Chileno Valley Grasshopper

The second installment for the Grasshopper Series was Chileno Valley.  By far one of the tougher hoppers each year.  Besides the 80 miles and 8,000 ft of climbing, there is also an incredible amount of wind.  This year was no exception.  

Race time was set for 10am.  At 9:50am they had us stage up and get ready.  It was exciting to see Levi there and in his new kit.  All 200 rides started to roll out and begin our journey.  We were hit with a climb at the start.  This was a good way to seperate the large masses and get yourself into a comfortable group.  Comfortable is used loosely here.
By the time we started the decent to the coast from the top of Coleman Valley Rd.  Kevin and I were in the 3rd group.  I kept telling him this is where we want to be.  By the time we hit hwy 1, our group worked well and caught the 2nd group.  We all stayed together for the next 20 miles.  About 5 miles before Marshall Wall an RV literally split our 30 person group into two.  This was one of the deciding factors for the rest of the ride.  We hit Marshall and it was full on race mode.  The climbing was brutal.  I lost Kevin part way up the long climb.  His seat bolt came loose and he was forced to pull over and fix his bike.
I did all I could to stay in the group of 10 that remained.  Bombing down Marshall was one of the scariest days I have experience.  There was a huge tail wind and side wind all at the same time.  Everyone was in their largest gear and being blown all over the road.  Scary…
Once we hit the bottom, it was gnarly head wind for the next 25 miles.  Our group worked really well through the wind, but we were never able to catch the group sitting 3-5 mins in front of us.  Everyone was mentally prepared for the last big climb of the day.  Joy Rd is one of the hardest climbs in the county, and to put it as the final climb is torture.  
By the time we hit the finish my legs felt like they were going to fall off.  Thankfully the grasshopper folks had plenty of ice cold cokes and chips to eat and drink.  It was a great day on the bike and I was happy to have Kev BRITE there racing too.
-Jason
(Kevin aptly gave Jason the nicknames “BigRing Benny aka DeLa Tear Your Legs Off”)

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  1. britesport posted this