Super Sweewater** Course Route Update

Posted April 3, 2014

Sign says it all. Think they need to put a sticker that says this on every baby entering the world and avoid all future law suits and blaming others.

Old Caz Dirt. Big Tires my friends…flats suck!This is a classic Hopper. In fact, the very first Grasshopper 16 years ago went over Sweetwater Springs Rd. I believe Rick Hunter had a radio strapped to his bike so we could listen to the Niners game. It’s a tiny ribbon road that goes from West Side Rd to Armstrong Woods Rd. The climb on the “back” east side nears 20% and though relatively short, will split up the group for good.

The course is back to it’s original route. This means we will be doing Sweetwater Springs Rd. -Old Cazadero Rd-Fort Ross Rd. Here’s the Strava 70 miles and 9 K of climbing! All riders will get a custom laminate map with directions. The course will be marked with arrows on the road. Riders will roll on their own to RiverFront Park where we’ll gather briefly before heading out at 10:45.

This is a classic Hopper. In fact, the very first Grasshopper 16 years ago went over Sweetwater Springs Rd. I believe Rick Hunter had a radio strapped to his bike so we could listen to the Niners game. It’s a tiny ribbon road that goes from West Side Rd to Armstrong Woods Rd. The climb on the “back” east side nears 20% and though relatively short, will split up the group for good.

What bike should you ride? The ideal bike is a road bike that can accommodate 25 or 28c tires. The “only” dirt is Old Caz. This is a 3 mile dirt descent with a creek crossing, a dirt climb and another dirt descent. I’ll be on my Specialized Crux Disc with 25 tires. This is NOT the Hopper for tubulars or fancy wheels. Back before all the fancy cross bikes and road bikes with disc breaks we’d be on our Ibis Spankys, Eddy Mercks, Soulcrafts or in my case a Miyata and just be careful on the descent. I’d say this ride pushes the limits of all bikes and riders and is what makes Super Sweetwater special. You can of course ride a cross bike but will not want to be on knobbies all day. However…it is a Hopper and and Adventure so come one, come all. It’s been done on a fixed gear and a tandem but never seen a unicycle yet. Some photos to wet your appetite. BTW…it’s the week after Sea Otter so maybe some of the Big Guns will be out. WAS…65 mile, 6500 ft of climbing. Yeeeehaw! Fort Ross Rd is OPEN. This means we “get” to climb Fort Ross and will be blessed with Meyers Grade decent to Russian Gulch. Can’t wait.