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.

NorCal MTB Racing This Weekend: June 5-6, 2010

For those of you making your weekend plans, here is quick rundown of this weekend's MTB racing schedule for NorCal:

1. Return On The Jedi (06/05/10)
2. Tamarancho Dirt Classic (06/06/10)
3. Peavine Challenge (06/06/10)

More Nevada Racing...

Two new Nor-Nevada races to add to the calendar:

• The Nevada Cup has added a fourth race to the end of their series. The Great Flume Race will take place on September 12, 2010 in Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park (Spooner Lake) and is sponsored by the Reno Wheelmen. More details as we get them (thanks to Scott P for the heads up).
• dhRENO has word of a race that's part of the Black Rock Rendezeous: "Great Basin Brewing Company Bicycle Race. Participants will convene at the Main Camp at 8 am on Sunday May 30th, 2010 to disembark to the starting line. Transportation will be provided for bicycles and riders. The race will start at 10 am at Sulphur near the old auto graveyard, and follows a dirt jeep trail along the railroad tracks for 7 miles before turning west along the scenic and historic Applegate Lassen Emigrant Trail. The route continues for an additional 10.7 miles, crossing the Quinn River, and finishing at the Black Rock Hot Spring. There is a $25 entry fee, and all participants will receive an event T-shirt. Cash prizes for the top three finishers will be a percentage of the total purse collected: 25% for 1st, 10% for 2nd, and 5% for 3rd place. Great Basin Brewing Company will provide a selection of their micro-brewed beers to be enjoyed by finishing participants of legal drinking age."

Both events have been added to the calendar.

NorCal MTB Racing This Week: May 20-23, 2010

It's a big week for MTB racing all across region - both weeknight and weekend. For those of you making your plans, here is a quick rundown of this week's MTB racing schedule for NorCal:

1. Blazing Saddles Mountain Bike Race Series (Thursday)
2. Paper Plate Races (Thursday)
3. 12 & 6 Hours of Weaverville (05/22/10)
4. SB Racing.org, Winter XC Series, Round 5 Final Round, Fort Ord (05/22/10)
5. Pine Nut Cracker (05/22/10)
6. South Valley Endurance Dirty Gears Series #2 (05/23/10)
7. Gravity Day (05/23/10)

Reno XC Races Scheduled

The Reno Wheelmen have announced their annual Twilight XC series as well as the dates for the Nevada Cup:

The dates are being entered onto the calendar and should be all up by the end of this week. More details at the Reno Wheelmen website.

2009 Sky Tavern

I listed this back in May, but hadn't posted details on this because I couldn't find them on the Reno Wheelmen revamped website. However, it turns out they were just hiding from me (PDF):

High in the Tahoe Sierras, this course is a technical 6 mile loop at the Sky Tavern ski area (near Mount Rose). The trail starts off with a steep fire road climb up to some tight, winding single track that finishes with a fast open descent. The trail will be the same as in years past. XC Racing Race entry fee is $25.00 for Adults and $15.00 for juniors. Cash Prize to top 5 Men and top 3 women.

From what I can tell, it appears that this is only an XC event this year (unlike previous XC/DH events).

2009 Nevada Cup Scheduled

So I completely dropped the ball on this one, even after someone sent me an email to remind me about it:
The 2009 Nevada Cup is scheduled and underway. The four race series covers familar races from past years (Pine Nut, Peavine and Sky Tavern) but drops the Rainbow Ridge race (and the Comstock Classic didn't seem to pan out). I don't have websites for all of these but here are the dates:

• May 2nd: Pine Nut Cracker, Gardnerville (RESULTS in PDF)
• May 30th: Peavine Challenge, Reno
• Aug 16th: Sky Tavern Classic, Reno

Here is the full PDF listing the events with some details.

These aren't yet listed on the sidebar but should be up later today. Sorry again to the NorNevada folks about the oversight.

2008 Sky Tavern Classic

The folks up the hill at dhRENO have posted the details on the upcoming Sky Tavern Classic scheduled for September 27th & 28th near Reno, Nevada. Some of the details:

"Sky Tavern Race
September 27th & 28th, 2008
HOSTED BY NEVADA CYCLING
SKY TAVERN RESORT RENO, NEVADA

Racing: On Saturday will be XC and Sunday the dh with both collegiate and NORBA categories.

Cross Country: The course features a steady climb, followed by about 1.5 miles of up-and-down single track.  Then, a fast single-track descent with lots of dg, a short climb, and more mixed descending to lodge.  Each lap is ~6 miles.  XC will begin at 10am on Saturday.

Downhill: Technical dg single-track followed by short road section into final section of tight single-track through trees.  Course time is about 2.5 minutes.  Collegiate MC/WB and NORBA Beginners will skip upper single-track and use road instead."

Click over to Sky Tavern DH Race « dhRENO for the full details.

2008 Pine Nut Cracker Results

Results for last weekend's Pine Nut Cracker have been posted. I haven't seen any pictures or race reports yet, but Nevada Cup points should be updated over on RenoWheelmen.org soon.

Norcal MTB Racing This Weekend: Memorial Day

It's a big holiday weekend of MTB racing in NorCal:

Saturday (5/24): Going south towards the coast, you have the first CCCX Cross Country (XC) race since April. It's the last XC race of the series that will be held at Toro Park (instead of the usual Fort Ord). For those of you in the Sierras (and not at Northstar), the second leg of the Nevada Cup, Gardnerville's Pine Nut Cracker is also Saturday. Finally, for those of you looking for a longer ride, Team Bigfoot's 12 Hours of Weaverville will be the third race in the Silver Cup of the Solo series.

