Editor’s Note: After you’ve (hopefully) digested the big headlines of the day, you may be in need of something a little more uplifting. We’ve got that for you: On Saturday, Brennan Wertz won the Huffmaster Hopper, the mixed-surface race near the Snow Mountain Wilderness in northern California. The 89-mile (143-km) season openers draws a top-tier field of racers eager to test their form as they head into the new cycling season. Among the famous names this year were Lachlan Morton, Matthew Wiebe and, of course, Brennan Wertz, former U.S. Gravel National Champion, who won the race for the third time in a row. Here is Brennan’s report:
The Huffmaster Hopper is a part of the Grasshopper Adventure Series, a staple in the NorCal mixed-terrain scene. Miguel Crawford has been putting the Grasshoppers on since 1998, always with a perfect blend of fast racing, beautiful scenery, good times, and NorCal goodness. Miguel has created a very special community with his race series.
Of all the races in the series, the Huffmaster Hopper is definitely my favorite. If I were to design my ideal race course, this would be it. The route features a pretty even split of pavement and gravel, two decisive, but short, climbs, and many punchy rollers. We also race through orchards of blossoming nut trees and beautiful green hills, with snow capped mountains off in the distance. The gravel conditions are often hard-packed, and very fast-rolling.
The race is often very cagey in the first half, with many small breakaway groups going up the road. The race always kicks off properly when we hit the first main climb of the day, about halfway into the race.
This year, I attacked going into the climb and got away with one other rider, building up a 15- to 20-second gap over the main peloton. This was also a strategy I employed back in 2024. I knew the race would explode on this climb, as it always does. Sure enough, I saw Marcis Shelton, a young talent from Mill Valley who had an incredible performance last year at the Levi’s Gran Fondo, attacking and bridging up to me.
I see Marcis out training often, and I know how strong he is. When he got across to me, I did everything I could to hold his wheel and not get dropped. After ten minutes at well over 500 watts, I managed to crest the climb on his wheel, confident that we were in a great position for the rest of the race. We had picked off all but a few of the guys from the early breakaway, which had shattered on the climb.
Another local talent and one of my main training buddies, Skyler Taylor, made a huge effort to bridge across to Marcis and me. Together, the three of us began charging towards the finish. We picked up the remaining two guys from the breakaway and came into the final climb as a group of five.
Marcis and I both attacked on this final climb, and we dropped the other two, but not Skyler. On the descent, Marcis was willing to risk a bit more than I was, and he got a small gap on Skyler and me. But this was all working out exactly to plan. Skyler and I rotated calmly to chase back to Marcis. We let him dangle a bit ahead of us, where he was hopefully burning more energy than would have been necessary if he’d stayed with the break. Eventually, we caught him and resumed rotating smoothly. As we approached the finish, I tried an attack with about 5 km to go, but I could tell that the other two were too strong for me to get away. I realized that it would come down to a sprint.
With a substantial gap over the chasers, we slowed almost to a standstill, in a full-on track sprint. I did everything in my power to be third wheel going into the sprint and managed to achieve that. The final straight is painfully long—it’s always tempting to start the sprint far too early. I knew patience would favor me.
Marcis opened it up first. Skyler followed and overtook him. Then, in the last 100 meters, I was able to come around Skyler to cross the finish line first.
As you can imagine, I’m very pleased to start the year with a win, especially at one of my favorite races of the year. This was also a special result for me, as it was the third year in a row (and fourth total) that I have won the Huffmaster Hopper. I hope this result certainly bodes well for the upcoming season. For now, it gives me a nice confidence boost going into my next race, The Mid South. I can’t wait to race in Oklahoma again!
My setup for the Huffmaster Hopper worked really well. I opted for my Scott Addict Gravel with Rene Herse 38 mm Barlow Pass Endurance tires at 33 / 34 psi (2.28 / 2.34 bar). I have run the 35 mm Bon Jon Pass Endurance tires the last few years here, but I knew the course was in a bit rougher shape from all the recent rain. I decided to go up one size for this year’s edition. I’m glad I did—my setup was absolutely perfect!
Photo credits: Jim Merithew / @tinyblackbox