Monday, July 31, 2006

RACE REPORT: 2006 Downieville Classic

Due to massive mechanical difficulties (broken swingarm retaining bolt), I wasn't able to race Downieville this weekend. Suprisingly, they held it anyway. Congratulations to the following Pro winners:
  • Jason Moeschler (All Mountain Men: XC + DH)
  • Rachel Lloyd (All Mountain Women: XC + DH)
  • Tim Olson (XC Men)
  • Katerina Nash (XC Women)
  • Rachel Lloyd (DH Women)
  • Mark Weir (DH Men)
Full results are here: XC, DH and All Mountain Pro.

So I don't have any firsthand accounts, but I'll post any links that I can find:
I'll continue to update this as I see more information.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

NorCal MTB Racing Photo Gallery

Since Google gave me an invite to their new Picasa Web Albums service (aka Flickr killer), I decided to suck up their storage space and post a lot of the photos that I've taken so far this year. So far, I've posted photos from:
The entire public gallery is available here and a RSS feed is also available. If anyone wants a high resolution copy of any photo, just contact us at the email on the left hand side of this page. I'll be adding more photo albums as I get time and storage space.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

2006 Downieville Classic Primer

So you've decided to head up to Downieville this weekend for the annual Downieville Classic. As this is one of the largest races here in the foothills, we here at NorCal MTB Racing have rounded up some resources to get you prepared:

Registration: If you haven't already registered for the downhill, you are out of luck. DH registeration filled up in about a week after being opened. However, it looks like you can still register for the cross country point to point race.

Schedule: Downieville runs over four days, but all the racing is Saturday and Sunday. Here's the abbreviated agenda:
Thursday
  • Trail Pre-ride Shuttles (9 AM, 12 noon, 3 PM): Shuttle service to Packer Saddle for those riders wanting a sample of Downieville’s finest singletrack descents. Both the cross country and downhill race courses will be flagged for pre-rides. Cost is $15.00 per shuttle.
Friday
  • Trail Pre-ride Shuttle (9 AM, 12 noon, 3 PM)
Saturday
  • Downieville Downhill Race (Packer Saddle at 9:30am)
  • Trail Shuttle (after DH: 1 PM, 3 PM)
  • Bicycle Expo / Street Fair
  • Ron's House O' Big Air River Jump
  • Live Music by The SaddleTramps (Downieville Fire House at 8:00pm)
Sunday
  • Point to Point Race - Sierra City at 9:30am
  • Bicycle Expo / Street Fair
More information is available here.
Courses:
Times: If you are contesting this year's race, you check out last year's winning times here (Myself, I am just trying to finish).

Social: Here's the MTBR roll call of people attending. Some good tips and information.

I'll post more information to this as I get it.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

RACE REPORT: Tamarancho

After seeing today's high temperature and reading a few of the race reports on MTBR, I am kinda glad I didn't make it out for the Friends of Tamarancho race. I haven't seen any results yet, but there are some photos posted.

UPDATE (07/25/06): The good people over at Team Motionbased have posted their race report , GPS plots and pro results. Olivier Bock won the Pro class with a 1:21 time for three laps.

UPDATE (08/09/06): Some results have been posted.

2007 Amgen Tour of California Route Announced

So this isn't MTB related but the 2007 Amgen Tour of California route has been announced. Starting in Santa Rosa, CA, it snakes through NorCal until heading south through San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles. To be held from February 18 - 25, 2007, the tour will cover 7 stages including a time trial and criterium.
• Prologue: Sunday, Feb. 18 - San Francisco
• Stage 1: Monday, Feb. 19 - Sausalito to Santa Rosa
• Stage 2: Tuesday, Feb. 20 - Santa Rosa to Sacramento
• Stage 3: Wednesday, Feb. 21 - Stockton to San Jose
• Stage 4: Thursday, Feb. 22 - Seaside to San Luis Obispo
• Stage 5: Friday, Feb. 23 - Solvang time trial
• Stage 6: Saturday, Feb. 24 - Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita
• Stage 7: Sunday, Feb. 25 - Long Beach circuit race
Full route information can be found here.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Riding Kirkwood

With the closure of Northstar at Tahoe this summer, a lot of people have been wondering if there are any other resort riding here in Northern California. The people over at dhRENO have taken upon themselves to scout out the other Tahoe option. Check out their photos and report on Kirkwood Ski Area's Bike Park.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Congratulations Floyd

Floydlandisbeer
photo courtesy of deadspin.

