2016 Lemurian Shasta Classic

[Jim Hewett]

Cathy, Simon and I made the journey up to Redding for this classic single loop mountain bike race.  Team mates Bill Surges and Danny Macnaughton were also there to test themselves on the challenging climbs and descents of the Whiskeytown trails.

I've raced this many times, getting second overall a couple times recently.  This year, my modified training plan had me in late base training, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I felt like I could go pretty hard all day, but not really hard for long at all.  Many people have pacing issues at this race, so I thought slow and steady might just work.

This year I have been racing a Trek Top Fuel full suspension bike, which is a change from the hardtails I have raced for many years.  The carbon bike has 100mm of travel in the rear and a 120mm fork in front, helping with traction and comfort, but possibly reducing my climbing efficiency.  Despite the less snappy uphill acceleration, the sub 22 lb weight makes for a pretty effective xc race machine for rougher courses.

I opted to run Bontrager XR1 29x2.0 tires, at 25psi rear and 23psi front, on quite wide carbon rims (31.6mm internal).  Though I knew the fast rolling tires would not dig in for traction on some of the loose decomposed granite sections, I estimated that the reduced rolling resistance while climbing would make up for any time lost.

We arrived Friday and pre-rode the short course, which would be my 7 year old son Simon's race.  He was nervous about racing by himself, but once we entered the singletrack descent part of his 8 mile lap, he was flying.  Though he walked a couple of tough sections, I was really impressed with how well he rode the technical Brandy Creek Trail.

The weather on race day was pleasantly cool in the morning, despite the forecast for 80deg temperatures.  We all started en masse and I quickly moved to the front.  Once we turned onto the gravel road, a lead group began to form:  Stephen Mills (last year's winner, on a singlespeed), Tim Olson (former winner), Peter Koch (young SF Composite racer) and Kurt Wolfgang (also on a singlespeed).  We weren't pushing too hard on the gravel road climbing until we made the left turn to start the steeper stuff.  Stephen and Kurt both began standing, as their singlespeed gearing dictated, and Peter stayed with them on his geared bike.  Tim was just behind them and I was behind Tim.  This stretched out a little, and I was joined and passed by Greg Golet (53 years old?  "The Golden Eagle").  I was pushing a heartrate in the high 160s, which was about where I wanted to be, so I controlled my pace and settled into the grind.  Kurt fell off, and Peter fell back a bit.  We crested the top in a this order, and I quickly closed the gap to Peter.  I was not able to pass for a bit on the loose fire road descents, but made my way around him onto Greg's wheel just before we rejoined the pavement to cross the dam.  I could see Stephen and Tim ahead, though they were quite far up the road.  Greg and I tried to work together on this flat paved section and the paved descent, but were unable to catch them.  We entered our first singletrack section and I quickly pulled away from Greg and Peter.  Though they would get to within sight behind me on some of the fire road climbs, I maintained my lead and rode by myself for awhile.  I tried to ride the bermed flume trails with a sense of urgency, but often lost focus and intensity.  Things continued like this until The Golden Eagle caught me on a long section of fireroad climbing.  I dismounted on a particularly steep, pine-needle-strewn section and he stayed on the bike to get by me.  I was back on the bike and chasing, but he stayed away for some more steep climbing.  When we began the rutted downhill section beyond, I closed the gap and he politely let me pass.  I let off the brakes and pushed it, enjoying the rear suspension and putting precious seconds into him.  I had a lot of fun ripping down the trails, while keeping the gas on for the flats and climbs.  He came into sight behind me for the last fire road climb, but between the two of us was at least 20 seconds, and I was anticipating the 3 miles of rocky singletrack before the finish.

I rode in with an uncontested 3rd place, though 6+ minutes behind last year's time.  I was happy to see Simon waiting for me at the finish line, and proud to hear that he had completed his race and gotten a 2nd place medal!

It wasn't long before Danny and Bill came in, and not long after Cathy finished for first place in her class.  A pretty good showing by Team Acme Bikes!

[Cathy]

You were awesome and the best support. Great job!