Santa Cruz Demo Day

If you're in the Santa Cruz coast area this weekend ...

Santa Cruz Bicycles Mega-Demo
Saturday, October 3rd 2009
Wilder Ranch, Santa Cruz, Ca

A big yellow truck full of ALMOST brand new bikes will be coming home to Santa Cruz following the Interbike tradeshow, and we are going to be hosting a day-long, hands-on, frenzy of demo rides at Wilder Ranch. Bikes available for riding will include everything we make except for Stigmatas and Chameleons, but will be skewed toward our newer bikes. In other words, a big pile of carbon fiber Tallboys, Blur XCs and Blur LTs will be on hand, as well as a giant stack of aluminum LTs, Nomads, Driver 8s, V-10s (yeah, we know, Wilder isn't exactly the perfect venue for V-10s and Driver 8s, but they'll be there anyway). We'll also have a pretty solid sampling of all our single pivot range (with an emphasis on Hecklers and Superlights). We're talking over 70 bikes here.

This demo will be FREE to all who show up, and we'd like to point out that all these BARELY RIDDEN demo bikes will also be for sale at SCREAMING DEAL pricing.

Via Santa Cruz Bicycles - October Demos '09!

2009 Clif Bar Challenge Results

Results from this weekend's Clif Bar Challenge (by TBF Racing) have been posted:

• Results by Division
• Overall Results

No pictures as of yet.

2010 US Cup To Add Venues

According to MTB Race News, next year's US Cup is expanding:

While the 2010 US Cup schedule has yet to be released MTBracenews has learned that two new venues will be added to next year's series. Included in the 2010 US Cup races will be Mt. Morris, Wisconsin and Bonelli Park, California.

Mt. Morris hosts the Subaru Cup and is part of the Wisconsin Off-Road Series (WORS). WORS is the largest mountain bike racing series in the United States. Just last week, WORS director Don Edberg told MTBracenews, "WORS has had another great year in 2009, for the first time since 2002 we are set to increase our numbers. Right now we are averaging about 680 racers per event."

Via MTB Race News: Eatough To Retire After Moab, US Cup 2010 Adds New Venues

New Zealand To Host 2010 Singlespeed Worlds

At last weekend's Singlespeed World Championships in Durango, next year's site was chosen:

New Zealand's Rotorua will host the 2010 edition of the Singlespeed World Championships. The North Island city was selected after New Zealand won a tense and unconventional bidding process at at the singlespeed worlds in Durango, Colorado, this past weekend.

Via Cyclingnews.com.

For those of you who haven't been to Rotorua, it is spectacular.

NorCal HS Program Going Nationwide

Cool news from the people behind the NorCal High School league:

The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) is launching October 1 as a new organization to promote and facilitate interscholastic high school mountain biking in the USA.

With Specialized Bicycle Components stepping in as the National Founding Sponsor, and the Easton Sports Development Foundation II stepping up its backing of the SoCal League to include a sponsorship match program at the national level, the fast emerging national association shows it has earned the trust and support of major industry players.

While the search for sponsorship continues in the quest to fully meet operating costs, a Trailblazer’s Team of individual benefactors has been established to provide additional support in getting – and keeping – the association off the ground. Early members of this important group include Charles Moore of McGuire Real Estate and Scott Tedro of Sho-Air International.

NICA has grown out of the highly successful NorCal High School Mountain Bike Racing League, which is now entering its tenth year. The launch of NICA follows the successful first year of the NorCal League spin-off, the SoCal Interscholastic Cycling League.

The new association is led by NorCal League founder, Matt Fritzinger, and will commence its work with four state or regional chapters. The initial states and regions are Northern California, Southern California, Colorado, and Washington.

Click over to the new website for full details.

