NVDC and Howell Mountain Announce 2008 Dates

The Napa Valley Dirt Classic and Howell Mountain Challenge events have announced their 2008 dates:

• Napa Valley Dirt Classic (website): April 13, 2008
• Howell Mountain Challenge (website): August 10, 2008

From their websites, it doesn't look like much has changed for this year (which is good). These events are probably the best Bay Area (Napa) XC races. For more information, see the archives (links at the top of the article).

More Auburn Racing in 2008

From MTBR:

I have taken my American river adventure race date's and changed them to MTB races ... The race dates are as follows, June 7th, July 26th and August 30th. These dates are not in stone just yet ... One of the events will be a great big Downhill event at Mammoth Bar OHV area. The other two dates will be two MTB cross country races ... One of which has a 18 mile downhill and a very hard three mile climb out."The Superman" course. You must best be at the top of your game for this one. This race course has a little Downieville in it, but the climbing is after the downhill and you must be in alittle better shape ... One of the MTB races will be 100% non-profit and go to a great cause.

Wow, great news. More information next week.

UPDATE (11/29/07): "The Downhill event is set for June 7th at Mammoth bar. The other two cross country dates are July 26th and August 30th. I may change the August date as the Tahoe-Sierra 100 is Sept 5-7th. May be mid to August."

New Terrain Mode for Google Maps

Wow, this is very cool:

"Google has announced a new mode called Terrain for Google Maps which lets you see relief maps of 3D terrain. This is a very useful mode if you are going hiking, mountain biking, skiing, etc. in rough terrain areas. Or, if you just want to get an idea of the lay of the land when you're looking at the map. " (Via Google Earth Blog: New Terrain Mode for Google Maps)

This will be very useful if they have some of the MTB trails marked.

2007 CCCX Fall Downhill Race #4: 11/25/07

Results have been posted for yesterday's CCCX Fall DH #4. Congrats to Curtis Beavers (Specialized/WTB) and Lainey Aldridge (Gravity Addix), who won the men's and women's Pro/Semi-Pro races.

UPDATE: Pictures have been uploaded by RickR.

IMBA and Sea Otter Join Forces

Socks for a good cause:

"The Sea Otter Classic and IMBA have joined forces to raise funds for mountain bike initiatives in California. On Saturday, April 19th, 2008, the annual Sea Otter festival will once again play host to the Mountain Bike Magazine Off-Road Tour. A perennial favorite of festival attendees, the Off-Road Tour has guided more than 600 riders on trails in the Monterey region. This year, riders will have the opportunity to raise funds for California trail projects:

• A donation of $25 additional to the Tour registration fee earns IMBA cycling socks.
• A donation of $65 additional to the Tour registration fee earns a custom IMBA/Sea Otter Classic cycling jersey."

(Via IMBA and Sea Otter Join Forces | Press Releases (Sea Otter Classic - April 17-20, 2008))

USA Cycling 2008 National Championship Calendar

USA Cycling has announced their National Championships for 2008. The interesting (i.e. MTB) ones are below:

USA Cycling’s 60,000 licensed racers will have a lot to gear up for in 2008 as USA Cycling announced this week the dates and locations of the majority of its 15 national championship events. The USA Cycling National Championship Calendar offers an opportunity for competitive cyclists of all ages, abilities and disciplines to compete for a coveted stars-and-stripes jersey that signifies a national champion. With the sites for five national championship events still to be announced, dates and venues for USA Cycling’s 10 additional national championship races are set. 

2008 USA Cycling National Championship Calendar
July 4: USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships (Breckenridge, Colo.)
July 17-20: USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships (Mount Snow Resort – West Dover, Vt.)
August 2-3: USA Cycling 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championships (9-Mile County Forest - Wausau, Wis.)
October 24-26: USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships (Banner Elk, N.C.)

(Via USA Cycling website)

These are all the same sites as last year (and none of them remotely close to NorCal). I guess we can take solace in the fact that the WORLD singlespeed championships will be held in our backyard this year.

2007 Iceman Cometh Video

Although it is still relatively balmy here in the NorCal (unless you live up in Tahoe), the 2007 Iceman Cometh was earlier this month in Michigan.

