Copperopolis

Copperopolis Road Race
April 7, 2007
Riders: Michael Hernandez (1) , Chris Wire (2) , Ronald Reade (8), Daniel Martin (10), Kyle Glerum, Andrew Nevitt, Jeff Poulsen, Reed Maxwell, Patrick Tafoya

On the Saturday before Easter, with no races scheduled on Sunday, there was only one place for Northern California Racers to be, Copperopolis. That might explain the presence of Levi Leipheimer and 600 other visitors to this little town of just 2400 residents. For Team Safeway there was no place we would rather be than trying to improve on our 1st and 3rd place finishes last year.

The race takes place in the hills of Calaveras County mined by Hiram Hughes and his son William Napoleon Bonaparte Hughes for its gold and silver, but famous for its "iron rust". Copperopolis, originally known as Copper Canyon, was founded in 1860 and grew to support the copper miners. It prospered during the Civil War as tremendous amounts of copper were needed for shells and bullets. When the war ended, the price of copper went down and the mining cost went up, the mines went idle and the boom times ended. But, once a year, this quiet town opens its bumpy hilly roads to cyclists with strong legs, strong lungs, and strong wheels.

Copperopolis Road Race is a three lap race of 61 miles. Each lap consists of the main climb up to the plateau. Once on the plateau riders are subject to strong winds and rolling roads. A smaller but steeper climb sets up the fast, twisty, bone jarring descent to the short but deceivingly difficult 400m uphill finish. On lap one the usual flats and mechanicals took a significant portion of the field out of the race. A small break got away on the plateau. Kyle Glerum jumped across to them. The field chased as Safeway sat comfortably awaiting the catch. The break's resolve waned with an AMD rider just along for the ride and the field closed the gap by the small climb. The field was strung out single file down the hill and all the way through the feed zone. Up the main climb again. At the front the SAG for another field disrupted the lead climbers and caused a crash which split the field again. An acceleration over the top prevented many from rejoining the race. A break of four got off the front including our own Michael Hernandez, an AMD, a Spine, and a Morgan Stanley. Spine dropped off almost immediately and the MS rider dropped not too much later on the backside climb. Down to the finish, a lap to go, through the feed zone and AMD was starting to suffer. He held on to Michael's wheel for a long time but as the road turned up he continued to lose ground. Near the top, on a steeper section of the climb, Daniel Martin shot across the gap in a huge solo effort reminiscent of his winning move from last year. He and Michael did a two man time trial around the upper plains and to the base of the final climb. The field chased but could not close the gap. Michael charged up the climb and descended the rough twisty roads like nobody else can to maintain the lead and take the win. Behind him, with AMD leading the charge, the field chased. Approaching the "1 km" sign Ronald Reade and Chris Wire sat ready for the sprint. Ronald jumped first at about 500m. The pack chased. Chris found a wheel and with perfect timing jumped for the line to take the field sprint and second place. Ronald hung on for 8th and Daniel for 10th.

It was another great day of racing. The field was strong, but the team rode well and earned its one-two finish! Hiram and William may have had to settle for "iron rust" but Team Safeway left Copperopolis with both Gold and Silver.