Lake Sonoma first MTB race of 2016

[Greg Alsterlind]

Last year's series is now just a single race. I did this race twice last year, winning my first race ever. A fun fast course of about 4.5 miles of mostly single track. What I learned last year is to get up the first hill as fast as you can. The first downhill is not too steep, but very narrow and winding. A slower descending rider could hold you up and allow the bulk of your start group to bunch up. I was lined up with my teammates Dave Benjamin and Mark Ingwersen and knew if I could stay close to them up that hill, all would be well.  Pre-riding (a must), I learned where the problem areas would be. In this race it was muddy climbs. Jim at ACME set me up with Maxxis IKON 2.2 tires that I ran tubeless at about 30 lbs. This might be a bit high for most but I check in about 180lbs. And anything much less feels a bit floppy in the corners to me. The tire did great on about 95% of this course but the muddy climbs forced me off hiking. In the end I think this was the best tire and I would not change it out if we rode it the next day. I am sorry this race is the only one this year. It is a fun course and seems to be just the right amount of difficulty to allow all level riders to enjoy it. My race was super fun and challenging. I was able to get to the top of the hill in the top 5. With 2 and a half laps down and Mark nowhere in sight it hit me that I was staying with Dave Benjamin and the race was almost over. At this point my day was already a victory! Dave is one of the best riders I know and keeping pace with him showed me all these days I have been spending working to get better are paying off. I will continue to work at it. Knowing Dave he is only gonna get stronger as this season progresses.