Trail Crew Chronicles 3 at Northstar California

For those of you heading up to Tahoe this weekend ...



Trail Crew Chronicles 3 - Northstar California from Northstar California Videos on Vimeo.

In Episode 3, the crew continues to work hard maintaining the trails at Northstar. Watch along as pro rider Graeme Pitts flies down our signature trail Livewire. The Livewire trail is fully irrigated and enjoyable for all skill levels, whether gapping doubles or rolling table tops, it's a great trail for all.

Tahoe Fat Tire Fest Returns Next Weekend

Mountain bikers from all over will come to iconic Squaw Valley Resort on September 13-15, 2013 for the return of the Tahoe Fat Tire Festival. Formerly one of the largest mountain bike events on the west coast, the festival is being brought back by the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association in an effort to promote recreational trails in the Tahoe area and to fundraise for trail projects.

Presented by Michael Hohl Subaru in Carson City, New Belgium Brewing, and the North Lake Tahoe Convention and Visitors Bureau, the festival will include cross country and downhill mountain bike racing, skill clinics, the Tour de Squaw fun ride, free kids races, and a BMX jump show. Squaw Valley will be opening its bike park and trail network for the three days of the festival.

The festival kicks off Friday evening, September 13, with live music from ‘Decoy’ and a outdoor film festival featuring the United States premiere of the mountain bike film ‘ARRIVAL’. Saturday morning is the Cross Country race, which is the final race of the 2013 Sierra Cup Series. Saturday afternoon includes the free kid’s race, BMX aerial show, and live music from ‘Last Stand’. The Tahoe Sierra Century road ride on Saturday is also based out of the Village at Squaw Valley. Sunday morning kicks off with the Tour de Squaw fun poker ride hosted by the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship followed by music from ‘Jelly Bread’. The Nor-Cal State Downhill Championships starts at 1pm on what is arguably the toughest downhill course in Northern California. The downhill race is also part of the Shine Riders Co. ‘Queen of the Mountain’ Series for female gravity riders.

All proceeds from the festival will go to TAMBA and the Truckee Bike Park Project to improve local mountain biking opportunities and trail networks. TAMBA is an all volunteer non-profit organization that focuses on building and maintaining multi-use trails. They have organized 3000 hours of volunteer trail work in the last two years in cooperation with the US Forest Service and Nevada State Parks.

2012 Tahoe Fat Tire Fest Info

The people organizing the returning Tahoe Fat Tire Fest have sent over some new information:

Mountain bikers from all over will come to Squaw Valley from September 20-23, 2012 for the return of the Tahoe Fat Tire Festival. Formerly one of the largest mountain bike events on the west coast, the festival is being brought back by the Truckee Trails Foundation and Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association in an effort to promote the Tahoe area and to create a fundraising event to support trail projects.

 

Presented by New Belgium Brewing, Barefoot Wines and the North Lake Tahoe Convention and Visitors Bureau, the festival will include five race events, a mountain bike stage race, group mountain bike rides, skill clinics, vendors, movies, trail work classes, and music. Squaw Valley will be opening its bike park and trail network for the four days of the festival. 

 

The festival kicks off Thursday night with the exciting GoTahoeNorth.com Short Track race through the Village at Squaw Valley. Friday brings the Pearl Izumi Mountain Hillclimb race from the Village to High Camp. Saturday will host both the Sierra Cup Regional Championship Series Cross-Country event presented by the Reno Wheelmen and the NorCal State Downhill Championships presented by Royal Racing. The Festival wraps up on Sunday with a Super-D race featuring over 2000' of descending. There is excellent spectator viewing for all events from the KT Sundeck. 

 

During the Festival, there also will be group rides both on and off-site with shuttles by Tahoe Mountain Guides, beginner and intermediate skill clinics, a mountain bike film festival presented by Yelo Velo, and trail work classes with the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew on the Western States Trail. The Tahoe Sierra Century road ride on Saturday also is based out of Squaw Valley.

You can register at www.tahoefattirefestival.org.

3 Minute Gaps To Premiere At Northstar

If you are up the mountain, you should check this out:

The Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort and Giant Bicycles have come together with the Ride Giant / Ride Northstar mountain bike sponsorship program to host the movie premiere of 3 Minute Gaps on Saturday, June 18. The event will kick off the summer season with the opening of the Northstar Resort bike park, the largest lift-served bike park in Northern California.

Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort’s kick off to summer celebration with the 3 Minute Gaps movie premiere will include extending the mountain bike park hours of operation until 6:00 p.m. on June 18th. The summer celebration will begin at 5:30 p.m. on the Lodge at Big Springs deck at mid-mountain featuring a BBQ, music by local talent and an opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for prizes.

The movie premiere will offer free admission and include a free gondola ride up to the mid-mountain Lodge at Big Springs for those who are not riding the park that day. For US$10 per person, the BBQ will feature a burger with a side, and a choice of a beer or other beverage. Proceeds from the BBQ and raffle prizes will benefit the Ride Giant / Ride Northstar mountain bike programs.

Via 3 Minute Gaps Movie To Premiere At Northstar-at-Tahoe | Cyclingnews.com

 

Northstar ProGRT Moved to August

It looks like while I was napping, the extended NorCal spring has delayed another race:

NORTHSTAR PRO GRT UPDATE: Due to the snow pack still up in the Tahoe region, the Northstar Pro GRT will have to change dates to August 27-28, 2011.

I've changed this on the calendar to the new date. Thanks to VJDub66 for the heads up.

Lake Tahoe MTB Race Needs Volunteers

If you are in the area:

The June 18th inaugural Lake Tahoe 4&8HR Mountain Bike Race, in Tahoe City, CA is coming up, and volunteers are needed.  Each volunteer earns $10/hr of race credit good towards any Big Blue Adventure event, plus a t-shirt, beer and BBQ.  If you are interested in helping out with the race, email angel@bigblueadventure.com.

 

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.

Big Blue Announces New Tahoe City Endurance Race

Big Blue Adventure, longtime local adventure racing promoters, are putting on their first MTB endurance race in Tahoe City:

Lake Tahoe is famous for its amazing and endless single-track.  The Lake Tahoe 4 & 8 Hour Mountain Bike Race takes advantage of the area’s beautiful trails for a challenging and fun course.  The main venue is located at the Highlands Community Center a few miles east of Tahoe City.  The course is approximately 12 miles on single track and some fire road.  Fast lap times should be around 40 minutes. Race as a solo or on a team of 2, 3 or 4 (teams of 3 and 4 apply to the 8hr race only).

For more information about the race and to register, visit the event’s website or email angel@bigblueadventure.com.

Look for more details as the date draws closer.