Old Cazadero Grasshopper

[Jim Hewett]

The Grasshopper Adventure Series is a great Sonoma county grassroots event that draws lots of riders to the dirt roads and pavement of West Sonoma County.  I've always tried to do the Old Cazadero ride, as it provides enough dirt descending and climbing to allow me to be competitive on a mountain bike.  They moved the race to January from February last year and I was unable to do it due to a work conflict.  This year my work schedule, if not my training schedule, allowed me to make it.

I tuned the rigid Superfly that I raced 'cross on this year to make the "perfect" Old Caz racer.  1x10 (38x11-36) with the carbon rigid fork and Furious Fred 1.9" tires, it toed the line at under 17 lbs.  I ran 29psi rear and 28psi front to give me the perfect combination of low rolling resistance and grip.  Lots of different bike setups have finished first, but this seemed like it would be the fastest and most fun for me.

Not many people are really fit this time of year, as peak fitness usually comes in a period with more racing.  I am usually in a base training phase, so I have not been doing any intensity for awhile.  This has never stopped me from trying to win this one, though.  I always finish in the top ten, my best finish of 3rd in 2010.  The usual Sonoma County hardmen always are there, with the occasional addition of some super fast guys.  This year looked to be a fairly local crew, with Bartels, Bresneyan, Timmel, Smallman, Astell,and Hosey.  Kris Sneddon, a very fast Canadian pro that often winters in Santa Rosa, was the only national level XC pro.  I wasn't sure how my legs would do for a race of this length (3+ hrs) at this point in the season, but my chances looked pretty good this year.  At least Levi, Kabush, and Wicks weren't there!

I worried a little about being undergeared for the long flat pavement sections.  My sole 38 tooth chainring did not afford as high a gear as I may have liked, but I chose it for the reliability and light weight over a double with a shifter and front deraileur.

There had been rain the week before, and even photos of the Austin Creek crossing at a very high level, but the last week had been perfect, with sunny days in the 60s.  The weather forecast for Saturday was mostly sunny and 65 degrees.  Yeah, this could be good.

Over 250 riders started from Occidental and turned onto Bittner Rd.  I worked my way to the top 20 and tried to keep it safe and steady.  Once the climbing began and we turned right onto Joy Rd., the group began to spread out a bit.  I moved up to the top 10 or so, falling in where I belonged with Timmel, Sneddon, Bresneyan, Hosey, Hillier, Miguel and a few guys I did not recognize.  We cruised along at a casual but fast enough pace until we hit the gate at the top of the Willow Creek fireroad climb.  We would descend this and later climb it to the finish at this gate.  Hosey and Bresneyan, both on 'cross bikes, crossed the gate first, with all of us hot on their heals.  They kept a great pace down the dirt, though, and I was surprised that the people riding front suspension with real XC tires couldn't overtake them.  I tried to stay close while avoiding an accident.  The dirt was nice and tacky, but there was looseness and wet leaves in some places.  I narrowly avoided a guy that wiped out in front of me, and 7 or so of us fell into line at the bottom and started out on the busted gravel road to Highway 1. 

Our group was very disorganized, so I spent most of the time on the road sitting in.  As we approached the turn on Duncan Rd., we were overtaken by 5-10 more guys.  Once we made the lefthand turn to begin the real climbing, everyone geared down and drafting could no longer help.  I climbed my way to the front and we went over the top with me following closely in second behind Bresneyan, who knew this course like the back of his hand.  We put a little gap on the big group and descended pavement to make the lefthand turn onto Cherry Rd.  Our accelerations on the climbs whittled the lead group to about 6 (Timmel, Sneddon, Bresneyan, Hosey, a Strava guy, and me) and we began the steepest paved climbing.  I felt very solid and was climbing well in the saddle.  The pace seemed to be taxing the others, and I was encouraged by their heavy breathing.  Maybe this could be my day to win at Old Caz?

We climbed higher and higher, losing the Strava rider on the way.  We passed a left turn where an angry local sat to keep anyone from entering his property (I think that riders had mistakenly ridden down his driveway on past Grasshoppers) and voice his general disapproval of people riding bikes.  At the top we came upon the NorCal SAG spot and Bresneyan stopped to grab fresh water.  The rest of us continued and Shane caught up to us not long after, as well as the Strava rider.  Soon we started the dirt descent to the crossing at Austin Creek.  Fun and fast, we all made it down and across with only wet feet, though it seemed like we had lost the Strava rider again.

Pedalling was a shock to the legs after the long descent and the cold water, but we started up the dirt climb at a decent pace.  Hosey began to fall back and before long he was out of sight.  We were now down to four as we rode around the gate and zipped down to Old Cazadero and back onto the pavement for the long pulls to Highway 1.  Bresneyan told us he was pretty shot and said he hoped to make it to the bottom of Willow Creek with us, but he continued to take good pulls at the front.  Sneddon was pushing us to keep up the speed, and we all knew we could still be overtaken from behind by an organized group.  Timmel was taking shorter and slower pulls at the front, and you could tell everyone was feeling the 2+ hours of hammering, but we kept it up pretty well all the way to the left on Highway 1.  A quick glance back revealed no approaching riders from behind and we turned again onto Willow Creek Road and the last leg of our journey.  Through the puddles and busted pavement, we motored on.  I was feeling pretty solid still, and I was preparing myself mentally for the climb out.  I knew I would not beat these guys without some suffering, but I felt my chances were pretty good.  We made the big left and began the real climbing, and pretty quickly my hopes dwindled.  A bonking sensation came on immediately and I could tell it would not happen for me today.  Timmel and Sneddon climbed away, and then Bresneyan.  After a few corners, they were out of sight and I was alone in the pain cave.  My focus shifted from the riders ahead to the approaching riders behind.  I did my best to move along, but those last 20 minutes were painfully slow.  With relief, I came around the last corner and saw the small group of people at the finish.  I pulled up and gladly accepted a cold Coke, another Old Caz in the bag and another 4th place on the books.  Turns out Bresneyan turned it on at the end and beat both Timmel and Sneddon.  He had put about 4 minutes into me in that last twenty minutes of climbing!

We sat around waiting on the next finisher, and Kevin Smallman came up about 6 minutes later.  After that, a pretty steady stream of guys finished, all looking relieved and happy.  Carl and Shiloh from Team Summit Bicycles both had a good race and a great time.

Not a bad 3 hours of riding, but Monday it is back to the training program and proper preparation for Spring!

4th of 245 finishers, 3:05:56, 55 miles, 5,000 ft of climbing, great weather!

 

 

[Paul Montgomery]

...I wonder if the "angry local" has ever earned admission to the Pain Cave...great write up!

[Jim Hewett]

The "Pain Cave" is probably what the angry local calls the room in his basement where he keeps kidnapped women.