2009 National Ultra Endurance Schedule

More 2009 national series schedules announcements today. Next up: The National Ultra Endurance Series, which features NorCal's own Tahoe-Sierra 100:

The National Ultra Endurance Series (NUE), an eight-event series of 100-mile cross-country races, has named its dates for 2009.

April 25: Cohottua 100 (Copperhill, Tennessee)
May 30: Mohican 100 (Loudonville, Ohio)
June 20: Lumberjack 100 (Udell, Michigan)
July 18: Breckinridge 100, (Breckinridge, Colorado)
August 1: Wilderness 101 (Coburn, Pennsylvania)
August 15: Fools Gold 100 (Dahlonega, Georgia)
September 6: Shenandoah Mountain 100 (Harrisonburg, Virginia)
September 12: Tahoe-Sierra 100 (Soda Springs, CA)

Via NUE website.

2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendars

Next year's USA Cycling race schedule is out and other than the Sea Otter were out in the cold:

"USA Cycling announced today the 34 races that will comprise the third annual USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendars. With the 2008 calendar champions yet to be crowned in the disciplines of cross country and ultra-endurance, USA Cycling is looking toward the future with the announcement of the 2009 Cross Country, Gravity and Ultra-Endurance National Calendars.

Consisting of 19 events across 13 states, the cross country calendar will kick off with the Fontana United States Cup in Fontana, California on March 20 and will once again stretch seven months to the last weekend in October when the Piney Hills Classic in Ruston, La. concludes the calendar.  In between, several notable events including seven United States Cup series races are included.

The eight-event gravity calendar, which features downhill, 4-cross, super D and dual slalom events, will span five states. With similar category designations, there is one category-1 event and three category-2 events on the 2009 calendar. 

The ultra endurance calendar consists of 62-mile races, marathons, eight, 12- and 24-hour races. The seven-race calendar will once again kick off with the Mas O Menos 100K in Terlingua, Texas on February 4th and wrap up at the National Mountain Bike Oktoberfest in Davison, N.C. on October 24-25.

For the complete USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendars, click on the links below:
Cross Country: https://www.usacycling.org/forms/mtb/09_MBNCschedule_XC2.pdf
Gravity: https://www.usacycling.org/forms/mtb/09_MBNCschedule_Gravity2.pdf
Ultra Endurance: https://www.usacycling.org/forms/mtb/09_MBNC_Schedule_UE2.pdf"

You can view the entire press release at USA Cycling. I'll post all the schedules this weekend.

2008 Tahoe Sierra 100 Results

Race results from yesterday's Tahoe Sierra 100 have been posted. A race report with many pictures has been posted at MTBR.

There should be more details coming.

Solo Open Female
1 Cheryl Sorenson 112 9:09'48" 9:09':48 (549'48")
2 Erika Tiesen 171 10:04'44" 10:04':44 (604'
3 Carrie edwards 174 10:42'32" 10:42':32 (642'32")
Solo Open Men
1. Jeremiah Bishop and Chris Eatough 107 7:02'58" 7:02':58 (422'58")
3. Evan Plews 102 7:13'42" 7:13':42 (433'42")
Solo Singlespeed
1 John Mylne 326 7:45'54" 7:45':54 (465'54")
2 Dezmin Wilder 108 7:49'51" 7:49':51 (469'51")
3 Conrad Snover 330 8:00'36" 8:00':36 (480'36")
Solo Singlespeed Women
1 Linda Eckhart 117 9:46'00" 9:46':00 (586'00")
2 Dawn Infurna-Bean 114 11:22'35" 11:22':35 (682'35")
Solo Master 45 Men: Tedd Russo @ 8:20':14 (500'14")
Solo Masters 50 Men: David Grauer @ 9:45':05 (585'05")
Solo Masters 50 Women: Patricia Struve @ 13:29':24 (809'24")
Solo Masters 55 Men: Cosmic Miller @ 10:45':40 (645'40")
3 Person Men: Mountain Karma 24 (Tim Fraguglia, Tim Fraguglia, Mike McCullough, Mike McCullough, Jason Duggett) @ 8:49'
3 Person Coed: Cyclepaths/Wild Cherries Racing 8 (Allie Donovan, Nate Freed, Nick Schaffner) @ 8:44'

