Jim Hewett's Blog – April 2012 Archive (5)

The Shasta Lemurian is a classic NorCal hardman race.  Lots of climbing and some fast and rough descending on a 2+ hour single-loop course in the mountains West of Redding.  I have done this race most years since I started racing in 2005, but it always comes at the end of my first peak racing period.  Last year, I was pretty fatigued by this point and decided not to do the race.  This year, I was in better form and ready to race!

The course conditions were very good, with recent rains…

So this year the Pro XC race at Sea Otter dispensed with the 5-7 lap format.  Instead, we did one 20 mile lap.  With the amount of fireroad, I knew it would be fast.  The record high temps forecasted for Saturday made me thankful that I would be out there less than one and a half hours.

I've never really had a great race at Sea Otter.  This year I was coming off of a lot of local wins and in a decent peak period.  I took it easy for a couple of days prior and went down on Friday with…

The Dirt Classic is always a big Spring race in NorCal.  A great course, great history and good attendance from local racers coincide with a pre-Sea Otter date.  Lots of people out trying to get one (or one more!) race in before Sea Otter.

I have done this race every year since I started racing.  Last year I finished off the podium, but I have placed 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in Pro class.  I usually try to come to this race fit and get the win, which works well as it easily falls into a 2…

I built my new Santa Cruz Highball carbon 29er hardtail and rode it Friday - very nice! - so I had to race the Toro Park CCCX XC race on Saturday to really give it a good break-in.  I was excited to do the Toro Park course, as I had a lot of fun on it the last time I raced there (2006?).  Pretty much a 15 minute 700+ft climb on a gradual fireroad with one steep section and then a ripping 5 minute bermed descent, then repeat.

There were some fast guys there.  Danny Macnaughton, Kevin…

Last year I raced the Pro All Mountain stage race at the Keyesville Classic in Southern California.  The race consisted of an XC race, a short track race, and a downhill race.  All Mountain racers did all three events on the same bike and results were totalled to crown the overall winner.  I raced a carbon hardtail, definitely set up XC style at under 21 lbs, and pulled off the win, despite a rather weak downhill result.

This year, I decided to show up with a bike that would be more…