Saturday I drove out to Masonville to race the Rist Canyon Hill Climb. I’ve never ridden out there but have been told it’s absolutely gorgeous so I gave it a shot. The CAT 3 and 4 girls lined up together and although were racing in the same group, we were being scored differently. I glanced back at the girls I thought were in my race and just told myself that no matter what happens with the others, just stay in front of those 2 to get some upgrade points. To make a long story short, I let one girl go off the front with no desire to chase as I thought she was a 4. After riding a fairly easy race sitting in, I finishing 2nd to her and was stoked to get a bunch of points for being the first 3 to cross the line. Turns out she was one of the other CAT3 riders…DANG ERIN! Total rookie move…

Although I wasn’t feeling so hot from a fun night on the town a few hours before, I did rally myself and met up with Flora to ride out to the Koppenberg Circuit Race. It’s been canceled several times this year because the infamous hill (above) was too muddy to ride, but this time it was on. The race is road cycling event with dirt road sections modeled after the infamous European Roubaix race. The 5.5 mile loop consists of a 2.5 mile dirt section that ends with a short but very steep hill. The 200 meter long “Koppenberg” hill has a 17% slope and takes its namesake from the legendary hill in the Tour of Flanders hill in the Tour of Flanders. The remainder of the course is rolling paved road. It’s freaking HARD!

I somehow and miraculously, ended up with the lead group of 7 and hung on for dear life for the 5 laps of the race. It was a lot of fun and the dirt was especially loose this year so as a mountain biker, it suited me very well.

Yes, I did suffer like a dog and this picture describes exactly how I felt. I finished 6th overall with the CAT 1-2-3 riders and 2nd for my category. I was super stoked as I now know (even feeling like total crap) that I am capable of hanging and racing with the Boulder 1-2 girls. Bring on the upgrade points :)