2008 Inaugural Tahoe Sierra 100 Scheduled

After the pre-ride this fall, the dates and rules have been set for the real thing next year:

"The Tahoe-Sierra 100
Friday, September 5, 2008 to Sunday, September 7, 2008

Soloists will complete A SINGLE 100 MILE LAP of fire road and single track that sports some of the most breathtaking scenery of the entire west coast. Many of the areas being opened to this event have never before been ridden by bike, and accessed by very few through other means of travel. 70% fireroads and double track with 30% single track.

Team racers will compete on sections of the same course and cover a smaller 50 mile lap. Teams will start approximately 10 minutes after soloists embark on their long event. With the larger field this will give ample time for their positions to sort themselves out fairly. Members of each team will compete in a relay-style format by tagging the hand of the next team member after each lap is complete." (Via Global BioRythm Events - Tahoe Sierra 100)

Go visit the website for all the details.

2007 Whiskeytown Nine to Five Results

The results from last weekend's Whiskeytown Nine to Five have been posted. It looks like they had a really big turnout for the 8 hour solo event.

The last event on the Team Bigfoot calendar is coming in next week: The Lagrange Classic (SuperD, XC, DH, Short track) will also be the California State Championships as well as the NorCal Series final. More information on that today.

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 12 Hours of Humboldt

Results have been posted for last weekend's 12 Hours of Humboldt.

Congrats to solo winners Steven Westberg (men beginner), RUSS MCBRIDE (men sports), Jesse Palmer (men expert), Sean Allan (pro men), John Solomito (men's super masters), Glen Shook (men's super duper masters), Sage Tauber (beginner women), ELY RUSS (clydesdales) and John "Fuzzy" Mylne (singlespeed).

24 Hour MTB US Champions

The results are in for this year's USA Cycling 24 Hour Mountain Bike National Championships. The men's solo category was won by Chris Eatough (Baldwin, Md./Trek-VW) for the fourth year in a row and Pua Sawicki (Mililani, Hawaii/Team Ergon-Ellsworth) brought home the gold for the women.

Men’s Solo
1. Chris Eatough (Baldwin, Md.)
2. Nat Ross (Golden, Colo.)
3. Mark Hendershot (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Women’s Solo
1. Pua Sawicki (Mililani, Hawaii)
2. Rebecca Rusch (Ketchum, Idaho)
3. Danielle Musto (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

2008 UCI Schedule

The world governing body for cycling, UCI, has announced the 2008 Nissan UCI Mountain Bike Would Cup schedule. For 2008 there are only four gravity events on the calender - none of which are in the USA. Two of the four venues for gravity racing are new for 2008.

• 3/15/08: UCI XCM 1 / UCI World Cup (Manavgat/Antalya, Turkey)
• 4/19/08: UCI XCO 1 / UCI World Cup XCO 1 (Houffalize, Belgium)
• 4/26/08: UCI XCO 2 / UCI World Cup XCO 2 (Offenburg, Germany)
• 5/3/08: UCI XCO 3 / UCI World Cup XCO 3 (Madrid, Spain)
• 5/10/08: DHI/4X 1 / UCI World Cup DHI/4X 1 (Maribor, Slovenia)
• 5/31/08: UCI XCO 4 DHI/4X 2 / UCI World Cup XCO 4 DHI/4X 2 (Vallnord, Andora)
• 6/7/08: UCI XCO 5 DHI/4X 3 / UCI World Cup XCO 5 DHI/4X 3 (Fort William, Great Britain)
• 6/17/08: Championships UCI XCO/DHI/4X UCI XCO/DHI/4X WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (Val-di-Sole, Italy)
• 7/6/08: UCI MARATHON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (Villabassa, ITA)
• 7/26/08: UCI XCO 6 / DHI/4X 4 / UCI World Cup XCO 6 / DHI/4X 4 (TBD, Canada)
• 8/2/08: UCI XCO 7 / DHI/4X 5 / UCI World Cup XCO 7 / DHI/4X 5 (Mont Saint-Anne, Canada)
• 8/9/08: UCI XCM 2 / UCI World Cup XCM 2 (Les Deux-Alpes - Bourg d'Oisans, France)
• 8/31/08: UCI XCO 8 / DHI/4X 6 / UCI World Cup XCO 8 / DHI/4X 6 (Canberra, AUS)
• 9/13/08: UCI XCO 9 / DHI/4X 7 / UCI World Cup XCO 9 / DHI/4X 7 (Schladming, Austria)
• 10/4/08: UCI XCM 3 / UCI World Cup XCM 3 (Innsbruck, AUT)

