Jim Hewett's Blog (106)

You never know what the weather is going to be like at this race. Last year was raining and very sloppy. This year it was sunny and still sloppy. I have to say I prefer the sun to the rain, and I don't mind the mud so much.

I won this race last year, pretty much riding by myself from the halfway point. I was hoping for a little more competition this year and I got it.

Timmel won the race in 2008 and he was here again this year. I knew there were some fast young guys that would…

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A portion of the team met this morning to do a time trial up Eldridge Grade on Mt. Tam. Paul, Carl, Kevin, Mandy and I left together and did our first timed run up Eldridge for the year. It is still a little early in the training for a personal best, but these times give us an idea how our training is going and a good benchmark by which to judge improvement in the months ahead. It was a beautiful day and there were lots of other people out. Luckily we were going uphill on a fireroad, so…

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This race was on my schedule as an early season training race, so I was going to race it despite rain during the week and a questionable forecast for race day. I went into the race prepared for conditions similar to the first CCCX race I did in 2009, which was seriously sloppy and cold. Though the course was very similar, the conditions were much better. There were a few big puddles, but for the most part the trails were in great condition. Much of the course was a reversal of CCCX #1. Lots of… Continue

Well, in an effort to broaden my horizons, I did the Grasshopper Chilleno Valley "training ride". This one is completely road, so it drew a slightly different crowd.

I guess over two hundred of us left Occidental Saturday, 2/20. The weather was mostly overcast, but the conditions were great. We hammered up Coleman Valley to spread things out, then turned south on Highway 1 down the coast. I guess most of the riders didn't get the memo about this being training, as they seemed to…

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Today was the first race of the CCCX cross country race series. Last year's first race was very sloppy, wet and cold. This year was sunny and perfect. No one could have asked for better weather or course conditions!

The course varies from race to race, though laps are usually around 5 miles each. This course was pretty good for me, as it had some relatively steep climbs and a lot of great bermed singletrack through the woods. Not as many "roady" sections where it helped a lot to be in…

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Around 230 racers started from Occidental at 10:00 a.m. on January 30th for the first of this year's 6 eclectic Sonoma county "training rides". This usually marks the beginning of early season suffering, but this year it was about a month earlier in the season than usual. Having just begun my build period after not too much base, I anticipated PAIN. At least the weather was pleasant enough - wet on the ground, overcast but not raining.

Race bikes ran the gamut, from road bike to full…

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