Mark Ingwersen's Blog (18)

Lap 3 and 1:49 minutes worth of trail dust everywhere, I crested the last climb with about 100 yards to the finish line and glanced over my shoulder to see two riders gaining on me. My legs had been on the verge of cramping ever since the flow trail section but I was determined not to lose position and dug into reserves that were all but gone. It felt good to know I had timed my race well and not bonked until... just now. That final push was ultimately pointless since the next racer in my…

With three of the six ACME Shorty races behind me I'll share my half-time report. Having raced here for the past seven years or thereabouts on a course that remains mostly unchanged, any pre-race jitters are related to who shows up rather than what the course will be like. This is good because the only time I end up riding here is on race day (with rare exceptions). Does this mean that races are predictable? Yeah, definitely not. With the increasingly fast and competitive A group having only…

There's nothing quite like a large scale event to make you feel small. The Sea Otter Classic hardly needs introduction in the world of cycling and this year I was going to actually, finally be a part of one of the world's premier cycling events. A mere spectator last year, I already knew to expect not only a massive turn out compared to anything else around here but a more…

With the California Dirt Series' first race cancelled due to weather, I'd stripped my Trek Top Fuel 9.8sl of its dropper post and mounted up a pair of Ardent Race 2.2 EXO's. Not the lightest or fastest hoops, though surely better than the winter set up I'd been on, I was confident I wouldn't be dealing with a puncture on this course. Pressures set at 25 psi seemed to be a good choice for the smooth trails. Two days before the race my dual fork/shock remote wasn't working again after having…

"I just want this to get going so I can stop thinking about it." Straddling my Trek Boone about 1/3 of the way back in a field of some 560 riders with Dave, Paul and Danny around me, I was staring down at the tires mounted on the potpourri of bicycles around me. This was my third Caz. The first one I rode on my Pivot Les hardtail that I'd made some effort to modify for the event. Last year I felt better equipped on my Boone with 35mm Continental rolling stock. In the days prior to this cool…

By mid September the MTB racing season could be merely something to fondly reminisce. Then along comes the Monticello Cycling club's Rockhopper to cap the year's competitive dirt riding. I raced it last year when it took place in the sun burnt hills by Vacaville's Lagoon Valley Park but this year, the event was moved to Rockville Hills Regional Park.

My racing season having started late if you could call it a season at all, I was mentally still excited to go. In the week before the…

This was my third time racing Annadel and my first race since a collarbone break in March interrupted my racing plans for 2017. I didn't get a chance to pre-ride the course this year either, but did get some helpful trail condition feedback from friends familiar with the park. Not having my own bike available, I was lucky enough to be able to borrow Greg Alsterlind's Trek Superfly hardtail for this event. I'd been riding it for the preceding two weeks or so and felt I'd gotten the…

The trails around Lake Sonoma are impressive, that much is true. Like so much of our outdoor play paths in Marin though, they have been equally ravaged by the unusually wet winter this year. Downed trees, mud slides, countless exposed roots, enough mud to make small children giddy and on this course a foot bridge that had, until recently, been completely submerged combine to a technical masterpiece. But that isn't what makes Lake Sonoma a tough ride... it's the relentless short but steep…

Old Caz number 2 for me and this time I had my Trek Boone which I'd figured to be a better choice for the longer road sections I recalled from last year when I showed up on my Pivot 29er hard tail. In 2016 CX bike were everywhere and this year the number of mtb's and CX bike running extraordinarily fat tires were in the majority. Nevertheless, I felt confident on my comparatively narrow 35mm Continental tire mix running 45 psi with tried and true tubes.

Driving up with team mate Greg…

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…

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…

With a couple of years of local racing behind me and having done well at the Shorty series it was brought to my attention that I needed to move up to a notch when signing up for future events. I ponied up for my CAT 1 (mtb) USA license and signed up for the Rockhopper Classic in expert 40+ mere days before the event. Also there would be Greg Alsterlind, Mark Buell, Dave Benjamin, Cathy Chevron, Jim Hewitt, Stephen Flynn, Bill Surges and Michael Koppe to make for a massive turnout for Team…

After seeing the aftermath of last week's severe crash in the A open group, the rest of the event suddenly seemed unimportant. Thankfully, I hear Nicolas is on the mend!

This week the A group was decidedly smaller which seems to be typical halfway through the Shorty series. The riders were no less slow and everyone bolted from the start as usual. Everyone except me that is. Let's just say I was distracted and the last rider to leave the start. I was able to get past Dave and later…

Staying true to the level of intensity The Shorty brings, race 2 was probably my most challenging to date... but the reward was worth every last calorie burned off!

Team mate Otis stepped up from the B group and recruited several NorCal riders to join us in the A's. The A open group was 12 deep and Sean Melchionda joined the ACME team riders in A 35+. When I saw Sean roll up, I knew there'd be trouble! In a polar opposite to last week where merely 5 riders bolted off from the start,…

This is the event that pulled me into racing XC! It's local, quick, challenging and incredibly fun. ACME bikes deserves major props for keeping this event going since it caters to just about anyone who likes to ride and builds a fun community of like minded riders. Thank you ACME!

After several years riding with the B's and motivated by fellow ACME team mates I entered the new A 35+ category. This would add a sixth lap to this already grueling sprint race. In past years Dave Benjamin,…

I have been wanting to ride SoNoMas for a few years now and finally mustered up the nerves. 7000 feet of climbing over 34 miles reminded me of hill repeats up Queenstone here in Marin. Turns out the terrain was completely different. Not surprisingly, much like last week's Lake Sonoma race. Only much longer, several more than the advertised 1 water crossing to make sure feet stayed cold and I kept rocks in my shoes, and countless ups, downs, turns and fallen trees to hurdle.

Greg and I…

Since this would be my first race of the season and on a course I'd never even seen, I was unsure of what to expect. Greg and I drove up early and had plenty of time to check in and do a leisurely warm up/recon lap. My initial thought after seeing the narrow first decent, slippery bridge and nearly impossible to ride muddy uphill singletrack was  that the first lap was going to be a win or lose decider.

I was glad I set up my Pivot Les 29er with wider carbon rims (Thanks Ken!) and WTB…

50+ miles of mostly road and some dirt, gravel, mud and a river crossing. If I'd actually prepared myself for this event, I would have known about the river crossing before the start. Fortunately, that one detail was not nearly as much of a hold back as the bike I rode. Old Caz, despite it's blazing fast descents on loose trails, is clearly cyclocross territory. Not having one of those half-breed rigs, I joined the ranks of mountain bike riders ready (or not) to endure pavement on heavier…