This year's championships are being held in Great Britain.

The Coolest 24 Raises $44k

Good news from the Coolest 24 organizers:

I would like to thank all of you that raced, volunteered, sponsored and helped in any way to make this a great giving event. Not only giving out $6,000 in prize money and $20,000 in awards and prizes.I handed over a check to the ACCEF and to UC Davis Cancer center for the amount of $44,000 big ones. There was some other small funds, and that went to IMBA that was only a $1000. Next year the fee's go down and the prize money goes up. Thanks again The Nor-Cal Mt. bike racers do care about the fight against cancer!!

A nice picture is available over at the website.

RACE REPORT: 2007 Boggs II

Results for the 2007 edition of Boggs, Boggs II, have been posted. The organizers posted the following wrapup on their website:

"From start to finish I felt pretty good about the day. We planned for 200 riders, and we got pretty darn close. 30 showed up for same-day registration in addition to the 159 pre-registered for a total of 189 participants. Cumulatively you guys churned out nearly a million of feet of climbing and several thousand miles in distance. If we were passing a baton that amount of effort would have taken it half way around the planet.

A huge thank you to several people. First, I have to thank the volunteers for their extremely hard work. You guys are the reason why people enjoyed themselves on Saturday. You cooked, cheered, handed out water, wrote down times, laid out the course, and after all was said and done we worked together to pick up every single gu wrapper, water bottle, lost bike part, and plastic particle you could find.
Through registrations and donations we raised over $2,500 for the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition and the Sonoma County Trails Council. YOU GUYS ROCK."

Here's a quick GPS plot of the course:
Results are posted here. Hundreds of photos are posted here.

24 Solo

24-Solo, the new movie from producers of Off Road to Athens, is coming to Northern California on a tour before its release. 24 Solo, follows 24 Hour Solo World Champion Chris Eatough on his quest to a 7th consecutive title. Shot in high def, this rare glimpse into the personal life of the sport’s most successful 24 Hour racer features commentary from the biggest names in mountain biking including Gary Fisher, John Stamstad, Hans Rey, John Tomac, Alison Dunlap, Ned Overend. From victories in China and Wisconsin to his tumultuous training and the final race, this is a glimpse into the life of Eatough and his support crew.

NorCal dates are:

• April 13th, 8pm Monterey, CA (Golden State Theatre)
• April 14th, 7 & 9pm Monterey, CA (Golden State Theatre)
• April 15th, 7 & 9pm Monterey, CA (Golden State Theatre)
• April 16th, 7:30pm *Davis, CA (Davis Varsity Theater)
• April 18th, 7:30pm *Grass Valley, CA (Del Oro Theater)
• April 18th, 7:30pm *Berkley, CA (Berkeley Comm. Theater)
• April 19th, 7:30pm *Larkspur, CA (Lark Theater)
• April 20th, 7:30pm *San Francisco, CA (Randall Museum)

Tickets for astrix showings (*) are available for $12 at NorCal MTB High School's website. The others are available at available at Gripped Films website for $8. The first several showing of this are at the Sea Otter Classic.

The Coolest 24 Update

Just a little update from The Coolest 24 website on this year's course:

"I need to set something strait about the new bike course. There are rumors going around that its to hard, and its not. Do to some trail conditions of the Olmstead loop the race course has had a 2 1/2 mile single track and fire road climb added to it. The state park has graded the Olmstead loop and made it much faster than it has been in 20 years. This means fastest lap times would be in the 38-41 which is to fast for a 24 hr event. This will help spread the field out and make it make it safer and more enjoyable for everyone. If you go and race at OP 24hr race in AZ they have a 15 mile lap that is being finished no faster than 55 mins with little climbing. So to let all off you know the new Olmstead loop will have around 1500ft of climbing in 11 1/2 miles to 12 miles. You are not going all the way to the bottom of the Dam and back out, not even half way.

