RACE REPORT: 2006 Sea Otter (Day 3 Roundup)

Okay, so I got really lazy last night after a really long day at the Sea Otter. But it was such a nice day (probably the best day in the last month or so), that I am sure I wasn't the only one. In fact, the race results are still waiting to be posted, but I did see the Dual Slalom finals. Kathy Pruit won the Pro Women's Dual Slalom over Katrina Miller and Nicholas O'Neil beat Luke Strobel in the Men's Pro Dual Slalom.

I'm getting prepared for the XC this morning (why do we start at 8 AM ?), so just one quick link:

• Singletrack has posted their second report for the pits
• Sea Otter press release
  

I'll post my pictures and have a proper wrap up tonight. Promise.

RACE REPORT: Sea Otter 06 (Day 2 Roundup)

So the sunshine just couldn't last forever. It is now monsoon-ing (complete with thunder), but we did get a lot of the day in before the clouds opened up. This is not going to bode well for any of the courses, as many of them have standing water and major goop. I think tomorrow will really determine how bad the XC will be -- if it rains again, it will be ugly.

I got a chance to see the DH course. It's a lot less steep than I anticipated, there are some pedal parts and it's slick. Some place just don't have any traction. I heard a lot of people saying they would/would like to ride their trailbikes for this course.

Here are some other people's roundups of the day:

• Velonews has the Pro results (MTB Stage race's time trials)
• Velonews also has some more 2007 XTR testing
• PinkBike has their roundup of Day 1 & 2
• Velo Bellas are blogging live with some photos
  

I'm bagging it for tonight, more updates tomorrow.

RACE REPORT: Sea Otter 06 (Day 2)

So it's day 2 already here at Sea Otter 06, and we are defying the rain gods with some pretty nice weather. Not that this is helping the course at all. The Dual Slalom practice was limited to two runs per racer yesterday and the Amateur finals just got started a little while ago. The Pro Stage race has moved from yesterday's Super XC (eh ? Isn't this short track for us mortals ?) to time trials today. Haven't seen any of it - been watching the dual slalom (they need to have more of these).

This afternoon is the Amateur Short Track, but I think I may go scout the XC course and drink some beer. I hope to have a later roundup of the day -- but it is Friday and Sierra Nevada is onsite (with the road team) . . . so it may slip.

Technorati Tags: mtb, MTB-DS, mtb-race, mtb-racing, MTB-ST, MTB-XC, norcalmtbracing

RACE REPORT: PCRS #1

So not to forget our hometown race series in the midst of Sea Otter madness, here are the results to the not-as-muddy-as-I-thought-it-may-be PCRS #1:

• Race Results (they are still matching names to riders so you may have to check back later this weekend)
• Brian Yoder's photos
• Big Rick's photos
• Mike Romero photos

Looks like a good start to the series out in Prairie City.

Technorati Tags: mtb, mtb-race, mtb-racing, MTB-XC, norcalmtbracing

ROUND UP: 2006 Sea Otter (Day 1)

So, I shared my views of yesterday's festivites last night. Here is a round up of everybody's else views and photos:

• SingleTrack's review of day 1 and the new 2007 XTR kit
• Scott Mosher's pics of Sea Otter Day 1
• Velonews' race results from Day 1 and general overview
• Official Sea Otter Results Page
  

Oh, and I should give a shout out to Katarina Nash (Luna Women MTB Team), NorCal'er from Truckee, who scored 8th place in Stage 1 of the Pro Women's Stage Race. That should keep you going until I can post more stuff.

RACE REPORT: 2006 Sea Otter (Day 1)

So I just got back home after spending Day 1 at the Sea Otter. All in the all, it was pretty much like I had thought: soggy course, high enthusiasm but well organized event. It was kinda like the calm before the storm being there today. Everything was just getting organized, with some Pro races going (see the wrap up tomorrow morning), but very low key. For me, I got my registration taken care of (yes, I ignored my own two posts about pre-registration) and scouted a little bit of the courses.

Surprisingly, registration wasn't a zoo. In fact, I would say I got in and out within 7 minutes, timing chips and all. They've got the marketplace up (but it's already a complete mudpit) and the courses marked off. There's kids (okay, not kids but teenagers) everywhere hovering around for the gravity events.

After I checked out the MTX course, I looked over the cross country course. Oh boy. Muddy. And going to get worse. As I watched the Pro Women start the MTB Stage race (race 1 is the Super XC -- kinda a short track ++ event), people didn't even get 100 yards from the start before a bunch of people went down. I think Alison Syndor ended up coming in second to the reigning XC world champion that the idiot announcers kept hyping.

Hell, I even got a brush with a cycling celebrity (I almost hit Jill Kitner with my bike as she was commenting on how "form fitting" her new GT jersey was). All in all, a pretty good day. I'll be posting more early tomorrow morning -- rounding up all the other people's reports. G'night.

SCOUTING REPORT: Sea Otter 06 MTX Practice

So first thing after registering was to to hike up the hill to see the kids put some runs down the mountain cross (MTX) course. The course seems to be pretty challenging, a few long doubles and some tall berms, but people were already railing it. A few people certainly took some big falls, but all in the all the wet weather has probably really helped this course be a little forgiving.

