All Blog Posts (398)

This was my third time racing Annadel and my first race since a collarbone break in March interrupted my racing plans for 2017. I didn't get a chance to pre-ride the course this year either, but did get some helpful trail condition feedback from friends familiar with the park. Not having my own bike available, I was lucky enough to be able to borrow Greg Alsterlind's Trek Superfly hardtail for this event. I'd been riding it for the preceding two weeks or so and felt I'd gotten the…

This was my second attempt in the Annadel race, having first raced last year.  I have ridden the trails in Annadel State Park a handful of times and each time I have come away with various bumps and scrapes.  Leading up to yesterday's race, I tried to keep a positive outlook on my chances of having a clean race, despite the rocky trails.  

  With only my Santa Cruz Highball hardtail to ride, I set it up with the Fox Transfer dropper post in hopes a lower center of gravity on the…

The XC race at Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa is a great single loop race that isn't too far from where I live, but I had never done it before.  I usually try to stretch some fitness into August for The Downieville Classic, but this race is so late in the season that I have passed on it...until today.

I figured I would give it a try, as I had heard the course is good.  Though I had a cold for the week leading up to the race, I was able to pre-ride the course on Friday.  It involves…

I had learned my lesson from my race in Downieville the previous weekend and budgeted enough time for a thorough warm-up and pre-ride snack to keep my glycogen stores topped off. I finished my last efforts with a few minutes to spare before charging up Violetti Fire Road into the park. 

Xander Sugarman took the lead off the line, followed closely by myself and teammate Jim. The opening climb up Violetti is covered in loose rocks with only a single rideable line in most places,…

The best weekend of the year started off with a few bumps. Arriving Thursday night, it wasn't until the following morning, just before the pre-ride of the descent, that I would put in new brake pads for both the front and rear.



After pre-riding, that night we realized something was up with my brakes, and, after tracking down seemingly everyone in the town, ended up being saved by a Shimano rep and a worker at the local bike shop.



Unbelievably, at about 7 or 8 the night…

  After the XC race the previous day I returned to Packer Saddle for the start on the downhill portion of the Downieville All Mountain event. I wanted to drive to Downieville first and take the shuttle up so I could leave directly to Marin afterwards, but I watched my brother-in-law compete in the Crossfit Games in Wisconsin online. Ironically he also competed in the 50+ category and won the national competition! It was quite inspirational for me, however I had no delusions of grandeur for…

  Initially I wanted to enter the 60+ XC race only, but a spot was available in the 50+ All Mountain event so I signed up. My goals were to PR(2h 45m) in the XC and complete the DH under my age in minutes. I am almost 64 so that meant I had to complete the DH in 63m 55secs  or less according to my calculations. I know a few people in their 50s have done it but not many. Essentially injuries and attrition begin to undermine performance incrementally despite our best efforts. Also I have…

Okay.  A new rear derailleur solved the chain drop and my legs were feeling pretty good, prior day's racing considered.It It looked like Wicks opted out of the DH, so I had a ghost rider in front of me for my run.  I didn't figure I would make two minutes on the guy that started 8th, so everything would be set for me to have a clean run.  It was a little warmer than the day before, but my relatively early start time kept that from being a factor.

Sunrise went down smoothly, within 3…

I was back this year for another crack at the Downieville Pro All Mountain weekend.

This year, I was racing a 2017 Fuel EX with 130mm travel in the back and a 160mm Pike on the front.  This longer fork raised the bottom brackett a little and slacked out the head tube, both of which come in handy for me when riding fast into the many rocks on the course.  I chose Maxxis Minion SS tires front and rear, with a low tread center to roll fast and chunky side knobs for cornering traction. …

This was the first time since I started racing mountain bikes I had committed to racing the Downieville Classic. After I contracted pneumonia following Sea Otter, I was finally able to return to racing in late-July and saw Downieville as an opportunity to gain high-intensity fitness as I build towards the Collegiate National Championship in October.

Downieville is one of the most highly-regarded American mountain bike races for both its festival atmosphere and course, which has…

The good burst of XC racing in NorCal ended a few weeks ago, which works for me as my fitness is usually down in June as I prepare for another peak in August.  I have gone back to some endurance oriented base miles, so I thought it would be fun to check out a longer race not too far away.  The Epic Rides Carson City Offroad is a 50 mile race and a weekend-long mountain bike race festival.  It is part of a 3 race series, and the prize money is quite good, so the Pro field is very…

This was the 2nd year Bike Monkey had put on their 8 hour race at this venue; after Boggs Mountain was destroyed by fire back in late 2015.  Wente is a ~2,000 acre Boy Scout Reservation just outside Willits.  It's a beautiful area, with surprisingly good trails which, for the most part, are shaded under Redwood and Fir trees.  The goal of the 8 hour race is simply to complete as many laps as you can and as long as you start your last lap in under 8 hours, then you are free to complete that…

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…