Norcal Racing This Weekend: May 10 - 14, 2006

There's not a lot of variety on the old NorCal Racing Calendar this week(end). It's local series XC racing during the week and multi-hour endurance XC racing on the weekend:

Tonight (WEDNESDAY) marks another Prairie City Race (PCRS#6). And it looks like another perfect night for racing in Sacto. Registration starts at 4:15 PM and costs $25 (subsequent races cost $10). Check out the link if your looking for some XC racing in the Sacramento area.

THURSDAY night is the third race in the Reno Wheelmen's Twilight MTB series in Reno, NV. This week's XC race will be held at Peavine Hillclimb [ MAP ]. The race costs $10 with onsite registration and starts at 6:30 PM.

SATURDAY marks the return of 24HoA (24 Hours of Andrenalin) racing to Northern California with the 24HoA at Laguna Seca near Monterrey, CA. Love it or hate it, 24HoA is the NORBA of the ride all night world. I am not sure what the registration status of this race is, their site doesn't seem to be releasing much information. Check out the link above to see if you can still get in.

SUNDAY is the first 8 Hour team race for the Billy Cross Racing series. Held at Bogg's Mountain this race pushes up to 5 team riders to alternate laps for 8 hours to determine the winning team.

That's about it for this week. Next week is a light schedule week with no midweek racing and just two XC races on the weekend, so get your racing in now.

NMBS #1 (aka Fontana) Results

Results for NORBA National #1 (aka NMBS#1 aka Fontana aka Southridge Park) have been posted to the NORBA site.

In the Pro categories, Troy Misseghers (Blairmore, Canada / Mountain B) and Jennifer Smith (New Zealand / Trek+VW) took the 49 mile Marathon titles, Shonny Vanlandingham (Durango, Colo./Luna) and Geoff Kabush (Canada/ Maxxis) won the XC events (after a nasty crash took down two American riders in the final turn) and Cody Warren (Alpine, CA/C-Dub Racing) and Joanna Petterson (South Africa) captured the pro downhill titles.

Coolest 24 Hr Against Cancer Pics

Brian Joder over at racemtbikes.com has posted some pictures from this weekend's Coolest 24 Hr Against Cancer race. I haven't seen any race results yet.

RACE REPORT: 2006 Bloody Shins Trail

The folks at the Nevada Passage are really on the ball. They had the race results up and posted by the end of each day with a little narrative of the days events. Quite a change from some of the races (I'm talking about you Billy Cross Racing :> ). In the Bloody Shins Trail MTB race, Chris Bondurant (Boise, ID) won the 24 mile experts race in 2:31, while Danny Knoll (Fernley, NV) won the 12 mile sport division at 1:21:10 and Valerie DellaRusso (South Lake Tahoe, CA) took the 7 mile beginner prize in 00:37:18.

Full results available at the Nevada Passage Day One results page, while a good writeup is available here. The Nevada Passage also had some running and kayaking events that looked interesting.

2006 Howarth Park Dirt Crits

The Santa Rosa Recreation and Parks department has announced their 2006 Wednesday night summer racing series in Howarth Park. Set to run through most of the summer, the races are described as "The excitement of short track mountain bike racing comes to Howarth Park! These races are for anyone who would like to try mountain bike racing on a short course, all skill levels are welcome ... The course is approximately 1 mile and consists of smooth, rolling dirt trails ... Prizes will be given at the end of each race." Race dates are as follows:

• June 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th
• July 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th
• August 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th

I loved these kinds of races when I was younger.

Event: Howarth Park Dirt Crits
Dates: 6/7, 6/14, 6/21, 6/28, 7/5, 7/12, 7/19, 7/26, 8/2, 8/9, 8/16, 8/23 and 8/30
Location: Howarth Park, Santa Rosa, CA [ MAP ]
Competition: ST / XC
Cost: $4 jr, $9 adults pre-reg
URL: Santa Rosa Parks website
License: none
Registration: Santa Rosa Parks website or onsite

Norcal Racing This Weekend: May 5 - 6, 2006

Not much on the NorCal MTB Racing calendar this weekend:

SATURDAY into SUNDAY is The Coolest 24 HR Race Against Cancer in Cool, CA. I've got a scouting report on the course and information for those late entrants. It looks like the course will actually be the opposite direction from March's Cool MTB race, which will make it a bit safer descent after dark.

