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.

Weeknight Racing Results

Some of the weeknight racing results are posted:

• Tuesday's Summit Summer Shorty results
• PCRS Fall Flash #2 photos and results

I don't see the last Howarth Dirt Crit results ...

2009 Summit Shorty Summer Series

Ugghh ... here's another series I missed, even after they reminded me .... Tonight is the 3rd to last (tertultimate ?) race in Summit Bicycle's Summit Shorty Summer Series:

The Summit Shorty is back in 2009 for more short course XC racing! Due to popular demand, we will do a spring and a summer series this year. The racing happens Tuesday evenings atop the hill at McInnis Park. The spring race series ran for six Tuesday evenings, beginning May 5th. The Summer Series races are 8/4, 8/11, 8/18, 8/25, 9/1 and 9/8.

Registration opens at 5:00 PM on race day and the race is $10 per person, per race. Each class is limited to 35 riders.

Again, the race is TONIGHT (Tuesday, August 25th).

Kirkwood Summer Series

I completely missed this Kirkwood race series (they already had one a week or so ago), but the final is coming up on Labor Day weekend:

Join us this summer for five (ed: okay, only two left) fantastic mountain biking events! We began the race season on Saturday August 1st with the Kirkwood Nine-to-Five Endurance Race. Take part in our Friday Night X-C Races or Saturday Super-D events on August 14th and 15th and September 4th and 5th.

FRIDAY NIGHT X-C
Friday Night X-C races begin at 5pm and will run until we're finished. Join us post-race for an after party and awards in Bub's. Registration is just $10.

SATURDAY SUPER-D
The hottest thing on the race circuit this year, Super-D is a combination of cross country and downhill racing. Big bikes aren't required - you can run the full course on a cross country bike if you so choose. Races begin at 4pm, registration is just $10 for pass holders or $40 includes a lift ticket.

Via Kirkwood MTB website.

2009 12 Hours of Humboldt Results

Results for Saturday's 12 Hours of Humboldt have been posted over at Team Bigfoot's website. Congratulations to Mark Osborn and Chris Horton who both recorded 13 laps (although I think Chris won on time), and Elizabeth Crocker, who recorded the most solo female laps.

There's a thread on MTBR with pictures and a race report at Tri-Sports Racing.

VeloNews Launches Singletrack.com

VeloNews has launched a MTB oriented site:

Competitor Group, Inc. (ed: the people who recently bought VeloNews) has launched an online publication focused on the mountain bike lifestyle at Singletrack.com.

“Singletrack.com aims to be the first and last word on all flavors of mountain biking,” said Jamie Bate, the site’s new editor. “It’s not a narrow take on one discipline or another, but an entertaining and informative site that all ages and styles will want to check out daily. We’re not about copping attitudes. We’re about sharing the experience.”

Singletrack.com will also leverage the editorial and technical resources of VeloNews and VeloNews.com with respected names such as Lennard Zinn, Matt Pacocha and Zack Vestal contributing to the content package.

Via Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

John Fisher DH Finals/Party

Sunday is the finals of the John Fisher DH Series and there's going to be a party:

We will be running a 2 race format with an combined time. We will be using 2 courses, the first of two run will start on the Express Trail course. The 2nd course and run take place next to Kamook Staging area, Starting on Martin crossing over to Powerline down to 41. Our shuttle will be running starting @ 9:00am. First racer will start at Express @ 12:00 noon. After all riders are done with the Express run all riders will take a run on Martin/Powerline to complet our two runs. Best of two combined times will be our winner.

We have a great raffle set up, riders that have raced at the series will get one ticket per race attended. Tickets will be on sale starting @ $5.00 for one ticket, 5 for $10.00, 10 for $20.00. Raffle will take place after the awards.

This series has been set up to help our friend John Fisher get a much needed Handicap Van, I want to thank everyone that has come out to race and helped us help John, Thank you and please come out the Finals to help us reach our goal and get John and his twins a Van. Thank you all again and see you all this weekend at the John Fisher Benefit DH Summer Sizzle Race Series. There will be a After/party, BBQ, RedBull Drinks/Beer following race, so come out have some fun with John and the rest of us, Grogg's Irish Pub has donated a keg of Sierra Nevada Beer for Sunday's after party, racers get Free Beer.....

The John Fisher DH series is held in Miami Creek OHV Park near Oakhurst, CA. More information at the Sick Promotions website.

RACE REPORT: 2009 PCRS Fall Flash #1

After a summer mostly full of knee problems, I returned to racing tonight at the local weeknight series, Prairie City. It was a perfect night for racing -- the 100F temperatures never materialized. We used the standard northward course of about 3 miles in distance and 200 feet of climbing.

Results and picture are already posted .

I won't go into my race (let's just say I was happy with how I rode but I need to go a bit easier on my tires to actually finish...) but I did take some quick video:



Next race in the series in Wednesday, August 26th near Folsom, CA.

Weeknight Racing This Week

For those of you missing your racing fix from a light weekend, it's weeknight racing time:

• Prairie City Fall Flash starts tonight near Sacramento. It's the start of a five race short XC series.
• Howarth Park Dirt Crits have their second to last race of the season in Santa Rosa.
• Northstar at Tahoe has their last XC race of the season TOMORROW night (Thursday) near Truckee.