Sunday (5/25): Closer to the Bay Area, the 2008 Friends of Tamarancho headlines the Fairfax Fat Tire Festival. A cross country (XC) race held on Tamarancho Boy Scout Camp trails. Also on Sunday, the second day of CCCX racing brings the CCCX Spring DH #6 to Toro Park near Monterey. The course is described as:

"The race route for the May 25 DH will be fast and wide open in most sections, as well as tight and technical in others. Many of the technical corners are extremely challenging due to loose dirt combined with the off camber nature of the trails. Set up speed and braking into the corners will determine who can get thru the turns and onto the the speedy finishing portions of the route fastest. This race route will have possibly the highest overall speeds of all the courses used for the CCCX Series."

Finally, there is also another day of racing up North. Team Bigfoot presents the second race in the NorCal Super D and DH series in Weaverville with the 2008 Gravity Day.

2008 Rainbow Ridge Results

Race Results for last weekend's Jetway Chevrolet Rainbow Ridge Challenge in Fallon, NV have been posted over at USA Cycling. Rainbow Ridge is the first race in the Nevada Cup series (Northern Nevada State Championship Series).

Congrats to Men's Pro/Semi-Pro winner Kenny Burt.

NorCal MTB Racing this Weekend: May 3 - 4, 2008

It's a big weekend for NorCal racing:

• Saturday: CCCX DH near Monterey, CA. The fourth race of the series will also be a memorial fundraiser.
• Saturday/Sunday: Coolest 24 in Cool, CA. The big 24 race in the foothills, it will be live audio blogged by Karl over at Ride424.
• Sunday: Rainbow Ridge in Fallon, NV. The first race in the Nevada Cup.

2008 Nevada Cup Races

The Reno Wheelmen have announced the 2008 Nevada Cup schedule:

NORBA Northern Nevada State Championship Series

• May 4: Jetway Chevrolet Rainbow Ridge Challenge (Fallon, NV)
• May 24: Pine Nut Cracker (Gardnerville, NV)
• May 31: Peavine Challenge (Reno, NV)
• August 17: Sky Tavern Classic (Reno, NV)

This is a change of dates for the Rainbow Ridge Challenge.

Most of these races are XC-only races. However, I believe Sky Tavern and Peavine Challenge have also had DH races in the past.

You can see results and more information from last year's Nevada Cup races in the archives.

Thanks to Peter for the tip on this.

2008 Rainbow Ridge and FT&B Dates

BicycleNevada has the dates for of this year's Nevada events:

• April 27, 2008: Rainbow Ridge Challenge
• June 7-8, 2008: Fears, Tears and Beers

Rainbow Ridge is usually the first race in the Nevada Cup XC series and FT&B is an Enduro. I don't see their sites updated with details yet, but I post something when I do. For last year's information on Nor Nevada races, check the archives.

2007 Sky Tavern Results

So I never saw the results for this posted on the Reno Wheelmen page for the 2007 Nevada Cup, but dhRENO had the scoop:

Sky Tavern DH ‘07: "Looks like the Sky Tavern downhill race did go off this year with 7 racers, each in a different category, so everyone was a winner!" (Via dhRENO)

Congrats to Jon Wilson and Heidi Kanayan who won the Men's and Women's Pro/Expert DH races. See the dhRENO link for full DH results and pictures.

I found the XC results after scouring the USA Cycling website. Congratulations to Michael Andres and Zephanie Blasi who won the Men's and Women's Pro XC race.

RACE REPORT: 2007 Peavine Challenge

Last weekend was the third race in the 2007 Nevada MTB Cup series, the Peavine Challenge. I missed the results being posted but here they are:

• Peavine Challenge DH results
• Peavine Challenge XC Results

dhRENO has filed an extended race report from the Peavine Challenge along with a whole mess of downhill photos.

Preliminary 2007 Nevada Cup Standings

The preliminary standings for 2007 Nevada Cup (Nevada State XC & DH Championship Series) have been posted. They do not include last weekend's Peavine Challenge (i.e. they are only for the first two races) as I haven't seen them online yet.

RACE REPORT: 2007 Rainbow Ridge

Finally uncovered the results from the first leg of the Nevada Cup race Jetway Chevrolet Rainbow Ridge Challenge. Congrats to Kyle Dixon (Bicycle Warehouse) and Zephanie Blasi (Kenda/X-Fusion/Titus) for the wins in the Pro division.

RACE RESULTS: Pine Nut Cracker

Final results from last weekend's Pine Nut Cracker have been posted over on the Alta Alpina website. This was the second leg of the Nevada Cup. Congratulations to Peter Graf (Team Ritchey) who edged out Rob Anderson (AMD/Discovery Channel) for the Pro Men's win. Marian Jamison (Reno Wheelmen) took home the Women's Pro honors.

2007 Pine Nut Cracker

The 2007 Pine Nut Cracker has been scheduled for May 6th, 2007 in Gardnerville, NV at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. A part of the Nevada Cup, this XC race has a new course this year. This race venue will be more traditional in the sense of a single-loop instead of having different course loops for different categories. And the start/finish will be at "The Tree" (across the street from last year's race start/finish) so none of the race will be on pavement.

Event: Pine Nut Cracker
Dates: May 20th, 2006
Location: Gardnerville, NV [ MAP ]
Competition: XC
Cost: $30 ($10 for juniors)
URL: www.AltaAlpina.com
License: USA Cycling (one day licenses available)
Registration: via mail (see site)

Zon and I raced this last year, it was a shit ton of fun. Good burgers. Take a look at our race report. Check the archives for all information about the Pine Nut Cracker and Nevada Cup.