You can take the boy out of MTB races, but you just can't take the MTB racer out of the boy. Congrats on a well deserved Tour de France victory.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

USA Cycling Names 2006 MTB Worlds Riders

USA Cycling has announced the full 60 person team for the 2006 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships that are scheduled for August 22-27 in Rotorua, New Zealand. The U.S. Team Roster is:

Elite Men’s Cross Country: *Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo.), *Ryan Trebon (Ventura, Calif.), Adam Craig (Bend, Ore.), Jeremiah Bishop (Harrisonburg, Va.), Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.), Barry Wicks (Corvallis, Ore.), Michael Broderick (Chilmark, Mass.)

Elite Women’s Cross Country: *Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass.), *Georgia Gould (Ketchum, Idaho), Shonny Vanlandingham (Durango, Colo.), Willow Koerber (Horseshoe, N.C.), Heather Irmiger (Boulder, Colo.), Sue Haywood (Davis, W. Va.), Dara Marks-Marino (Flagstaff, Ariz.)

Elite Men’s Downhill: *Duncan Riffle (Santa Barbara, Calif.), *Justin Havukainen (Castro Valley, Calif.), Cody Warren (Alpine, Calif.), Curtis Keene (Fremont, Calif.), Cole Bangert (Twin Lakes, Colo.), Christopher Herndon (Etowah, N.C.), Luke Strobel (Renton, Wash.)

Elite Women’s Downhill: *Tara Llanes (Los Alamitos, Calif.), *Jackie Harmony (Tucson, Ariz.), Melissa Buhl (Chandler, Ariz.)

Elite Men’s 4-Cross: *Brian Lopes (San Clemente, Calif.), *Chris Powell (San Diego, Calif.), *Rich Houseman (Temecula, Calif.), *Eric Carter (Winchester, Calif.), Cody Warren (Alpine, Calif.), Make Haderer (Concord, Calif.), Lars Sternberg (Vashon, Wash.)

Elite Women’s 4-Cross: *Jill Kintner (Seattle, Wash.), *Tara Llanes (Los Alamitos, Calif.), *Melissa Buhl (Chandler, Ariz.), *Jessica Vogt (Boulder, Colo.), Leanna Gerrard (Lake Tapps, Wash.)

*Denotes Automatic Selection


Congratulations to all and if you are thinking about attending the UCI Worlds and have never been to New Zealand, I heartily recommend it. I used to work there and it is a spectacular country.

Friday, July 21, 2006

NorCal Racing This Weekend: June 21 - 23, 2006

It's a quiet but interesting weekend of racing before next week's Downieville extravaganza. With the cancellation of the Dreamcatcher downhill race, the only racing on tap is the Friends of Tamarancho XC at the 2nd Annual Fairfax Fat Tire Festival in Fairfax, CA. Details are still a little sketchy, but it looks like it's a 4.5 mile course (with varying laps depending on skill). A running thread over at MTBR has some more details along with maps.

RACE RESULTS: 12 Hours of Humboldt

Team Bigfoot has posted the results from their 12 Hours of Humboldt marathon race. The race was held last weekend in Arcata, CA.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Tour De Fat (San Francisco)

This weekend (Saturday actually) is the San Francisco stop for New Belgium Beer's Tour de Fat. Held on Saturday, July 22nd in Golden Gate Park (Speedway Meadow) starting at 11am. The Tour de Fat is New Belgium's touring cycling circus of riding, music and folly that raises money for local charities (San Franciscisco Bicycle Coalition and Bay Area Ridge Trail Council).

The Tour de Fat rolls into Truckee (near Lake Tahoe) on July 29th.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Candy SL Update

As an update to my earlier review of the Crank Brother's Candy SL pedals, here are some follow-on comments about their usage after three months:

First, the good. They are noticably lighter than my older Shimano 540s. They engage better, release better and don't need any adjustments. They've worn well. I haven't even got a chance to see how much better they shed mud. Quite simply, they were a drop in upgrade that took weight of my ride and work better.

