So No Mas 2011

[Jim Hewett]

I've missed this relatively new race so far.  It always come so late in the season and I'm usually done with racing by August. As luck would have it, a large break in the middle of the season put me in a training period and fit enough to do it this year.  This would be my first time on the trails that go around the lake since I raced a singlespeed-only Grasshopper there in 2006 (?).

I knew there would be some pretty fast guys out for this one, as there is money involved (!) and it promises a lot of singletrack in the 3+ hours of racing.  Though I am just starting to train the high end in preparation for 'cross, I've been riding a good bit for a couple of months and thought the longer (than normal XC) format could work okay for me.  Plus I love to support the Bike Monkey races and I've missed racing with the usual suspects.

I've been cranking around on the single speed a lot lately, so I figured I could get by with a 1x10 drivetrain.  I have my Superfly set up with a 35 tooth front ring for 'cross, so I just left that on.  I thought that would suffice with an 11-36 cassette in the back.  I chose slightly beefy XC race tires, with an Ikon EXO rear and a Racing Ralph Snakeskin front, and I ran Crest rims instead of the Stan's Race wheelset for a little more stiffness and strength.  Since heat and dehydration seem to be common when racing around Lake Sonoma, I chose the camelbak raceback setup that goes under your jersey (70 oz. of Gu Brew) and my summerweight skinsuit.

I was up at 5:00am eating breakfast and made it to Lake Sonoma by 6:45.  The weather was cold and foggy, which was welcome as the forecast called for 92 degrees later in the day.  I picked up my number plate, kitted up, and began to warm up by riding up the initial paved climb.  I got a look at the competition, most of whom I know.  Smallman, Menso, Bartels, Astell, Claasen, Timmel - these guys can all throw down.  Michael Hosey was there and I knew his high end fitness was good from racing against him at the last two Howarth Park Crits.  There were a couple of other guys I didn't recognize that kind of exuded "roady".  I knew today would probably not be my day to stand on the top step, but where in this group would I be 4 hours from then?  That's something about racing that still excites me, the potential to soar or to crash!

It was a pretty casual start behind Carlos' truck.  We started up the paved climbs and the pace slowly increased.  I let myself fall to the back of the top 10, hoping to ease into this course and not get sucked into too fast a start.  I could see one of the roadies at the front, and I think I saw his elbow flicking, to no avail.  I don't think anyone else wanted to pull to the front and push the pace, as most of them knew what was ahead.

I settled in with Smallman, Bartels and Brue as we approached the right turn onto the first singletrack.  Okay, now the mountain bike racing begins!  We climbed a little more and then I began to descend this new-to-me trail.  It was still foggy enough that my glasses were affected, and the loose corners came pretty quickly at speed.  Some positions were exchanged, and we then started the climbing.  I could tell by the profile that a lot of climbing would happen in the first quarter, but a lot of it was kind of loose and not altogether smooth.  I began to question my choice of gearing as I stood to crank in my easiest gear and lost traction.  I dismounted and let Bartels past, falling a little behind on the steep dirt climbs.  Claasen came by before I had really regained my composure, and I was looking at all of my competition from behind.

I rode along, trying to keep a sense of urgency, but also trying to keep it safe on the loose new trails.  We came through the usual Lake Sonoma course and climbed back up to the pavement and then right into the lake loop.  I was riding behind a guy I don't know in an Ibis jersey as we did the long fire road descent down to the lake.  The corners were fast and loose on my racey tires, making it a go-fast-then-brake sort of affair.  I passed the Ibis racer at the next climb and caught a guy named Charlie who was racing in expert.  Charlie and I rode together for awhile and I eventually pulled away from him.  I began to get glimpses of one of the roadies in a blue kit ahead of me and I was encouraged to be reeling in riders.  I still felt like my pace on the singletrack was kind of casual, but I tried to keep it steady and I was forced to give it a little on the climbs due to my lack of easy gearing.  My legs were feeling pretty good and I was a little surprised when we passed the 20 mile point.  Already?  I waved off the water, as my racebak was at least half full still and I could tell Astell was coming on pretty strong behind me.  This added a little urgency to my pace and I soon overtook Bartels, who was fresh from a great finish at the Leadville 100.  I warned him about Astell and tried to put some distance and more riders between us.  I caught the roady in blue, who seemed to be climbing pretty slowly on the loose steep dirt cimbs.  He blocked the pass a few times and we both caught Smallman not long after.  We three rode together for a few minutes but I soon made my move to the front and pulled away from them.  On a couple of steep switchbacks I saw Astell behind me and I increased my efforts to get away.

A result of the counter-clockwise course was that we were in the trees and mainly shaded for the last half of the race.  Perhaps as a result of that and an early start, the heat did not really seem like an issue.  It definitely never felt like 92 degrees.

I rode the traversing bench-cut trail as quickly as I felt prudent, only overcooking a few corners.  On one loose climb that forced a dismount, I felt twinges of calf muscle cramps.  This made me focus more on making the climbs and trying to pedal as smoothly as my 35x36 low gear would let me.

I started to see another rider through the trees ahead and was pleased to be closing another gap.  I recognized him as Claasen and each climb put me a little closer to him.  I made the pass on a climb, then had to dismount later, losing my spot to him again.  I quickly passed again and tried to make this one stick.  I opened a little gap and shortly began to see Timmel ahead on the longer climbs.  It seemed like I was gaining on him on the climbs, but as I passed a checkpoint and Murphy Mack told me there were 6 miles left, 3 of which were pavement, I began to doubt if there were enough climbs left to catch him.  I came out of the dirt, across the gravel lot, and made the turns down the paved descents that lead to the start, by which time Timmel was out of sight.  I tucked in and spun out with my 35x11, cruising into the finish without any challenge for fourth place.

 35 miles, 6500 feet of climbing, 3 hours 12 minutes.  All in all a pretty fun day without any big problems.

 

 

[Carl Sanders]

NIce work Jim!  Great way to open the season.