The 30th Annual Lemurian Shasta Classic

[Jim Hewett]

Cathy, Simon and I were very excited to do The Lemurian Shasta Classic again.  Last year was the first year for those two, but I had raced this 28 mile single loop course many times.  Simon would be racing the 8 mile short loop, and cathy once again doing the long course.

We traveled up Friday evening and had a chance to preride Simon's course, which shares common trails with the start and finish of our course.  For him it is pretty much a gravel climb of 800 ft to the slightly technical and fun singletrack descent back to the start/finish.  He was nervous about some of the loose and rutted sections and walked in a few spots.  The sun had gone down and we noticed a big drop in temperature, but the forecast indicated very warm weather for race day.

We arrived early on Saturday and began our preparations.  Simon was racing his Trek Fuel EX Jr, outfitted with a dropper post and fairly aggressive tires (for a 95 lb racer).  Though he's only 8 years old, he was racing in the junior category against kids much older.  They made an announcement at the riders' meeting that they were offering a $100 prize to the first short course racer to the top of the gravel road climb, in which he cautiously showed interest.  He hooked up with some friends, Deven and Yohon, that he remembered from the year before, and they warmed up for the start.

I was once again racing my Trek Top Fuel.  I decided to go with a Brontrager XR1 rear (29x2.2") and a 2.25" Schwalbe Rocket Ron on the front.  The XR1 is a very fast roller, but not the best for anything loose.  I opted for no dropper post, despite the fact that it would have been more fun and helped with some of the relatively rough trails.  From past experience, I prepared myself for the thousands of feet of climbing, and knew I could rely on a little skill to go fast enough on the down bits.

We all lined up for the mass start and I got a look at the field.  Local hero Stephen MIlls was back on his singlespeed.  He has pretty much ruled this course for the last 2 years, really defying expectations to win on the one gear.  Former winner Tim Olson, Danny Macnaughton, and Greg Gollett were there.  Bryce Lewis and Kell Mckenzie were two familiar racers that were out for their first Lemurian.  I was starting with 60 oz of Osmo in my Racebak, but quite surprised to see a lot of these people with only one bottle for the warm conditions and over-2-hours race duration.  I could see a lot of racers chose to prepare their bikes more for the technical portions of the course than for the relentless climbing, with dropper posts and grippy tires, and even some longer travel full suspension setups.

As the start gun went off, I briefly thought of Simon at the back of the field, before focusing all of my attention on the task at hand.  We motored up the pavement and over to the start of the gravel climb.  Bear Development rider Bryce Lewis sprinted ahead, and Stephen went with him, but I wasn't too eager to push hard this early.  My plan for this race involves realistic pacing, as the last 30 minutes or so can be very brutal if you overdo it at the start.  I would try to keep my heart rate right around 166 for the climbs, pushing it but avoiding crossing the redline. 

We made the left turn to begin the steep gravel road climb, and I could see Stephen and Bryce ahead.  It looked like Bryce was going to try to hang with Stephen, which I doubted would go well for him.  I pulled away from Kell, but was joined by Greg, "The Golden Eagle", for a bit.  I could see Tim Olson not far behind, and another racer I did not recognize was with me for a bit.  I was feeling solid at this pace, and I slowly pulled away from most of them by the top of the climb. 

I started down the loose and winding fireroad to the dam by myself.  I didn't feel fast on this, high-posting with the low tread tire in the rear.  I expected Tim would catch me, as he knows it well, is quite skilled, and was on a Santa Cruz Nomad set up for going downhill fast.  I stayed away to the pavement, but he made up time and was maybe 20 seconds behind as we started across the dam.  I could not see Bryce or Stephen, which meant they had more than a minutes lead.  Tim closed the gap to a few seconds, but I pulled way a bit on the paved descent by tucking low.  I went into the first singletrack a little ahead, and tried my best to corner well and charge the short climbs.  Again, I was surprised that Tim did not catch me, and I was able to get out of sight a bit.  I think I saw a couple of riders behind me when we were on some more long fireroad climbs, but I kept pushing it. 

I was anticipating the short loose climb for which most people dismount, and here is where I reconnected with Bryce.  I was able to ride almost all of it, and he was off the bike pushing.  I caught him in the flume trail and we rode together for awhile.  It didn't look like he had drunk much of his one bottle, and I had already consumed at least 20oz of my supply.  Despite having a dropper post on his bike, he was not using it to corner faster in the bermed flumes.  We rode together for some time, and he let me by before a technical creek crossing.  I pushed it on the ensuing climb, getting away a bit, and thought maybe I had broken him off.

A few miles later, as I hit the first aid station and turned up another fireroad climb, I was surprised to see him just behind me.  He dug hard at the top of this to get by me before the drop into singletrack, flicking the tail of his bike around like he was ready to "shred the gnar".  Unfortunately, he was not aware that we were going into an unrideable rocky section.  He abruptly dismounted and we made our way around a couple of medium course racers we were lapping.  He slipped and fell down the hill a bit as I carried my bike by on the highline and got away from him again.  More flume trails and a missed turn for me and he had reconnected.

Now, we had been racing for about an hour and a half at this point.  The climbing was taking its toll, but there is a lot more to come.  I was feeling pretty good, so I turned it up some and slowly rode Bryce off of my wheel.  I must have gotten a pretty good gap, because it was not long before I could not see him behind me on the long fireroad climbs.  I was riding by myself, which was quite fun down the XX descents.  I knew that Stephen was well ahead of me, but there was always the potential for a flat or mechanical on the rocky course and I pushed on.

The last 20 minutes were not too eventful.  I kept it together with no problems and finished second place overall in about the same time as the year before.

Simon was waiting for me at the finish line with a second place medal and a $100 bill - he had been first to the top of the short course climb and claimed the prize!

[Philip Mooney]

Good job Jim. Awesome awesome awesome for Simon to win $100!!!!!