September Lake Sonoma Series Results

Results and pictures have been posted from today's Lake Sonoma Series XC race. Congrats to Jim Hewitt (Pro Men's) and Shannon Sobeck (Sport Women), the top male and female finishers.

Interbike 2007 Highlights

Interbike 2007, the largest bicycling tradeshow in the US, kicked off this week in Las Vegas:

Interbike Is Coming This Week: "The 2007 Interbike trade show is coming to Las Vegas, Nevada... Bikemag.com and the entire Bike magazine crew is preparing to depart for one of the hardest working weeks of our year. Interbike is scheduled to include over 1,000 brands from almost as many exhibitors being shown to nearly 22,000 attendees from over 60 countries." (Via Bikemag.com)

Here are some of the best links of new swag pictures from around the web and that starts with the newest from Crank Brothers:

"The folks at Crank Brothers have been very, very busy over the last year. How busy? Try this: they’ve added wheels, headsets, integrated cranks, a new take on the quick-release skewer…and oh yeah, they’ve also taken over production and distribution of the Speedball adjustable seatpost from Maverick." (Via Bikemag.com)

Here is an incomplete list of Interbike 2007 stories and pics, guaranteed to waste some valuable work time on this Friday morning:

• MTBR Interbike Coverage
• Garmin Blog: Interbike 07: power up with Edge 705
• Official Website of Jeff Kerkove: Interbike madness!
• Interbike 2007: Report 2 - BIKEmagic Gear News
• Interbike 2007 - BIKEmagic Gear News
• Go Clipless: Interbike 2007 OutDoor Demo Day 1 Roundup
• Interbike Update 2 » Blue Collar Mountain Biking
• Interbike Update 3 » Blue Collar Mountain Biking
• Interbike Update 4 » Blue Collar Mountain Biking
• Interbike Update 5 » Blue Collar Mountain Biking
• Interbike Update 6 » Blue Collar Mountain Biking
• Interbike Convention Begins » Blue Collar Mountain Biking
• Singletrack - Interbike - Dirt Demo 2
• Singletrack - Interbike - Demo Day Part One
• Interbike: On Dirt Demo « dhRENO * downhill, freeride, trail bikes & more
• Passion Trail Bikes > Interbike Roundup
• Randall Scott's Blogger: Live From Vegas Bathroom - Mtbr.com Forums
• Sick Lines » Archives » Deity Interbike 2007
• Sick Lines » Archives » Tomac Interbike 2007
• Sick Lines » Archives » Yeti Interbike 2007

2007 Tour de Granite Results

Hmmm . . . somehow I forgot to post this back in August. Better late than never, here are the results for the 2007 Tour de Granite.

Northstar Unveils 2008 Mountain Bike Park Plans

Some really interesting news from the folks up the mountian:

Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort today announced plans for its popular mountain bike park for the 2008 season and beyond. Improving on its existing offering, the resort will offer increased lift capacity, new trails suitable for beginners, as well as new advanced trails and features, instructional riding classes, signature bike events, new cross-country trails and more.
 
Starting in 2008, Northstar Resort will offer beginner trails that run from the Village at Northstar™ up to mid-mountain. Suitable for all ages and ability levels, these family-oriented trails will give riders an opportunity to experience the bike park at their own pace.
 
The resort has plans to construct a trail similar to LiveWire, it’s first signature downhill trail that features an irrigation system top to bottom, that will be geared toward intermediate riders. LiveWire proved to be a very popular trail among riders during the 2007 season. Taking guest feedback and that of Northstar Resort’s team riders, the trail crew will build another fully irrigated trail that will entice non-expert riders to enjoy the ride.
 
Also in the plan is the development of a new cross-country trail that will loop behind Lookout Mountain and provide riders with spectacular views of the Martis Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
 
In addition to the hosting of its own downhill and cross-country race events, Northstar Resort is interested in bringing larger scale events to the resort. Currently in discussions with Tour de Nez, Northstar Resort is working to bring the popular festival event to the resort in 2008, as well as some other larger scale mountain bike events. Bike park sponsor, Giant Bicycles is also considering introducing road, cross-country and downhill performance clinics to riders at Northstar Resort. Featuring Giant sponsored athletes, the performance clinics would include seminars and ride time with the athletes.
 
