August 2016 Blog Posts (5)

 I had made up my mind, I was going to finally race Annadel.  I had pre ridden the course the week before with Carson and came away knowing it was going to be a tough race.  The terrain is much rougher than most places in Marin and the three extended climbs would make or break the race.    

   Team Acme Bikes was well represented with Stephen Flynn,  Mark Ingwersen, Mark Buell, Greg Alsterlind and myself.  As Greg's and my Master 50+ group staged, Marc Kirberg asked why I wasn't on a…

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I wish I would ride Annadel more often. Not that Marin County trails aren't already fantastic, but variety keeps life exciting, right? Although Santa Rosa is nearby, the trails are quite different. More singletrack, more rocks and less shade is how I see it. I raced here last year and placed well, missing a podium spot by less than a few seconds which was incredibly frustrating! That was the last time I rode here as well so my memory of the course was limited to major events.

Aside…

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Last XC of the year for me. I had Done this race last year with Mark Inwersen and was disappointed with my effort. This is a tricky course with plenty of embedded rocks and dusty single track and day hikers to work your way through. The pro-race started with Levi running into some poor guy out for his morning ride climbing the first hill just ahead of the start. That worked out well for teammate Steven Flynn who went on to win. Mark Buell, Mark Ingwersen and drove up early together to warm up… Continue

Greg said it would be the toughest race I'd ever done. His predictions for the season had always been correct (kind of spooky, really) and yet I took the news lightly and shrugged it off. I'd planned on borrowing a friends XC race bike but couldn't get comfortable on it so decided to prepare my Pivot Les hard tail for another race. Running a carbon wheel set built by Jim and wrapped in bulbous Maxxis Ardent 2.4 up front and Ikon 2.35 rear rubber, I kept the cast iron dropper post to weigh in…

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My second time in the Cross Country race. Last year I road my hard tail and it kicked my tail. This year I was better equipped with my Trek Carbon Top Fuel and several pre-rides with Jim and Cathy. I met up early with teammates Mark Ingerwersen and Mark Buell to pre-ride. I was concerned with getting in line late so we cut it short and lined up 25 min. early. Too late! Buell jumped in maybe 100 riders ahead of Mark and I. When they said go we did not move for 45 seconds. At a minute 10 seconds… Continue