Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort in Lake Tahoe, California today announced the opening of a new downhill mountain bike trail geared toward those interested in getting started in the sport of downhill mountain biking, as well as a new jump park designed for riders who want to progress their skills.
The new beginner trail, named “Easy Rider,” is nearly 1.75 miles in length, maintains an average width of four to six feet, and an average grade of five percent. The trail begins at mid-mountain, near the top of the Gondola Express chairlift, and ends in the Village at Northstar™. Designed to give beginners and families interested in riding together suitable terrain, Easy Rider is a welcome addition to the bike park and brings Northstar® Resort’s beginner mountain bike trail count to five. With this addition, the resort is also offering a new beginner package that includes an afternoon lift ticket valid beginning at 1 p.m. providing access to the Gondola Express lift only and rental bike. The cost is $49 for ages 13+, and $29 for children ages 9-12.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
New Northstar Trail
This actually opened this weekend, but thought it was still worth mentioning:
Monday, July 28, 2008
2009 Amgen Tour Route
No, not MTB related, but certainly a few NorCal stops:
"The Amgen Tour of California will be expanded in 2009, covering more than 800 miles over nine days and visiting 16 host cities, race presenter AEG announced Wednesday.Via VeloNews.
Stages for the 2009 Amgen Tour of California include:
Stage 1, Saturday, Feb. 14 – Sacramento
Stage 2, Sunday, Feb. 15 – Davis to Santa Rosa
Stage 3, Monday, Feb. 16 – Sausalito to Santa Cruz
Stage 4, Tuesday, Feb. 17 – San Jose to Modesto
Stage 5, Wednesday, Feb. 18 – Merced to Clovis
Stage 6, Thursday, Feb. 19 – Visalia to Paso Robles
Stage 7, Friday, Feb. 20 – Solvang (individual time trial)
Stage 8, Saturday, Feb. 21 – Santa Clarita to Pasadena
Stage 9, Sunday, Feb. 22 – Rancho Bernardo to Escondido
For more information on the 2009 Amgen Tour of California, see www.amgentourofcalifornia.com."
NorCal HS League MTB Jobs
And I'm back. Sorry for the inadvertent weeklong outage folks, but I was overseas and found myself without Internet access for a few days. I'll be trying to make it up to you with a deluge of stories that I have queued up on my laptop.
And I start with something that should interest everyone: cold hard cash. Well, at least a job, that pays cold hard cash. And a job that involves both NorCal and MTB racing, at that:
And I start with something that should interest everyone: cold hard cash. Well, at least a job, that pays cold hard cash. And a job that involves both NorCal and MTB racing, at that:
The NorCal High School Mountain Bike Racing League is pleased to announce two new job openings:Hurry on over and apply if you think you qualify. The NorCal HS MTB league seems like a quality organisation that is really leading the nation to create MTB racing opportunities for young people.Assistant Executive DirectorSubmit resume and a cover letter to Vanessa Hauswald at
Starting Salary: $45,000 plus benefits
Job Description: http://norcalmtb.org/temporary/asst_dir.pdf
Administrative Assistant
Starting Salary: $30,000 plus benefits
Job Description: http://norcalmtb.org/temporary/admin_asst.pdf
vanessa.hauswald AT gmail DOT com.
Cover letter should include a paragraph describing how this job fits into your current career path. The cover letter and resume must be submitted in PDF format.
Monday, July 21, 2008
2008 Northstar DH #2
Results have been posted (in PDF) for this weekend's second race in the Northstar at Tahoe DH series. Congratulations to Tasa Herndon and Jon Wilson, who won the Women's Open and Men's Pro divisions, respectively.
Photos are posted over at RIck R's SmugMug site.
Photos are posted over at RIck R's SmugMug site.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Santa Cruz Bicycles Garage Sale
So this isn't really racing related per-se, but it certainly is NorCal:
Yes, the coastside purveyors of sweet MTB rides are blowing out some inventory.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
2008 Northstar XC #1 Results
Results have been posted for the first race in the Northstar at Tahoe XC series.