NorCal MTB Racing This Weekend: Sept 26 - 27

It's another big weekend of racing, with races spread across NorCal to attend:

• 09/25 - 9/27: Whiskeytown Classic (near Redding)
• 09/26: CLIF Bar MTB Challenge (near Sacramento)
• 09/26: Bidwell Bump XC/SD (Chico)
• 09/27: CCCX Cyclocross (near Monterey)
• 09/27: Bidwell Bump DH/ST (near Oroville, CA)
• 09/27: Galena Fest (near Reno/Tahoe)
• 09/27: Sacramento CX #1 (Sacramento)

After this weekend, there are only two big weekends of racing left.

Parkfield Classic Website

Full details (and an updated website) are available for the October 3rd & 4th Parkfield Classic down in central California.

Style Coming to 2009 SF Bike Expo

Not quite sure what to make of this ...

We are pleased to announce the BikeStyle Fashion Show presented by Momentum Magazine happening November 21st, 2009 at the SF Bike Expo.

In other rideSFO news, their grand opening party is slated for October 3rd at their new home in Oakland.

Northstar DH & SuperD Results

Northstar at Tahoe's weekend of gravity racing is over and the results are posted up on their website:

• Downhill #4 Results
• Super D #3 results

The final race in the Northstar DH series is October 4th -- The Livewire Classic.

2009 Lake Sonoma #3 Results

Results are posted for Saturday's 3rd race in the Lake Sonoma Series.

Giant NorCal MTB Championship Wrapping Up

The last two races of the Giant Northern California Mountain Bike Championship are coming up, with the penultimate round, the Whiskeytown Classic, at Whiskeytown Lake over the weekend of September 25-27. This season-long series is coordinated by event promotions company Team Bigfoot, headed by Vic Armijo. The series finals will be the famed Lagrange Fall Classic in Weaverville October 16-18 where category championships will be awarded in Cross-Country, Downhill and Super-D. Champions will receive medals, a pair of commemorative socks from Sock Guy and will be eligible to purchase championship jerseys at dealer cost of $60.

• The Whiskeytown Classic kicks off on the afternoon of Friday Sept. 25 with a Short-Track Cross-Country that’s held on a super-fun 3/10 mile course with a fire-road climb and a flowy single-track descent.
  Saturday’s Cross-Country is on a ten-mile, 80% single-track course. Beginners will do one lap, sport riders will do two and experts and pros will do three. “Whiskeytown Lake has become a favorite destination for Northern California mountain bikers,” Armijo says, “This is some of the best mountain bike riding in the state,” he says, “The trails and ditches built during the gold mining era are so much fun to ride!” The Whiskeytown Classic concludes with the Super-D on Sunday afternoon on a course that’s almost entirely single-track, has some great flowing sections, a rock-garden and only a couple of short climbs. An all-mountain bike is the hot set-up.
• The series wraps up three weeks later at the Lagrange Fall Classic. That weekend starts Friday, October 16 with a Super-D that many have called the best in the state! It’s mostly single-track, has some of the best flow of any course around and it’s lonnng…winning times will be around 28 minutes! Saturday’s Cross Country is on an epic fun course! Again, it’s mostly single-track trails that were dug by hand during the gold rush days of the 1850’s. The beginners get a 14 mile loop, all others get 22 mile of fun! Sunday morning is the Short-Track Cross-Country on a fast course with an oh-so-steep downhill. The series concludes Sunday afternoon with the famed Lagrange Downhill. It’s a long course that starts way up near the top of Weaver Bolly Mountain. Expert times will be almost eight minutes! There’s a bit of everything on this one, steep and loose, fast and smooth, twisty and technical, and a creek jump.

For information visit http://www.teambigfoot.net.

