The Call Up

Northern California Bicycle Racing Community

  Last year I did two new races for me, the Lake Sonoma Grasshopper and SoNoMas,  both of which kicked my butt.  This year I finally got up the courage to ride the Old Caz Grasshopper after watching my son, Carson and many of my Acme Bikes teammates grind up to the Willow Creek Rd hilltop finish over the past two years.  What could be better, ride 50 miles, climb 4400 ft and get to eat chips and drink beer overlooking western Sonoma County?  

  As the majority of riders use a CX bike for this race, I was a bit hesitant to use my Highball hardtail mtb.  Carson had given me a set of WTB Nano 700x40c tires that really helped with the significant amount of pavement and offered plenty of grip in the muddy corners.  

  Carson and I arrived in Occidental around 8:30 for the 10 am start.  After a short warm up, I rolled over to find teammate Mark Ingwersen with Paul Birich lined up about 1/3 the way back in the 560 rider field.  We were joined by teammate Danny McNaughton. The start climb out of town was uneventful and I tried to keep myself in zone 4 and not burn out my legs.  Once to the top, the fun began as we ripped down the dirt Willow Creek Rd. My bike having front suspension and a flat bar seemed to give me an advantage over many of the CX riders, but passing was not always easy as they were often 2 or 3 across in the corners.  Once down to the flat, smooth pavement I was lucky to find myself near the back of a 30 rider group that seemed to be flying along.  We stayed together until the steep Duncan Rd climb.  Carson had told me about this wall and I had my gearing ready.  Amazingly, half the group seemed to be in the wrong gear and took the corner too sharp, heading up the steepest part of the road.  This climb was short but brutal on the legs.  The following Old Caz climb seemed long, but I kept a pretty steady pace.   I managed to stay with the same riders all the way up to the feed zone around mile 28.  I stopped to grab fresh bottles and food, foregoing the makeshift cannabis tent three riders were enjoying.  The creek crossing was only knee deep and no big deal, thankfully.  Getting back to pavement on Cazadero Highway and onto Austin Creek Rd, I saw a group of about 12 riders some 50 yards ahead.  I turned myself inside out for about 6 minutes trying catch them, but could only get to about 20 yards away.  Once I sat up, they were out of sight in 30 seconds.  As I started along 116 heading west,  I joined 4 riders and we sort of worked together, although only two of us really wanted to pull. Turning onto Willow Creek Rd I noticed my stomach starting to cramp.  I knew I needed to eat more food to fuel me for the last climb, but all I wanted to do was throw up.  Just before the dirt climb started I had to drop my effort to mid zone 3 as I was not feeling great.  I rode this pace for almost the entire climb with maybe 20 riders passing me.  Finally about 1/2 mile from the top I started to feel better and was able to ramp up my effort to the finish.  I finished in 3:43:44, 47th out of 131 in my age group and 212th overall.  The positives were I didn't flat (must have seen 15 flats), I felt okay on all but the last climb and I didn't crash.  The road racing dynamics are so much different than mountain bike racing.   I realize if I had caught the group of 12 on Austin Creek Rd, I would have come in minutes faster, even with my cramping stomach.  

   Big kudos to the Acme team of Cathy Chevron, Jim Hewett, Mark Ingwersen, Danny McNaughton and Phil Mooney for 5th place and to Carson for his 10th place finish.   Special thanks to Shilo at Acme Bikes for getting the bike shifting properly.  

Views: 34

Comment by Philip Mooney on January 31, 2018 at 7:35am

I can't believe you've never raced Old Caz before! Glad to have you out there.

Comment by Mark Ingwersen on January 31, 2018 at 10:09am

Cannabis tent?! Well, at least I got the see the golden beer bong crew. Great finish, especially since you were solo on the road!

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