the koppenburg!

So this weekend was both the mine's hill climb and circuit race, and the koppenburg circuit race in superior. I didn't race on saturday at the hill climb because it just seems silly to me to pay $20 to ride for 20 minutes up a hill. i can do that for free in boulder, so i rode about 35 easy miles including a pre-ride of the koppenburg course. The race takes its name from a pretty rediculous climb in the Tour of Flanders because this race is a course built around a 200 foot, 17% rutted dirt climb.

the real koppenberg

our koppenburg

Sunday morning was a little chilly (in the low 40's) and very windy. The 3's race started at 11:15am, and the first 2 laps were probably some of the hardest riding i've ever done. my hr spiked at 208bpm during the 2nd lap, and shortly after that, there was a big crash in one of the corners and i got stuck behind it and lost the main group. during the next group i fought my way up to a little group of about 5 other guys and rode with them until halfway through the 6th lap when i worked a little too hard up the climb and couldn't hang on with them, so i finished the last half lap by myself, and finished in 30th place. Not a bad finish for a course that hard, after a week off of training, and my second race in the 3's.

I did make it onto the WM team, but they stuck me on the "club" squad. I'm not sure exactly what that means or what it's going to take to get onto their developmental team, but whatever it takes, i'm willing to do. I'm guessing i'm going to have to get a couple of good finishes before they will give me free stuff, and i'm willing to do that work for them. Definitely good news though that they want me on their team. not that TER isn't a good team, but there's just no future in it other than getting my race fees comped once i'm racing in the 2's. Oh well. the weather is supposed to be snowy and wet all this week, so i guess i'll be doing more trainer rides. when is the weather finally going to let me just ride my bike???