And more thoughts from that crazy Copper race....
......from Mr. Elgart:
Copperopolis RR: Some Short Stories
From John Elgart
While warming up Linda and I went up the 900 ft climb and stopped near the top to await Levi. Yes, the Levi. Soon he came along in baby blue Gerolsteiner, scrunched up on the nose of his saddle, face impassive, not discernably breathing, spinning out 90 rpms and just flying along that potholed climb.
A minute back came John Hunt and another rider, looking taxed and determined. Behind them a string of death marchers: tongues out, heads sideways, gasping loudly enough to be heard in the next county, glasses gripped in teeth, arm warmers rolled down and jerseys flapping. Yes, Levi’s Tour training seems to be coming along.
My Race, briefly: 55+, 1st out of 7.
I didn’t intend to make this race a time trial, but I when rolled off on the first climb and didn’t see anyone chasing, I just kept going. For some reason, this year wasn’t that hard. My total time was 2:16 for the 42 miles with 3200 feet of climbing, with one dismount on the final downhill to get around an emergency vehicle.
For a while I had the whole valley to myself — no one in sight behind or ahead.
One other story: Former AV-er Dan Martin, of Hold and Martin fame, broke away from the 35+ and took a wrong turn, putting himself a few minutes behind the field. On the final lap we saw Dan chasing, half a minute back at the feed zone. At this point he’d been chasing for half a lap. On the climb he caught the field, then he caught the break of 4, then he dropped the break, then he took the correct turn, and so, he soloed in. I spoke with Kevin Metcalf afterward and he said that Dan had 30 seconds on them at the top of the climb and Kevin thought they would bring him back, but Dan just kept pulling away.
Copperopolis RR: Some Short Stories
From John Elgart
While warming up Linda and I went up the 900 ft climb and stopped near the top to await Levi. Yes, the Levi. Soon he came along in baby blue Gerolsteiner, scrunched up on the nose of his saddle, face impassive, not discernably breathing, spinning out 90 rpms and just flying along that potholed climb.
A minute back came John Hunt and another rider, looking taxed and determined. Behind them a string of death marchers: tongues out, heads sideways, gasping loudly enough to be heard in the next county, glasses gripped in teeth, arm warmers rolled down and jerseys flapping. Yes, Levi’s Tour training seems to be coming along.
My Race, briefly: 55+, 1st out of 7.
I didn’t intend to make this race a time trial, but I when rolled off on the first climb and didn’t see anyone chasing, I just kept going. For some reason, this year wasn’t that hard. My total time was 2:16 for the 42 miles with 3200 feet of climbing, with one dismount on the final downhill to get around an emergency vehicle.
For a while I had the whole valley to myself — no one in sight behind or ahead.
One other story: Former AV-er Dan Martin, of Hold and Martin fame, broke away from the 35+ and took a wrong turn, putting himself a few minutes behind the field. On the final lap we saw Dan chasing, half a minute back at the feed zone. At this point he’d been chasing for half a lap. On the climb he caught the field, then he caught the break of 4, then he dropped the break, then he took the correct turn, and so, he soloed in. I spoke with Kevin Metcalf afterward and he said that Dan had 30 seconds on them at the top of the climb and Kevin thought they would bring him back, but Dan just kept pulling away.
posted by Chico Cyclist at 7:50 PM
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