NorCal MTB Racing This Weekend: 9/19 - 9/20

Full, full slate of racin' this weekend, and not just in the greater Folsom area:

1. 09/19/09 (SAT): Lake Sonoma Series (XC)
2. 09/19/09 (SAT): Northstar Super D (SD)
3. 09/19/09 (SAT): Loma Rica MTB Dirt Crit (ST)
4. 09/19/09 (SAT): Henry Coe Mountain Bike Challenge (XC)
5. 09/20/09 (SUN): Northstar DH (DH)
6. 09/20/09 (SUN): ASC MTB Elevation Classic (XC)
7. 09/20/09 (SUN): CCCX Cyclocross (CX)

And thanks to advanced alien techology, here are the races on the map:

2009 PCRS Fall Flash Finale Results

Last night was the finale of the Prairie City Race Series Fall Flash and all the details have been posted:

• Race #5 Results
• Full Series Standings
• Photos (Brian's)
• More photos (Logan's)

The PCRS starts up again in the fall (although they hinted at a possible winter CX series).

2009 Cyclebration Stage Results

The 2009 Folsom Cyclebration MTB Stage Race results are posted here: http://www.racemtb.com/CbMtb2009StageResults.htm.

The stage race consisted of the time trial, cross country and short track races at least weekend's festival.

Congrats to Expert winners:
Expert Men 50+: Rob Stark
Expert Men 40-49: Dean Meyer
Expert Men 30-39: Michael Lefrancois
Expert Men 18-29: Clint Claassen
Expert Women: Natalie Morris
Expert SS: Ron Shevock (who just edged Jeff Barker by 2 pts)

2009 Tahoe Sierra 50/100 Results

The results for last weekend's epic Tahoe Sierra 50/100 are posted (PDF).

Congrats to the Pro Winners:
Pro Men

1. DAVID JUAREZ 7:24:44 (MONA VIE CANNONDALE)
2. CORY WALLACE 7:47:57
3. AREN TIMMEL 8:04:40 (TEAM CHICO)

Pro Women

1. LOUISE KOBIN 8:57:50
2. MARG FEDYNA 9:22:02 (EDMONTON ROAD/TRACK CLUB)
3. KAREN POTTER 9:37:57 (BIKECTCOM/DANIELSON ADV)

Pro Singlespeed Men

1. JARED FRANZOIA 9:53:08 (KINETIC CYCLES)
2. MIKE HARRISON 9:58:21 (BREAKAWAY BIKES)
3. THOMAS ANDERSON 10:04:45 (BIKE SALES AND SERVICE)

Pro Singlespeed Women

1. LINDA ECKHART 10:49:47 (DIRT CITY)
2. DAWN INFURNA-BEAN 11:26:28 (VICTORY VELO)

Also congrats to Eric Snyder and Shelly Monroe, who won the mens and womens pro 50 mile race, respectively.

2009 Mammoth Bar DH

Results from this weekend's Mammoth Bar DH have been posted.

Congrats to Waylon Smith (Pro Men) and Joanne Petterson (Pro Women).

2009 Folsom Cyclebration

This weekend was the huge Folsom Cyclebration (2 MTB races, CX races, festivals, road races, etc.) and the race results for XC and time trial have been posted (short track will probably be coming soon).

Congrats to Clint Claassen, who appears to have beaten all comers with 00:16:02 time trial. Sarah Maile posted the Women's best time trial with a 0:18:26.

Lots of photos are posted:

• Brian's - Time Trial
• Matt's - Time Trial
• Brian and Andy - XC race
• Willow Hills Short Track

More it becomes available.

Niner Jet 9 Recall

If you're riding one of the effected frames (see below for details), you should stop riding immediately:

In light of test results and after many hours of discussion on how best to serve our loyal customers, we decided to voluntarily recall Jet 9 frames with serial numbers from P8071682 to P8400454. These frames risk welding defects in the front and rear triangles that may lead to a premature failure of the frame. Unfortunately, there is no way to visually check for these weld defects. We must require that you stop riding the frame immediately because a failure could occur at any time.

More info at Niner Bikes. They seem like they are doing the right thing here.

