Super(hard)Hopper
You know it’s been a good Hopper when someone tells you “I will never…do another…one of these again!” Especially when it comes from Napa hard-man Curtis “I’ll build my own fucking bike and ride whenever and whatever I want” Inglis. After a Coke and an turkey sandwich his spirits picked up. Too bad it rained pretty hard on the way to Monte Rio. Hats (helmets off to everyone who endured ths epic adventure to the finish. I’m too tired to write much of a ride report but got the results for ya’ll. Not that any of that really matters. Right? Got a story to tell? Send it my way.
Showing 11 comments
Another great and memorable adventure! I nearly wimped out and decided not to do it, so glad I didn’t give into my worst tendencies.
Hi,
Awesome race/ride. Saw stars at the beginning of Willow Creek. Caught Boozeley, who said “Bonked so hard i was seeing stars, so i pulled in had a Heineken” He then rode me off his tail and I continued to see stars until I enjoyed the coke at the top.
thanks for a great ride. Oh and I am the CAPO jersey…Rowan Edwards who is DNF lower down the results page.
thanks,
rowan
That’s the closest I’ve ever come to wimping out on a Hopper. So many options to shorten the course. Thank you Royce for prodding me along.
Ohhh the pain. The coke was heaven and the soggy slog back to the car was hellish (cramped for the first time rolling into Monte Rio). Who’s idea was that?
These experiences raise the bar for what I think I can endure.
Thanks Mig. I hope to see you at the next one.
Things I can remember: Levi going to the front and me getting dropped before Occidental. Being on the verge of puking while bridging up to the lead chase group all the while thinking that the climbing hadn’t even started. Getting dropped very quickly as soon as we hit the first Sweetwater hump. Teaming up with Dan Boyle who thank god stayed with me as he earlier alluded to bypassing Old Caz and just ride back to the car. Dan and I working really well with eachother from Cazadero to Willow Creek and suprised that we didn’t pick off some cramping riders. The classic was some guy caught us just as we hit the first Sister. He came up on my left and I had to reluctantly move to the middle of the road, no sooner my rear wheel flicked a good size stick into his rear derailleur. Never saw that guy again. Doing the whole ride in with only bibshorts, polypro undershirt and jersey made for a full vision quest back to the car in Monte Rio as it only rained harder and harder. Will probably take me until the next one to recover. And oh, what’s the time penalty for using two different bikes?
Thanks again for these rides, Royce
Indeed, the most difficult Hopper I have done! My memories are coming back in short bursts much like someone who is suffering through post-traumatic stress syndrome. Memories so far include:
1) seeing a near head-on collision while climbing BoHo Hwy;
2) watching the lead group blast through the Graton stop signs as though they owned the town (needless to say, my slowing down was punished by having to try to bridge back-up);
3) completely killing myself along Westside Road in a futile solo attempt to catch back onto the chase group only to watch the group turn onto Sweetwater Springs and ride away;
4) finding a second (or was it 3rd, 4th, or 5th?) wind, to battle to the front of the climb on Sweetwater to see some triathlete walking his bike up the road in his socks (possible hallucination);
5) happily bombing Old Caz and thinking how cool it is that the road is slowly becoming a single-track;
6) puking my Clif Bar as I turned into the driving, cold rain on Hwy 16 and realizing that I felt better afterwards;
7) having to walk up the second sister as my legs felt as though they were going to explode;
8) happily seeing the finish and being given a bottle of Duncan’s wine;
9) shaking so violently upon arriving in Occidental that I pulled into the hardware store to ask for their kindness to let me warm-up in front of their heater;
10) leaving the store to resume shaking immediately for what was the most frightening descent back to the car as I could barely hold onto the bars due to my arms shaking from the cold; and
11) arriving back at the car to find my friends wondering if I had ridden off the road…
Love this stuff…what makes these rides so great.
Time penalty for switching bikes? More like time bonus… You have much to learn Grasshopper
Time penalty is 10 minutes, results unaffected.
What has this world come to? We went from NO SUPPORT EVER to switching bikes in a grasshopper? Y’all are are bunch of sissies!
Sissies for switching bikes? More like Winners. I can’t believe everyone thinks this is why we won, everyone had the same opportunity to ride on Levi’s wheel and switch bikes. Truth is you couldn’t, so now you do what sissies do and whine about missed opportunities. I think I’m gonna make you all cry @ the next one… What bike/bikes should I use?
To add to Bobo’s list:
12. Watching Bobo roll up like the Michelan man all puffed up with brown paper towels and then unzipping his jersey and being reminded of that scene in Animal House…
Oh, and then there’s some footage I captured:
http://vimeo.com/24638999
Sorry for the low quality. Broken camera mount, rain, wonked out rider.