Lemurian Shasta Classic 2013

[Jim Hewett]

This race is a Northern California classic; one big loop, lots of climbing and lots of relatively technical descending.  It usually draws a pretty fast regional field, pitting climbers versus descenders and rewarding those that can do both well.  Despite small course changes and varied conditions, no one has done it in under 2 hours.  I originally raced singlespeed here, then moved to the geared class.  Last year I finished second overall in just under 2:12, my fastest time till that point.  This year I had once again trained to a fitness peak for this period and I was hoping to have a strong race against what was sure to be good competition.

Warm weather was in the forecast, though our race would be done before the temperatures reached the 90s.  I prepared the night before and the morning of with Osmo prehydration.  I used to figure it was inevitable that I would end a long, hot race dehydrated, but this mix seems to help a lot by allowing me to start the race "superloaded" with water.

I've always raced the hardtail here, and this time I chose my Santa Cruz Highball Carbon.  I have been very happy with the SRAM XX1 drivetrain I've been using for a month, but I adjusted for the climbing by running a 32 tooth chainring rather than the 34 tooth.  The 10-42 tooth range of the 11 speed cassette would give me all the gears I would need.  I chose a slightly more grippy race tire, running a Schwalbe Rocket Ron Snakeskin at 27psi in the rear and a Rocket Ron non-snakeskin in the front at 26psi.  The 710mm wide handlebars I have mounted for this season would help give me leverage on the climbs and the descents.  The Highball weighed just over 19 lbs.

Hosey and Claasen, two NorCal racers that are really fit right now, were absent.  Tim Olson, former winner and expert at racing this course, was there.  Billy Damon and Jared Kessler, teammates that race for Giant/Folsom Bikes, were just coming off of decisive Cat 1 victories at the Sea Otter XC.  Aren Timmel, Chris Kelly, Kenny Burt, Shane Bresneyen and many other fast guys were there as we surged up the pavement at 9:00.

I made my way to the front right away and stayed in the top five or six as we made the right turn onto a dirt road that trended upward.  The pace was fast, but no one was going to get away this early.  The real business began as we turned left onto a steep gravel road climb.  This is where the big separations start to happen, as the loose climbing is very steep and sustained for over 10 minutes.  Damon and Kessler moved to the front, while Chris Kelly, Tim Olson, a Mike's Bikes rider, and I followed.  By the top, the Mikes Bikes rider had fallen away and I had passed Olson, but Damon, Kessler and Kelly were out of sight.  I let it go on the rutted and loose fireroad descent and caught Kelly just before the bottom.  Olson caught the two of us as we hit the pavement section that crosses the dam.  We worked together on the road and went into the first singletrack section: Olson, me, Kelly.  I kept up pretty well with Olson through this section and Kelly fell off a little, but it all came back together when we reached the next steep climb.  Olson was climbing a little stronger and he and Damon and Kessler got out of sight, while Kelly and I went back and forth until the next singletrack section, where I was able to get away from him.

From here I rode alone for awhile, feeling pretty good, but occasionally losing focus.  I tried to stay off the brakes on the flume trails and keep a sense of urgency on the climbs, but the only other racers I came across were the lapped riders from the short course.  I received suspect updates on the gap to the lead racers, from 30 seconds to 3 minutes.

As I neared the top of the second long climb, I saw Olson ahead.  This encouraged me to turn it up and I closed the gap to 10 seconds or so.  Once we started down, Olson used his skill and extensive knowledge of the course to leave me behind.  I tried to push it and washed out a few times on the loose and rutted descents.  It is worth noting that I had no chain derailment with the XX1 and no chainguide.

I saw Olson again with about 10 minutes to go on the last fireroad climb, but he got away on the rocky singletrack  that took us back to the marina.  I rolled in alone, just over 2:10 in fourth place.

Though this was my fastest time by a couple of minutes, I was still 2 minutes behind Damon and a minute back from Olson, with Kessler in between the two.

Now I'll take a few weeks off from racing and think about the rest of the season.