2010 Grasshopper Adventure Series #2 - Chilleno Valley

[Jim Hewett]

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 happily sit in and conserve their energy. Where is the fun in that? I felt fresh and did my best to chase down every group that we could see in the distance. Lots of good miles through the green pastures of sheep and cows, motoring along at a decent pace.

We turned inland to climb over Marshall (about mile 40-50) and that is where I started to feel a little less spry. Next thing I knew I was cresting Marshall to see the group already far down the road. Oh well. I slowed quite a bit alone in a headwind up Chilleno Valley until a small group scooped me up. This lasted for 10 or 15 miles until I fell off again on some sustained hills. At this point I was pretty much done, so I coasted home by myself and "accidentally" avoided the steep climb up Joy Rd that was the end of the course.

For the most part it was a lot of fun, but racing on the road is obviously a little different than racing mountain bikes. Suffering so much at the end helps to drive home the idea that sucking wheel isn't boring, it's smart - but it won't help you much on the dirt at Lake Sonoma!