The Call Up

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March 2017 Blog Posts (7)

Cool Mountain Bike Race 2017

  I decided to enter the Cool Mountain Bike Race since it was on the way to Tahoe. I still need to shovel my cabin plus do some spring skiing. Even though much of the precipitation has been rain in Alpine Meadows, the snow can absorb the rain and increase the weight on my roof and deck. Some places nearby have suffered significant damage. It also has snowed about 35-40 feet at my place. Basically I am in great shoveling shape.

  The Cool Mountain Bike Race is always a good reminder to…

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Added by Michael Koppe on March 21, 2017 at 10:09am — No Comments

2017 Lake Sonoma Grasshopper

The trails around Lake Sonoma are impressive, that much is true. Like so much of our outdoor play paths in Marin though, they have been equally ravaged by the unusually wet winter this year. Downed trees, mud slides, countless exposed roots, enough mud to make small children giddy and on this course a foot bridge that had, until recently, been completely submerged combine to a technical masterpiece. But that isn't what makes Lake Sonoma a tough ride... it's the relentless short but steep…

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Added by Mark Ingwersen on March 20, 2017 at 11:52am — No Comments

Grasshopper Lake Sonoma MTB

Sometimes it is better to write these a day or so afterwards. This race was a big disappointment but a day afterwards I have a different perspective. I was back on my Top Fuel but changed my tires to XR1 Bontragger team issue 2.0. Skinny but fast rolling. The trail was all over the place (muddy, rocky, hard pack and loose gravel).  For the most part the tire was great. I started my race watching my heartrate meter as we made our way up the paved section. I was careful to stay 95% of max.…

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Added by Greg Alsterlind on March 19, 2017 at 9:30pm — No Comments

Grasshopper Lake Sonoma MTB 2017

   Here it was the middle of March and I had not had a chance to race or train consistently the past three months.  Feeling a little frustrated with the situation I decided to enter the mountain bike Grasshopper at Lake Sonoma.  I realized it might be more of a ride than a race at my current level of fitness, but what the hell.  Carson and I made our way to Healdsburg and our favorite coffee shop in the area, Flying Goat Coffee for a little extra fuel.  The rest of the Acme team of Jim,…

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Added by Dave Benjamin on March 19, 2017 at 5:11pm — No Comments

3rd Place: Lake Sonoma Grasshopper

Lake Sonoma was my fourth and final Grasshopper Series race of the year. Crashing out of Super Sweetwater two weeks ago put me out of contention for the overall series victory, so my focus for the coming months will be solely on mountain bike races. I also used this race as a trial run of the fueling strategy and bike set-up I'll use for the rest of the year. 

The race started up a 2 mile paved climb that spread the field out before narrowing into a rocky, muddy singletrack. I came…

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Added by Carson Benjamin on March 19, 2017 at 2:33pm — No Comments

Lake Sonoma Grasshopper 2017

The trails that surround Lake Sonoma make for an interesting race course.  It's mostly singletrack that contours its way in and out of the many ravines that feed water to the lake.  The trails drop into the folds of the hillside, cross some sort of creek, and then climb back toward the lake to do it again.  Pretty fun stuff, but repetitive in a strange way.  Each short, steep climb back out is short enough that you can hammer it, but they take their toll and add up to quite a…

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Added by Jim Hewett on March 18, 2017 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Lake Sonoma Grasshopper 2017

The Lake Sonoma Grasshopper was another adventure in fitness combined with stunning scenery.  I rode my Trek hardtail 29er for the 25-mile race.  As the morning progressed and racers warmed up, we all gathered for our race meeting, which immediately launched into the race start.  I liked the beginning because, for the first time, I actually got to see the leaders take off up the road.  I watched as Jim and Carson rode away with the other racers at the front.  My start was rough, slow,…

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Added by Cathy on March 18, 2017 at 9:00pm — No Comments

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