All Blog Posts (398)

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…

Cathy, Simon and I were very excited to do The Lemurian Shasta Classic again.  Last year was the first year for those two, but I had raced this 28 mile single loop course many times.  Simon would be racing the 8 mile short loop, and cathy once again doing the long course.

We traveled up Friday evening and had a chance to preride Simon's course, which shares common trails with the start and finish of our course.  For him it is pretty much a gravel climb of 800 ft to the slightly…

The Shorty's are everything I love about bike racing. 6 laps on the mountain bike on a course that's half easy climbing and half tight singletrack during a series that consists of 6 consecutive races in the spring. It's a mid week series that doesn't take up the weekend and valuable family time. It's close to home, and it takes me 20 minutes to ride there. You race with your friends (or soon-to-be-friends) in the local community. Plus you get to smash on the pedals! I was out of town last…

Just as I did last week, I rode out to the venue from Novato with some of the Novato/San Marin High School team, providing a nice warm up.  This weekend sees the final NorCal league HS race, so the race would be a great opportunity to add some intensity before a couple days rest going into that race.

No middle school race this week (every other week for the middle schoolers), and so we did not see the crowds of last week.  Some of the High School racers from last week were not in…

Cathy, Simon and I left early on Friday to make it in time for me to race the Short Track at 11:15 on Friday.  The course was very short and flat, with various sections of loose and slow materials ranging from pea gravel to sand.  I guess around 85 people started the race, and I had a pretty good first lap, coming through the finish about mid-pack.  I soon felt the effects of my hard start, and I was overtaken by 20 or so racers over the next few laps.  I think I completed 5 of the 8 laps…

One year ago I took a wrong turn at this race and ended up with a Medal that did not belong to me. It took a while to sort this out with the oganizers but in the end all was made right. As foolish as I felt, finishing this race was something I had to do.

Jim and Shiloh at ACME bikes helped me get my Trek Superfly ready for the fast sandy course. Team mate Mark Buell and I headed down 2 days before the race for a pre-ride. No way I could live down getting lost again. The course is…

  My alarm went off at 3:50 AM Sunday morning. I know it is early and a stressful way to start your morning on race day, but I had a long work day Saturday and wanted to sleep in my own bed. I actually enjoy driving early in the morning because the roads are free of traffic and one can make good time. Although one needs to be vigilant for drunk drivers left over from Saturday night.

  Although I enjoy Sea Otter, the race that I try to peak for is Downieville. Now that the days are…

This would be my 6th year racing the Sea Otter Classic cross country race.  I had signed up in November, as I tend to train more consistently if I have set a goal.  For various reasons, my training plan didn't really play out as expected and I came into the race not feeling real fit or rested. This is one race where base fitness is key, as it is 28 miles where big chunks of time can be gained or lost.  After a warm up that never really got me warm, I lined up with teammate Greg Alsterlind in…