April 2016 Blog Posts (25)

Lined up mid pack, cuz I'm always fussing w/ something before the race. Weather was perfect, overcast, coolish and gonna get perfectly warm in a few hours.

I was relaxed on the climb and sifted through most of the folks to the front pack of 30-35?  We went across the bridge and hit the climb to the single track and I put in an effort to get around 3-4 guys (i remember passing Bartels).  We entered the single track super fun minutes long section. Now I'm behind some folks that are…

OK Race Fans, So this is my first blog posting, on anything, ever. Unless Facebook counts? I'm a 46 year old mom from Marin County in the Bay Area...sheesh you'd think I would have given my opinion on something on some website along the way. Anyway, this was my 2nd time racing SoNoMas. Last year's SoNoMas was my first real mountain bike race ever. Last year I raced Women's Open Beginner category - short course - and came in 2nd - Podium!- and suffered. Bad. It hurt. This year, for SoNoMas…

Advertised as the thoughest MTB race and I would agree. I set up my '16 Trek Top Fuel 9.8 with a new set of carbon Raceface cranks and a 30 tooth single ring. I stayed with my Maxxis 2.2 IKON's that performed real well out here last week at the Lake Sonoma race. After a 30 minute warm-up ride, I lined up with teammate Mark Ingwersen in what I felt was a good spot (about a 100 deep). The start was an easy climb at a good pace up a paved road. When we hit the dirt things changed quickly. The…

I have been wanting to ride SoNoMas for a few years now and finally mustered up the nerves. 7000 feet of climbing over 34 miles reminded me of hill repeats up Queenstone here in Marin. Turns out the terrain was completely different. Not surprisingly, much like last week's Lake Sonoma race. Only much longer, several more than the advertised 1 water crossing to make sure feet stayed cold and I kept rocks in my shoes, and countless ups, downs, turns and fallen trees to hurdle.

Greg and I…