May 2017 Blog Posts (20)

Many of the folks out at the Shorty's are pretty young, and they likely don't recognize the comedic genius of the show Seinfeld. Today we're going to talk about Festivus. Festivus is a holiday that includes a Festivus dinner, an unadorned Festivus aluminum pole, practices such as the airing of grievances, feats of strength, and the labeling of easily explainable events as Festivus miracles. Although normally celebrated on Dec 23rd, the grand finale of the Summit Shortys covered all the…

Saturday morning, early, we piled into Greg's truck and drove up to the mountains for the third race in the Nevada City Dirt Classic Series.  This would be race number three for Jim and a chance at a State Championship.  Greg and Simon had each raced at least one of the other races in the series.  As for me, this was my first time ever competing in this event.  

We arrived early to get Simon to the start by 9:00 am.  He would race one six-mile lap.  Greg, Jim, Mark Gibson and I all…

April and May are the strongest months in NorCal for XC racing.  I had raced about every weekend for these two months, with the real block of competition starting with the first NCDC race and ending with this one, the last of the series.  After a second place in the first and second races of the series, I was in a good position to win it all and be crowned California State Champion in Pro class.  I was leading the points, with Cody Schwartz being the only other person that was within…

My second trip to race around the Hallelujah trail. I drove up with teammates Jim, Cathy and Simon early and got a pre-ride in. Conditions were perfect for fast laps. I had decided to change my tires on the Trek Superfly to Maxxis Ikon 2.2's to help with some of the loose sections of this course. My race was loaded with strong guys but only a few of us had enough points to qualify for the State Championship. I lined up behind 1989 MTB National Champ Don Myrah who ended up winning but Dan…

This was the 3rd and final installment in this excellent series of races held in Nevada County which, this year, are being used as the California State Championship.  I had won the last 2 races (Cat 1, 40-49), and so had a healthy points lead in the State Champs competition, albeit one which could be overhauled if I didn't get a decent result in this final leg.  This race would be 4 laps of riding the "Hallelujah" and "Pioneer" trails--some typical fast flowy mostly buff Nevada County…

It's the last week of classes here at SSU (where I work in the geology department) and I want to take my spare hour to go for a bike ride this afternoon, so this blog post will be short and straightforward (editor's note: the post ended up being long anyway).

Week 5 of the series. 6 laps on tap. Some new faces on the start line with the notable addition of young stud roadie Ben Cook joining us just off of his 9th place finish in the varsity category at the MTB State Champs…

Ok race fans, I'm baaaaack! I know you missed me. I raced Sonomas this year on April 2, but didnt post my report in time. That's a story for another time over a beer if you really want to know. Alas, my MTB racing career continues and you get to hear more about my slow but oh so thrilling escapades.

Saturday May 13 was the 2nd annual Old Cabin Classic in Santa Cruz at Wilder Ranch State Park. I last rode at Wilder approx 15 years ago when I thought I was pretty bad ass...but actually…

Saturday, May 13, was year number two for the now annual event called The Old Cabin Classic.  Held in Santa Cruz, amongst the redwoods and grassy fields and expansive ocean views, it is hands down one of the most beautiful and wild places to race.  The race is hosted by the Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz, and the race is a direct result of their dedication to expanding trail access for mountain bikers in Santa Cruz county.  With the cooperation of the California State Parks, the second annual…

This was my second year doing the recently revived Old Cabin Classic.  Last year I finished 5th in a pretty strong Pro  field on the 3 lap, 33 mile course.  I was back for more this year and I hoped to put in more consistent lap times.

Cathy and I arrived Friday and did a pre-ride.  Definitely a good idea, as there were a few technical sections and one tough short climb that would have surprised me if we had not.  The course conditions were a little different than last year, and we…

For the 4th? time this season, I was racing an event that I'd not entered before.  This was the 2nd year of the Old Cabin Classic (has it really earned the right to call itself a "classic" yet?).  Having pre-ridden the course a couple weeks ago, part of me was really looking forward to this race as it includes some truly spectacular ribbons of singletrack.  Another part of me was a little anxious.  It's a solid course: three laps of ~11.5 miles each, with plenty of climbing (~1,600/lap); and…

This was the 4th race of the Shorty series. I hope my previous posts have let you know that I love these events, the people that come to them, and racing my mountain bike. By now, you're all used to reading the facts about these race. You don't need another one of those race reports to read, so I'll present you with some "alternative facts" about the race. I'll note my alternative facts with an asterisk (*).

Same fun and painful course as always. In contrast to last week, we…

The number of racers attending this week was down a little from previous weeks.  This was due to there being no middle school race this week (every other week for the middle schoolers); and the fact that the High School racers who have been coming out to race were either up in Petaluma pre-riding the course where the High School League State Champs will be taking place this Sunday; or maybe just resting ahead of that race.

Last week's shorty race had seen…

Drove up early Sunday morning with Jim, Simon and Shiloh for a 9:00am start for Simon. Fairly remote place but as we where all about to find out , well worth the trip. Acme had a good amount of riders attend: the four of us plus-Mark Gibson, Mark Buell and Mike Koppe. The course was only open to pre-ride till 8:30 and I was having a hard time getting going so I skipped it. After seeing Simon off, Shiloh and I walked the first section of the course. The short climb out of the start lead to a…

Race #2 is held on some private land on Osborne Hill owned by the Sanchez family, and the prior weekend was the scene of "The Dirty Sanchez Enduro".  The place is a mountain biker's paradise.  Since it's on private property, there was no pre-riding (at least…

The three Nevada City Dirt Classic races comprise the California State Championship series for 2017.  I placed second in Pro class at the first of the three, and traveled to the second for more series points. 

This one was on the trails of the Sanchez family property near Nevada City, the location of the weekend before's TDS Enduro.  I had never raced there, but I figured that any course on these trails, even XC, would involve some spicy stuff, so I outfitted my Trek Top Fuel with a…

TDS is a race like no other. The gnarly tracks, UTV shuttles, wild nights, and family atmosphere work together to create my favorite weekend of the year. 2017 marks my third year partaking in this amazing event, and it was definitely a year to remember.

For the last two years the event has been held after torrential rain, leaving the tracks slick and extra sketchy. The weather for this year’s event was sunny and warm, probably mid 70’s, allowing…

Spring in Marin is a happy time of year. Good weather. Green landscape. Great trail conditions. More daylight to ride. And to bump it off the charts on the good living scale, I can race the local Summit Shortys every Wednesday! Have I mentioned I love these events?

I was lucky enough to have a special cheering section come watch me at the race. My wife, Mandy, and our 8 month old daughter, Matilda, came out to cheer on daddy and enjoy the beautiful day. Normally I'd try to…

With temps today getting up into the 90s, the pain cave that is the shorty race was about to get even deeper.  In addition to dealing with the heat, there were a number of very good Varsity and JV racers showing up for the first time, as well as the regulars, to ensure that the pace would be even more frenetic than usual.  With the last NorCal race of the season done the past weekend, and State Champs coming up in less than two weeks, a lot of these kids, who are already very fast to begin…