Race Report: Koppenberg SM3

The first lap started hard from the whistle, and while dry, there were a lot of potholes and brake bumps that made the dirt especially challenging.  There were some splits on the plateau after the climb, however everyone came back together on Marshall road.  The pace settled down on lap 2, at which point I found Sani and checked in.  I think at that point it was just me, him, and Murphy still in the race from our team and the pack had already been whittled down pretty significantly.  
Not a lot happened on laps 2 or 3, no one wanted to break or nothing would stick, and the pace dropped.  On lap 4, there was a wreck on the climb that took out Murph and held up Sani.  Sani managed to catch back on just in time for the shitshow that was the last two laps.
Coming down Marshall road into lap 5, we overtook some of the elite women and I guess someone was not paying attention, because two guys in our pack went down and took out several people.  I was held up, but caught back on.  Coming onto Marshall road on lap 5, there was a wreck involving a cyclist who needed medical attention (not from our race) and there were EMTs and backed up traffic everywhere.  We neutralized and rode in the bike lane through the traffic.  At some point in the last lap, Sani flatted leaving only me from Primal with about 15 others.  There was still a traffic jam on Marshall, but of course that didn’t stop us from taking the descent at speed in the bike lane.  I was spooked out by this and drifted back.  To make matters worse, there was a wreck in the last turn and I was behind it.  So I finished at the back of the main pack.

- Jon Lamar