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2008 Race Results

Big thanks to everyone for coming out for a sunny day of racing in Stinson Beach. Thanks especially to our sponsors Maxxis tires, Mellow Motors, Regular Exercise LLC, and Clif Bar, and all the volunteers that helped make this year's race a big success. See you all in 2009!

- CRC and Team Mako

PRESENT

The 48th Annual

Mount Tamalpais
Hill Climb

Saturday, September 27th 2008

$1,000 in cash, plus prizes

RACE SCHEDULE

* Junior fields will be picked separately

** New Field Limits for 2008: this year our permit requires that we limit the event to 450 racers across all categories. Registration will be closed once we hit this total. Approximately 35 slots out of the 450 total were available after the close of pre-registration. Fields that filled during pre-reg are noted in the table above. All other fields have at least 15 open slots each.

REGISTRATION

On-line Registration is closed.

Mail-in Registration is closed. Pre-register by mail by sending a signed 2008 USA Cycling standard entry and release and a check payable to “California Road Club.” Also include a copy of this Marin County waiver form, which is required from every participant. Send it all to: CRC - care of Gary Stein, 33 Tulane St., San Francisco 94134. Must be received by 9/23.

Race Day Registration may be available, in fields that do not fill during pre-registration. See above for updates and open categories. Add $5 for race day entries (except in the Public category).

DIRECTIONS
Race start and registration is at Stinson Beach Park. Exit from Highway 101 approximately 3.3 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge at Stinson Beach-Mill Valley exit (at the end of the bridge over Richardson Bay, if coming from the north). Follow Highway 1 north approximately 12 miles to the town of Stinson Beach. Parking, registration, and results located in Stinson Beach Park, 0.1 mile north of the only stop sign on Highway 1 in Stinson Beach.

Please follow course marshal directions when you get to Stinson Beach Park. One of the parking lots will be reserved for use by Tam racers, and we need to keep the others open for other park visitors.

PRIZES
Prizes for 1/2 Pro Men and 1/2/3 Women are $500 cash and additional non-cash items. Prizes in other races are T-shirts and merchandise. Thanks to all of our sponsors for their generous donations.

SPECIAL PRIZES

Set the course record, win $1,000
Break the 37:26 course record set by Justin England in 2004 and win $1000 (one prize to new record holder only).

Pelican Harbour 50-for-50 Women's Challenge

$50 to any woman who breaks 50 minutes
$50 to any junior woman who breaks 60 min.
$100 to any junior woman who breaks 50 min.

Big thanks to Pelican Harbour marina, Sausalito, for sponsoring the Women's Challenge again in 2008!

RULES
Events to be held rain or shine, but see note below about fire closures on Mt. Tam. Centerline rule is in effect on Highway 1 and Ridgecrest (see below). Current USCF license must be presented at registration. One-day USCF license may be purchased for $10.00 at race-day registration (Cat 5 Men, Cat 4 Women, and Public races only). Entry fee includes USA Cycling insurance surcharge. Race-day registration opens at 7:30AM and closes 15 minutes prior to scheduled start of each race. Legal cycling helmets are required. Numbers will be provided. No Refunds. No Champion Discounts. Entry fees apply to all riders.

Held under USA Cycling Permit #2008-1993

COURSE
The classic 12.5 mile course beginning at Stinson Beach State Park and continuing north for 4.4 flat miles on Highway 1. Turn right at Fairfax-Bolinas Road and climb to the finish at the Rock Spring parking lot on Ridgecrest Boulevard.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Please obey all traffic laws and be courteous to the residents of Stinson Beach. We are guests in their community and we should be respectful of that. This year we'll have extra marshals monitoring the entrance to Stinson Beach Park, and we'd appreciate your help in keeping the entrance clear to allow easy access for other Park visitors.

Race officials will strictly enforce the center-line rule due to safety concerns. We reduced the field sizes this year so this shouldn't be a problem. While our race permit provides full closure of Bolinas-Fairfax road, Highway 1 and Ridgecrest will be open to traffic. All racers are responsible for being familiar with the course and the rules of racing. A ten-second lesson about the center-line rule is available here. If someone yellow-lines you intentionally, please report their number to the race officials at the finish line (penalty: relegation or disqualification, 10 day suspension for flagrantly dangerous attack).