Congrats to Emma Garrard and John Hulley, who won the Expert's Women and Men divisions.
Congrats to Emma Garrard and John Hulley, who won the Expert's Women and Men divisions.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Lake Sonoma Special This Weekend
July is usually the month where it is simply too friggin hot to race up in the North Bay, so the Lake Sonoma Series skips it and picks back up in August. Not this year. Instead of going sans July, they've moved it to an evening start. Here are some of the high points:"YOU WILL HIKE YOUR BIKEYou'll have to click over to BikeMonkey to get the full 411. Hey, and while you're over there -- why don't you subscribe to Bike Monkey Magazine, Sonoma County's new magazine and our newest sponsor.
CATEGORY SIMPLIFICATION
DOES NOT EFFECT LAKE SONOMA SERIES
THE COURSE: At 14 miles, this is going to make the Series Loop feel like a ride around Lake Ilsanjo. If you doubt your fitness level please consider bail out options when they present themselves. There will be a point of no return half-way through the race where you will be commited to a singletrack trail that is a few miles long with no alternate or easy way out."
2008 MTB National Championships This Weekend
Although we don't cover it much anymore, USA Cycling is holding their MTB National Championship on the East Coast this weekend. Ever since they moved after the somewhat disastrous 2006 championship at Cougar Mountain, it's just hard to get excited about. However, in the interest of fairness, here is the press release:
"The 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships will return to Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, Vt. for the second year in a row, July 17-20.Via USA Cycling.
2008 Olympians Adam Craig (Bend, Ore.) and Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass.) will be on hand to defend their 2007 national titles in the pro Olympic-style cross country contest, along with Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.) and Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo.) who have also qualified for Beijing. Fresh off the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Cole Bangert (Twin Lakes, Colo.) and Kathy Pruitt (Santa Cruz, Calif.) are set to defend their Stars-and-Stripes jersey in the pro downhill races on Sunday.
Utilizing largely the same routes as the 2007 competition, athletes can expect demanding and technical courses that will challenge even the sport’s best. This year’s cross country competition will cover the same five-mile loop as in 2007 with race lengths from five miles for the 12 & under juniors, to 25 miles for the professionals. The 2008 downhill competition will feature two different courses with one specifically suited for the beginner and sport classes and the other designed to challenge the skills of the nation’s top pro gravity riders.
In addition to the various off-road cycling competitions, USA Cycling is set to present the four U.S. Olympic mountain bikers with their official Olympic jersey during a special ceremony at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 19. At that time, the national governing body will also be announcing the dates and host venue of the 2009-10 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships. "
Northstar XC Series Opener (Take 2)
I think with the smoke abating throughout the region, last week's smoke-out of the Northstar MTB XC series will not be repeated. So I think that means everything is on for tonight. And as a special bonus, Northstar is adding a race:
"The race [series] has been extended one week due to the July 10 cancelation. The series will now begin on July 17 and go through August 28"Via Northstar at Tahoe Mountain Bike Events
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
2008 Downieville Classic Results (Final)
Results from the 2008 Downieville Classic have been posted (all links are in PDF):"Packer Saddle XC Split and Complete All Mountain Times will be up soon"
2008 East Coast NMBS Results
Here's the wrapup from the East Coast National at Windham Mountain Resort:
The fifth round of the US National Mountain Bike Series, the East Coast Nationals, hosted by Windham Mountain Resort in the Catskill Mountains of New York state, concluded today with foreign riders announcing their presence in the U.S. with resounding wins, and the newly selected U.S. Olympic team members confirming their talent and form. Mathieu Toulouse, Adam Craig, Jeremiah Bishop, Georgia Gould and Katherina Nash starred in the Kenda Tubes and Tires cross country races, while Joanna Petterson and Kieran Bennett claimed victory in the Fox Racing Shox gravity races.