The bad. I broke the stainless steel spring in the left pedal about two weeks after installing them. Okay, not broke, but "bent real bad." While I am hazy about exactly how I did this, I am pretty sure that I "curb checked" a large rock at about 25 MPH on the Dyke 8 trail. This isn't really a mark against the Candies, as I have beaten my SPDs up even worse (there is probably an element of user error also).
While accidents like this certainly happen, the real test is how the company supports you. And Crank Brothers came through like champs. After feeding them a completely ridiculous story, they asked me to ship them the pedals. In one week, UPS delivered my pedals with a new spring installed. All companies should be this easy to deal with.

Overall, the Candies have been very good pedals, but this story: Crank Brothers introduces new pedals (BIKEmagic Gear News) makes me think that I might be wanting a pair of mid-platforms when they arrive here in the U.S.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Dreamcatcher Cancelled

Sad news that the Trinity River Pirates' Dreamcatcher Downhill race has been cancelled . . .
We apologize for the shortcoming on our last race, the Magic Mushroom DH and for cancelling the current 7/22/06 Dreamcatcher DH.

The TRP core group has dwindled to two individuals and it has become virtually impossible to plan, prepare for and host races.

We do not know at this time for sure whether or not we will even be able to host the August Annual Race as we do not have the support of the Tribal Sovereign Days Planning Committee and don't know when we will be able to recruit the help necessary to once again host races in a professional manner.

We will make an official decision and announcement on the August race soon.
We hope they can pull off their annual "Where The Trails Return" event.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

CCCX To Host Fall DH Series ?

So I am not sure what to make of this announcement on the CCCX site, but it sounds very cool:
Downhill races in Northern California coming soon. Dates in August, Sept, Oct, Nov, and Dec.

Time Trial races to challenge Nor Cal DH racers. The trails will be fun riding and will include single track, fire roads, and some sections to check your fitness!

I wont have everything finalised until Aug. 1st and then......

August 1st will be the date for series info to be finished and complete with permits and what not.
I'll have all the details when they are posted.

2006 Tour de Granite

Okay, so I am really late on this, but here is a cross country race down in Shaver Lake, CA near Fresno. It is being organized by Team Spatdog and the course is described as "8 mile circuit course, starts and ends at Markwood Meadows. Fast descents, steep single track, granite climbs, 900ft Elevation gain per lap, creek crossing, steep granite hike." It looks like one or two laps depending on your category.
Event: Tour de Granite
Dates: August 5th, 2006
Location: Shaver Lake, CA [ MAP ]
Competition: XC
Cost: $45/pro & expert, $40/sport & beginner
URL: http://www.spatdog.com/tdg.htm
Registration: online here
License: None

Monday, July 17, 2006

2006 US MTB Nationals Wrapup

Wow, that was a long weekend of sun and racing at Infineon. For those of you who didn't make it up/down to Sonoma this weekend, here are links to articles, results and stories about the 2006 US MTB Nationals (Cougar Mountain Classic):
Overall, I had a great time this weekend. I know a lot of people will bitch about NORBA and the organization of the event (costs, course, poor attendance, few vendors, etc.) but I still will be extremely sad to see the US MTB Nationals move east next year.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

RACE REPORT: US MTB Nationals (My XC Race)

After days of waiting, it finally was my turn to get out and race on Saturday. After doing the pre-race ride of the course on Thursday, I decided to lighten up my wheel/tire set and put on the Kenda Karmas and junk the camelbak. I was concerned about using the new tread pattern, but the weight savings on this fast course was just too much to pass up.