The Iceman Cometh Challenge is a 27 mile point-to-point mountain bike race held traditionally on the first Saturday in November.

MTB Black Friday Sales

For those of you shopping (instead of riding), here are some Black Friday sales for the MTB racers in your life:

• Pricepoint.com is having their biggest inventory sale of the year. I am looking at the On One Inbred Single Speed Bike.
• Bicycles Plus (Folsom, CA) offers a $25 gift cards with a purchase of $100 or more.
• JensonUSA has 40% off selected items like Crank Brother pedals, Shimano shoes and Marzocchi forks.
• The Randall Scott Cycle Company has a holiday gift planner.
• Performance Bikes has up to 20% off purchases
• Twin Six has some pretty sweet deals: select jerseys will be $45, select t-shirts as low as $12 and even the T6 Sack will be on sale for $90.

If you know of any other MTB sales, feel free to add a comment.

Race for Tara Results

Race for Tara results have been posted over at the Sand Hill Racing website.

The Tara Llanes benefit race was a great success! We raised over $6,000 for her. It was great to see so many riders and spectators out supporting one of our own. Thanks to all who came and made this a very special memory for all of us.

Here are the results for the Pro/Expert classes:

Pro/Expert Women (Combined)
1st Lainey Alridge, Santa Cruz (Gravity Addix)
2nd Alie Burch, Novato (Velo Bella/Kona)
3rd Jackie Baker, San Anselmo (WTB/Giant/FoxShox)
4th Jen McNiven, San Jose (Trailhead Cyclery)
5th Nova Hairston, San Rafael (Marin)

Pro Men
1st Kevin Huffman, Sacramento
2nd Chris Flores, Red Bluff (Mongoose/FactoryFastWheels)
3rd Mikey Haderer, Concord (Fox/Yeti)
4th George Stephenson III, Folsom (Heath's Team)

(Via Sand Hill Racing website)

Event photos by Kris Haderer are available at www.afinishedproduct.com.

CCCX DH #4 Preview

The course preview for the 4th CCCX downhill race of the season has been posted:

CCCX #4 Course Profile: The Course has been selected for race #4 and it features all aspects of downhill MTB racing. There are many high speed sections where the racing is wide open. There are also many tight and difficult turns where traction is minimal and line selection is paramount. This particular route has off camber sections, drop-in sections, and water-bar sections that will test the rider and their equipment. The course descends 1000 vertical feet over 1.7 miles, and the trail is quite steep in many places.

The promoter also wanted to pass along that the last three races of the series will also be fund raisers for Mr E (of Mr E's Bike Shop in Aptos, CA). Mr. E stacked hard at last weekend's Race for Tara, resulting in a helicopter ride and hospital stay in Walnut Creek. There will be raffle tickets available at each of the races with a raffle at the final event (on the new date, December 29th). All proceeds will go to Mr E to offset his hefty medical bills.

The CCCX DH race is this Sunday (11/25/07) at Toro Park between Monterey and Salinas, CA (Toro Park location map). You can check out past CCCX DH race results and find out more details in the archives.

2008 CCCX Spring DH Schedule

As promised, here is the preliminary 2008 Spring CCCX downhill schedule:

1. Sunday, February 17
2. Sunday, March 9
3. Saturday, March 22
4. Sunday, April 13
5. Saturday, May 10
6. Sunday, May 25
7. Sunday, June 8
8. Sunday, June 22
9. [Finals] Sunday, July 13

As with the dates posted yesterday for the XC races, these are subject to change and the locations are still being worked out.

I'll have an update on this weekend's CCCX DH race later today, so stop back by tonight or tomorrow before you leave for your Thanksgiving break.

2008 CCCX XC Schedule

CCCX head honcho, Keith Defiebre, has been kind enough to send over the preliminary schedule for next year's CCCX cross country (XC) series:

1. Sunday, February 10
2. Saturday, February 16 Sunday, February 17
3. Saturday, March 1
4. Sunday, March 30
5. Sunday, April 6
6. Saturday, May 24
7. Sunday, June 1
8. Sunday, June 15
9. [Finals] Sunday, June 29

The locations are still "to be decided" and the dates may change. I'll have the 2008 Spring CCCX downhill dates up later tonight or tomorrow.