If you miss out on the mid-week fun, don't worry. We'll have a preview of the big weekend ahead of us tomorrow.

Bidwell Bump Returns for 2009

Oops, I got this last week and forgot to post it.

Chico State is finally hosting a race! There will be 4 events:XC, SD, ST, and or course DH! They will be held at two venues for optimum riding! The XC race will be in Bidwell Park and so will the Super D! And the DH and Short track (Collegiate Only) will be held in Oroville (a neighboring town) 30 minutes south of Chico.

Via Chico State Cycling Home.

The races will be held on September 26 & 27th but no word on costliness yet. I've split these into two events on the calendar: DH/ST and SD/XC since they are so far apart.

Everyone Stacks

It's nice to know that everyone (even world champs) who races MTBs has that moment ...

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

Geoff Kabush stacking (although one could make a case for a yard sale with the impressive downhill trajectory of his ride) on the way to winning the XCT at Windham.

2009 Parkfield Classic

The dates for this year's Parkfield Classic have surfaced:

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Wheelmen Present the 20th Parkfield Classic on October 3rd and 4th, 2009

Closing in on twenty years, the 2009 Parkfield Classic will be one to remember. Great courses, great people, and fun times await those who make the journey to the “earthquake capital of the world” for this year's addition.

Who/What/When/Where: The Parkfield Classic is presented by the Cal Poly SLO Wheelmen and includes a weekend of XC, DS, ST, and DH racing, along with camping and all around good time. This year's addition takes place on the weekend of October 3rd and 4th, with gates opening on Friday the 2nd at 4pm. The event is held on the V6 Ranch in Parkfield, California, located roughly between Paso Robles and Kettlemen City. For additional information about the race keep your eye on the soon to be updated parkfieldclassic.com. All proceeds benefit the Cal Poly Wheelmen, a non-profit collegiate mountain biking club.

• Cross Country (Saturday Morning): Parkfield has just the right brew for you. We are one of the last few races that won’t send you out for loop after loop of the same course. All courses come with our own flavor: flowy single track, big lung busting fire road climbs and long, screaming fast descents. ALL NORBA/USAC XC Racers get a BBQ ticket included with their race. Distances: Cat 3: 9 miles, Cat 2: 15 miles, Pro/Cat 1: 24 miles.
• Dual Slalom (Saturday Afternoon):A new course this year with separate tracks for each racer makes for intense competition all the way down the hill. Built up rollers and additional berms make this year’s course the best one yet. One qualifying run. The 16 fastest qualifiers in each category will go head to head in single elimination rounds. Fastest qualifier in each race gets lane choice.
• Short Track (Sunday Morning):Fast paced and action packed XC racing that is as fun to watch as it is to race. Laps will be around a modified course from last year. Bring your lungs and your passing gears — we’re putting in more room for longer, harder drag races. NORBA/USAC racers will race with corresponding collegiate category due to time constraints.
• Downhill (Sunday Morning/Afternoon): When we brew downhill, we use nothing but heaps of fresh single-track. We enrich the flavor with flowing turns, high speed G-outs, and exciting drops. For those preferring something stouter, we’ve got some harder and bolder lines, but always allow the option for smoother ones for the first timers. Single Run format. Bypass options are given for most obstacles. Pro/Cat 1 course different than Cat 2/3 course. Riders are encouraged to wear protective gear as necessary. All riders must ride within safe limits!

Read all the details over on Mtbr.com.

Thanks to race co-director Menso de Jong for the heads up.

2009 John Fisher DH #5 Results

Results have been posted for the fifth John Fisher DH race (pdf). Also available are the series point standings (xls). 

Congrats to Conner Reddington, who posted the best time for this race. The final race in the series is August 23rd.

2009 12Hrs of Humboldt Update

A quick update about next weekend's 12 Hours of Humboldt up in Arcata:

With temperatures throughout California reaching into the 90s and beyond, many endurance racers are looking forward to visiting Arcata for the 12 Hours of Humboldt, August 22, as a means of getting in some good racing while also escaping the sweltering heat-wave. The average August daily temperature in this corner of the north coast is in the high 60s! Factor in a course that almost entirely under the shade of giant redwood trees and it’s no wonder that most of the riders in this popular event come from out of the area.

The main venue is in Arcata’s Redwood Park. The pit area will be on the upper lawn where riders and teams will be able to put up tents, awnings, etc. Riders with children will be pleased to know that there’s a playground adjacent to the start/finish/transition The course will run through the Arcata Community Forest using a variety of trails. The 8-mile course is a fun mix of fireroad and flowing singletrakc, boasting 1400’ of elevation gain per lap. Mountain bike endurance hero Tinker Juarez has called the course “One of the best I’ve ridden.”

The event is not just for elite riders. Along with the elite solo riders there will also be relay teams of 2, 3 or 4 riders competing in several different categories based on age and rider ability.

Check out all the details at Team Bigfoot.

2009 ASC MTB Elevation Classic Moved

The 2009 ASC MTB Elevation Classic has been moved back from this coming weekend to Sunday, September 20th. Registration is still over at BikeReg.