As they lined up my group, it was strange how few people showed up. Two of my group was from last year's Cougar Mountain Classic (I remember racing against them), but the rest had come in from around the country. We numbered about 13 riders in my age/category bracket.
After watching the other classes start ahead of us, we finally got started. One guy jumped to the lead and was gone (I later found he had won Sea Otter in the same class). As expected, I felt pretty fast and good through the first lap. A little skid in the first turn and some passing problems on the chattery singletrack, but overall a pretty fast lap time for me. I was thinking to myself I was in about 5th place at the turn. The second lap didn't go anywhere near as smooth. Right off the bat in the second technical descent, I got a terrible case of chain suck. I had to dismount to clear it and by the time I got back on the bike, I saw two people in my age group whiz by. Cursing, I pedaled after them and was making good time. However, by the time I had hit the second feedzone (and steep hill) people were really starting to pass me. Morale was pretty low here -- I think I had slipped to 7th place by now -- but I trudged onward. Making up some more time after the hill climb, I cramped up terribly on some singletrack (Another dismount, another minute lost.) However, once I got back on the pavement for the last 2 miles, I felt like I caught a second wind as others were bonking. I must have passed four riders on the last two major climbs and then was flying down the technincal descent to the race track. Just as we came back into the stadium area, a guy two bikes ahead of me lost his chain and blocked the rider behind him. Seeing this, I put the hammer down, flew by them and sprinted out of the saddle the last mile. I almost puked when I hit the finish line.

After the race, we ended up waiting forever for the results. When they were finally posted, I scored a podium visit by finishing in 4th place. And I took 3.5 minutes off my time from last year. Sweet.
Being on the podium was super cool since I had struggled most of this year (as chronicled on this site). However, I must give credit where credit is due: The Kenda Karma tires were a huge, huge help.

RACE REPORT: US MTB Nationals (Day 3 Pro SuperD)

The SuperD race was run yesterday just before my race. Didn't get a chance to view them (busy preparing for my race), but it sounded like an interesting event. Partially run on the XC course, they used a mass Le Mans style start instead of time trials format.

Adam Craig won the men's event and Sue Haywood overcame a crash to outsprint the field for the women's win. I'll see if I can find some pictures and link them in here.

RACE REPORT: US MTB Nationals (Day 3 Pro MTX)

Although I missed the Pro mountain cross (MTX) finals (due to a scheduling problem), I did get to see the men's medal awards. Here's Eric Carter getting the stars and stripe jersey over Brian Lopes. Eric won the championship by getting the hole shot and then holding off Brian.

Jill Kitner benefited from Tara Llanes fall in the third turn to defend her National MTX title. Kitner was actually third in the race before Tara tangled with Melissa Buhl.

Men
1. Eric Carter, Mongoose
2. Brian Lopes, GT
3. Rich Houseman, Yeti
4. Cody Warren, C-Dub Racing

Women
1. Jill Kintner, GT
2. Leanna Gerrard, Bear Naked-Cannondale
3. Melissa Buhl, KHS
4. Tara Llanes, Giant

Here's an action picture from MTBR and the USA Cycling press release and Velonews article.

Friday, July 14, 2006

RACE REPORT: US MTB Nationals (MTX Qualifiers)


It looks like they finished the MTX course overnight. Hard to tell the overall course, but it appears to be less steep than last year's course. The bottom certainly has far fewer rhythm sections. The men's pro mountain cross qualifying results:
  1. Brian Lopes
  2. Rich Houseman
  3. Eric Carter
  4. Cody Warren
Mountain cross pro finals are on Saturday.

RACE REPORT: US MTB Nationals (Pro Women XC)


And another surprise in the Women's Pro XC. Georgia Gould (Luna Women) held off Heather Irmiger (Subaru) and Mary McConnelough (Seven Cycles) to capture her first pro win.

Gould pulled away in the last lap to win by 1:29. Results are available here. Race recap is here.

Local pros Jamie Whitmore and Kim Passafiume finished 11th and 30th respectively.

RACE REPORT: US MTB Nationals (Pro Men XC)

The Men's Pro cross country (XC) led off today with a suprise. After taking the lead in the second lap, Ryan Trebon (Kona) opening up a one minute plus gap on a chase group of four riders (Barry Wicks, Jeremiah Bishop, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Adam Craig). While the chase group tried to close the gap with a valiant try on the fourth lap, Ryan held them off for a convincing win.

Barry Wicks jumped out of the chase group to make it a 1 - 2 sweep for Kona.