Beyond the 2008 season, Northstar Resort’s five year plan includes more trail irrigation using the existing snowmaking infrastructure, additional on-mountain dining options, daily clinics, the hosting of national and international race events, the continual building of new trails and the upgrading of the existing trail network and infrastructure." (Via Northstar Resort Unveils Plans for Mountain Bike Park in 2008)

Pinch me: LARGER SCALE EVENTS. Sweet.

September Lake Sonoma Race

This Saturday is the monthly Lake Sonoma XC race:

"At our last event we had over 50 racers. It's so exciting to see people coming from as far away as the southern Bay Area to ride the rugged terrain at Lake Sonoma's Liberty Glenn Campground. It's also amazing how much hurt you can pack into a technical 5 mile course.

LSS #5 is this coming Saturday and it's the second to the last of the season. Points have been calculated to show the regulars where they stand, and in November for race #6 we're going to hand out some cool bling to the overall winners in each category (whoa that's a lot of bling!!). If you're a regular and you're in the running, you'll want to be there for the next two." (Via BikeMonkey.net)

Tahoe Sierra 100 Pre-ride

I've been tracking the Tahoe Sierra 100 rumors for a while and was interested when I heard that it had progressed to a "test ride" for last weekend:

"Several months ago Jim Northey of Global Biorhythm Events contacted me about a route he and his son were mapping out for the 2008 debut Tahoe Sierra 100 which is slated to become next year's championship venue for the NUE MTB Series making it the only sanctioned ultra endurance MTB race in the state of California ... This coming Saturday approximately 40 riders will ascend into the Sierra Nevada mountain range to ride through areas of wilderness where no bikes have ever gone before. Saturday's event is an invitational "pre-ride" of a large portion of the route that will be completed early next year and readied for its official 2008 debut. A handful of riders from Sonoma County are headed up to do the ride. So we will surely hear some great stories within a few days." (via BikeMonkey.net)

Of course, when I saw the ride reports . . . last year's cool race came to mind:

"he stories will start to fly about this one. The snow the cold and the rain. What a hell of a ride. Roger Lackey, Sean Allan, Friz Wisor and Nate Knudson all headed out on the long course. They said at mile 12 the snow hit hard, and the boys in for a hell of a ride. I could go but on, I will let them write in about it. " (via The Tahoe-Sierra 100 was just plain epic!! - Mtbr.com Forum)

Check out the pictures at MTBR. I'm still excited to see this next year.

UPDATE: The Tahoe-Sierra 100 website is up.

2007 Humboldt Hoedown Results

Results have been posted for this weekend's Humboldt Hoedown XC and short track races. Congratulations to Bear (?) Perrin (XC Pro) and Daphne Hodgson (Women's XC Sport) who took top honors.

Race reports can be found at the Mtbr.com Forums.

2007 Parkfield Classic

The details (and website) are all finished for this year's Parkfield Classic down near Paso Robles (actually Parkfield, CA) on October 13th - 14th:

Parkfield Classic 2007 Mountain Bike Race by Cal Poly Wheelmen: "This year's Parkfield Classic will have

Cross Country (Saturday Morning): A point to point XC race covering 9 miles (Beginner), 15 miles (Sport) or 24 miles (Pro/Expert).

Dual Slalom (Saturday Afternoon): Head to head races on separate courses join in the middle for lots of spectator friendly action and a new triple right after the first conjoined turn.

Short Track (Sunday Morning): 50/50 technical singletrack and fire road passing sections.

Downhill (Sunday Morning/Afternoon):Single Run format with Bypass options are given for most obstacles. Expert course different than Sport course."

We also have some coverage of last year's race in the archives.

2007 CCCX Fall Downhill Race #1: 9/16/07

Results have been posted for yesterday's 2007 CCCX Fall Downhill Race #1 (9/16/07). Congrats to Shawn Wilson (Oakley/Gamut/Summit Bicycles) and Rosie Bernhard who won the men's and women's Pro/Semi-Pro classes.

Race reports are up at MTBR and photos have been posted at Rick's smugmug site.

2008 BC Bike Race Dates

Dates have been set for the second annual epic MTB stage race, the BC (British Columbia) Bike Race:

BC Bike Race Newsletter: "After a very successful inaugural race in 2007, BC Bike Race is back for the 2008 season and registration is raring to go!

For BC Bike Race 2008 (June 28th-July 4th 2008), we will welcome up to 400 riders, in teams of 2 and 4, to challenge the 7 stages from Victoria to Whistler, BC."

This seven stage race covers over 500km (~320 miles) from Whistler to Victoria in Western Canada. You can check out Ride424.com's race report from this year's BC Bike Race or the official BC Bike Race blog for more details.

