Team MotionBased

The XC race season kicked off yesterday with the local classic, the Cool Mountain Bike Race Though the race is “Cool,” the race is named for its location, a small town 6 miles south of Auburn in the heart of California's Gold Country. The course is rolling fire road (double track) with some single track mixed in with a three creek crossings. The pro/experts do three laps of a 10 mile loop. The area doesn’t drain very well and because of the time of year the Cool Race has become notorious for its muddy, sloppy conditions. Last year riders were blessed with 6 inches of snow race day! The Cool Race has a great vibe, with passionate mountain bike enthusiasts putting it on. The support was excellent, with post race bowls of chili being served up and $15k worth of prizes being raffled off. I believe 400 plus racers were in attendance.With last year’s subfreezing temps, we were delighted to step up to the line with it 75 and sunny out. The race was expected to be fast and it was. Though, the field wasn’t stacked as years past, previous winners Aren Timmel and Jason Moeshler were there, as were Chris Schultz and Jim Hewitt who have made podium appearances in many local races. As expected, Timmel gunned it at the start, stringing it out over the first mile. It took me a few minutes to make my way up to third, for I had a bad position on the line. For most of the race I battled with Jason Moeshler, Downieville Champ, giving some time up on the descents but earning it back on the climbs. Timmel just dangled out there 10 seconds or so in front. I actually thought I or we were going to reel him in on the last lap, for he looked like he was going to pop at any second. The opposite occurred, he pulled away, beating me by 50 seconds as I put a minute or so into Jason. Finishing not too far off was Jim Hewitt and Chris Shultz.