Copperopolis- March 22, 2008 (Milton, CA)

Hilly course: One big hill, One small hill, one screaming descent all on terrible roads.

Touchstone riders: Markham Connolly, John Ormsby, Larry Benzie

2 laps- 44 miles

It was a beautiful day for a picnic and maybe a race - sunny, upper 60’s, very little wind and no ants.  The Masters Cat. 4/5 (A Group) gathered at the start around 11:10 trying to get in position toward the front anticipating that the race was going to be fast from the get-go.  Getting to the front early was on my mind constantly leading up to the the race. Sure enough there was a little jockeying for position toward the front once the whistle blew, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

John Ormsby got to the front easily and I fell right behind him.  Thanks, John. (Comment from John: I am very good at getting to the front early, not so staying there late.)  We passed the feed zone about 2 miles in at a good pace but all was intact.  We were all looking for “The Climb."  Finally, the road started to go up.   I kept reminding myself to stay relaxed.  I got behind the wheel of a Pacific Bank rider and stayed on it.  Our tempo was good and steady.  I had no idea what was happening behind us.  Were we dropping people or were they hanging on? I did a quick look around to see that there were a good number as we hit the steep section about 3/4 of the way up.

All the while I stayed attached to Mr. Pacific Bank’s wheel hoping that we would start to splinter the field.  We got to the false flat at the top and I did another quick assessment. Damn! More people than I thought.  I think there were about twenty of us. John and Andrew, a former Touchstoner but still good friend, were still in there, though. Good! But, where's Larry? Larry is new to the race scene who manages to start his season signing up for one of the hardest races on the calendar, and with very little training. He must've realized that when we hit the climb. Ouch! At the top one Synergy guy took off but we let him go thinking it was way too early. The rest of the lap was uneventful and downright slow.  This allowed more riders to join the lead group.  I remained toward the front to cover any significant attack

The second, smaller hill is preceded by a section of short rollers.   Once on the hill we went again at a solid tempo, with no one really trying anything dramatic.  I was in good position on the hill before the descent.  The descent at Copperopolis is almost as notorious as the first climb.  Together they define the race.  The descent is fast, twisty and bumpy.  Some racers hate it, some love it.  I love it.   We all went down mixing it up some with the Juniors. I have to say that it was a little nerve racking passing the little grommets.  Coming to the end of lap one I saw John go after the finish line like he was going for a preem.  I think he "won" it but no prizes handed out on this one.

As we rounded the corner in Milton to start the second lap I saw that I was not far enough toward the front. Again, it was easy to make my way up there. This is where I thought things were going to get really hard.  We hit the feed zone, and I was still in great position being among the top 5 guys.  Mr. Pacific Bank was there and I thought I’d just do the same as the first lap, sit on his wheel.  Too late, someone else got there. I saw Mr. Webcor come up and sucked his wheel and stayed on it through the steep section. I think we were all starting to hurt and heard some grunts exposing the “that’s it, I’m done.” I started to see a gap separating Mr. Webcor and me. It was on the very last little bit of steep before the false flat. I had to dig a little to get back on. They decided to surge again. I had to dig again. I was cursing at these little climber rugrats. I got on Webcor’s wheel and stayed there knowing that he would not let a gap happen.  I recovered fairly quickly as we rolled around the reservoir. There was, I believe, about 10 of us with more clawing back to the pack including John.

I was getting a little frustrated thinking that this supposed race of attrition was going to end up in a bunch sprint with 20 guys. I looked around to see who the contenders were. I got to the front with the Synergy guys remembering that there was one of them out front. I also saw a SF Sport and Spine rider go off the front somewhere on the flats.  Okay…two guys off the front and twenty of us here.  I’m not happy.  I want to make sure to go after the next one who goes. Sure enough, the two Synergy guys went on the last hill. I jumped and had them within reach and feeling pretty good on the climb.  I passed the Sport and Spine rider and saw that there were three Synergy guys just ahead of me as I was closing the gap.  Good, we caught the last from the earlier break.

As we started to crest the hill I looked back to see if we created a gap. Right behind me were two Wells Fargo riders, Mr. Webcor, and an unattached guy who was up with me in the front most of the day. The eight of us, in fact, created a good gap and shattered the rest of the field.  We bombed it down the descent at 48 mph keeping or extending the gap.  Coming to the uphill sprint finish, I was in perfect position being 5th rider with only a K and a half to go.  We passed the 1k sign and all of sudden the guys in front of me slowed down. I suddenly found myself in 2nd position- the 2nd worst possible place to be before the sprint to the finish. I got out of there with about 200 meters left. I lost all my momentum doing that stupid move. The rest barreled past me. I got on a Wells Fargo wheel and started to gain on him as we saw the crowd on top of the hill. I saw the yellow line and noticed I was on the left hand side of it and had to make my way back adhere to the center line rule. We were all together and I was with the Wells Fargo rider half a bike’s length in front. I finished 8th with the front pack.  John Ormsby came in 17th after getting dropped with cramps on the last climb.

All in all I felt pretty good.  I was a little heavy-legged coming in, so I was happy that even so I stayed strong and where I needed to be until the very end.  Looks like I need to work on my tactics and sprinting.  I've got Orosi, Wards Ferry, Sea Otter, Wente and Berkeley Hills coming up so I hope I have several more chances to apply lessons learned.