05 Jun Copperopolis Road Race 2021
Copperopolis Road Race
(6/5/21)
Cat 1/2/3, 45+
Ok, this one was a bad idea. I love the race but with now only 5 days of riding outside, heading to the gnarliest race course in NorCal, with a descent each lap that you have to bomb despite being bumped all over the place with your bike sounding like it’s falling apart beneath you, well, glad I did it but my body still aches days later. This one is 3 laps, with one climb early in the lap where selections are made, rolling around a reservoir that can have people doing echelons if it is windy (it was), a short climb and then the gnarly descent, which is the other place where selections are made. On the first lap, I rode in the first 5 wheels to the climb but was feeling off and dropped back, then chased back around the reservoir (only plus is that I got a great photo, attached). Was at the front at the top of the gnarly descent, but OMG, I was not comfortable at all and people came flying by me. By the bottom of the descent the front group was away by a lot. A strong dude caught up to me and I mostly rode his wheel and we caught the front group again just as we were starting to climb on the second lap, and boom, game over for me. It was hot and I was struggling and thinking, ok, I’ll finish this second lap then call it quits. But as I was feeling glum I caught up to my friend, Chris Phipps, who is normally one of the strongest riders but is recovering from being hit by a car earlier this year. He hopped on my wheel and the two of us chatted and rode the rest of the race and came across the line together (photo attached). Finished 12th out of about 30 guys. It was hot (normally this race is done late March) and it’s a tough race so there were a lot of people that didn’t finish. On the plus side, I did see a couple of young Red Peloton riders on the course, working together, was great to see!
Kyle Ashton
Cat 4/5
This race was really tough, when I arrived the temperature was already in the high seventies and by the
time we got started it was quite a bit hotter. The first lap went well, the climb was fast, and the flats were
bumpy, but it began to settle down. When we came around for the second lap, I started to feel off. My
legs shut down and my heart rate was not moving down even while coasting. Once we hit the main climb
again the heat and bumps had me feeling fried. I could not quite hang onto the group over the top of the
climb and then began to get distanced. I finished off the lap feeling a little dehydrated and tired, but then
rehydrated and shifted focus onto the next race
Taj Krieger
U23 Team