2008 Sea Otter Classic Schedule

The Sea Otter folks have post the schedule for this year's event:

• SRAM XC, Short Track & Super D Schedule
• SRAM Downhill, Dual Slalom, & Super D Schedule

The color coded schedules are available at Sea Otter Classic website.

Race for Tara Photos

No results but photos from yesteray's Race for tara have been posted.

UPDATE (11/19/07): dhRENO has a race report with photos.

Tara Llanes Story

Apropos of this weekend's race, Sicklines has a link to a local Denver video broadcast on Tara Llanes:

"CBS posted a video on Tara Llanes showing her determination and strong will to never give up. “Courage isn’t all sound and fury, sometimes its the will to go on”" (Via Sick Lines » CBS Denver Story: Tara Llanes)

Thanks to the folks at Sicklines for posting this. There is also an important announcement on getting to the race:

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!
Contra Costa county has decided to do construction ON VASCO RD Sat 11/17 & Sun 11/18. They say as much as 2 HOUR DELAYS ARE EXPECTED!! Alternate routs are: from 580 take mountain house exit to Byron hwy to camino diablo from 680 you can take marsh creek rd or hwy 4 in to brentwood. please check google or something for best route from your area.

Lake Sonoma Series Final Results

I seemed to have missed this last week, but the Lake Sonoma Series concluded this weekend:

"A series close should be this good.

Results have been posted.

Photos, courtesy of Veronika Lenzi are up! http://www.veronikalenzi.com/mtb.html" (Via BikeMonkey.net)

2008 Inaugural Tahoe Sierra 100 Scheduled

After the pre-ride this fall, the dates and rules have been set for the real thing next year:

"The Tahoe-Sierra 100
Friday, September 5, 2008 to Sunday, September 7, 2008

Soloists will complete A SINGLE 100 MILE LAP of fire road and single track that sports some of the most breathtaking scenery of the entire west coast. Many of the areas being opened to this event have never before been ridden by bike, and accessed by very few through other means of travel. 70% fireroads and double track with 30% single track.

Team racers will compete on sections of the same course and cover a smaller 50 mile lap. Teams will start approximately 10 minutes after soloists embark on their long event. With the larger field this will give ample time for their positions to sort themselves out fairly. Members of each team will compete in a relay-style format by tagging the hand of the next team member after each lap is complete." (Via Global BioRythm Events - Tahoe Sierra 100)

Go visit the website for all the details.

2008 Cool MTB Race Scheduled

According to a PDF flyer on the Auburn Bike Works website, the dates have been set for the Cool MTB race: March 9th, 2008.

You can check out the last two years of Cool MTB race reports in the archives.

2008 AMBC Calendar Announced

USA Cycling has announced the American Mountain Bike Challenge Race Calendar (PDF), which are kinda mid-major races sanctioned and supported by USA Cycling (unlike the NMBS which is separate). Here's the press release:

"USA Cycling announced today the 2008 American Mountain Bike Challenge (AMBC) calendar.  The 26-race calendar features several new events and again provides off-road cyclists with the opportunity to qualify for the 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships at Mount Snow Resort in Vermont.
 
Beginning March 8 with the Spa City Extreme Six-Hour Mountain Bike Race, a marathon event in Hot Springs, Ark., the 2008 AMBC stretches seven months before concluding with the Piney Hills Classic in Ruston, La. for the third consecutive year, on October 25-26. Eleven of the 26 races on the AMBC will double as a part of the 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Cross Country Calendar." (Via www.usacycling.org)

The only California races are the 20th Annual Keyesville Classic (March 15/16, 2008) and the Idyllwild Spring Challenge (May 3/4, 2008) which are both in SoCal.

Race for Tara Update

Just an update on the Tara Llanes benefit race ("Race for Tara") that the folks at Sand Hill are holding on November 17th, 2007.

Tara's blog over on myspace has a few details:

I hope some of you can make it. I wish I could. I had heard of Sandhill Ranch before I got hurt and had always wanted to race their slalom course. It looks sweet! The race is going to be held of NOVEMBER 17th so mark it on your calendars. They will not only put on a fun race, but they also have a ton of product from my sponsors Fox Shox, Michelin, and Smith to give away.

