“], “filter”: { “nextException”:”img, blockquote, div”,”nextContainException”:”img, blockquote, a.btn, ao-button”}}”>
From Paris-Roubaix and unbound gravel to the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana and everything in between when you>”,”name”:”in-content-cta”,”type”:”link” }}”>join from outside+.
IYKYK.
I know, I should be kicked out of journalism for once thought To print it But – we’re talking about the Grasshopper Adventure series, which is definitely an ‘if you know, you know’ type of thing.
The beloved NorCal bike series kicks off its 26th year this weekend with the Low Gap ‘Hoppers, a traditional season opener. The distance and vertical (44 miles, 5,665 feet) are manageable in late January, but given the history of the event – and starting list of hitters Those are set to show up – The Low Gap will look more like a mid-season tussle than a pre-season warmup.
read this also: Kate Courtney, Luke Lamperti take Grasshopper Adventure Series season-opener wins
The mixed pavement and dirt course begins with a twenty-minute paved climb that Geoff Kabush calls “a wild awakening to the weather”. Then, says Pete Stetina, “You have to make a selection and find a group and because once you turn on the shit all hell breaks loose.”
Last year’s men’s race came down to a sprint between winner Luke Lamperti, Brennan Wertz and Alex Wilde; Wertz says he hopes “we can make a smaller selection first and avoid the race coming down to the sprint this time.”
Anyone who has run a ‘hopper’ race will tell you that it’s not just what happens on the course that makes the events so special – the whole day is a vibrancy. Most of the participants come from the greater San Francisco Bay Area, so the events can seem like a monthly get-together with friends before people disperse outside for the summer.
Maude Farrell says she and Kate Courtney (second and first place in last year’s Low Gap ‘hoppers) were talking about it recently.
Farrell said, “I’ve been talking with Kate about Grasshopper and brainstorming how best to have something in our own ‘backyard’.” “‘Cause either you do well and celebrate with your friends or you don’t and you celebrate with your friends. It’s hard to beat a Grasshopper parking party.
Good Things + Good Reasons Too
Miguel Crawford, founder of the Grasshopper Adventure series, is a renowned route-builder. He’s also made sure all the ‘hoppers have a greater reason than filling their wallets (jk, they never did — Crawford has been pulling double duty as a Spanish teacher and race promoter for decades).
Will benefit from this year’s low gap NorCal MTB League, The Ukiah High School Interaction Club, and West County Composite MTB Team.
The West County team and Interact Club are FeedZone sponsors, and they will each receive a $500 donation for their work. There will be a clothing and gear drive for the NorCal league, and Ukiah Brewery is also donating five percent of Friday’s Rider food and beer sales to the league. Crawford also plans to donate five percent of the event’s profits to NorCal’s Trail Stewardship and GRiT programming.
watch: gift of gravel
In addition to the beneficiaries of the event, good things will be happening at the bike race itself.
One is that 10 riders of color who have never competed in a Grasshopper Adventure Series event before will be racing Low Gap on Saturday. Crawford and local rider Nehemiah Brown have made this possible through their ‘Gift of Gravel’ scholarship. Brown has been going to ‘hopper’ for years, and in 2023 he aims to help give other cyclists in the Bay Area the opportunity to ride and race gravel.
Another 10 riders will also join their first ‘hoppers’ on Saturday thanks to the efforts of local racer and advocate Helena Gilbert-Snyder.
Gilbert-Snyder, who is a financial analyst for Specialized and also coaches two Northern California NICA teams, has recruited four other women to ride as mentors for a group of U19 girls.
Gilbert-Snyder says she came up with the idea that “women, especially in the high school range, are not running road/gravel/endurance type events the way men and young men are. I know there are very capable young women out there,” she says, “but they have a lot of hesitation: ‘I’ll feel alone,’ ‘I’ll be the last woman standing,’ ‘I’m not in shape / I’m too slow,’ ‘ ‘What if people make fun of me?’ and ‘I’m just scared.’
She hopes that having the girls ride with mentors (like elite riders Nikki Peterson and Caroline Dizendorf) throughout the race can take some of their hesitation away in the future.
Follow here for a recap of the racing and views from the U19 girls, who will undoubtedly be saying ‘IYKYK’ after Saturday’s race.
