The first weekend in April marks the first omnium race on the Washington road race calendar and the first race of the season for some of the local racers and for our new club, NW Velo Sport.
The first stage Saturday morning is the individual time trial. The course is an out and back 12.06 miles on good pavement. Slightly downhill on the way out dropping about 102 feet from start to the half-way point and with a possible tail wind it could be a firing range to the turn around. Racers will have to dig deep if the wind is a factor to keep it rolling on the way back.
Stage two is a scenic tour of beautiful farmlands with rolling hills, windswept vistas and crystal lakes. Of course, you will see none of this while you are suffering over the chip seal road, wind –in- your- face rollers. Each hillcrest containing a special nugget of quad –searing- pain and each crappy stretch of chip seal a bucket full of regret. Part of the Washington Cup Series for cat 1/2 men and women this will be a true test of who is going to be recond with for the overall.
The final stage is a 24.5 mile mostly flat road course for all categories. Different from the Spokane Raceway Park circuit race they've had in the past due to scheduling issues. The new race offers an interesting dynamic. Not being a crit, but short and flat and worth the same amount of points as the previous road race the fast men could come out to play and score big points for the overall.
While there is only a small prize purse in comparison to other races it's caliber the Cooper Jones Memorial Frozen Flatlands has, to my knowledge, always drawn riders from across the state and been a successful staple of early season racing in Washington State.
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