SoNoMas '16

[Greg Alsterlind]

Advertised as the thoughest MTB race and I would agree. I set up my '16 Trek Top Fuel 9.8 with a new set of carbon Raceface cranks and a 30 tooth single ring. I stayed with my Maxxis 2.2 IKON's that performed real well out here last week at the Lake Sonoma race. After a 30 minute warm-up ride, I lined up with teammate Mark Ingwersen in what I felt was a good spot (about a 100 deep). The start was an easy climb at a good pace up a paved road. When we hit the dirt things changed quickly. The first hill was not to steep but packed with riders. This would be the first of many hiking sections. Once back on the bike the groups began to break up. The next few climbs and short downhills were a bit of a mess. I got stuck behind a small group on a climb and lost sight of Mark, but that was going to happen anyway. The big moment came when I passed Mike Warren, who beat me last week. I finally got past him and started moving past more and more. At a little more than 20 miles in and just past the 2 hour mark, I was feeling great and keeping pace with Javier Sanchez, a rider I was getting to know as we stopped many times to climb over the many downed trees. Once I realized Javier was racing in my class, I knew I had to pick the right time to move past him. The course was fairly easy from 22-26 miles, then we hit a decent descent. About half way down I felt the back tire go and with it my hopes of finishing in the top 5. It took me almost 9 minutes to get it fixed!  Mike Warren passed me when I was almost done and I felt some slight chance of catching him. Getting back on the bike quickly changed that hope to panic.  My legs felt like sand bags and now all I could think of was finishing. The downed tress and creek crossings did little to help but once the course turned away from the lake I started to recover. In the end I crossed the line in just under 4 hrs (according to my Garmin). Tough day for me but it was great to see my teammates do so well:  Mark Ingwersen took 1st, Stephen Flynn 2nd (pro class), and Jennifer Hibbits 2nd.