Tuesday, June 30, 2009

2009 CCCX XC #10 Results

Results have been posted for last weekend's CCCX CX race: Full series results should be available soon.

576942286_edited-0051.jpg


Photos, as usual, are available on Rick R's SmugMug site.

Monday, June 29, 2009

2009 TBF Fri Night Series #2

370D0A17-6EE9-4C74-85D9-7DE857E4F27A.jpgResults from the second TBF Friday Night Mountain Bike Series Race from last the weekend before last (i.e. June 19th) have been posted: I'll get this weekend's up when they are posted (sorry for the mixup).

The next race in the series is July 17th in Granite Bay, CA.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Sand Hill For Sale

Looks like the lone Bay Area gravity area is up for sale:
Yes, that is a For Sale sign out front. After 36 years Tom Anderson has decided to sell Sand Hill and move on. He is not interested in leasing the place to another MX company to run it. He does not want his kids to run it. He wants to sell it, pay his outstanding debts and move on.

This whole process will probably take many months to happen, so in the meantime it is Business as Usual for practice days. If you have been meaning to come out for a while but keep putting it off, now would be the time.

Bicycles: We probably will not re-open for regular practice, but we still plan on the annual Race 4 Tara benefit. If the Ranch is sold before October we have developed a Plan B at a different venue.
The Sand Hill website is at http://prsports.com/bike/

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Ex-MTB champ Melissa Giove hit with drug charge

This is not good:
Former mountain biking world champion Melissa "Missy" Giove was in custody Thursday on federal drug charges after authorities said they seized more than 200 pounds of marijuana from a truck she was driving in upstate New York.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials said Wednesday that the 37-year-old Giove and 30-year-old Eric Canori of Wilton were charged Tuesday with conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana.

Giove, nicknamed "The Missile" for her aggressive riding style, was the downhill world champion in 1994 and won World Cup season titles in ’97 and ’98, then captured national titles from 1999-2001. One of the sport’s first mainstream female stars, she retired from downhill racing in 2003.
Via BostonHerald.com.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Bicycle Retailer Talks Downieville Downhill

136F0394-3648-4F18-9EC0-C8BE8945816E.jpgSome details on next month's Downieville Downhill:
Now under a month away, this year’s Downieville Classic might take on a different feel than in years’ past.

This year’s event, July 10-12, will focus on bringing together wider range of riders by having several all-mountain categories—even one for single speed participants, according Yuba Expeditions Wayne Hoffman, who puts on the event each year. It used to be that there was just downhill, which perhaps can be intimidating for those looking to get their feet wet in the sport.

“What this does is encourage more riders to come out,” Hoffman said. “Downieville isn’t just about downhill.”

The Expo area will be jumping just like last year, with about 30 vendors. In fact, Hoffman said he will put some smaller vendors behind his shop just to accommodate everyone.

“We have a big field of names,” Hoffman said of this year’s race participants. “We’ll have more World Champions and former World Champions than any other race in the United States.”
Via Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

CCCX XC #9 Results

Results are in from this weekend's CCCX XC race:The finals for this year's series will be June 28th at Fort Ord.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Kona Launches Travel Agency

kwt_tagline.pngFor those with spare time and money:
Kona's goal this summer: get you out of the house and onto your bike—but not on your regular trails. The company recently created KonaWorld Travel, a program that provides all-inclusive packages for riders to explore new terrain. The first destinations available include Whistler’s Bike Park and, for the adventuresome, the Kingdom of Bhutan, a tiny country in south Asia located at the eastern end of the Himalayan range. There's also a trip to Austria for anyone who prefers beer halls instead of Buddhist temples.
See more details at Bike magazine.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The 4th annual Fears Tears and Beers

I've covered this in year's past (even though it is quite a bit outside NorCal), but Decline Magazine beat me to it this year:
Have you ever wanted to ride a bike through a casino? Well here’s you chance. The Great Basin Trails Alliance, a non-profit organization, is holding the 4th annual Fears Tears and Beers Mountain Bike Race in Ely, Nevada on June 13th. The race is an Enduro format where only certain sections of the race are timed, making it the only mountain bike event of its kind in the nation, and starts off by riding through a casino!

Last year, mountain bike enthusiasts from all over Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and California came to Ely for the event. Many Ely locals also participated and brought with them their local knowledge of the race course. Professional rider, Mark Weir, won the Men’s Expert Class last year which was the first year that a professional mountain biker entered the race.

Sticking true to the event’s name, following the event there’s a brew fest with a BBQ and raffle followed by the award’s ceremony with a post party at the Jailhouse Casino.

If you would like to enter the race, you can pre-register online, register the night before at the Jailhouse Casino, or be at the start by 8am on race day. There are appropriate levels for men and women riders. The classes include a 14 mile Fun Ride, 17 miles for Beginner Class, 26.6 miles for Sport Class, and for the ultimate challenge 33.2 miles and 5,400’ of climbing for the Expert Class.
Via Decline Magazine.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Mammoth to Host California Golden State MTB Championships

I'm not sure if this is exactly NorCal or SoCal, but I thought I should post it anyway:
After a multi-year absence from competitive mountain biking events, mountain bike racing is returning to Mammoth Mountain this summer with the 2009 California Golden State Mountain Bike Championships taking place September 4-6, 2009.

