Fort Ross 'Hopper

[Jim Hewett]

The Sonoma County Grasshoppers started a month early this year and I had to miss the Old Cazadero opener.  This is one of the few 'Hoppers that can be won on a mountain bike, and I've done pretty well at it for the last four years.  I had a work conflict this year that was unavoidable, which was a real pity.  Though I've started mountain bike racing for the season, I figured the second Grasshopper, the Fort Ross road race, would be fun and good training.

The forecast was for rain and even snow on Saturday.  The course would be mostly unfamiliar with lots of climbing, some busted wet paved roads, and a long dirt climb - all on a road bike.  Must be a Grasshopper "training ride".

I removed my power tap wheel and installed Bontrager Hardcase 25mm tires.  The priority was security, but my 19 lb road bike would not be an advantage on the extended climbs.  I started the ride with two bottles, 8 GUs, 2 tubes, and no rain jacket.  If there was rain I would be doing some suffering!  The guys from Norcal Bikesport were going to be at the top of Willow Creek, so I left 2 bottles with them.

Maybe the rain scared some people away, as there were probably only around 100 people at the start.  We rolled out of Occidental a little after 10 and headed up Bohemian Hwy.  The first 20 miles or so were pretty neutral and I stayed in the middle of the pack.  I saw a few familiar faces, but mostly it was a road bike crew that doesn't show up at mountain bike races.  I felt the pace quicken just before we hit the start of the Fort Ross climbs, and once the pavement turned upward, things really got going.  I hung onto the back of the lead group of about 20 for awhile, but slowly started to fall back.  My legs felt like wood and I knew there were a lot of miles to cover, so I rode my own pace.  I passed a few riders that had also fallen off, but the main group pulled out of sight on the winding climbs.  A group of 5 or so caught up with me and I rode more or less with them to the first real descents.  I took a conservative approach on the wet and leafy downhills, but still outpaced most of the group.  I passed a young rider that looked like he had gone down.  A guy in a truck was helping him assess the damage.

My group came back together and we rode the rolling hills out to the coast, passing a couple of more riders that had fallen out of the lead group.  I traded pulls with a guy named Ryan and a guy named Marc, but for the most part the group did not ride in a very organized fashion.  We turned south on Hwy 1 toward Jenner and were rewarded with an awesome descent with a view of the ocean.  The beautiful sight was diminished a bit by the ominous presence of rainclouds out to sea.  We worked together in an 8 man echelon, trying to eat and drink to prepare for the Willow Creek climb.  Still no rain as we passed 116 and made a left on the approach to the dirt climb.

The road to Willow Creek was not as bad as I had thought it would be.  We did hit the occasional hidden pothole in a puddle, but for the most part the road bikes did fine and I saw no flats.  The soft dirt made for slow climbing, but my easy gear (39/28) was doable.  Marc turned up the pace and pulled ahead of the group, so I stuck to his wheel and soon we were out of sight.  Marc climbed out of the saddle and I sat, but we maintained a decent pace and it was good to have company.  We counted the tracks in the mud ahead of us and it looked like there were only about 10 people up the road.  There was no way to tell how big of a lead they had.

We topped out to see the Norcal tent.  I got two full bottles and passed another rider lubing his chain.  Marc and I rode up to and out Coleman Valley, catching a few more riders.  One was an Echelon rider that had gotten two flats.  Some fast descending brought us once again to Hwy 1, where I traded pulls with the Echelon guy over to Bay HIll Rd.  More climbing ensued, and I rode ahead of the group but within sight for awhile.  I slowly lost them in the rolling hills, but turned back to see Marc out of the sadle and closing the gap.  I waited for him and we rode together, close enough to the Joy Rd climbing to begin dreading it.  We made a left on Bodega Hwy and saw another rider ahead.  As we got close, I recognized him as Roger Bartels (the winner of the Old Caz 'Hopper last month).  Roger looked like he was suffering, but we all knew it wouldn't last much longer.

Marc and I made the left turn onto the infamous Joy Rd.  I had never ridden up this, but was well aware of its reputation as a steep and brutal finish.  Marc was familiar with Joy and he described it to me:  steep to a flat to more steeps to a flat to a steep finish.

We rode together slowly up the first steep sections.  I have to say it was not as bad as I had thought it would be, and we were definitely like horses smelling the barn.  I pulled away from Marc on the second group of climbs, but he stood and closed the gap as we passed a shattered rider tacking back and forth up the road.  After a short descent, Marc pointed out the final climb and I put in a bit of effort to cruise in just ahead of him.  Turns out there had been quite a bit of attrition, as there were only four riders hanging out at the finish.  We came in 5th and 6th!

 

 

[Paul Montgomery]

Congratulations and nice read...do you have the stats...distance and elevation etc...