Michael Koppe's Blog – August 2017 Archive (3)

  This is the first time that I have attended this race. I decided to enter since so many of my teammates would be there and I wanted to experience Annadel. I was unsure which category to enter but I wanted to do the long course, so I decided to enter Masters 50+. I thought about racing in the Expert over 40, but that sounded even faster, even though they depart 2mins behind Masters 50+. At the start line I realized I was in a fast group when I saw it included teammates Greg and Dave. When…

  After the XC race the previous day I returned to Packer Saddle for the start on the downhill portion of the Downieville All Mountain event. I wanted to drive to Downieville first and take the shuttle up so I could leave directly to Marin afterwards, but I watched my brother-in-law compete in the Crossfit Games in Wisconsin online. Ironically he also competed in the 50+ category and won the national competition! It was quite inspirational for me, however I had no delusions of grandeur for…

  Initially I wanted to enter the 60+ XC race only, but a spot was available in the 50+ All Mountain event so I signed up. My goals were to PR(2h 45m) in the XC and complete the DH under my age in minutes. I am almost 64 so that meant I had to complete the DH in 63m 55secs  or less according to my calculations. I know a few people in their 50s have done it but not many. Essentially injuries and attrition begin to undermine performance incrementally despite our best efforts. Also I have…