So don't stress! It's going to be another great, fast course this year! "

The Coolest 24 is May 5 - 6, 2007 in Cool, CA. Find more details in the archives.

US Marathon Championship Announced

US Cycling has announced the 2007 and 2008 National Championship site for Marathon:

The “Firecracker 50” in Breckenridge, Colo. on July 4 has been designated as the 2007 and 2008 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships, the national governing body announced today.

The Fourth of July event will host national championship races for men and women in several marathon categories ... Entering its seventh year, The Firecracker 50 will also host several other non-National Championship mountain bike races for junior, beginner, sport and expert divisions for individuals and teams. A complete schedule of events and categories will be available soon at www.mavsports.com.

Competitors will ride two laps of a 25-mile loop and the event’s neutral start will once again be incorporated into the town’s Fourth of July parade on Main Street before venturing off road.

The Rise of the Ultra MTB Races

While it is very early in the new year, I think we are starting to see a clear trend for 2007 MTB racing: the rise of ultra marathon and stage races. Just this year, we have the following 100 mile plus races on the schedule:

• Durango MTB 100: The Durango, Colorado MTB 100 begins at the base of Durango Mountain Resort and climbs to a summit of 11,500 feet in elevation in the San Juan Mountains. Riders can choose three courses; the 100 mile, the 100 kilometer course or the 50k course.
• The National Ultra Endurance Race Series: Comprising of a seven 100+ mile races ( Cohutta April 21, Mohican June 2, Lumberjack June 16, Breckenridge July 21, Wilderness August 4, Endurance Aug 25, Shenandoah Sept 2), this series looks to crown the ultra endurance MTB racer. Most of the races are throughout the midwest.
• The Endurance 100 also has there own series of endurance races, with a stage race at the end.
• Leadville 100: Although Lance and Floyd might not be going head to head, you can still try and get into Colorado's toughest ultra MTB race.
  
• The Trans-Iowa III: Covered here before, but a race across Iowa.
  
• The Seven: A classic (but pricey) seven stage race from Victoria to Whistler, British Columbia.
  
• The Cascade Creampuff: One hundred miles with 18,000 feet of climbing through the Cascade Mountains near Wilmette Pass, Oregon.
  

I am sure I am missing some. Anyone know of any 50+ mile races here in NorCal ?

USA Cycling Announces 2007 Calendar

Well, a month or so after they announced it, here is the revamped 2007 USA Cycling MTB calendar:

After unveiling plans for a new season-long mountain bike initiative last October, USA Cycling announced today the 53 races that comprise the inaugural USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendars.

With over $200,000 in prize money on the line, the calendars encompass all disciplines of competitive off-road cycling and are divided into three primary categories – cross country, gravity and ultra endurance ...

... Consisting of 29 events across 17 states, the cross country calendar kicks off March 25 with the Chickasaw Trace Classic in Columbia, Tenn. and stretches six months to the last weekend in October when the Piney Hills Classic XIV in Ruston, La. concludes the calendar. In between, notable events such as the Sea Otter Classic and the six National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS) races from USA Cycling’s previous national series model are included.

Each of the 29 events on the cross country calendar is categorized according to the amount of overall ranking points available. Five category-1 events offer the most points – the Sea Otter Classic, the Snowshoe MTB Festival in West Virginia and the NMBS stops in Phoenix, Park City, Utah and Banner Elk, N.C.

The cross country calendar also includes three category-2 events, seven category-3 races and 14 category-4 events...

... The 18-event gravity calendar, which features downhill, 4-cross, super D and dual slalom events, will span 11 states. With similar category designations, there are six category-1 events and 12 category-2 events. Category-1 events include the Sea Otter Classic, the Chile Challenge in Angel Fire, N.M., the Blast the Mass in Snowmass Village, Colo., the Mountain States Cup races in Telluride and Keystone, Colo. and the Rock MTN G3 Series Race in Angel Fire.

