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Plenty of sun and mild temperatures greeted the record number of racers that chose to do battle on
the "other" Koppenberg climb this Sunday. While hundreds of rabid cycling fans lined the more
notorious Koppenberg climb at this years Ronde Van Vlaanderen in Belgium, a slightly smaller
but no less vocal crowd was on hand at Boulder's adopted Koppenberg to witness Gretchen Reeves
(Rocky Mountain) and Dirk Friel (Vitamin Cottage) take the wins in the elite women and men's races
respectively.
The elite women, who completed 4 laps of the 5.5 mile course which took in 2.5 miles per lap of rutted
and pothole strewn dirt road were put under pressure early by a lead group of four riders containing
Gretchen Reeves (Rocky Mt /Business Objects), Molly Hummel (Colorado Premier Training), Megan Monroe
and Lisa Matlock (Tamarac). These four worked together until MTB Marathon National Champ. Gretchen
Reeves, who is coming off a win in the marathon race at the first NORBA National, turned the screws
on the final 20% grade climb of the Koppenberg and sprinted home for the win. Molly Hummel who raced
in the Lookout Mountain Hillclimb collegiate race that same morning is seeing her form come around
for the Collegiate National Championships in Kansas City in just over a month's time was able to hang
on to second place. Monroe and Matlock rounded out the podium.
Unlike last year, the elite men's field stayed relatively intact for the first half of the eight lap
race despite what eventual winner Friel would describe as "the worst road conditions this race has seen".
Just like the women's race earlier in the day, a veteran mountain biker would create the final split
when Jay Henry (Ford/Specialized) surged ahead on the rough run-in to the climb. Latching on over
the top were 2002 Koppenberg winner Dirk Friel, Michael Carter (Denver Spoke) and the young Clayton
Barrows (RMCEF), who also raced the morning collegiate race for the University of Wyoming. The 15
strong chase group stayed within site of these four for the remainder of the race but was unable to
bring them back. The only split up front came when Carter dropped his chain with two to go and was
forced to run the climb. The cagy veteran made a successful bridge to the leaders however, setting
up a four man slugfest up the steep slopes of the Koppenburg into the finish. Barrows, who is fine
tuning his form for the Collegiate Nationals as well, lead out the final 150-meter sprint but Friel
edged past on his left to take the win by half a wheel. Carter claimed the final podium spot with
Henry rolling in for a well deserved fourth place.
Friel, who seemed to be inspired by his team Vitamin Cottage's strong second place team standing at the
Redlands Bicycle Classic taking place on this same weekend said "I didn't attack all day, it was just a
matter of positioning going into the climb. I tried to stay in the top five going in and had no problem
following all the moves". Friel's strong showing belies the fact that he had just returned from competing
in the Iron Man South Africa two weeks ago where he posted a very respectable time of 10:45. "I really
think the swimming is helping my riding. I haven't felt this good on the bike in a couple years".
Stay tuned for pictures...
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