This Friday, Peter Stetina takes on Rob Britton's Ghost in the Mega Hopper cycling adventure -- After crashing out of Unbound XL just an hour into nightfall, I'm ready to push through the night again—this time with fresh focus and resolve. Next season, I’m planning to take on some of these longer events to pursue new adventures and build valuable experience.
You’ve probably heard of the Grasshopper Adventure Series. The Mega Hopper is a beast—linking the earliest courses together for a massive challenge: 416 miles and 43,000 feet of climbing across roads, dirt, singletrack, creek crossings, and mountain terrain.
Route - 416 miles through Sonoma, Marin, Lake, and Napa Counties. This is essentially the greatest hits tour of Grasshopper routes and all the legendary roads the area has to offer. This route includes the classic Hoppers Old Caz, Chileno Valley, King Ridge, Fort Ross, Super Sweetwater, Super Skaggs, Ida Clayton/Spring Mtn., Bear Valley, and The Geysers. Though primarily paved roads, don’t let this fool you. For many of the roads in Sonoma County, you will be stoked to be on a wide-volume tired gravel bike. The dirt sections include Mt. Vision, Inverness Ridge, 5 Brooks to Olema Valley, Bolinas Ridge, Willow Creek, Old Caz, Skaggs (Lake Sonoma Single Track is not in the route this year) and Western Mine Rd.
What excites me most about this event is how it brings gravel racing back to its roots—testing “can I do this?” instead of just “how fast?” That said, I’m naturally competitive and will be chasing Rob Brittion’s record. Since these are all familiar local roads I’ve trained on, I’m hoping my knowledge of every mile, water stop, and store will help offset my limited ultra-distance race experience.
I’ll be starting this adventure Friday the 11th at 7:30 a.m. Here is my gear breakdown for this adventure.
- Canyon: Endurace CFR with Gear Groove aerobars (I stand by this as the best bike for anyone who rides our roads with "character" in NorCal, so time to prove it). Canyon flexpost.
- Shimano: Dura-Ace 50-34 front, 11-34 rear, C50 wheels, PRO touchpoints, photochromic lenses, RC903 shoes.
- IRC: Boken Plus Lite 38c tires.
- Sportful: Prototype gravel suit with reservoir pocket. packable warm clothes in frame bags.
- Wahoo: ROAM v3.
- Athletic Brewing: Custom bottles + finish beer waiting for me.
- Rex: 11:1 chain and mini Black Diamond bottle in seat bag.
Video Story here. Fun little tracker site over at www.peterstetina.com.