This race comes at the end of our dry season, and 2008 has been an unusually dry year. Every year there is a chance that the park authorities will close off the upper part of the course due to fire risk. We never know for sure until the day before the race, but so far we've had no cancellations. Update: as of Friday night we've heard nothing about potential fire closures, but we will have announcements at the race start regarding construction along Ridgecrest and Pantoll Road.

Results will be posted, and prizes handed out, at the registration area at Stinson Beach at approximately 12:00 noon. As with any race, those in contention for the top placings should stick around to get the results, and you must submit a timely protest to the race officials if you believe there are any errors. CRC posts only the results provided by the race officials, which are final after the close of the protest period, per USCF rules.

CRC will post full race results on this web site by the night of the race, with all of the finishing times the officials give us. They do a great job every year and work overtime, this is a hard race to score (and one of the few timed events on the calendar). Due to the size of the event a few times are going to be missed -- whether from a blocked view when a large group finishes together, or a bad pin job on the number. Thank you for your understanding with any missing results, and if you're in contention for a prize, be sure to verify results with the officials.

There will be no feeds and no wheel support. A sweep vehicle will pick up anyone stranded after the last race.

RACE PHOTOS

RACE RESULTS

RACE BETA

Thanks to our friends at MotionBasedTM, we have access to several GPS tracks of the course from the 2004 races, including Justin England's record-setting ride. Visit the MotionBased site to view a virtual "dot race"  of Justin as he goes neck-to-neck with Glenn Mitchell (and see how those rides compare with a few riders in other categories). You'll also be able to view detailed stats on the course including an interactive topo map with mileage, % grades, speeds, and more - overlaid on maps or a satellite image. You can even export and view it in 3-D using Google Earth.  Requires Internet Explorer with free Adobe SVG viewer plug-in installed - see site for details.

Click the images below for a few interesting views of the course. Use your "back" button to return to this page.

MEET THE SEVEN SISTERS

The Mt. Tam Hill Climb has three distinct sections. The first is a four-mile flat stretch of Highway 1 running alongside Bolinas Lagoon. Usually not much happens here, but a rider trying for the record will need teammates willing to keep the pace very high.

The second stretch, which is the main body of the climb, is a narrow and twisting road running through trees, Bolinas-Fairfax Road. There are few breaks in the climbing and several short stretches where the grade exceeds 10%. Total elevation gain along this section is about 1500 ft.

The final section follows an exposed ridge, climbing gradually to Rock Spring on the stair-steps local riders call the "Seven Sisters." You'll gain another 500 ft in elevation after the cattle grate, with the rollers along the way adding another couple hundred feet of climbing. The Seven Sisters are tough on fresh legs, let alone after the long grind up BoFax.

Click through the photos below to meet the "Seven Sisters" (well, six of them) and preview the run-in to the finish line.

The former cattle grate -- which is now paved over -- is the end of the climb on Bolinas-Fairfax road. After a short descent you'll pop out of the trees and face the "Seven Sisters."

The 1st Sister comes right after you leave the woods.

The 2nd Sister is shortly after 1st.

You get a short break before the 3rd sister and can pick up some speed on a short downhill. Coming into it with some speed, this can go pretty quick. But the top of this one is around the bend at the top of the hill you can see in the photo.

The 4th hardly counts, it's a quick rise after you summit 3rd.

After a very short down-roller, you come to 5th, the longest and steepest of all of them. This is one spot where you can really pick up (or lose) a lot of time.

The 6th can sneak up on you, it keeps going another hundred meters or so after you round the bend shown in the photo. Then you'll pick up some speed on a slight descent that takes you to clearing where hang-gliders sometimes launch.

After passing that hang-glider launch spot you'll pass through some trees and finish off the climbing on a deceptive little bump, which we're going to call the 7th Sister. Then it's onto the big ring (if you aren't there already) for the exciting downhill run-in to the finish. The finish line is at the white metal gate at the top of the rise you can see at the top-left of this photo.

Questions? Email: contact@californiaroadclub.org Please include a good subject line to make it past the spam filter.

Big thanks to our 2007 & 2008 Race Director, Jennifer DiPasquale.