The final standings were:
  1. Ryan Trebon (Kona) 2:02:24
  2. Barry Wicks (Kona) 2:03:18
  3. Jeremiah Bishop (Trek) 2:03:53
  4. Jeremy Horgan-Kobels 2:05:14
  5. Adam Craig (Giant) 2:05:36
  6. Todd Wells (GT Bicycles) 2:07:57
Local favorites Aren Timmel finished 11th and Tim Olson came in 17th. The full results are available here and a good recap here.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

RACE REPORT: 2006 US MTB Nationals (Day 2)

Finally got off work today, loaded up the Element and hauled my ass down to the US MTB Nationals / Cougar Mountain Classic. I was greeted with an eerie déjà vu from my last trip there (2005 Cougar Mountain Classic): semi humid (at least to me), hot weather with a withering sun. Why is there never any shade in Sonoma ?
View From The Parking LotWhatever the reason, I pulled into Infineon Raceway and paid my $10 for parking (although I get free access as a competitor, I still have to pay on the first day ? WTF?). As I was getting my gear out of the car to saunter over to registration, I heard the announcers broadcast another finisher for the Marathon race. Wow, that did not sound like fun (they started at 7 AM). I still haven't seen a results posted for this race. (UPDATE: Travis Brown and Melissa Thomas won the Men's and Women's Marathon. MTBR has the official press release.).

Registration was fairly uneventful: they checked my qualification and USA Cycling membership, sent me over to onsite registration and I paid my money. That isn't to say that everyone was happy. A bunch of people were pissed about having to pay almost an entire year's license for just this one race. I guess to compete in any of the championship races, you can't buy a one day license. As I got out of registration, the last marathoner finished at about 2 pm.
Pros Riding The Parking LotWith my reigstration done and racing plate in hand, I mounted up the bike and took off for a practice run on the XC course. The cross country course is as advertised and largely the same as last year. Long hill climbs, no shade whatsever (the "tree grove" is borderline pathetic), hard as hell and incredibly bumpy. There must be 3 miles of "chatter" in this course: rutted hard pack with 5 inch bumps that just rattle your back on the off-camber singletrack. I had entertained thoughts of riding my hardtail, but half a lap into my practice my lower back completely vetoed that idea. For Saturday's race, I am rolling full suspension, light XC wheels, lots of sunblock and a full camelbak.

While everyone is (and will be for a long time judging by some comments I heard on my practice lap) bitching about this course, I've seen worse. I'm going to go out, have a good time and see how it works out.
After I finished my XC practice laps, I took a quick tour of the expo/pit areas. While most of the manufacturers and pro teams had set up their pits, most of the other vendors had yet to arrive. The exception there was Kenda Tires, who had some good deals. I picked up two Kenda Kharma DTC tires for USD$24/piece and might use them come Saturday.


Shopping and hydration done, I wandered up the hill to see the gravity arenas. While the downhill was exactly as last year, it looks like they started from scratch for the mountaincross track. In fact, judging by the lack of rhythm track and the presence of backhoes, it looks like they aren't quite done yet. At least the starting gatehouse was up and ready.
The Downhill looks the same as last year. People were already pinning it in the easy places and washing out on the first turn. Overall, I think most people are pretty pleased with the downhill course considering what they had to work with.
I also dropped by the new short track course (but forgot to take a picture of it). They dropped it right by the Shimano tech booth and it should be really fun to watch. About 1/2 mile of heavily taped off turns where people will be able to stand right next to the riders.

That's all for tonight. Tomorrow, I'll have some live blogging from the racetrack during the day and some video (if I can swing it) at night.

US MTB NATLS: Day 2 Preview

Okay, today we are definitely racing. Long, long racing. The only official race on the schedule today is the Marathon, 9 laps of the XC course (about 63 miles). Here's the rest of the schedule for Today's US MTB Championship:
  • Onsite Registration (6:30-5)
  • XC Practice (1-6)
  • Marathon (7 AM start)
  • Downhill practice (8 - 4 depending on category)
  • Super-D practice (4 -6)
Check the entire schedule here.

2005 Cougar Mountain Classic Video

Just dug some video out from last year's Cougar Mountain Classic and posted it to YouTube. It gives a brief glimpse at last year's XC start/finish and the downhill course. I believe that these course are largely unchanged for this year's Cougar Mountain Classic / US MTB Championship.

Look for new videos live from the US MTB Championships starting tomorrow afternoon.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

NorCal Racing This Week: July 12 - 16, 2006

Big weekend of racing here in NorCal:
Since I actually qualified at the Bigfoot Classic a few weeks ago, I'll be spending my weekend in Sonoma.

