Dave Benjamin's Blog (12)

   After only  being able to race one of the first 4 races in this series (Sea Otter), I decided to sign up for this race held at the Sugar Bowl ski resort near Donner Summit.  My son, Carson, had registered and pre ridden the course the prior week.  Based on his assessment, the trails were tight and fun, with only one extended climb and a total of about 400 feet per lap in the five lap race.  It turned out a week of dry weather and three waves of racers had reduced all the tight corners to…

  The 2018 Sea Otter would be my 7th in a row, having first raced when my son, Carson, was a Freshman in high school.  It would also be my third race on the current course which covers about 28 miles and over 3500 feet of elevation gain.   Two years ago was maybe my best Cat 1 Sea Otter, coming in 5th in the 50-54 race with time of 2:11.  Last year was pretty much the opposite result.  A lack of training and a short warm up led me to a 2:19 time and 15th out of 17 riders.  This year I felt…

  Last year I did two new races for me, the Lake Sonoma Grasshopper and SoNoMas,  both of which kicked my butt.  This year I finally got up the courage to ride the Old Caz Grasshopper after watching my son, Carson and many of my Acme Bikes teammates grind up to the Willow Creek Rd hilltop finish over the past two years.  What could be better, ride 50 miles, climb 4400 ft and get to eat chips and drink beer overlooking western Sonoma County?  

  As the majority of riders use a CX bike…

This was my second attempt in the Annadel race, having first raced last year.  I have ridden the trails in Annadel State Park a handful of times and each time I have come away with various bumps and scrapes.  Leading up to yesterday's race, I tried to keep a positive outlook on my chances of having a clean race, despite the rocky trails.  

  With only my Santa Cruz Highball hardtail to ride, I set it up with the Fox Transfer dropper post in hopes a lower center of gravity on the…

This would be my 6th year racing the Sea Otter Classic cross country race.  I had signed up in November, as I tend to train more consistently if I have set a goal.  For various reasons, my training plan didn't really play out as expected and I came into the race not feeling real fit or rested. This is one race where base fitness is key, as it is 28 miles where big chunks of time can be gained or lost.  After a warm up that never really got me warm, I lined up with teammate Greg Alsterlind in…

Sonomas has been lurking in the back of my mind for the past couple of years.  I've talked with friends that have done the race and each of them have said what a hard and unforgiving race it is.  Having done the Grasshopper MTB two weeks ago on much of the same terrain, only in reverse, I knew what I would be up against.  In fact, I had pretty much decided to skip Sonomas.  The mind is a funny thing, it seems to be programmed to forget the suffering and remember the good times, because I…

   Here it was the middle of March and I had not had a chance to race or train consistently the past three months.  Feeling a little frustrated with the situation I decided to enter the mountain bike Grasshopper at Lake Sonoma.  I realized it might be more of a ride than a race at my current level of fitness, but what the hell.  Carson and I made our way to Healdsburg and our favorite coffee shop in the area, Flying Goat Coffee for a little extra fuel.  The rest of the Acme team of Jim,…

 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…

   So, back for another spring of local short track MTB racing put on by Jim Hewett at Acme Bikes, San Rafael.  Or as I named my Strava ride after this race, "Welcome Back to the Pain Cave".  I've been doing this race for a number of years in the 35+ B Class.  I had always been able to wind up the old ticker and let it rip for 30 minutes, many races having an average HR over 180!  But last year, age 51, trying to stay ahead of Acme team mates Mark Ingwersen, Greg Alsterlind and Mark Buell…

   This was my 6th year at the Sea Otter Classic.  The first year doing the road gran fondo with my then 8th grade son, Carson (single speed Masi), then progressing through CAT 3, CAT 2 and the last two years in CAT 1.  I was stoked for this year's edition as it looked like the organizers had finally changed up the course to include more single track and I was going to see Carson race Pro Short Track and Pro Cross Country as a U23.

  For the race I set up my Highball with a Bontrager…

  Continuing my season of trying to race into shape, I convinced myself to head up to Angwin for the NVDC.   It had rained the day and evening before and a light rain was falling as I pulled into the parking lot next to teammates Greg Alsterlind and Mark Buell.  Team Acme Bikes was out in force with approximately 9 riders.  

   The start was uneventful and I seemed to be mid pack at the mud hill run up.  Once on the fireroad along the airport I could see Greg up ahead and used every…

   So after getting worked at a fast paced CCCX mtb race at Fort Ord in February and crashing hard (but finishing) at the Bonelli Kenda Cup two weeks ago, I decided to tackle the only Lake Sonoma race of the year.  After a short pre-ride before the race, I realized the course had some muddy and slippery descents and a not so fun hike-a-bike mud hill to deal with.

   My son Carson (Bear Development), along with Acme teammates, Stephen Flynn and Danny McNaughten were part of the first…