CCCX DH #2 Preview

This Saturday brings the next CCCX Downhill race in Toro Park near Monterey, CA. Here's a preview of the course:

DH #2 Course Profile
Downhill racing action returns to Toro Park with a course that will feature fast fire roads, some railing berms, a few tricky off camber steep sections, and lots of fast flowing single track trails. This day before Easter race will take place on a trail that is 1.8 miles long and drops 1000 feet in elevation. As usual, the course will test a riders strength as well as DH speed and DH skills. The route has seen lots of trail work over the past few weeks and will be a great opportunity to practice your DH racing tactics.

Check back tomorrow, I'll try and post my video from one of the last races.

The Reno Wheelmen Announce 2008 Twilight Schedule

The Reno Wheelmen have announced their Twilight Mountain Schedule of races for 2008:

• 4/24: Hidden Valley 6:30 PM
• 5/8: Keystone Canyon 6:30 PM
• 5/15: Peavine Hill Climb 6:30 PM
• 6/5: River Banks 6:30 PM
• 6/12: Keystone Canyon 6:30 PM
• 6/19: River Banks 6:30 PM
• 6/26: Keystone Canyon 6:30 PM Final

These weeknight races cost $5 and are FREE for Women and Juniors. You can find more information about last year's races in the archives.

VeloNews has New Owners

Velonews is sold to a new owner:

"Inside Communications, Inc (ICI), the parent company of VeloNews, Inside Triathlon, VeloPress, VeloGear, VeloSwap and their eponymous Web sites, celebrated its 21st anniversary last Monday. There won’t be a 22nd.

That’s because, as of today, the ICI name is no more. It is now part of Competitor Group, Inc. (CGI) that, among other things, publishes Competitor and Triathlete magazines. All of ICI’s brands will continue operations at our Boulder, Colorado headquarters, but they are now owned by Falconhead Capital, a New York private equity firm that formed CGI with three endurance-sport acquisitions two months ago."

Via VeloNews has new owners as Inside Communications rides into the sunset.

MTB Challenge #3 Results

The last MTB Challenge for 2008 is in the books:

• Photos (James Pratt Photography)
• Overall Results
• Divisional Results

Congrats to Brian Rouse (Top Expert Male), Katerina Nash (Top Expert Female), Cody Kaizer (Singlespeed Male Open), Kim Passafiume (Singlespeed Female Open).

A special shout out to five year old (yes, FIVE) Logan Sawyer, who completed in 2:31:13.

Thanks again to the good folks at TBF Racing for putting on the early season events.

2008 Friends of Tamarancho

As part of the Fairfax Fat Tire Festival, the Friends of Tamarancho MTB race will be held on May 25, 2008. It looks like a similar course to last year: "Race course will use camp roads and trails, including Broken Dam trail and Serpentine trail counter-clockwise, as well as some race day only routes. Multiple lap race. 6 Mile lap. Beginners 1 Lap, Sport 2 Laps, Elite 3 Laps." Find more information from last year's race in the archives.

Thanks to Alex for the heads up.

2008 Cool MTB Race Results

The 16th Annual Cool Mountain Bike Race is in the books. Race results can be found here (PDF).

2008 Cool MTB Photos

No race results yet, but here are some photos:

• John Mackey Photos
• Brian Yoder photos
• Auburn events

Why is it always nice for Cool when I am out of town ?

2008 CCCX DH #1 Results

Results for the first 2008 CCCX DH race have been posted.

Congrats to the following racers:
Top 3 Overall Fastest Men's Times
1st: Jimmy Amaral - Point 1 Racing - 3'31''.15 (Pro)
2nd: Keith DeFiebre - Calabazas/CVC - 3'32''.72
3rd: Jordan Lopez - CDS-N/C/ Dh Reno - 3'33''.90

Top 3 Overall Fastest Women's Times
1st: Sarah Land - LaFayette - 4'05''.90
2nd: Sondra Williamson - Specialized/Sram - 4'08''.70
3rd: Rachael Lambert - Monterey - 4'26''.12

Fastest Junior
Keith Morelan - Ride SFO/Cerk Racing - 3'36''.46




Photos have been been posted by Rick R over at Smugmug.

Iron Angels Cancelled !

Sorry, didn't see this until today:

"Unfortunately, this race (Iron Angels) has been cancelled for 2008. We are currently looking for a new location for the Glory Hole Race April 27 as well. We've currently lost our ability to put race on in the wet season at New Melones." (Via 16th Iron Angels)

New Demo Area For 2008 Sea Otter

This is good:

"While the Sea Otter Classic has long been known as a 'see-and-be-seen' event for athletes, the same could be said for manufacturers and their new products. Multiple companies like SRAM, Thule, Specialized, Clif, and Kenda will be releasing new, never-before-seen products to the public and media inside the Sea Otter Expo. Sea Otter has also taken a few extra steps this year to allow more Expo goers to test products. The Product demo area, located inside the Expo, will include several jumps, a pump track, as well as other bike handling skills attractions inside the BikeSkills Ride Zone. The demo area will be located proximate to both the acclaimed Fort Ord mountain bike trails and surrounding paved roads for those looking for an alternative to riding in the Ride Zone." (Via Sea Otter Classic News)

Lake Sonoma "Sea Otter Alternative" Moved

Looks like we don't have an alternative to the Sea Otter race this year:

Due to a schedule conflict the April 16th Lake Sonoma race has been MOVED to July 19th... Originally there would be no Lake Sonoma race in July because of the heat. To remedy this we've moved the start time to 5:30pm on the evening of July 19th, and plan to camp out, BBQ, have some beer and be merry after the race.

Head over to BikeMonkey to view the details about the new July race. And for the record, evening races kick *ss.

MTB Only Resort

Interesting news from back East:

"While many east coast ski areas are adding mountain bike trails to attract summer guests, Highland Mountain Bike Park in New Hampshire is a ski mountain that is strictly for mountain bikes. No one has skied at Highland for 12 years so this mostly abandoned resort was recently made over into a mountain bike destination complete with lift serviced terrain.

In 2007 Highland sold more than 4,000 lift passes and this year projections are to double that. An article in the Union Leader describes the trails as ‘2 to 3 feet wide (and) made out of clay’ so I imagine the trails are fast and grippy. The old ski lifts have been modified so that every other chair on the lift has been replaced with a bike rack to shuttle bikes up the hill. It sounds like most of the trails are rated for intermediate to advanced riders but new beginner trails are in the works pending approval from adjacent landowners." (Via Mountain Bike Only “ski resort” in New Hampshire)

Coolest 24 Update

Just a quick update: The folks at Global BioRhythm have revised the Coolest 24 website (moving the old one) and added a course map to their site.

CCCX XC #3 Results

Results and photos have been posted for yesterday's CCCX CX race. There is are also some race reports. Congrats to Jason Moeshler (WTB), Mark Howland (Black Market Racing) and Ryan Hostelter (Velo Bella), who won the Men's, Singlespeed and Womens Pro/SemiPro events.

2008 Fresno Cycling Festival

The 2008 Fresno Cycling Festival has announced they will be holding a MTB XC race as part of their day long festivities in Woodward Park. Held this year on May 10th, the race will feature one to six laps of the 3.5 mile course, depending on categories. The race will cost $15 to $30 (again depending on category). A map of the park [PDF] is available.

Thanks to Gary for the heads up on this.