US MTB NATLS: Day 1 Preview

We're racing! Okay, maybe not just yet, but the US MTB Championships (aka Cougar Mountain Classic) opened today at Infineon Raceway [ MAP ]. It looks like they opened a day early to allow for more onsite registration (online registration closed on Saturday) as well as some additional XC / Marathon practice time. On today's schedule is:
  • Onsite Registration (12-5)
  • XC Practice (12-5)
  • Marathon Practice (12-5)
It looks like the event organizers are going to be pretty good about XC practice this year; You'll have practice time on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Also of note today is the news that the event organizers will have a nice lounge to watch the Tour de France:
Infineon Raceway officials have taken things one step further with the Tour de France Lounge, which will be located in the main paddock and open to the public (free). It will showcase the Tour de France on six television sets daily beginning at 6:30 a.m., and the lounge will also feature couches, chairs, spin-bikes for cyclists, a massage area and cycling art work. Meridian Sports Clubs of California is providing many of the elements featured in the Tour de France Lounge.

A café experience will also highlight the lounge, complete with coffee, lattes, espresso, smoothies, energy drinks, muffins, pastries, fresh fruit and power bars. It’s a great way for race fans and competitors to keep tabs on the Tour de France while competing in this weekend’s Infineon Cougar Mountain Classic.
The coffee better be good. There isn't a Peet's within mile of the raceway.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Women's MTB Racing Clinic Set For US MTB Natls

Alison Dunlap and Marla Streb will be presenting an Advanced Racing Skills Clinic for Women on Friday, July 14th from 12 noon to 2 PM at the 2006 US MTB Nationals. Space is limited so hurry over to the webpage to find out how to register.

Titus Founder Leaves Company

Bicycle Retailer is reporting that Chris Cocalis has left Titus Cycles, the high end racing bicycle company that he founded in 1991. According to the article:
“The things that they proposed in the new contract were not really in my best interest. For me it was better to sell my interest in both companies now than to agree to basically stay there as an employee. I owned and developed and ran the place for 15 years, and it was time for me to explore other opportunities,” Cocalis said.
So this isn't really NorCal racing specific, but I know a lot of people ride Racer Xs out there.

Monday, July 10, 2006

US MTB Nationals Week

It's US MTB National Championship week. For those of you who haven't been following the site, here are the past articles to bring you up to speed on this week(end)s USA Cycling National Championship:
Now that you are all caught up, check to see if you qualified for your events and start studying the schedule to see what events you are going to attend. The NorCal MTB Racing crew (okay maybe just me and my brother) will be heading down to Sonoma on Thursday and we will have live blogging reports all weekend.

UPDATE (07/13/06): Check the home page for live US MTB Championship / Cougar Mountain Classic blogging.

RACE REPORT: NMBS #4 Deer Valley

NORBA #4 at Deer Valley, Utah is in the books. On Saturday for the XC event, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski ran away from the field to win the Men's competition, while Shonny Vanlandingham held off the rest of fhe field to win the Ladies. Unfortunately, the mountain cross (MTX) appears to have been a complete fubar. While most of the top Pros were at the JEEP King of the Mountain, the racers in Utah were racing on a BMX track. Yes, a BMX track. Velonews has the gory details, but needless to say, ex-BMX star Jared Graves took home the mens win here. Sunday brought the short track and downhill finals. Greg Kabush wins another men's short track title, while Katarina Nash took home the womens.In the DH, British youngster Tracy Hannah won the women's event and Greg Minnar won another men's title.

UPDATE (07/12/06): Team Motionbased filed their race report earlier. The dhReno crew has also posted their race report on the downhill event.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

JEEP KOM Results

This weekend's Jeep King of the Mountain (San Luis Obispo) results are in. It looks like Michal Prokop edged out Brian Lopes to take the men's final while Jill Kintner ousted Melissa Buhl for the ladies title.