XC Men
Canadian Mathieu Toulouse (Team Maxxis) grabbed the biggest result of his career when he got the better of U.S. Olympic Team member Adam Craig (Giant) in a thrilling sprint finish that concluded the Men's Pro XC race at Round 5 of the National Mountain Bike Series at Windham Mountain, NY. Rounding out the podium was the ever-consistent Jeremiah Bishop (Trek/VW), a mere 18 seconds adrift of Toulouse and Craig.
The race finish time of 1 hour, 35 minutes reflected the heated action on a hot summer day in New York's Catskill Mountains, an hour south of the state capitol of Albany. Toulouse, a Quebecois from Montreal, used his knowledge and familiarity with regional terrain to steadily pursue and eventually catch early leaders Craig and Bishop near the beginning of the 4th and final lap.
Once he caught Craig and Bishop near the beginning of the final lap, Toulouse displayed the tactical nous of a seasoned competitor, holding the wheels of the two Americans- surprised at his sudden appearance - for the first half of the 4th lap before applying the coup-de-grace at the summit of the climb, just before the quick descent to the finish.
XC Women
In the Women's Pro XC race, Georgia Gould (Luna Women's MTB) won the start and never looked back for the entire race, staying away to win in 1 hour, 21 minutes on a hot, 87-degree New York afternoon. When a lone competitor did catch her briefly, at the top of the first climb, it was Luna teammate Catherine Pendrel. Pendrel's attempt at shared race leadership fell apart on the quick, technical descent back to the start/finish line. Still, the 28-year old Canadian held the runner-up spot all the way to the race finish, a further 2 laps away. She finished only 1 minute 20 seconds adrift of Gould.
Rubber stamping the Luna team's dominance of Round 5 was teammate and NMBS Series Leader Katerina Nash, who rounded out the podium with a 1 hour, 24 minute ride for 3rd place.
Men Short Track
Newly-selected 2008 U.S. Olympic team member Todd Wells (GT) won the start at Saturday's Pro XC race, before it all started to go wrong. He later retired with a mechanical issue. Sunday's Short Track event offered a chance at revenge for the multiple cyclocross National Champion. He got revenge on the mechanical gremlins and the race win, with the help not of a teammate, but of his brother Troy (Tokyo Joes). Another cyclocross head-of-state, Ryan Trebon (Kona), made his trademark attack in the short track event. With Trebon going clear on the first lap, Troy Wells took up the chase behind.
Towing his brother along for the ride, Troy eventually caught Trebon several laps later, while behind, Jeremiah Bishop (Trek/VW) was putting in a tremendous ride, moving up from 23rd slot at the start to 4th, and closing in on the lead quickly. After the Wells brothers caught Trebon, Troy attacked again, forcing Bishop and a resurgent Adam Craig to lead the chase. As the catch was made, brother Todd attacked for the win. Bishop and Craig reversed their finish order from the previous day's XC race, with the Virginian taking 2nd place just ahead of Craig, both at 4 seconds to Wells. Trebon finished fourth, a further 2 seconds back.
Women Short Track
Team Luna continued its domination of the NMBS series with team rider Katerina Nash riding most of the race with Georgia Gould, only to better her teammate at the finish. Gould, who won Saturday's Women's Pro XC race, again won the start, and Nash was put in the unusual position of chasing a teammate in order to preserve her series lead. This round, the non-Team Luna women's contenders were not content to race against each other, and they mounted a vigorous pursuit of Nash and Gould. While not able to completely close the gap, Michal Dyck (Trek/Terrascape), Wendy Simms (Kona), and Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Gary Fisher) took places 3-5, respectively.
Men's DH
New Zealander Kieran Bennett (Odi), won the Men's Downhill finals in similarly slick condtions as the women faced. Bennett finished 2 seconds faster than Garrit Beytagh (Morewood), and 5 seconds faster than fellow countryman Cameron Cole (Maxxis).
