SoNoMas Race Report- Matt Leonard

A couple months back, I was debating on whether or not to do 2 or 3 laps, not knowing the elevation profile of the race. Then the axed the 3 lap option, and I was thinking, "I should just challenge myself and do 2 laps." Reality set in, and I didn't get a chance to ride enough and decided 6000 ft and 33 miles would be plenty.

Saturday morning I picked up my friend Antonio and we hit the road. We arrived around 9, just in time to see the 2 lap nut jobs take off. I was able to give Allan, Rafael, Isaias, and other "who's who" of bay area cycling a little heckling. After registration and getting my stuff ready, Antonio and I quickly found shade by the start/finish. Luckily, our shade tree just happened to be the front of the starting line. At 9:30 am, it was probably already in the 90s. Now, Antonio has always been a fast guy, but I was able to finish a couple minutes ahead of him at the NVDC, which shocked me. But he has been training. "10 seconds to start!" I was already sweating pretty badly, just standing in the shade. I took off at an average pace, knowing I had a long day ahead of me.

We did 2 laps around the S/F area to thin the crowd out, and I was probably mid pack. I passed a few people, but quickly realized, it was not my day. I quickly set aside my pride and ego and accepted the comfort of my granny gear on most climbs. I was sloppy on the descents, and slow on the climbs, not a good combination for race day. At the first long decent, I felt like my brake pads were showing signs of wear, and when we hit the creek crossing, I knew it was time to climb, and I just let 5 people go by before I even got back on my bike. I rolled with a SSer for awhile who was pretty fit, and we hit mile 13, according to my watch, and the EMTs at the aide station said we were half way there. Um, sorry, you were wrong :-( Close, but not quite, I still had 17 miles to go.

I took frequent several minute breaks and suffered both on the climbs and descents. Although, the breeze during the descents was nice. After we hit the Liberty Glen campground (mile 22ish), it was all familiar trails from last years races. Murphy dumped what seemed like buckets full of ice down my back, and shockingly (for several reasons) down the front of my shorts. I reapplied sun screen, and was informed I had 8 miles to go. Now, the thing that killed me mentally during the race is that we drove up the finishing paved climb, which looked like no fun at all. But, after I left the campground, I put it in the middle ring, little cog and slogged up a paved climb and felt surprisingly good, even passing two people. Maybe that final climb won't be so bad after all! After a 1.5 mile paved decent, back on the dirt, mostly single track and I felt great.

I zoomed through some amazing trails, enjoying both shaded tree covered areas, as well as panoramic views of the lake and the neighboring mountain range. One last steep single track climb and I keep passing people. At the top on the road, I see about 10 people stopped drinking water. But they took off before I could make it back to the pavement. I was able to pass 3 of them, encouraging them that we were on the home stretch, maybe a mile of pavement left. Right turn, and up we go. Same thing, middle ring, little cog. It must have been 115 on the pavement, at least it felt that way. Fortunately, the climb was much less challenging than I had initially thought. I struggled to take my gloves off to keep as cool as possible, and kept turning the pedals over. Right turn again, and up some more with welcoming faces shouting words of encouragement. I made my way through a sea of people, eating and drinking beer, and rolled my tired carcass over towards the finish line.

Maybe 4 hours 15 minutes, somewhere in the back of the pack in sport, but, I feel like I put myself through an extreme test of will, and succeeded. Allan and Rafael were lounging around, and I thought they wussed out. But the race organizers called it a day and didn't let anyone go out for a 2nd lap. Antonio ended up winning the expert class with a time of 3:20ish, and seemed surprisingly rested. It took me at least 30 minutes before I could put together complete sentences, enjoy a beer, and eat some food. What a day.

Matt