MEN’S FINAL STANDINGS
  1. Michal Prokop – Czech Republic
  2. Brian Lopes – San Clemente, CA
  3. Eric Carter – Temecula, CA
  4. Wade Bootes – Australia
  5. Chris Powell – Carmel Valley, CA
  6. Mike King – San Diego, CA
  7. Travis Collins – San Luis Obispo, CA
  8. Brian Schmith – Lancaster, CA
WOMEN’S FINAL STANDINGS
  1. Jill Kintner – Seattle, WA
  2. Melissa Buhl – Chandler, AZ
  3. Tara Llanes – Corona, CA
  4. Katrina Miller – Australia
  5. Fionn Griffiths – Great Britain
  6. Marla Streb – Los Osos, CA
  7. Bobbi Kae Watt – Broomfield, CO
  8. Arielle Martin – Provo, UT
Full results and commentary on the website.

12 Hours Of Humboldt

I posted the original schedule for this a month or so ago, but Team Bigfoot has posted some details on the race.

This year's 12 Hours of Humboldt will be held in the Arcata Community Forest in Arcata, CA [ MAP, Directions ]. It is the second endurance race of the Team Bigfoot Solo Cup (along with completed 12 Hours of Weaverville as well as the upcoming 12 Hours of Williamette Pass and Whiskeytown 9 to 5). Open to anyone from solo up to 4 person teams, the riders will compete on a 8-mile course that has 1600' of climbing per lap [ COURSE MAP ]. Since the Community Forest is right next to Humboldt State, your right in town near stores and bike shops. From the organizers: "Expect some new stuff on the 12 Hours of Humboldt course, the local mountain bike community has been working with the city and we're gonna dig some new trails this year. We'll try to work as much of that into the race."

Event: 12 Hours of Humboldt
Dates: July 15th, 2006
Location: Arcata Community Forest, Arcata, CA [ MAP, Directions ]
Competition: MA
Cost: Solo Rider: $55, 2-Rider Team: $110, 3-Rider Team: $165, 4-Rider Team: $220
URL: http://teambigfoot.net/12hoursofhumboldt.htm
Registration: active.com ( Registration ends July 14th at 11:59 PM. No Race Day Registration! )
License: None

Deer Valley Norba Weekend at Team MotionBased

Team Motionbased has written up their race report from this weekend's NORBA #4 at Deer Valley, Utah. Check out Deer Valley Norba Weekend at Team MotionBased for details on the XC, Marathon and Super D courses. They even linked to the elevation and GPS map for the Super D race.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

2006 CCCX Series Final Standings

CCCX.org has posted the final standings for the 2006 CCCX MTB Series. Congratulations to:
  • Pro/Semi-Pro: Larry Hibbard (Family Cycling Center)
  • Expert (0-34): Nick Kintz (Joselyns)
  • Expert (35-44): Brock Dickie (Buy-cell.com)
  • Expert (45-54): Brad Williamson (Family Cycling Center)
  • Expert (55+): Gary Anghinetti (Penn Velo/Kendra)
  • Expert (SS): Micah Mozal (Joselyns)
  • Expert Women: Kathleen Bortolussi (Velo Bella)
  • Sport (0-34): Chris Sallen
  • Sport (35-44): Chris Marsiguerro (Joselyns)
  • Sport (45-54): Berge Lokmagozian
  • Sport (55+): Bob Nanninga (Team Singletrax)
  • Clydesdale: Russell Carmick (Bike Route)
  • Sport (SS): Max Hinckley (Bobcat Bicycles)
  • Sport Women: Birgit Johnston (Mom of 2)
  • Beginner (19-34): Gerardo Ceda (Marina Cycle & Skate)
  • Beginner (35-44): Mark Molchan (Trey's True Wheels)
  • Beginner (45+): Curtis Colaw (TROGS)
  • Beginner Women: Michelle Monroe
  • Junior (14-18): Menso De Jong (Syndicate)
  • Junior (0-13): Maximillam Burkhart (GBK)
  • Junior Girls: Jesse Blalock

ROAD TRIP: NORBA #4 Deer Valley, Utah

It's a lonely weekend of MTB racing for NorCal. Nothing on the schedule due to next weekend's US MTB National Championship. However, if you haven't qualified or just want to see some pro MTB action, get the kids together and head for Utah. This week's NORBA National is NORBA #4 in Deer Valley, Utah (outside Salt Lake City). Just a short 12 hours from Sacramento by car, Deer Valley will sport cross country (XC), downhill (DH), super D (SD) and marathon races.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

RACE RESULTS: 2006 Bigfoot Classic


The results for the 2006 Bigfoot Classic have been posted:
Scroll down past the XC for the DH results. Congrats to Rick Goldrup, who unofficially won the DH with a 3:12 best two of three runs time, and Tim Olson, who won the Pro XC event. I think that this is Tim Olson finishing in the picture on the right. No word on the Super D results yet.

