June 2010 Blog Posts (8)

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… 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… 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…

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I should have registered earlier. One step behind seemed to be the pattern ahead for me. Continue

I suppose I didn't go into this race with the highest confidence after busting my ass to avoid a last place finish in my first two Cat. 1 races. I admit I waited till the deadline to sign up. I did, however, pre-ride most sections of the race course prior to the race day and that really did make a difference for me. Being relatively new to riding and especially to the technical aspect of it, I am really glad I had the switchbacks down before I was racing around on Sunday. That being said I… Continue

I was feeling good and stoked for the hometown race, but this was not going to be my day. At the start line I stood with people who seemed to be in my class, but when Wyro said go some people around me didn't move and others moved about four feet then stopped leaving me to push my way through. I was in last place. I caught the back end of the main field and passed a few people at Dead Heffer. I was feeling good and knew I would be dusting fools before the end of the race. On the climb up B-17 I… Continue

Well I was hoping to have more to write about, but my first race in Cat 1 ended after about thirty minutes. Coming into the Tamarancho Dirt Classic well prepared and ready to be swamped by the Cat 1 field. The starting line organization was the usual haphazard affair, except more-so. Happy to be ahead of the Cat 2 hoard, I found myself standing well off the official fire road starting position with spectators between me and my oncoming destiny. We could only hope for “gridding” intervention… Continue

200 racers gathered Sunday, June 6, for Marin's only full length XC race, the Tamarancho Dirt Classic. This was the best promotion and organization I have seen in the 5 years I have raced at Tamarancho. Great expo area, attendance, and course. The pro class had 15 registered racers and promised some stiff competition. Among the racers to watch were Ned Overend, Dario Fredericks, Brian Astell, Kevin Smallman (3rd in 2009) and others. Conditions were getting loose and dry, despite the recent…

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