| The Koppenberg: Colorado’s Springtime Classic |
|
|
| Written by Erik Werner | |||||
The Koppenberg’s namesake is an onerous hill located in the Flemish region of eastern Belgium. Pitched at a leg-snapping 22 percent at its steepest and clad in slick cobblestones, this infamous tractor path has reduced many of the world’s top cyclists to walking their bikes up its slopes. But it’s exactly this sort of struggle which so endears the Belgian Koppenberg in the hearts of fans worldwide. On the slopes of this 600-meter hill, a race within a race is waged, with all the sweat and nail-biting drama of a full-day tour condensed into a one-minute slugfest on a road barely the width of a car. It’s racing at its finest. 
“The hill pretty much is the race,” says Ann Trombley, owner of Trailmaster Coaching in Boulder and past winner of the Koppenberg. “It’s the only real place you can pull away.” And every racer knows it. So, each lap, as the peloton enters the final kilometer before the climb, racers stream to the front, jockeying for position. The goal is a clean path up one of the two narrow tracks that climb the road. The trap is getting caught behind a slower rider, or, worse, one who slips and falls, forcing you to run the incline as you watch the contenders above pull away (likely not to be seen again until the post-race award ceremony). “There’s a huge surge coming into it,” Trombley says. “Either get to the front before the hill or forget about it.” For fans watching from the grassy fields of the Koppenberg, it doesn’t get much better. The race to the start of the hill is all within standing view, and the narrow road up the hill itself allows for an intimate appreciation of the effort required to race it. And while each fan has a favorite they’ll cheer for the loudest, there is an overall support for all the racers; each one—no matter the category, speed, or grace— gets a friendly “hop, hop, hop!” of encouragement from the crowd as they grind their way up the hill. Now in its seventh year, the Koppenberg has been selected as the leadoff event for the 2009 Tour of Colorado, a collection of five of the state’s top races spread over the calendar year. Combined with a forecast for “mostly sunny” skies and warming temps, the race will be a shot of springtime excitement for racers and spectators alike. Racing starts at 8 a.m. with the amateur categories and culminates with the pro/elite women’s race at 1:05 p.m. and the pro/elite men’s race at 2:30 p.m. For more information, as well as directions to the race, please see the official race flyer. Information on future bike races can be found at the ACA website.
Koppenberg POSTPONED
UPDATE 4/3/09 - Due to the heavy snows in the Front Range, The American
Cycling Association (ACA) and Boulder Racing have rescheduled the Koppenberg
Circuit road race for Sunday, May 24th.
Photos courtesy of Erik Werner and Hunter Chen
Share and Save Article
Email This
Trackback(0)
Comments (3)
Louis Vuitton bags
said:
| |||||
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this article's comment RSS feed
Show/Hide comments|
-Cairn comment- If you wanted to get a low price handbag, you had better search them online. Not just the Louis Vuitton bags, also the replica Chanel, replica Coach and so on. You can find them online. |
Lida DaiDaihua Slimming Capsule
said:
|
-Cairn comment- Besides lida daidaihua weight loss capsules , we aswell advertise the world's best derma affliction products, including collagen facial masks. Weight Accident Articles , Lida daidaihua . |
Wearing Write a Comment
Show/Hide comment form
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
