The course:
As one of the classic races on the NCNCA calendar, Copperopolis has a bit of a reputation, mainly because of the rough roads which have earned it the nickname “Paris-Roubaix of California!” “Tighten down your bike and hold on to your dentures!” Looking at all the DNPs one would have to agree, but what I encountered was no worse than coming down the Geysers or Black Mountain on the Terrible Two or the North side of Morgan Territory prior to this year. Don’t get me wrong: this is not Sea Otter Circuit Race pavement, it’s rough and bumpy, but it’s not riddled with massive potholes and exposed roots. Riding a Roubaix with its longer wheelbase and a 700x23 in the front and 700x25 in the rear, both at a modest 100lbs, my backside felt significantly better than after any of the doubles or brevets I’ve done. Even with a pair of Ksyriums…
The course starts in the metropolis of Milton, a few houses clustered around a rather oversized Masonic barn. Heading Southeast on Rock Creek Road one is quickly introduced to the rough pavement. It doesn’t get much worse than the stretch leading up to the feed zone a couple of miles into the race. The first hill is really a series of steps on a narrow road. This isn’t quite as apparent when looking at Polar or Garmin data files, but becomes obvious on a pre-ride inspection. While the elevation gain still favors climbers at this point it is different from very climbing oriented races such as Pine Flat or Orosi. The wind and rollers past the first hill keep things interesting for everyone and it’s my sense that the race suits strong roleurs. The second hill lasts only a couple of minutes and the grade is benign. The following downhill is rough, but quite fast. Yes, there is some barbed wire on the right…
The Race:
My warm up on the trainer was a bit short and just before the race – 15 minutes, with a 30 second hard effort at 5 minutes and another at 8 minutes. I switched skewers on the rear wheel and headed for the start across the street, lining up with other riders in the M45+ 4/5C field. Casual conversation with the rider next to me revealed some startling tidbits: “they’ve combined the fields…” “What?!?!?!” I’m in utter disbelief and my pre-race strategy falls apart seconds before the start. I dreadfully realize that being with other Cs puts all of us at the back of the now combined field, a bad place to be. On top of that my field just more than tripled in size, forty-eight instead of fourteen. Welcome to Copperopolis!
The race starts and people are hammering right from the left turn on to Rock Creek Road. I try to make up ground, but it’s a bit sketchy out there. For the most part riders are holding their line, but the rough road plays a factor. There is no center line, so we’re covering the whole road. By the first uphill (to the feed zone) I’m in the top third of the field and there’s some bumping going on. The pace is insane from my perspective and I’m longing for a lawn chair and margarita. The legs feel fine, but my heart is repeatedly trying to evacuate. Surely this must slow down when we hit some of the bigger steps on the climb. I pass Will H. from Touchstone and latch on to Lee Millon’s wheel. Lee’s a buddy from DBC who’s done a bunch of brevets and PBP with me. He’s solid on the bike and has been doing really well in races (should upgrade to 3s), so I figure he’d be a good wheel to grab. We hit the steep step and Lee’s coming backwards. I pass and yell at him to keep it going. The pace has intensified and I’m getting that drooling slobber feeling. It’s the hardest I’ve ever gone for this long. My HRM tells me I’ve been redlining well over threshold for what seems like an eternity and have equaled the highest heart rate from a max test last fall. We hit the houses on top of the hill, the road flattens a bit, Lee has found his second wind and passes me, my legs blow. The lead group accelerates and gaps me. At least half a dozen more riders pass me after the false flat, until I finally find the strength to latch on to a couple of wheels that don’t pull away from me.
Our little group of three gets into a pace line and works well together, we’re all putting in our fair share. One of the guys drops off, leaving me with a rider from TBS. We rotate well and work toward catching people in front of us. There’s a lone rider who’s been dangling out there for a while, but we only reel him in slowly and he crests the second hill before us. At the bottom of the downhill I see a Touchstone jersey. It turns out to be Amy - she appears less than thrilled. I give her a pat on the back as we motor past. A bit further we catch our carrot, the single rider (Tim), at the STOP sign toward the end of the first lap and work our way back to the steps in a pace line of three. The guy from TBS drops off near the top of the hill, but we pick up James from Roaring Mouse. He looks pretty beat, but still puts in some strong pulls. At the base of the second hill he fades. Tim sticks with me for a little while and then also fades. I keep on going, pass a guy from DBC and hit the downhill. Toward the bottom of the hill Tim is back and loses a bottle right in front of me. The thing squirts out and drops in front of me like a hot potato. I barely miss it.
We still rotate for a bit and then go side by side as we approach the finish. I’m thinking about how this will play out. He’s probably stronger in absolute power, but faded on the last hill and it’s an uphill finish. The 1km sign passes, then the 200m sign. I tell Tim I’m good with passing the line together and we roll across at the same time. It’s a good way to end a beautiful race. We worked well together and there’s no need to kill sportsmanship and fun with a last second dash for a mid-pack finish. Copperopolis was an awesome race!
Elmar
