Huffmaster 2026 Race Report

Huffmaster is the second race of the Grasshopper Adventure Series. The long course is 90 miles, 54% on road and 46% on gravel, with only roughly 3,300 feet of climbing, despite RideWithGPS showing 4,800ft.

I had ridden about half of the course twice before on some training rides last summer when it was nearly 100F. Despite sub-freezing temperatures at Low Gap just a month ago, the weather forecast for Huffmaster this year was very promising. Highs in the 70s, and a few warm dry days before the race to burn off some of the mud that resulted from the previous week's rain.

This course has three primary sections. First is a long fairly flat roll-out from town for the first 40 miles where being in the front bunch would be highly beneficial. The middle 25 miles are a mix of road and dirt where selections will undoubtedly be made. The final dirt climb starting around mile 68 is short, with a long fast gravel descent, landing you on a 5 mile slightly-downhill gravel road where you'll find the last 5 miles of mixed surface flat miles to bring it home at mile 90 in the town of Maxwell, CA.

The Plan

Bike setup: For the first time since I've had the MOG, I went with the smallest tires I could fit - back on the Schwalbe G-ONE RS Pro in 40mm, which blow up to 43mm on my Zipp XPLR 303 wheels. I wanted to be fast on the road, and I knew that none of the gravel was rough enough to demand more volume.
Fuel: 2L bladder + 2 1L bottle w/ 4x Tailwind High Carb + 9 Carbs Fuel gels in 3 soft flasks, three of which contained 100mg of caffeine; planning to refill ~1L in my bladder pack at the second aid station at mile 68
Tactics: Huge focus on staying in the front of the lead group for the first 40 miles, ride strong through the first big gravel section, find a small group to work with, and motor hard on that final long gravel section
Goal: After looking at finishing times for previous years, I set myself a challenging-but-hopefully-achievable goal of finishing just under 5 hours

The Reality

Bike setup

I wouldn't change a thing. I did see some folks rocking even narrower tires, some on endurance road slicks. I got a little too spicy on the first dirt descent, overcooking two corners that took me into very questionable lines. Something I would have loved on the Thunder Burts, but feared on these narrow tires. On smooth champagne gravel around mile 43 I felt cool liquid hit the back of my calves -- tire sealant. I had skipped the first aid station, but just a few hundred yards later I was pulling over to see a rear puncture. All hail Orange Seal. I carry an electronic pump with me, so I just got the tire back up to pressure, spun it around, and hopped back on. It held for the entire rest of the race.

Fuel

Nailed it. Mostly. It was a bit aggressive to carry 4L of water (8.8lbs!) not to mention three full flasks with 9 gels in them, but I absolutely nailed the carbs for the day and did stick to my plan of only stopping once at mile 68 to get one more liter of water w/ mix.

This was the first race that I used caffeine more intentionally. I had a caffeinated Carbs Fuel gel 5 min before the race started, and I had one of the gels (of 3) in each of my soft flasks, ensuring I was keeping up with approx 100mg of caffeine every hour.

It was warm out, and a bit humid, so I had no problem drinking all 4L on my way to the aid station, and took my gels consistently as well.

My strategy for hydration pack vs. bottles was to drink from bottles when I could - mostly on flatter road sections in large groups, and drink from the pack when it was harder to deal with bottles. This worked very well, but I did have to check several times what my hydration status was, since it wasn't always easy to guess how much I'd drank up to that point.

Soft flasks with gels in them is such a great way to fuel races. No wrappers, no chewing, no deciding what to have. All my flasks had the same contents, so I didn't even have to make sure I was grabbing the right one. All three fit in my 1L Tailfin top tube bag, along with a Dynaplug and my electric pump.

The only fueling miss was electrolytes. My sweat does not test super salty, but we essentially had a warm early summer day of racing on the first day of March, so I likely needed more electrolytes than I was getting through all that fuel. Around mile 80 I started getting those leg sensations – cramping was not yet happening, but it could strike if I pushed too hard. I rode the last 10 miles pretty chill Z2 and kept the cramps at bay, but it would have been nice to have pushed harder until the end.

Tactics

This race basically went exactly to plan. Staying near the front of the group for the first 40 miles meant I was safe from a few early crashes when those first gravel sections came and went. I felt surprisingly fresh all the way through to the aid station at mile 68, having perfectly calculated the hydration and fueling needs to that point, carrying it all from the start. I was also just very lucky that I caught up to small groups in the middle section to work with, that made quick work of those miles. The bike setup was perfect too. I would not have changed a thing.

Results

As usual, I looked at previous years results to approximate my goal time. I saw that last year, if I could sneak just under 5 hours even by a minute, that would be roughly 24th place or so. I used various apps to calculate my goal times at key points in the race so I could stay on track, and it felt amazing to be ahead of my goal time the entire day. The last 10 miles being a slower pace probably cost me several minutes, but I still arrived in 4:52, a full 8 minutes ahead of my goal. Despite the rain the weeks and days earlier, most of the course was bone dry and quite fast, so my time still only got me 28th place, but I'll take it.

Logistics and Vibe

I camped in the van at the Maxwell High School parking lot the night before the race, after picking up my packet on the way in. This was very convenient and just a shout down the road from the race start. There weren't that many campers, though, so it didn't quite have the same community vibe the night before.

Those first 40 miles were like a giant fun group ride, too. It was a bit surreal to be chatting it up with everyone and riding fairly chill, while zooming through the flats at 22mph average. It was such a nice way to start the day and made it that much easier to reconnect with familiar faces later on in the day.

The race starts and ends at a small town park and the vibes were high. There were some great local vendors, along with the Grasshopper season sponsors and my shop and team Marin Service Course helping any hobbling bikes get back in shape. If I could change only one thing about the apres vibes it would be to tell myself to put on sunscreen :)

Next month we're off to King Ridge for a 90 mile road ride with three timed segments totaling 23 miles of racing. See you there!