You can follow Tara's rehab process on her blog.

The race now has it's own website, where you can learn about all the logistics as well as seeing the some of the raffle items (Santa Cruz bike). Race pre-registration is being handled by bikereg. Registration costs $35 and USA Cycling has waived all permit / insurance fees. Sand Hill will not charge for parking that day.

Sand Hill is located in Brentwood, California just south of Antioch in the East Bay Area. Here's a map:

View Larger Map

TBF Racing Announces "Mountain Bike Kick Start"

In addition to their previously announced MTB Challenge and possible Friday night racing, TBF Racing will be having a pre-season kickoff event for those new to MTB XC racing:

"The MTB Kick Start has a 1-lap Novice and Junior division, a Sport and Single Speed division with 2-laps, and a 3-lap Expert division. Each lap is 7 miles of challenging, scenic, fast single track trails, up and down the foothills surrounding Folsom Lake.

The MTB Kick Start race course is on multi-use trails within the Granite Bay State Park on Folsom Lake. The course features a fun, challenging combination of twisting single-track, wide double track, rolling cross-country with some sand and a bit of pavement. The course is perfect for first-timers and exciting fun for all levels, the faster you go the more fun it is! " (Via TBF Racing events Mountain Bike Kick Start)

This race will be Sunday, January 20th, 2008. Looks like a great opportunity for people to get their start racing. I'll post more details as we get towards December.

Lemurian Shasta Classic Announces 2008 Date

The 2008 Lemurian Shasta Classic will be held on April 26, 2008. The race is described as "26 mile long course, 20 mi sport course, easy 8 mi beginner course. Experience old school, grass roots type XC racing with a giant loop, loads of fun single track, and burly decents (except the beginner course)." Held in Whiskeytown Lake National Recreation Area, the Lemurian is the traditional kickoff to the "Way NorCal" racing season.

See the archives for the last two year's worth of coverage.

CCCX Fall DH #3 Results

Results have been posted for today's CCCX Fall DH #3. Congrats to Curtis Beavers and Rosie Bernhard who won the men's and women's pro events. RickR has some photos up over at his smugmug site. Some more cool photos in this thread at MTBR.

UPDATE (11/07/07): dhRENO has a race report.

Official 2008 NMBS Schedule

The "official" 2008 NMBS (National Mountain Bike Series, which used to be called the NORBA Nationals) schedule press release was posted this week. Important excerpts are below:

One of the new venues is Tamarack Resort, at McCall, Idaho, which hosts the series finale, August 30 - September 1. This event is scheduled so as to allow the US Olympians to return from their races in Beijing, 22-23 August, and still compete for the series win. "We wanted the top athletes to have an opportunity to race in the finals, they have expressed a desire to do so, and we are more than happy to oblige," says series director Jeff Frost.

The other new venue is Windham Resort, New York, July 12-13. "Plattekill Mountain is the gravity base of New England, there's a huge gravity crowd in and around that area. We're excited to be going there for that, but also, the venue is two hours southwest of Mt Snow, the national championships venue, and our race is the weekend before. It's the last chance to qualify for the nationals," explains Frost.

The 2007 series saw continued growth in participant numbers, with 10,000 entrants and 14,000 starts. "I think we've found our plateau, Our events have become 70% regional and 30% national, which is a very healthy mix. This series is a standalone and has nothing to do with NORBA. As our reputation grows as a standalone entity, so does the pull from the region surrounding the event," says Frost.