For more on the race, see my XC race report and this MTBR thread for pictures. There is also a race report on the downhill at MSDHW.com.

2006 Spring PCRS Final Results

The final results of the 2006 PCRS Spring Series have been posted. Unofficial congratulations to:
  • Expert Men (0-20): Cody Kaiser
  • Expert Men (21-34): Tim Helms
  • Expert Men (35-44): Brian Rouse
  • Expert Men (45+): Dan Mackey
  • Expert Women (All): Jamie Stamps
  • Sport Men (0-21): Graeme Pitts
  • Sport Men (21-34): Josh Carling
  • Sport Men (35-44): James McNeil
  • Sport Men (45+): Rick Burns
  • Sport Women (0-34): Renee Ridgley
  • Sport Women (35+): Jennifer Calvin
  • Beginner Men (0-15): Evan Shorter
  • Beginner Men (16-20): Bryant Brandeen
  • Beginner Men (21-34): Derek Milsaps
  • Beginner Men (35-44): John Barnes
  • Beginner Men (45+): Steve Pass
  • Beginner Women (0-34): Lisa Fitzgerald
  • Beginner Women (35+): Joilynn Hollingsworth
  • Singlespeed (0-34): Dezmin Wilder
  • Singlespeed (35+): Mike Mathis
  • Cyldesdale: Clint Claassen
  • Tandem: Dale Burske / Will Hilgenburg
Awards will be handed out at the BBQ Awards and Raffle on July 12th, 2006.

Monday, July 03, 2006

RACE REPORT: CCCX #7

CCCX #7 results have been posted. This was the last race in the CCCX series and the series results should be posted soon. There's a short thread over at MTBR about the finale. There are also photos here and here.

RACE REPORT: 2006 Magic Mushroom

The Trinity River Pirates have posted the 2006 Magic Mushroom results. It looks like they went ahead with the downhill, just in the twilight. Props to Jared Delong, who won the Men's Open Class, and Ray Williams Jr., who took the Junior Open Class.

There is also a really good video of the event here.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

RACE REPORT: 2006 Bigfoot Classic (Day 2 XC)

Got up in the early morning fog of Eureka to grab a cup of coffee and make my way up the mountain for the Bigfoot Classic XC race. The conditions at the top of the mountain near the race site were perfect and it looked like a huge amount of people turned out. Someone later told me that we had 165 racers (about twice past years). Whatever the final count, we had a large field and a crowded pit: lots of pro riders, sports and a few beginners.


The course was one of the better ones that I have ridden: some long climbs, swooping downhills, technical singletrack and even a few hike-a-bikes. It measured out to 14 miles and about 2700 feet of climbing per lap. The pros did two laps, sport one and a half and beginners one. I didn't remember to turn on my GPS unit at the start, but here is most of the course:

Here's the elevation profile:
My race turned out pretty well. I climbed well during the first set of climbs, got a little bogged down during the hike-a-bikes then made up the time during the flat at the mid-point of the race. Unfortunately, no race of mine would be complete without an epic crash. And I certainly didn't disappoint. Just after the 1/2 way point on the divided singletrack, I pulled endo'd in some mud at about 25 miles per hour (it looks pretty cool on the GPS readout). At first, I thought I had broken a rib as the bike had pummelled me in the chest during my crash, but after I pulled my bike out of the nearby tree (!) I was back racing. I pulled it together to finish with a respectable time and won my category.


I didn't get a chance to stick around for the awards ceremony, but the unofficial pro results were:
  • Tim Olson (2:14:05)
  • Aren Timmel (2:15:37)
  • Michael Lee (2:16:40)
  • Nigel Hill (2:23:08)
Overall, the race was a great experience. My hat off to Vic (in the picture above posting results) and the rest of Team Bigfoot. It was well worth the six hour drive for the race. I posted some more photos from the race over on this thread at MTBR.