Friday, April 19, 2013

Weld County RR - Pre-Race Report

The Weld County Road race, a Rocky Mountain Cup Silver event, will be held on April 20, 2013.  On April 17, 2013, I did a recon for photoshooting the race. Here is a little course info I passed on to some of the racers:

CR44 is dirt and drops in elevation with lots of poor lines due to washboard and "pot hole" conditions, most notable the last 600 meters.  Standing water was observed on the road as of Wednesday. CR19 is a gradual downhill with rolling hills, loses elevation and will be VERY fast with a tailwind until you hit a VERY FAST downhill left turn on CR38...BE VERY CAREFUL here.

After you make a left on CR38, the course runs along a shallow river valley to the St. Vrain Power Plant, where you then start a slow uphill grind the rest of the course.  It will be a fast course until you begin a gradual ascent from the power plant.  The real racing starts when you make a right (west) on to CR34, where there will likely be a headwind and rolling terrain.
CR34 to CR17 is rolling but will likely have a headwind, then crosshead wind on CR17, where there will be gutter action along with a gradual uphill grind with large rollers to the finish. Again, if it is windy, expect serious gutter action if teams get their act together. 

I can see a break happening early, and the rollers will conceal the break some of the race.  One thing is the dirt section had no real line and riders will be all over the road.  Stay near the front when on the dirt.  If the fields are big, I can see the rubber band snap here and split if there is a tailwind and the riders at the front gun it when they hit the pavement.  The rollers are no advantage to climbers, but the course is a power riders ride.  Conserve on CR19, till you reach the power plant.

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