Jim Hewett's Blog – May 2018 Archive (5)

This is a race that has been happening for years in Susanville, CA.  Due to the fact that Susanville is 270 miles away from Fairfax, and the very small pro field I had seen in past race results, I had never made the trip to do this one.  This year, as part of the California State Championship Series, it was solidly on the race calendar for me.

After 3 rounds, I was leading the state championship series.  Though back in a late base training period, I knew I needed to be there and get…

After a race fitness period, I was back in late base endurance training.  I wasn't sure what to expect from my legs for the 3rd race of the California state series, but I knew I had to show up to get what points I could.

I placed second at this race last year, and knew what to expect from the course.  The start was flowy and then straight and fast.  There were some wide open slightly downhill fire roads that emptied into singletrack before a bit of climbing.  Once we turned left, it…

Back up to Redding for the Lemurian, a great single loop mountain bike race that has lots of climbing and some great singletrack.  I raced my Trek Top Fuel again, this time with Vittoria Mezcal tires and a 34 x 9-46t drivetrain.  Though the Mezcal is quite heavy for an XC race tire (730g), it is a very fast roller and puncture resistant, with decent grip.

The competition has thinned at this race over the years, but there are always 5 or so fast guys.  Stephen Mills has been winning…

The Sea Otter Classic pro XC race is always a challenge for me.  An international field racing a short XCO style course means that the bottom half of racers usually don't finish on the leader's lap.  I've had to accept that I am now finishing in the bottom half of a national level pro field, so it is really a race to see how many laps I can complete before I am pulled.

This year, it was also the first race of the California State Championship Series.  The California racers would be…

I am prioritizing the races in the California Dirt Series this year, as the series determines the California State Champion.  I was consistent enough in last year's series to win the Pro class overall title, so I'm doing my best to make it two in a row.

This course at Round Mountain was a new venue, but the NVCDC/California Dirt races are always good.  The track comprised a 5 minute climb to get up to the top of the mountain where we would then do 4 laps.  My son Simon raced before…