SATURDAY in Northern Nevada (Winnemucca, NV to be exact) is the Nevada Passage's Bloody Shins Trail race. Part of a longer multi-sport event, this race is a bit of a drive (4+ hours from Sacto) but might be pretty cool, especially if you are getting into adventure racing or offroad triathlons.

Myself, I'll be showing up at the Coolest 24 race (maybe even entering the 8 hr event if I can) and taking some epic rides. There are always some roadtrip you could take too (search for ROADTRIP at the top of the page).

2006 Trans-Iowa II Video

SCOUTING REPORT: The Coolest 24 Race Against Cancer

Decided to take a drive out to Cool today and get the low-down on the course conditions for this weekend's Coolest 24 Hour Race Against Cancer. And I am happy to report, everything looks good.
First, lets start with the track. The Olmstead Loop is a foothills favorite trail, used for the Cool MTB race and innumerable weekend epics. The trail took a beating this year, what with the 40 days/nights of rain and some snow days, but has bounced back to passable shape. There is still some standing water on the course (maybe 5 places) but the streams are back in their banks and bridges above the waterline. There has been substantial erosion, especially in the north part of the course (the start if you are going clockwise), which leads to some tricky and technical descents. I GPS'd my ride today and here is what the Olmstead Loop looks like on Google Earth.
I've marked the CDF (fire house) and the school on the map. I believe they are using the school as the staging area / pit stop this year. By the numbers, the course is just about 10 miles with 1300' of climbing per lap. Here is the elevation plot:
A few recommendations:

• It can get cold, not just cool, out there. Be prepared for overnight temps in the low 40s. It was damn cold out there this morning (at 9 AM).
• You are going to get wet. Dress accordingly.
• There are some tricky descents, many ending in streams. Temper your downhill speeds at night.
• Some of the downhills are deeply rutted, some even have flowing water (not perpendicular but parallel on the path).
  
• I would recommend slightly more aggressive than usual tires and dual suspension rides. A Specialized Epic with the Andrenalin tires or a Santa Cruz Blur with WTB Weirwolfs would be ideal. I rode it with my Specialized Stumpjumper FSR and Andrenalin tires this morning and was glad I had the rear travel.
• Watch out for wildlife. I saw a bobcat on the trail this morning.
  

Online registration is still open until midnight tonight (Thursday).

RACE REPORT: PCRS #5

Wow, another record crowd out at Prairie City Race Series last night (296 racers!). A little longer course this week, but still had perfect weather. This week was also the start of the summer team competition (of course, I have stayed neutral in this). Photos are up here and the results should be up later tonight (usually around 9 PM).

UPDATE (05/04/06): Results are up and some sweet helmet cam videos.

Norcal Racing This Week: May 3 - 4, 2006

Midweek racing update:

Tonight (WEDNESDAY) marks another Prairie City Race (PCRS#5). Another perfect night for racing. Riders do a varying amount o 4 mile laps (course varies weekly) depending on category. Registration starts at 4:15 PM and costs $25 (subsequent races cost $10). Make sure to come out to Prairie City (near Folsom, CA) for your enduro-style XC racin'.

THURSDAY night is the third race in the Reno Wheelmen's Twilight MTB series in Reno, NV. This week's XC race will be held at Keystone [ MAP ]. The race costs $10 with onsite registration and starts at 6:30 PM.

Tish Tang Television DH 2006

The Trinity River Pirates, fresh off last weekend's Slippery Eel Chainless DH, have scheduled three new DH races for this summer: Tish Tang Television DH 2006, Magic Mushroom Speedway DH 2006 (tentatively 06/24/06) and the Dreamcatcher DH 2006 (tenatively 7/22/06). I'm posting information about the Tish Tang Television race today and I will add posted for the other races when the dates get confirmed.

