharp turns and jostling for position does not sound fun (or safe) to me. As it turned out, he loved it!

The course is a 5.5 mile loop around Superior/Marshall which is just minutes from our house. This made for a happy girlfriend who didn't have to wake before dawn to drive to the course. (I've had my fill of 5am wake up calls on race day.) Ben warmed up with a couple of his Natural Grocers teammates, toured the course (he'd be doing four laps in his heat) and headed to the start line with one of his teammates, Samer, who was also racing in the men's 35+ cat 4 race. Ben's goal was pretty straight forward: Finish without crashing. We talked a bit about race strategy and his plan was to get in with the pack early so as not to be dropped right away. This is key in bike racing as you are significantly more efficient and therefore faster when riding in the pack versus on your own. The problem is that getting in the pack is easier said than done: it's an all-out sprint in the first portion of the race. Gotta weed out the ones just looking for a free ride. I drove to the top of a big hill to cheer on the team and take some photos, so when I saw B. he was already a couple of miles into the race. He was lagging off of the back of the pack with Samer, but once he hit the hill he started passing people left and right and caught the back end of the pack.

Unfortunately just after the uphill is a long downhill dirt track and Ben quickly lost the pack again. He never regained his position, but had a solid race anyway. Samer and Ben rode together challenging and pushing one another the entire race.

Ben learned some valuable lessons during the race and he'll have plenty of opportunities to put them to practice, too. There's a road race just about every weekend in the Front Range. Summer racing, here we come.