Judging from the amount of people taking practice runs, I think there will be a huge turnout for the Pro finals and the overall amateur competition.

Off To Sea Otter

So as you can see from the photo, I am in Monterey at the Sea Otter Classic. I drove in this morning and found it refreshingly free of traffic or hassle. It's well marked once you hit Seaside and although it narrows to one lane at points seems to be well managed.

I'll be blogging live from the race all weekend.

iCal Updated For Sea Otter 06

I've updated the NorCal MTB Racing iCal Calendar with all the important race times for this year's Sea Otter Classic. Remember to sync up before you leave for Monterey!

Technorati Tags: mtb, mtb-race, mtb-racing, norcalmtbracing

NorthStar Cancels Summer MTB Park

So I got this press release on some of the forum boards and email aliases I subscribe to. I don't see it posted on the NorthStar at Tahoe site, but it looks pretty official:

Northstar Village Announces Summer Operations Plan
TRUCKEE, Calif. – To assure a high quality guest experience during
construction of the Ritz Carlton Lake Tahoe and other mid-mountain
improvements, Northstar will suspend its mountain biking programs and some
lift operations during the summer of 2006, Northstar Village announced
today.
.... yada yada yada ....
Silva explained that the Mountain Bike Park and program will reopen next
summer following its "one-year hiatus." With the first phase of the new
Northstar Village nearing completion, summer guests will still have a wide
variety of other recreational options from which to choose, including golf.
.... yada yada yada ....
"Next summer, Northstar it is our plan to have improved mountain bike
terrain and parks with access to some of the best mountain biking in the
country," he added.

If this is legit, this is quite sad news.
UPDATE (04/07/06): It's official, NorthStar has closed their MTB park for 2006. See here for their announcement.

Technorati Tags: mtb, MTB-DH, norcalmtbracing

Norcal Racing This Weekend: Apr 5 - Apr 9, 2006

So we're getting a jump on this weekend's MTB racing action with the start of mid-week local races and then the big Sea Otter event.

• The racing starts tomorrow (WEDNESDAY) at the kickoff of the Prairie City Racing Series near Folsom, CA [ MAP ]. Come down for enduro style XC racing as a tune up for your season.
• The racing moves from local to international and foothills to coast with the first day of the Sea Otter Classic. Held in Laguna Seca Raceway near Monterey, CA [ MAP ]. THURSDAY at the event is mostly pre-riding practice and registration type stuff for the Amateurs, but the pros start Stage 1 of their MTB race with the Super XC (Women at 10:00 AM, Men at 11:30 AM).
• On FRIDAY, the Sea Otter begins in earnest. Pro time trials and amateur dual slalom in the morning, amateur mountain cross qualifying and short track XC in the afternoon.
• SATURDAY brings more amateur short track in the morning, the short track race in the MTB Stage race and the dual slalom finals.
• SUNDAY is the amateur XC and mountain cross competition, the semi-pro and pro downhill finals and the final XC race of the MTB stage race.

You can see the whole Sea Otter schedule here. It should be a big week(end). And don't forget to pray for sunshine.

Technorati Tags: mtb, MTB-DH, MTB-DJ, MTB-DS, MTB-MTX, mtb-race, mtb-racing, MTB-ST, MTB-XC, norcalmtbracing

Nevada Passage "Bloody Shins Trail"

Okay, so this is a little outside of NorCal, but Nevada doesn't get much MTB love . . . As part of the made-for-TV Nevada Passage "adventure series", Nevada Commission on Tourism will be hosting a NORBA sanctioned Bloody Shins Trail MTB race on May 6th, 2006. The race will be held outside of Winnemucca, NV and consist of multiple laps (depending on category) of a 14 mile XC course. The MTB race is part of a larger race series which also includes trail running, kayaking and an ATV jamboree (?).

Event: Bloody Shins Trtail MTB Race
Dates: May 6th, 2006
Location: Winnemucca, NV
Competition: XC
Cost: $20
URL: http://nevadapassage.com/mountainbike.asp
License: NORBA ($5 one day lic available)
Registration: active.com or mail [ PDF ]

UPDATE (04/20/06): A thread over at MTBR has some more details. Looks like 1300 ft of climbing per lap.

Technorati Tags: mtb, mtb-race, mtb-racing, MTB-XC, norcalmtbracing

RUMORS: NorthStar Closed to MTB This Summer ?

According to rumors on both RideMonkey and MTBR rumor mills forums, NorthStar at Tahoe will not be opening their bike park this summer to make way for condo construction. We'll be watching this closely as in year's past, they have offered weekend DH races, Thursday night XC racing and a few NORBA events.
UPDATE (04/07/06): It's official, NorthStar isn't opening for mountain bikes this year. See here for the details.

RACE REPORT: Real MTB Triathlon

Results are in from the TBF Racing's Real MTB Triathlon (Xterra event). They have also posted pictures of the race.

CCCX Adds More 2006 Races !

The Central Coast Cyclocross (CCCX) MTB Race series has added three new races to the series. The new dates are:

• Race #5: Sunday, June 4, 2006
• Race #6: Sunday, June 18, 2006
• Race #7: Sunday, July 2, 2006

Woo-hoo! More June XC racing.

Technorati Tags: biking, mtb, mtb-race, MTB-XC, norcalmtbracing