Women's DH
Finally the rains came. Just in time for the Women's Downhill finals to start! Navigating the slick, treacherous and foggy conditions with trademark precision was South African Joanna Petterson (Maxxis), who prevailed over New Zealander Amy Laird by 2 seconds. Delivering the goods for U.S, fans was Alexis Wruble (Vitamin Water), who finished third at 13 seconds.
Men's Super D
Cross-country Pro Adam Craig (Giant) won the Super-D in 9 minutes, 18 seconds on a course that clearly involved a lot of pedalling. Cross-country riders dominated the results. Second was Samuel Koerber (Gary Fisher), and third was Brian Fawley. Both riders were nearly even on time, 8 seconds behind Craig.
Women's Super D
Canadian Wendy Simms (Kona) won the Women's Super-D with a time of 11 minutes, 1 second. Second place was Lindsey Bishop (Mafia Racing) at 1:14 behind Simms, and third was Danae York (Velobum.com) at 1:26.
The fifth round of the US National Mountain Bike Series, the East Coast Nationals, hosted by Windham Mountain Resort in the Catskill Mountains of New York state, concluded today with foreign riders announcing their presence in the U.S. with resounding wins, and the newly selected U.S. Olympic team members confirming their talent and form. Mathieu Toulouse, Adam Craig, Jeremiah Bishop, Georgia Gould and Katherina Nash starred in the Kenda Tubes and Tires cross country races, while Joanna Petterson and Kieran Bennett claimed victory in the Fox Racing Shox gravity races.
XC Men
Canadian Mathieu Toulouse (Team Maxxis) grabbed the biggest result of his career when he got the better of U.S. Olympic Team member Adam Craig (Giant) in a thrilling sprint finish that concluded the Men's Pro XC race at Round 5 of the National Mountain Bike Series at Windham Mountain, NY. Rounding out the podium was the ever-consistent Jeremiah Bishop (Trek/VW), a mere 18 seconds adrift of Toulouse and Craig.
The race finish time of 1 hour, 35 minutes reflected the heated action on a hot summer day in New York's Catskill Mountains, an hour south of the state capitol of Albany. Toulouse, a Quebecois from Montreal, used his knowledge and familiarity with regional terrain to steadily pursue and eventually catch early leaders Craig and Bishop near the beginning of the 4th and final lap.
Once he caught Craig and Bishop near the beginning of the final lap, Toulouse displayed the tactical nous of a seasoned competitor, holding the wheels of the two Americans- surprised at his sudden appearance - for the first half of the 4th lap before applying the coup-de-grace at the summit of the climb, just before the quick descent to the finish.
XC Women
In the Women's Pro XC race, Georgia Gould (Luna Women's MTB) won the start and never looked back for the entire race, staying away to win in 1 hour, 21 minutes on a hot, 87-degree New York afternoon. When a lone competitor did catch her briefly, at the top of the first climb, it was Luna teammate Catherine Pendrel. Pendrel's attempt at shared race leadership fell apart on the quick, technical descent back to the start/finish line. Still, the 28-year old Canadian held the runner-up spot all the way to the race finish, a further 2 laps away. She finished only 1 minute 20 seconds adrift of Gould.
Rubber stamping the Luna team's dominance of Round 5 was teammate and NMBS Series Leader Katerina Nash, who rounded out the podium with a 1 hour, 24 minute ride for 3rd place.
Men Short Track
Newly-selected 2008 U.S. Olympic team member Todd Wells (GT) won the start at Saturday's Pro XC race, before it all started to go wrong. He later retired with a mechanical issue. Sunday's Short Track event offered a chance at revenge for the multiple cyclocross National Champion. He got revenge on the mechanical gremlins and the race win, with the help not of a teammate, but of his brother Troy (Tokyo Joes). Another cyclocross head-of-state, Ryan Trebon (Kona), made his trademark attack in the short track event. With Trebon going clear on the first lap, Troy Wells took up the chase behind.