Taking place at and around Main Lodge, the event will feature all disciplines of mountain bike racing: Cross Country, Downhill, Super-D, Mountain Cross and Kamikaze. This event will also play host to a special “Legends of Mountain Biking” race featuring mountain biking legends Mike “Too Tall” Bell, Stu Thompson, Tom Rogers, former World Downhill Champion Greg “H-Ball” Herbold, Jimmy Deaton, Miles Rockwell, Bernard Unhassobiscay, Dave Cullinan and many others.

For more information, visit www.southridgeusa.com
Via Decline Magazine.

Mammoth used to hold the USA Cycling National Championship races until 2005ish and is 3 hours south of Lake Tahoe.

Monday, June 08, 2009

2009 CCCX DH #6 Results

aa-dh-6.jpgJimmy Amaral (Point One Racing) and Sharon Hill (Murray Renaissance) were the fastest overall Male & Female racers at Toro Park on Sunday. The race route featured a new addition of trail that was super technical to start. It then became a major challenge as the racing went on due to the trail becoming completely blown out. This left riders with no other option but to break check on some nasty sections of trail and cling to the cliff edge, or simply slide off the disintegrated trail and down a ravine into thick bush. There were also multiple jumps, steep drops, and soft patches of dirt that became so loose that many riders fell victim to crashes and finished the race covered in dirt. In the end it was Amaral and Hill who put out solid runs on the technical route and walked away with cash for fastest on the day.
  • Keith DeFiebre(GT Dirt Coalition/Calabazas) won the Single Speed division.
  • Brian Zimmerman(Oaklyn Records/Hank & Frank) won the Hardtail division.
  • Casey Kunselman of La Honda won the Clydesdale division.
  • Nick Barton(Supercede) won the No Chain division.
  • The fastest overall Junior was Max Rousch(Prime Designs/CCCX) of Monterey.


Top 5 fastest overall (all from Pro division)
1. Jimmy Amaral(Point One Racing) 3'13''.67
2. Ian Massey(Stone Racing/WTB) 3'14''.46
3. Nick Barton(Supecede) 3'16''.22
4. Allen Stoddard(Ride SFO Faction) 3'17''.70
5. John Hauer(Team X-Fusion/Intense) 3'17''.98

Top 5 fastest Women:
1. Sharon Hill (Murray Renaissance) 4.02''25
2. Amy Forward (Roaring Mouse Cycle) 4'07''.86
3. Kelsey Anderson (Loma Verde Mtn Bike Coalition) 4'09''.43
4. Anne Marie Hennes (Family Cycling Center) 4'14''.49
5. Kelly Moore (50/50 DH Race Team) 4'16''.01

Full results are available at http://cccx.org/dh/2009/race6/.

The 2009 CCCX DH Series final is scheduled for July 5 at Toro Park.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Reno Twilight Canceled Tonight (6/4/09) !

Tonight's twilight MTB race is a casualty of our weird weather:
Due to the weather forecast I currently have which calls for t-storms starting at 6 this evening, we have decided to cancel the MTB twilight race for tonight. Sorry for any inconvienence. See you next week!
Via The Reno Wheelmen website.

CCCX DH #6 Preview

gt-dh-4-2009.pngThis weekend is the second to last CCCX Downhill race. Here's a profile of the course:
The race route for this Sunday's event will be very special as a new portion of trail will be used for the first time in Toro Park history. The new section of trail has been created by Keith DeFiebre. The trail is still in its infancy so virgin trail riding and brand new single track will be used by CCCX racers for DH #6.

The course starts out on the regular portions of fast fire road and fun riding single track used in previous CCCX DH events. Then when the trail gets steep toward the lower slopes of Toro Park, the new section continues in a straight forward manner. The trail then proceeds down the canyon and flows into some very tight sections of riding. The riders will face high speed open sections that lead into some very low speed parts of the trail featuring off camber and twisting turns of a new cut riding route. The new cut sections will test all aspects of DH racing. The trail then finishes into a wide open area where high speeds will be at a premium.
The first timed run starts at noon on Sunday at Toro Park near Monterey, CA.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

John Fisher DH Kickoff Results

The John Fisher DH series' first race was held this weekend and the results have been posted.

In addition to the results, Steve Wolf has posted a gallery of photos from the race (the photo to the right is linked from his site). It looks like there are also some up at PinkBike.

Monday, June 01, 2009

2009 CCCX #8 Results

Results are up for last weekend's CCCX XC #8:
9am Race - Beginner
11am Race - Sport
1pm Race - Expert/Pro
Congrats to Jim Hewett (Summit Bicycles) and Jamie Stamps (Another Bike Shop) who took the men's and women's pro categories. Also congrats to Cesar Chavez (Buy-cell.com) who came away with the pro singlespeed win.