The ultra endurance calendar, which consists of 62-mile races, marathons and 12- and 24-hour races, includes six events. As in the cross country calendar, the gravity calendar and ultra endurance calendar will also crown overall champions at season’s end.

Here are links to all the 2007 MTB calendars:

• Cross Country: http://www.usacycling.org/forms/mbnc/MTBNatzCalendar_XC.pdf
• Gravity: http://www.usacycling.org/forms/mbnc/MTBNatzCalendar_Gravity.pdf
• Ultra Endurance: http://www.usacycling.org/forms/mbnc/MTBNatzCalendar_UltraEndurance.pdf

See the full announcement here. I'll have more about this tomorrow morning.

2007 Sea Otter Discount

For those of you not on the MTBR.com newsletter, they are offering a "New Year's Sea Otter Classic Special" for a 15%-20% discount when you register online for the 2007 Sea Otter Classic.

To take advantage of the offer, visit the Sea Otter Classic website at www.seaotterclassic.com to register. Enter the following promotional code to receive your discount.

Promo code: 101007

You need to hurry to get your discount. This offer is only good from Jan 8th-12th, 2007.

Team Bigfoot Announces 2007 Schedule

The good people up north at Team Bigfoot have announced their preliminary 2007 MTB racing schedule:

• March 31: The Pre-Otter, Arcata (STXC)
• May 26: 12 Hours of Weaverville, Weaverville (MA)
• May 27: Gravity Day, Weaverville (SD, DH)
• July 20-21: Bigfoot Classic (SD, XC, DH, STXC)
• September 15: Whiskeytown Classic, Whiskeytown Lake (XC, DH)
• October 6: Whiskeytown 9-5, Whiskeytown Lake (MTB Endurance)
• October 19-21: Lagrange Fall Classic, Weaverville (SD, XC, STXC, DH)

There are still two events that need to be scheduled: the Humboldt Hoedown (SD, XC, STXC, DH) and the 12 Hours of Humboldt (MA).

I will have more details on these events as the details emerge, but in the meantime you can check out the archives on last year's events.

In addition to the mountain bike racing, Team Bigfoot also promotes a few road and cyclocross (CX) races. These races include: Tour of the Unknown Coast (Road Century on May 12), Arcata Downtown Criterium (Road Race on June 3), Redwood Cyclocross (CX on Oct. 28) and
Annual Stomach Churn (CX on Dec. 19th).

Lance Cancels on Leadville

And just as soon as it was on, it appears to be off:

One of the hottest match-ups for the coming year -- Lance Armstrong vs. Floyd Landis at the Leadville 100 -- has apparently fizzled out.

Armstrong announced at The Paceline website that he will not be racing in the Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race on Aug. 11, 2007, as previously indicated due to a "scheduling conflict."

Thanks to Biking Bis and Trust But Verify for the gossip update.

Registration Open for 2007 Coolest 24

They've update the site for this year's Coolest 24 Hour “Race Against Cancer”. This 24 hour endurance XC race will be held in Cool, CA (east of Sacramento near Auburn) on the Olmstead Loop trail (same as the Cool MTB race course). Held between noon on Saturday, May 5th and the following noon on Sunday May 6th, teams (or solo riders) will compete to complete the most number of laps (per 24 Hours of Andrenalin rules).

Registration is limited to 500 teams and 300 solo riders. Last year's event raised $30,000; This is the only 100% Non-Profit 24-Hour Mountain Bike Race in America. This event will also serve as the West Coast Intercollegiate 24-Hour Championships.

Event: The Coolest 24
Dates: May 5th - 6th, 2007
Location: Cool, CA [ Directions ]
Competition: MA (Endurance)
Cost: $115/ solo male rider, $105/solo female rider, varies for 2,3,4 &5 person teams
URL: http://www.thecoolestmtb.com/
License: none
Registration: active.com

Those people looking for a team can check out the Yahoo! message board setup for this event. Check out the archives for coverage of last year's event.