Towing his brother along for the ride, Troy eventually caught Trebon several laps later, while behind, Jeremiah Bishop (Trek/VW) was putting in a tremendous ride, moving up from 23rd slot at the start to 4th, and closing in on the lead quickly. After the Wells brothers caught Trebon, Troy attacked again, forcing Bishop and a resurgent Adam Craig to lead the chase. As the catch was made, brother Todd attacked for the win. Bishop and Craig reversed their finish order from the previous day's XC race, with the Virginian taking 2nd place just ahead of Craig, both at 4 seconds to Wells. Trebon finished fourth, a further 2 seconds back.
Women Short Track
Team Luna continued its domination of the NMBS series with team rider Katerina Nash riding most of the race with Georgia Gould, only to better her teammate at the finish. Gould, who won Saturday's Women's Pro XC race, again won the start, and Nash was put in the unusual position of chasing a teammate in order to preserve her series lead. This round, the non-Team Luna women's contenders were not content to race against each other, and they mounted a vigorous pursuit of Nash and Gould. While not able to completely close the gap, Michal Dyck (Trek/Terrascape), Wendy Simms (Kona), and Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Gary Fisher) took places 3-5, respectively.
Men's DH
New Zealander Kieran Bennett (Odi), won the Men's Downhill finals in similarly slick condtions as the women faced. Bennett finished 2 seconds faster than Garrit Beytagh (Morewood), and 5 seconds faster than fellow countryman Cameron Cole (Maxxis).
Women's DH
Finally the rains came. Just in time for the Women's Downhill finals to start! Navigating the slick, treacherous and foggy conditions with trademark precision was South African Joanna Petterson (Maxxis), who prevailed over New Zealander Amy Laird by 2 seconds. Delivering the goods for U.S, fans was Alexis Wruble (Vitamin Water), who finished third at 13 seconds.
Men's Super D
Cross-country Pro Adam Craig (Giant) won the Super-D in 9 minutes, 18 seconds on a course that clearly involved a lot of pedalling. Cross-country riders dominated the results. Second was Samuel Koerber (Gary Fisher), and third was Brian Fawley. Both riders were nearly even on time, 8 seconds behind Craig.
Women's Super D
Canadian Wendy Simms (Kona) won the Women's Super-D with a time of 11 minutes, 1 second. Second place was Lindsey Bishop (Mafia Racing) at 1:14 behind Simms, and third was Danae York (Velobum.com) at 1:26.
Monday, July 14, 2008
2008 Downieville Pics
Pictures of this weekend's 2008 Downieville Classic are starting to appear online. This is one from Flickr (here), it basically sums up Mark Weir's DH:
Some other photos can be found at:I'll post more as I see them.
Preliminary 2008 Downieville Results
UPDATE: Probably the closest to official results we'll see today are some photos of the results over at MTBR.
I haven't seen anything official posted, but Trek's Ross Schnell beat local heros Mark Weir and Jason Moesher to claim this year's All Mountain Crown at the Downieville Classic. It appears Mark Weir's hopes of repeating as downhill champion succumbed to some wheel issues. Unofficially, I am seeing the following results for the Pro All-Mountain (combined XC and DH) categories:
Men's Pro DH (All Mountain)
1. Ross Schnell
2. Jason Moeschler
3. Nathan Riddle
4. Myles Rockwell
5. Brian Lopes
6. Ariel Lindsley
7. Chris Sheppard
8. Mark Jordan
9. Harlan Price
10. Dain Zaffke
41. Menso de Jong
Men's Pro XC (All Mountain)
1. Ross Schnell
2. Jason Moeschler
3. Mark Weir
4. Chris Shepard
5. Mike Vine
6. Menso de Jong
7. Tim Olson
8. Sean Donovan
9. Harlan Price
10. Nathan Riddle
Women's Pro XC (All Mountain)
1. Rachel Lloyd
2. Susan Hayward
3. Sarah Maile
4. Jamie Stamps
5. Maureen Kunz
Women's Pro DH (All Mountain)
1. Rachel Lloyd
2. Susan Hayward
3. Abby Hippley
4. Tiffany Allmandinger
5. Jamie Stamps
6. Maureen Kunz
7. Sarah Maile
8. Jackie Baker
9. Corina Bigham
10. Niki Gudex
I will post a link to the official results as soon as I see them posted. There are some race report over at MTBR.
