2011 Sierra Cup Series

More details about the NorNevada Sierra Cup Series:

The Sierra Cup Regional Championship Mountain Biking Series for 2011 begins this weekend in Gardnerville, NV. The Sierra Cup is a seven race point series to determine the USA Cycling cross-country mountain bike champions for the Northern California/Nevada region.Top finishers at the first three events will also qualify to compete at the Mountain Bike National Championships in Sun Valley, Idaho on July 14-17.

The Sierra Cup events are the Pine Nut Cracker on May 21 in Gardnerville, NV; the Peavine Challenge on June 5 in Reno, NV; the Skyline Park Mountain Bike Race on June 12 in Napa, CA; the Kirkwood Mountain Classic on July 23 at Kirkwood, CA; the Sky Tavern Classic on August 14 in Reno; The Great Tahoe Flume Race on September 10 at Spooner Lake and the Sawtooth Ridge Challenge on October 2 at Northstar-at-Tahoe.

These events take riders through some of best trails in the West and challenge them with heart pounding climbs and fun, technical descents.  There are age and ability categories for all levels of riders.  Race distances vary with each event and are often based on the ability categories.  Each individual event awards medals to the top finishers as well as series points.  Besides the regional champion medals for the series winners, there is also a $1500 series purse for top riders.

The Sierra Cup is unique in that all of the participating races donate their proceeds to various non-profit organizations that give back to the trails where mountain bikers ride. These organizations include the Poedunks, Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association, Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park Backcountry Patrol, Skyline Wilderness Park, and the Truckee Trails Foundation.

Sponsors for the Sierra Cup series include GU Energy, Wilderness Trail Bikes, CytoSport, Black Rock Bicycles, Sierra Cyclesmith, Velo Reno, Voler, Ellsworth Handcrafted Bicyles, Santa Cruz Bicycles, SCHEELS, Specialized, Resource Revival, Adventure Sports Journal, and Cycle California!

For more information visit www.renowheelmen.org or e-mail mtb11@renowheelmen.org. The Sierra Cup Series is on facebook atwww.facebook.com/SierraCupMTB.

The series starts this weekend with the Pine Nut Cracker.