PCRS Fall #4 Results

Results, photos and some video have been posted for this week's PCRS Fall #4 race. Check out the results and photos over at http://racemtbikes.com/.

The video is available over at youtube:

Sky Tavern Redux ?

So I am confused by this. The Reno Wheelmen announced the Sky Tavern race (part of the Nevada Cup) back in August, but now I see this on the University of Nevada Reno Cycling Team site:

"2007 WCCC MTB OPENER
Sky Tavern Resort, NV
Saturday, September 29th: Cross County & Downhill
Sunday, September 30th: Short Track & Super D"

with a race flyer that has all kinds of details on the race. It looks like it is both a collegiate race and NORBA race. I never saw the results to the August Sky Tavern XC race (although dhRENO had the scaled back DH results), so maybe this is legit. I'll email the organizers and ask.

CCCX DH Fall #1 Preview

With the cancellation of the last CHDH and Northstar winding down in two weeks, the CCCX Fall downhill season is starting up just in time:

2007 Central Coast Downhill Race Fall Series: "Course Profile CCCX DH #1- The first race of the series is going to be a fast one with lots of action to test a riders line selection and skills. Traction will be an issue as the trails are dry and fast and the turns will be very tricky. Each CCCX DH course will test a riders full array of riding ability. There will be some really high speed sections, tight turns, steep trails, and some fun riding single track. Each course in the series will test fitness as well as your downhill skills. For race #1 it will be about a 30 minute walk uphill to the start. Cash will be paid out to the top male riders, and top female riders each race. All divisions eligible for cash payout."

The first CCCX downhill is Sunday, but the course is open Saturday for practice and registration (2:00 pm start). The course will be fully marked and ready to practice at this time. On race day (Sunday), registration opens at 8:00 am and closes at 11:30 am. First timed runs start at 12:00 noon. Pixie and Chainless Divisions will be the last runs of the day (3pm start). Awards will be 30 minutes after final run. Registration is $35/person ($25 for juniors).

New for the Fall Series will be an X-Fusion Shox raffle. It'll be held after the awards and you must be present to win.

You can check out previous CCCX DH course and race reports in the archives.

SSWC 2008 Update

A bit more detail on the Singlespeed World Championship coming (SSWC) to NorCal next year:

Back From the Single Speed Worlds: "In case you have not heard yet, Napa, CA will be the host city for SSWC2008. I threw my hat in the ring, so to speak, and after a lot of stiff competition, somehow I came out the winner ... We will have the date and more details soon."

Here is the video evidence of NorCal's interpretive dance superiority:

Northstar and Whiskeytown Race Reports

I haven't seen results from either the Whiskeytown Classic nor Northstar's DH race, but there are a few race reports floating around that I thought I should link to:

• MTBR thread on Whiskeytown Classic:"I came in 3rd (Sport 45-49), behind a Joslyn's rider I met at CCCX and have yet to beat. The guy who won said it was his first race this year. Luckily for me, he's not in the points hunt. I'm somewhere in the top 3 in points."
• dhRENO's Northstar DH # 4 Race Report : "Another mega fun dh race at Northstar! This time it was mainly down the “Sticks and Stones” trail which made for the longest Pro/Expert course of the series."
• More Northstar DH #4 photos are available at this MTBR thread.

Northstar results will be posted here (sometime this week) and Whiskeytown results will probably be posted in the MTBR thread above be posted here at Team Bigfoot's website.

CHDH #3 Cancelled

Wow, this is bad news:

It is with great disappointment that we must cancel the final CHDH race for 2007 due to environmental issues. California state park officials are not allowing us to build a course for race #3. We are continuing to work with them to try to come up with a solution for future races at Carnegie.

As a result, series points have been totaled and series champions will be declared. We’ll be contacting each champion about receiving their awards. Please see following link below for series points results.

http://www.corralhollowdh.com/2007/results/series/

Hopefully, the RideSFO guys can find a way to keep this going.

ROADTRIP: Tour de Brew Mountain Bike Race

So people did think of this before (it's called Cyclocross) but this is still sweet:

Tour de Brew Mountain Bike Race: "Why didn't anyone think of this before? It's absolute genius. Why not bring your mountain bike race right through a brew pub or bar? Maybe even grab a pint on the way through. It would be great for us also-rans that end up in the bottom third of the field. Our new excuse..."yeah I would have podiumed, but they just broke the seal on a new keg of IPA, I just had to give it a try."" (Via Go Clipless)

And here is the video to prove it:

Tara Llanes' Road To Recovery

Some more information on Tara Llanes' injury and recovery:

Tara Llanes: Heart Of A Champion: " Her coach and friend James Herrera asks you to help Tara in the toughest battle of her life" (Via Bicycling Magazine)

You can help Tara by donating to the "Road to Recovery Fund" at http://www.tarallanesroadtorecovery.com/.