I haven't seen anything official posted, but Trek's Ross Schnell beat local heros Mark Weir and Jason Moesher to claim this year's All Mountain Crown at the Downieville Classic. It appears Mark Weir's hopes of repeating as downhill champion succumbed to some wheel issues. Unofficially, I am seeing the following results for the Pro All-Mountain (combined XC and DH) categories:
Men's Pro DH (All Mountain)
1. Ross Schnell
2. Jason Moeschler
3. Nathan Riddle
4. Myles Rockwell
5. Brian Lopes
6. Ariel Lindsley
7. Chris Sheppard
8. Mark Jordan
9. Harlan Price
10. Dain Zaffke
41. Menso de Jong
Men's Pro XC (All Mountain)
1. Ross Schnell
2. Jason Moeschler
3. Mark Weir
4. Chris Shepard
5. Mike Vine
6. Menso de Jong
7. Tim Olson
8. Sean Donovan
9. Harlan Price
10. Nathan Riddle
Women's Pro XC (All Mountain)
1. Rachel Lloyd
2. Susan Hayward
3. Sarah Maile
4. Jamie Stamps
5. Maureen Kunz
Women's Pro DH (All Mountain)
1. Rachel Lloyd
2. Susan Hayward
3. Abby Hippley
4. Tiffany Allmandinger
5. Jamie Stamps
6. Maureen Kunz
7. Sarah Maile
8. Jackie Baker
9. Corina Bigham
10. Niki Gudex
I will post a link to the official results as soon as I see them posted. There are some race report over at MTBR.
2009 Fat Cyclist Jersey Unveiled
I am kind of sucker for cool jerseys (especially from those rascally Twin Six folks). And good blogs (with people who can actually write entertainingly day after day). So when I saw the newest Fat Cyclist jersey design, I was smitten:"I can’t stop myself from looking at this jersey. I love the big Clydesdale silhouette in the back. I love that Twin Six found a way to put both the ‘201″ and the ‘WIN’ on the sleeves. I love the pink accent stitching.Cool threads and a worthy cause (for those of you who don't follow the blog, Elden's wife is battling cancer). You can find out more over at Fat Cyclist.
I really, really hope you are as much in love with this jersey design as I am.
And now, here are the questions I think you might have and the answers I have for the questions I think you might have.
When can I pre-order one? You’ll be able to pre-order these jerseys next week: July 14 - July 20, from the Twin Six site. I will provide links and reminders as the time gets close.
How much will it cost? Jersey prices (along with everything bike-related) are going up across the board, but we’re holding the price at last year’s price — US$70.00 — for folks who pre-order.
Where does the money go? My profits from this jersey go toward my wife’s cancer treatment, as well as toward doing fun stuff with her and the kids."
NMBS Windham Preliminary Results
Preliminary results from the NMBS event back East this weekend:
"After racing four laps of the newly constructed course at this first-time venue in New York’s Catskill Mountains, Toulouse took the win by a wheel over Craig. Both finished within a second of each other, stopping the clock at 1:35:10.7 and 1:35:11, respectively. Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-VW) was third.Via VeloNews.
Earlier in the day, Team Luna dominated the women’s cross country. Canadian Olympian Catherine Pendrel took the hole shot to lead onto the single track climb up the mountain. Her teammate and U.S. Olympic Team member Georgia Gould was close behind, and took control of the three-lap race on the first descent.
Gould kept her lead for the rest of the three-lap race, finishing in 1:21:20. Pendrel took second, with teammate Katerina Nash rounding out the top three. Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth) was fourth, and Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Gary Fischer) fifth. "
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