It’s the second year I’ve made the trek up to the Sierras for the Downieville Classic XC race. Downieville is a point to point affair that starts with a three thousand foot fire-road accent and from there full gas 20 miles downhill to the town of Downieville (more or less). Once past the first hour of climbing this course rewards smooth fast descending. With only a few technical sections, the key to going fast is commitment, focus and endurance. Unlike last year, however, I was unable to pre-rid… Continue

This year I put aside the hard-tail and lightweight gear. After flatting last year and then losing brake pressure on the descent, I wanted full confidence in my ride this round. On to my new Supefly 100, I mounted WTB Wolverines to the heavy stock Bontrager wheels, borrowed my buddy's gravity drop and set out for a clean ride. This time I was not going to get jackhammered off the saddle and be… Continue

I've added a new type of racing to my resume. I've done down hill, cross country, dual slalom, and now I've got some BMX under my belt. the race is a series of elmination races. Each race is about a 50 second sprint over jumps around berms. when the jumps are to big for you, you can treat it like a giant pump track. It's a gated start with up to eight racers at a time. I was consistently a full wheel length behind the other racers right out of the gate. I've gotta work on my gate starts. On the… Continue

Six days after my DNF at Tamarancho, here I am lining up again to finish my first Cat 1 race. This time it’s Skyline Park in Napa at the “USAC NorCal State XC Championships”. Skyline is old school, essentially a hiker’s trail that’s used for bike races. Skill, strategy, nerve, determination, and fitness are required. Easy to say.



Well, I’m determined and fitness is set; race strategy and technique are still developing. After my pre-ride on Saturday, a tactic was needed to own a couple… Continue

This is one of my favorite raced courses. Its nothing but steep loose climbs and decents with stair like drop offs with lots of sharp rocks. I got to the start line a little late and had to stand in the grass along with a few others (I gotta remember to show up early to get a good starting position). I hammered my way through the dusty fire road start and ended up somewhere just behind mid pack when we hit the singletrack. about half way through the first lap one of those rocks punched a hole in… Continue

I've missed the Skyline Park mountain bike race for a couple of years, so I was pretty excited to be able to make it this year. It's a real deal mountain bike race, with lots of chunky descending and techy climbing. A race that favors the all-arounder, for sure. I pre-rode the course on Thursday and decided to go with some slightly stiffer wheels (Crest/Supercomp/DT240s w/thru bolts vs. ZTR Race wheelset) and aggressive race tires front and rear (Schwalbe Nobby Nic). Temps were expected to re

… Continue