Good to see that they nailing this down early this year. I am excited about the Tamarack event -- I may have to make the long drive up to Idaho. Here's the official schedule:

2008 NATIONAL MOUNTAIN BIKE SERIES - SCHEDULE
Round 1 (March 29-30, 2008) : Fontana National (Southridge Park, Fontana, California) [XC/DH/ST/4X/Super D]
Round 2 (April 5-6, 2008): NOVA National (McDowell Mountain Regional Park, Fountain Hills, Arizona) [XC/ST/Super D]
Round 3 (May 17-18, 2008) Santa Ynez National (Ted Chamberlin Ranch, Los Olivos, California) [XC/DH/DS/ST/Super D]
Round 4 (June 28-29, 2008): Deer Valley National (Deer Valley Resort, Park City, Utah) [XC/DH/DS/ST/Super D]
Round 5 (July 12-13, 2008) East Coast National (Windham Resort, Windham, New York) [XC/DH/DS/ST/Super D]
Round 6 Final (August 30 - September 1, 2008) National Mountain Bike Series Finals (Tamarack Resort, Tamarack, Idaho) [XC/DH/4Xor DS/ST/Super D]

This is pretty close to what we saw on the preliminary schedule except Snowmass (CO) and Sugar Mountain (NC) dropped out.

CCCX Fall DH #3 Preview

Here's the course preview for the rescheduled CCCX Fall DH #3 that is this Sunday near Monterey:

The race route for the 3rd event of the CCCX FALL/WINTER DH Series will be a fast course with some new additions added to spice up the racing action. The last winner of this route was Mark Weir (WTB/Santa Cruz), who said the course was just right and that he liked the DH trail very much. Most of the trail is either high speed fire roads or tight single track with switch-backs and blind turns that are off camber. There are a few new additions added to the trail, one is a steep drop in section that has never been used before in competition. This addition highlights a already fun middle section of the course where breaking and line selection will determine who makes it thru fastest. The trail descends approximately 1000 vertical feet, and the dirt traction is getting softer, but is still very dry and lose in most sections. This trail is one of the more high speed routes within Toro Park, but still features some tricky corners that will test your turning and breaking ability.

They have also changed the final date for the Fall CCCX DH series to December 30th ("New Years Downhill Classic"). For information on past CCCX DH races, check the archives.

2007 Boggs Mountain Metal Madness

The good folks down the road at UCD sent me an email reminding me that the NorCal XC season isn't over with the Lake Sonoma Series finals this weekend . . . The UC Davis Cycling's Boggs Mountain Metal Madness will be held on November 17-18, 2007. The event will consist of three races:

AC-DC-XC (Saturday at 10 AM, registration begins at 8:00am and closes at 9:45am): A cross country course fun for experts and beginners alike. The 95% single track, thirteen mile loop gains 2000 ft in elevation over multiple climbs interspersed with ripping rollercoaster sections. The trail surface is pine needles over hard pack with some pretty rocky sections. The course will be the same as last year. Course distance is determined by class: Men's A / Women's A / Expert go 2 laps, everyone else does 1 lap.

SUPER DIO (Sunday at 9:30am, registration begins at 8:00am and closes at 9:15am): Le mans start Super D. Downhill single track, double track and fire road sections. Windy and rocky but not too technical. A course appropriate for hort-travel suspension or hardtails. Point-to-point, the few mile group ride to the top of the course leaves shortly after registration closes. A shuttle to he top will not be available. Self arranged shuttles out from the finish may be possible depending on road conditions.

SHORT TRACK TO HELL (Sunday at noon, register at the same time as Super D): A classic short track course with a little of everything. This half mile course laps around the campground making for easy spectating. A long fire road section for passing precedes a short technical climb followed by a loose descent. Single track completes the loop for a well-rounded course of varying terrain. Race is determined by time: Men's A / Men's Expert: 30 min + 2 laps, Men's B / Men's Sport: 20 min + 2 laps, Women's A / Women's Expert: 20 min + 2 laps, Men's C / Men's Beginner: 15 min + 2 laps, and Women's B / Women's Sport: 15 min + 2 laps.

The race is being held at Bogg Mountain Demonstration Forest, just north of the Bay Area. Here's a map that should get you there:

View Larger Map

Here are the rest of the details:

Event: Bogg Mountain Metal Madness [ PDF Flyer ]
Dates: November 17 & 18, 2007
Location: Bogg Mountain Demonstration Forest (near Cobb, CA)
Competition: XC, SD, STCX
Cost: For collegiate riders: $15 for the Cross Country, $15 for one Sunday event or $20 for both. For NORBA riders: $25 per race.
URL: http://sportclubs.ucdavis.edu/cycling/
Registration: onsite
License: NORBA or WCCC (collegiate)