3rd Place: Lake Sonoma Grasshopper

[Carson Benjamin]

Lake Sonoma was my fourth and final Grasshopper Series race of the year. Crashing out of Super Sweetwater two weeks ago put me out of contention for the overall series victory, so my focus for the coming months will be solely on mountain bike races. I also used this race as a trial run of the fueling strategy and bike set-up I'll use for the rest of the year. 

The race started up a 2 mile paved climb that spread the field out before narrowing into a rocky, muddy singletrack. I came into the trail in second place behind Barry Wicks, who had pre-ridden the course a day earlier and quickly gained a gap on the first descent. I soon dropped my chain, then lost five or six positions while I put it back on and struggled to regain a rhythm. Eventually, I worked my way past Glen Fant and Shane Bresnyan to catch my teammate, Jim. We yo-yoed for a few minutes on climbs and descents, but I was never able to make a gap stick until a longer uphill and creek crossing.

The next 2 hours was a solo, time trial effort to make up lost time on the leading trio of Wicks, Geoff Kabush, and another racer who I'd never before met. I focused on riding smoothly, not quickly. The trails around Lake Sonoma are steep, uneven, and can easily take you down if you lose concentration. After the aid station around mile 18, I saw the unknown racer on the side of the trail, fixing a rear flat. Knowing that I had third place secured as long as I survived until the finish mentally refocused me and gave me an incentive to turn myself inside out on the final climb. 

This race demonstrated that I have the right fitness for XC racing, which is an encouraging because I usually race into shape around May. I'll be back at Lake Sonoma in two weeks for SoNoMas, where the full Acme team will be out in force!