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.

Previewed: Garmin Edge 605 And 705 GPS

As a long time and loyal Garmin Edge 305 user, I couldn't let the announcement of the new series of toys gadgets serious cycling computers go unnoticed:

Previewed: Garmin Edge 605 And 705 GPS: "Garmin recently unveiled two new additions to its Edge family of handlebar-friendly GPS devices: the Edge 605 and the Edge 705." (Via Bike Magazine)

My Garmin Edge (along with Motionbased.com) provides most of the course maps that you see on this site.

I may have to buy one of these when they come out in November / December. Anyone want to buy a slightly heavily used Edge 305 ?

Downieville in iPod Ad

Wandering through the intranets today looking at the new iPod and was surprised to see Downieville prominently displayed.

Here's the full clip without downloading Quicktime or buying an iPod touch:

2007 Sand Hill Fall Gravity Series Dates

The Sand Hill fall gravity series dates have been announced:

• October 6, 2007: Mountain-Cross
• October 27: Dual Slalom
• November 3: Mountain-Cross
• November 10: Dual Slalom and Raffle

Races cost $30 ($25 race, $5 parking) and begin at 10:30 am (Sign ups: 8-10 am). These are NORBA(USA Cycling) sanctioned, so licenses are required (Annual and $5 one-day licenses available at sign-ups).

PCRS Fall #3 Video and Pictures

The pictures from last night's PCRS Fall Flash #3 have been posted.

I also edited together some of my video that I shot after I finished my race:


I'll update this post when I see the results. Results have been posted.

PCRS Fall Flash #3

Tonight was my first race back since getting food poisoning a few weeks ago, so I thought I might share some photos and (hopefully) video from the Prairie City Fall Flash #3.

As most people who have had a significant layoff from racing will tell you, you should prepare for an ass-whooping your first race back. The PCRS crowd did not disappoint. I got out too fast for the first lap, lost the lead pack at the second lap marker and then was on a unpleasant ride for the last lap. I also didn't dial in my rear suspension correctly - the course has a lot of square edge small hits and waterbar like dips - and spent much of the first lap pogo-ing. In with the bad race, I didn't DNF or DFL (I think).

The course was pretty standard for the fall flash races: 2.87 miles per lap and about 220' climbing per lap.


View Larger Map

I'll have a video clip and results tomorrow.

PCRS Fall Flash #2

Somehow I missed this last week.

Results and photos were posted from the second Prairie City Fall Flash.

2007 LARPD CX #1

The cyclocross season opened this weekend and the Livermore Area Recreation and Parks District held the first NorCal race. According to CyclocrossBabble, a total of 93 riders attended and rode about 7 minute laps even with the unseasonably hot temperatures.

I haven't seen any pictures or results yet, but someone did post their GPS track from the course:

View Larger Map

I'll update this with results and pics when they surface. The second race of the season is next Saturday at the same location.

SSWC Comes Home to NorCal

The Singlespeed World Championship ( SSWC ) is coming home to Northern California next year !

Singletrack World brought us the great news:

The winner of this event was Curtis Inglis from Napa, California, who will be hosting the 2008 event. Kellie Emmet won the women's competition.

Check out their coverage for full coverage, and most importantly, pictures of the new world championship tattoos.

Bad News From Jeep KOM

Bad news from the Jeep King of the Mountain competition in Colorado this weekend:

American four-cross and BMX rider Tara Llanes (Giant) broke her back during the third round of the Jeep King of the Mountains series, on Saturday in Beaver Creek, Colorado. Llanes crashed during the semi finals, where she dueled with longtime rival Jill Kintner.

Llanes was airlifted to Denver Health Medical Center where she underwent seven hours of surgery to address the massive trauma suffered on her lower back. Doctors also diagnosed a C-7 fracture which was deemed stable prior going into surgery.

Accoding to her family, Llanes is currently breathing without assistance, but reports no feeling below her waist.

Let's hope she's alright.

UPDATE (09/04/07): A bit more information from Bicycling Magazine. Check out Tara's MySpace page for up to date information.