Mike's Bike Blog

One of the ideas I was kicking around for the weekend was to get up to Copperas Cove and pre ride the State Road Race Championship course. Well Sunday morning Chuck sent out a tweet that he was thinking about riding the course. He was closely monitoring the weather patterns and was confident that it would be clear in Copperas Cove by the time we got there.

I met up with Chuck, Scott, and Tim, all really strong Cat 4 racers for AT&T in Cedar Park and we packed the bikes up and headed out in the rain and drizzle. Just as weatherman Chuck had predicted the clouds were starting to part the closer we got to our destination.

The course is outside of Copperas Cove on Ft. Hood and is considered "open range". Meaning not only is there livestock roaming freely, but also the military regularly shoots artillery over the road! Luckily for us there were no cows on the road and no sounds of mortar or AK47 gun fire, but the Iraqi village was interesting scenery. The course particulars: there's about 2900 feet of climbing on the 33 mile loop. I rode the course with a 11x23 cassette and was OK. For the race I'll opt for something a little taller though, I have a 12x25, but Peter from Southwest Cycle Sport hooked me up with a 11x26. With as many descents and the few flats I think the 11 will be beneficial as I was spinning out the 11 on several sections as it was.

The course definitely favors climbers, the talk after the ride was the predictions that nobody over 170 pounds would win any of the races and the climbers weighing in below 150 would probably take the win. Hopefully I can drop 3 pounds by Saturday to have a chance at 170. I do have a couple plans for the race, not sure how it will play out with 75 other racers in the field. My goal is to be in the front group as everyone gets strung out on the hills. Word is the promoter is looking for more follow vehicles to help SAG people in.

This should be fun!