2009 Galena Fest Hits Reno on Sept 27th

On September 27, 2009 Reno community members will be gathering at Galena Creek Regional Park for the outdoor fundraiser, Galena Fest. Galena Fest focuses on two major mountain bike races, The Bloody Rose and The Thorn. There are also several other family friendly events including mountain bike races for kids, a sand castle contest, beer provided by Buckbean Brewery and a barbecue.

The Bloody Rose provides mountain bikers with two of the hardest challenges in the western United States. 11.7 miles in length at an average of 6.5 percent gradient, the course throws in several sections steeper than 15 percent, mixing in single track, fire roads, and sections of pavement.

The first true test for riders is a 15 percent grade aptly named “Wall of Death”, knobby tires fighting for traction on the sandy surface. Continuing up the mountain, survivors will pass over the highest year-round road in the Sierras, get a brief downhill respite, then commence a death march up NFD 051.

The next four miles are as much about survival as they are about speed. Riders will be cursing the small downhill when they make the final hairpin for the last quarter mile climb. When “Funeral Hill” ramps up to 16 percent, riders have to dodge softball-sized rocks and sear their lungs at almost two miles above sea level. Many will be getting off to walk. Those that make it up almost 4,000 feet to the 10,128 ft summit will be treated to amazing views of Lake Tahoe and Washoe Valley and a special finisher’s T-shirt.

The Thorn is a shorter, 5 mile version of this hillclimb. For more information, visit www.renogalenafest.com.

Thanks to Brita from Social Media Associate for the heads up.

2009 NorCal CycleFest Coming in November

The NorCal High School MTB League is hosting their annual fundraiser:

The Bay Area’s cycling social event of the season, the NorCal League’s CycleFest 2009 will feature the CEO of Slipstream Sports, Jonathan Vaughters, as its special guest at its main annual fundraiser, a three-day gathering, November 6-8 in Mill Valley.

Vaughters, formerly a Europe-based pro rider, has a reputation for fostering talented young riders and helping them through the difficult years when they progress from the junior level to ground zero in the senior ranks. The philosophy of his team has always been to do things differently while maintaining a strong ethical position, to which end he pioneered a transparent, drug-free cycling team early in the new millennium.

Proceeds from the ticket sales and silent auction go to supporting the Northern California High School Mountain Bike League, so be sure to purchase one for your friend/spouse/partner too! Regular tickets are $150.00, and Patron tickets, which include an intimate cocktail hour with Vaughters, are $195.00. Tickets purchased before September 16th will receive a discounted price of $125/$170. All tickets are available online at http://norcalmtb.org/spon/dinner_2009/index.htm.

For more information on the League, visit http://www.norcalmtb.org.

Red Bill & Kona Riders in SF Bay

Okay, there used to be video posted here ... but I couldn't take it auto-playing everytime I loaded the page. So you'll need to click thru the picture (or link) to watch it.

By way of Bike Magazine.

Wrench Science Introduces SingleSpeed Store

Berkeley-based Wrench Science has extended their web-based custom bike builder to include singlespeeds.

You can now use their website to build up Ventana, Niner, Moots, Indy Fabrications and Ibis frames san gears. Pretty slick.

2009 PCRS Fall #3 Results

Results have been posted for last night's Prairie City Fall Flash #3. There are also photos and more photos as always.

Redding Bike Park

It looks like Redding, CA may be on their way to getting their own bike park:

We have blessings from the City to get started with the planning phase. Unfortunately, in the current economy all they can offer is blessings, so we're applying for grants and working hard to get donations. And since we're now a 510c3 nonprofit, you can now donate via Paypal at the website above (here). The city can't help us with anything so we will have to find the money to pay for everything starting from the environmental review, through permits, construction, you name it.

The site is flat with a slight slope in one direction. It will have a start hill, sets of dirt jumps of all sizes, a more freeride oriented section, and some singletrack with lots of technical trail features. It will also connect to the Sacramento River Trail via the new bike path they are building from Hilltop to Turtle Bay.

Via Redding Bike Park. This park would join the already popular parks at Northstar, Folsom and Fresno.