King Ridge is the third race of the Grasshopper Adventure Series. The long course is 91 miles, 96% paved, with roughly 9,000 feet of climbing. The short gravel section is promised to be smooth, and perfectly fine to ride on a road bike. Luckily, this turned out to be true.

I've never ridden a single mile of this course before and I've never really done any road racing. This race is enduro-style, however, with three timed segments. Race results are based on the total accumulated time across all three segments.

King Ridge starts and ends in Monte Rio, in the Russian River area. I camped in the van at Cassini Ranch nearby, which is one of the few places to stay close by, without renting an AirBnB or similar. I got up early to ensure I had a parking spot where the ride started in Monte Rio, made breakfast there, and got ready for the day.

This was a tough event to dress for. It was in the low 40s when we rolled out and it was likely to hit the mid-70s by the end of the ride. The day didn't get progressively warmer, though. Every time we dipped close to the cost, it was arctic cold, and every time we rode up into the hills, we'd be treated to unyielding warm sunshine. I was incredibly glad to have removable sleeves, a vest, and long-fingered gloves for more than half the day, and rode with a large top tube bag on my road bike to stash them during the hot bits, along with lots of ride fuel.

The Plan

Bike setup: Road bike with 30mm tires w/ a modern lower-ish pressure. 

Fuel: Top tube bag to store ride fuel - mainly 2 soft flasks w/ 3x Carbs Fuel Gels each, 1 caf gel per flask. 2 1L bottles w/ Tailwind High Carb mix + 2 extra sachets of high carb mix for later in the day. I'd also eat as much as i possibly could at the two aid stations to hit my carb goals.

Tactics: Ride with friends and chill most of the day, and do my absolute best to ride near threshold on all three timed segments. 

Goal: I use MyWindsock to help plan time goals for segments, and also look at the Strava segments and see where people I know finish, and I end up with a fairly accurate set of goals. My total race goal time was 1h 52 min, which last year would have put me around 20th place. I ideally wanted to beat this time, but that was the goal line.

The Reality

Warmup

Rolling out for the first 14 miles before the first timed segment, it was freezing. Even with long-fingered gloves, I could barely feel my hands and feet. We quickly found a larger group to join and about 20 of us were rolling out together. The Bohemian Highway is the only way out of Monte Rio toward the first segment, but the cars here were a challenge.

Segment 1: Joy Road

Right on the gate this climb gets steep. Let me say now that this entire course had some of the steepest roads I've ever had the pleasure of riding. If you have a larger cassette -- run it. If you want to run road wheels on your gravel bike with lower climbing gears, maybe you should. This course is STEEP.

This segment is a two hump camel sort of thing. The first section is the steepest and once you get past that, you can settle in and survive the rollers through to the end. You gain about 1k feet in roughly 11 miles, which sounds better than it is.

I pushed and stayed on the gas here. My goal was 42 minutes at near threshold. I ended up at 42:45, with an NP of 322W, basically right where I wanted to be.

Descent and ride toward segment 2

Minutes after leaving the top of Joy Road, a somewhat sketchy descent presents itself. The road surface was rough enough to fully eject a 1L bottle from my bike. Thanks to Brandon and Adam for finding it! The sleeves and vest found their way back on as this descended into the cold fog along the coast. There is a water stop along the way that everyone seemed to stop at. This was great, since the first aid station isn't until after you finish segment 2.

Segment 2: Meyers Grade

Everyone seemed to suggest this was going to be the hardest segment. I think they are all equally challenging and would be hard pressed to pick one as the hardest. Meyers grade is very steep (13-15% in the first third)without any break at all, but its also the shortest. 

I wanted to keep threshold power here and arrive in 27 minutes or less. I finished in 25:34 with an NP of 321W. Success! I was feeling fantastic at this point and just after the finish line we had a great aid station to refuel at and hang out. I love the vibe of segment races where you can chat and eat and hang out whenever, and still hammer the good bits.

Rip to the coast and head toward segment 3

Mig said the Fort Ross descent was the most technical descent in all of California and I have no doubt in my mind that is true. You end up laughing mid-ride down this thing because it's so silly. Wildly steep, very narrow, nothing you'd want to drive a car on, and every single twisty corner has loads of pine needles and broken chip seal from the attempts to pave this baby way before you were born. 

Once you get to the coast, you put your sleeves on (again!) and enjoy a chill scenic ride north toward segment 3.

Segment 3: Kruse Ranch Road -> Hauser Bridge Road

What's a little gravel on road bikes between friends? This segment was insanely fun. The first half is on gravel, which has loads of rain ruts and flat-ish rocks making it an effort to pick solid lines, but nothing too rough where you were concerned riding road tires. Halfway up this gravel section I got a horrific cramp in my hamstrings, though. That was quite a bummer. I slammed down nearly a liter of drink mix to no avail. However, I now carry -- and so should you -- mustard packets on challenging rides and races. Something about the citric acid in the mustard basically short circuits your brain and erases the cramp sensations nearly instantly. It's a miracle. I got back on the bike after being off for a few minutes and started fairly chill. Unfortunately I couldn't hold anywhere near threshold power at this point so I just puttered along.

The last third of this segment is insane. It's something like 17% for over a mile. There are no trees. The sun is on full display. You have nowhere to hide. I see someone give up on the race and just start walking their bike. What is happening?

My goal here was 40 minutes, and I ended up piss poor at 45 minutes, thanks to the cramp, the break, and the resulting low-power grind to the summit. 

The last 20ish miles home

The second aid station is at the top of the final timed segment. We were elated that the time pressure was over and we could just chill now. The energy was high here - lots of good chats with folks, and loads of food and drink. Time to ride the rest back to the start.

These last 20 miles were absolutely stunning. This was gorgeous Sonoma riding and possibly my favorite section all day. I rode with friends on the way back, catching up on summits and ripping some descents. The final few miles are a bit of a grind getting back in, but it was a truly epic day out.

Reults

My goal was 1:52, I ended up with 1:53.5 or so. Not bad, considering the cramping. 

Logistics and Vibe

I need to give a special shoutout to Chef Matt Accarrino who delivered the finest plate of food I've ever had after a day on the bike. There wasn't even a moment to take photos, we just devoured this before anyone could say a word.

As usual, the Grasshopper series sets the bar for a quality day on the bike. Incredible route, challenging race, amazing support, and the vibes were high.

This was incredibly challenging, but one of my favorite days out.