The Odyssey begins...

Some bunny waited too long putting their cross bike together, so it was either mtb. or road bike for this eh insanity. I told myself if it rained overnight, Id ride the mtb. even though Id get more worn out from those little knobbies clinging to the pavement. Lemme tell you, if you are not a mechanic, do not try to fix your bike 1/2 hr before you have to be on it! I managed to pull my stem off and everything else fell off too---road bike it is.

Oh yea, the race. We rolled out en masse, I got dropped on Duncan, saw my singlespeed buddy shear off his chainring and it made me sad because we had fun going up Willow Creek together last year- I knew it would be a lonely day out there. Looking back on it, we were close enough to my house to go steal one of Larry-mos bikes, I wish my brain worked faster sometimes, being superstitious, I knew Id pay for leaving a comrade stranded.

Things went really well, for awhile, I felt great on Old Caz, and then sure enough the crank comes loose along the old road- what to do, climb Gnarly Mtn. road and fix it? Hell no! Those Ritchey cranks use such a huge bolt you can stick your finger in there and thats what I did. My big worry of the day was the first half of the ride, I let my guard down for Willow Creek, its sort of a mess right now. When I got to the crevasse, it looked like I could jump across it, but with a bike? So I tangled with the poison oak vines instead, I hope no one else has itchy blisters on their self like I do. Thats it, maybe Ill go fix those cranks.. Hello Katrina

This is Why...

...Miguel calls the Grasshoppers an �Adventure Series�. The casualties were incredible today! I passed about four guys with flats on the very first dirt section (Old Duncan�s Grade), kept a group from making a wrong turn before Cherry Street, saw Chris Kinney bust a derailleur on the Old Caz climb (bummer, dude!), had someone crash in front of me on the Old Caz descent, saw a few more people barely avert wrong turns in Caz, and passed at least a few more folks with flats during the rest of the ride. I know Katrina had 2 flats and that�s just not right. And of course, there were those who spent all their tokens way too early and were bonking HARD on Willow Creek. And I can�t believe the single speeders keep coming out!!! They�re mental!!!

I had �the luck� today, no mechanicals, no flats, and a nice group to ride with on Austin Creek and 116. After being on vacation and off my bike for more than a week, I was super stoked to have kept some semblance of fitness. Maybe paddling like mad for every single wave because you can�t surf right is good cross-training! I had a tickle in my throat this morning, like the one I always get before a cold kicks in, so I had contemplated hanging way back, but I guess I forgot about that. Plus I was inspired by the knowledge that day after tomorrow, there will be riders like Cadel Evans, Paolo Salvodelli, George Hincapie, and Stuart frickin� O�Grady, hero of heroes, riding through the area.

The #1 highlight of my day was getting to ride in a group with Stella Carey, whom I respect so much that I buried myself to stay there, while trying to seem chill. Okay Claire, ride as straight as you can! Look sharp! Look sharp! Like I said, I had the luck, because she was paused in Caz wondering which way to go and that�s the only reason I was in her vicinity. Poor Abby had a flat at the bottom of the Old Caz descent, so I knew Stella would be first, and I just had to stick around as long as possible. Which was really fun! We had a good working group going till the bottom of Willow Creek which included dear sweet Fisher, but he had a personal mechanical advetnure and I became one of the afore-mentioned casualties and bonked HARD. Sometimes I really hate Willow Creek. I had about � of a token left to get me to the finish and when I got there I started eating pretzels off the ground because I was so hungry.

Thank you Miguel and Kim for making these happen, Tuff-as-Nailz Katrina and Cathy for reprezenting, and thanks Jess for documenting the carnage at the top of the climb.

-Claire-bell

Old Caz/Willow Creek on the Coldest Day of the Year...

...the pace was fun as I rode near the front of the pack until the climb. It is always great to catch up with friends and socialize during that first part of the Grasshopper. I saw lots of my Gianni buddies and team Soulcraft, and Nor Cal was represented by Claire, Katrina, and myself. The descent down the dirt portion of Old Caz was ripper, and I had so many endorphins at the bottom that I (foolishly) ran right through the frigid creek in my shoes, which led to some rather cold moments climbing Willow Creek later.

I continued my blistering descent moves down the semi-paved back section of Old Caz, which promptly led to a nasty double flat after I got air and ran out of talent, landing on the lip of some remaining concrete.

Jeez, I think I spent well over 30 minutes in the process of changing both flats. My hands were so cold I would barely get the tire off the rim, what an amateur! Then I somehow managed to get mud and Cazadero road spew inside my tire. Guess it shows how rarely I get flats. I watched about ten people ride past while I was fixing my flats, and those ended up being the last riders I saw until I got back to Occidental. Hmm, and I still think these things are fun...

-Cathy

2008

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