(Picture from Facebook posted by Paul McKenzie).
Grasshopper Series
At the beginning it really was like a road race with lots of “slowing!”, locked brakes, the occasional exit of someone into a drainage ditch etc. The first hill sorted everyone out into groups. Lots of climbing... Some of those hills just did not stop. My strava said 8600' in 74 miles and a much of it was steep too.
I could’ve saved a bit of time at the “rest” stop. Folks generally just filled their bottles and grabbed a banana. I had my musette with some snacks. Eating was really important but for me the first time I’ve had to eat while riding.
The dirt part was really quite tough to go fast. There were sections of gravel but most was outright MTB trails. A big 3 mile descent including some mud that would do a cross race proud. Took a while for my bike to come back to life after each section. Must’ve seen 20 or so punctures. I did feel sorry for my bike in some of the worst rocky bits. It was really making noises! Also my chain fell off three times and I had to stop to put it back on. I think if I’d put it on the big ring I might’ve been better off (thought about that too late!). The folks of cross bikes were passing a lot of people.
Amazing to see how fast the good guys can crank up those hills. I got 78th out of 156 (@15.1mph average) but pleased with my time. Definitely going to try to do all of this series from now on. Very casual in some ways (like $25 entry, super friendly people and non-closed roads) but well run and fast riders to try and chase. True grassroots racing.
Technically, the 11-28T cassette was perfect and I did not need the extra 30T I have on order but did not arrive on time (might just return it). Tubeless 25c tires were perfect too. My rear wheel did not stay true in the now slightly enlarged dropouts. I need to make it a tight fit again.
Grasshopper Series
At the beginning it really was like a road race with lots of “slowing!”, locked brakes, the occasional exit of someone into a drainage ditch etc. The first hill sorted everyone out into groups. Lots of climbing... Some of those hills just did not stop. My strava said 8600' in 74 miles and a much of it was steep too.
I could’ve saved a bit of time at the “rest” stop. Folks generally just filled their bottles and grabbed a banana. I had my musette with some snacks. Eating was really important but for me the first time I’ve had to eat while riding.
The dirt part was really quite tough to go fast. There were sections of gravel but most was outright MTB trails. A big 3 mile descent including some mud that would do a cross race proud. Took a while for my bike to come back to life after each section. Must’ve seen 20 or so punctures. I did feel sorry for my bike in some of the worst rocky bits. It was really making noises! Also my chain fell off three times and I had to stop to put it back on. I think if I’d put it on the big ring I might’ve been better off (thought about that too late!). The folks of cross bikes were passing a lot of people.
Amazing to see how fast the good guys can crank up those hills. I got 78th out of 156 (@15.1mph average) but pleased with my time. Definitely going to try to do all of this series from now on. Very casual in some ways (like $25 entry, super friendly people and non-closed roads) but well run and fast riders to try and chase. True grassroots racing.
Technically, the 11-28T cassette was perfect and I did not need the extra 30T I have on order but did not arrive on time (might just return it). Tubeless 25c tires were perfect too. My rear wheel did not stay true in the now slightly enlarged dropouts. I need to make it a tight fit again.
New 'Yotes kit! This was at the start in Occidental.
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