The Tish Tang Television downhill race will be held in Hoopa, CA (just north of Eureka, CA) on the Breakneck/Translator trail (since it's under the TV tower). This is the first race on this trail and best time of two runs wins. No entry fee with practice in the morning and race start at 1 PM.

Event: Tish Tang Television DH
Dates: May 27th, 2006 DELAYED ! now June 3rd, 2006
Location: Hoopa, CA [ MAP ]
Competition: DH
Cost: free!
URL: Tish Tang Television DH Page
License: none
Registration: email dh_race@yahoo.com

I'll update this with more information when I get course details.

2006 Trans-Iowa

This is completely off-topic, as the race is across a state other than California, but our friends at The Biking Hub have a great series of articles covering the planning, execution and results of this year's Trans Iowa race. I am covering this for two reasons: (a) many years ago I lived in Omaha, which is across the river from Iowa, and (b) I would love to see something like this in California (maybe from Tahoe to San Francisco ?). The articles, in order, are:

• An endurance event is born: Trans Iowa
• An endurance event is born: Planning the route for the first Trans Iowa
• An endurance event is born: final planning for Trans Iowa
• An endurance event is born: running the race
• 2006 Trans Iowa photos

Well worth the read . . . stay tuned for next week's article about the misery (doh! spoiler) that rivaled our Cool MTB race.

2006 USA MTB Championships To Relocate

So this was kinda expected this, what with the problems at Mammoth and the high snow levels, but I was really hoping it wouldn't happen: 2006 Mountain Bike Nationals to Relocate. Basically, they can't have the 2006 MTB Championships at Mammoth due to snow levels (since they moved up this year's date to July) and are looking for a new venue. They'll keep the same July 20th date.

I really hope that this stays in Cali, but I bet that it moves to Colorado or Utah (pure conjecture on my part).

UPDATE (05/11/06): Okay, it stayed in Cali, but moved to the Cougar Mountain date and location. See here for details.

ROADTRIP: NMBS #1 (aka Fontana)

In a continuing feature this week, I'm highlighting a few non NorCal MTB racing events.

This weekend marks the kickoff of the NORBA Mountain Biking Series (NMBS) with NMBS #1 (aka Fontana aka Southridge) in Fontana, CA (Eastern LA - SoCal) [ MAP ]. Sure, its a seven or eight hour haul from the NorCal but NMBS #1 is a full blown NORBA event with cross country (XC), short track (ST). downhill (DH), mountaincross (MTNX), Super D (SD) and marathon (MA) races. You can check out all the race information (although a little bit skimpy on the actual events) through here [ PDF ]. Since this is an urban event (being in the Valley), hotels and other accommodations will probably be a bit easier to come by than some of the more remote events.

Team Big Bear (the promoter for this event) has teamed with GeoLadders, a SoCal trail and racing website, to provide course maps. Unfortunately, they require a free registration before you can see the cool google course maps with trail pictures.

Online registration has already closed, but onsite registration is available (must register one hour before race). Registration varies from $35 - $70 and you will need a NORBA license.

RACE REPORT: 2006 Shasta Lemurian Classic

The organizers of the 2006 Shasta Lemurian Classic have posted their results. Congratulations to:

• Tim Olson (San Mateo, CA) for winning the long course (26 miles in 02:12:21)
• Chris Coble (Concord, CA) for winning the intermediate course (20 miles in 02:01:11)
• Hector Cadena (Pine Meadows, CA) for winning the short course (8 miles in 00:42:31)

You can replay some of the event over at motionbased.com with #3 Pro David Yakaitis (dyak), #5 Pro Oliver Bock (obock) or #6 Pro Mark Weir (norcal) GPS race summary.

There are some photos posted over at MTBR.com (also here).

UPDATE (05/01/06): Corrected winners. Sorry guys.
UPDATE (05/03/06): The SFist has a good race report.