Greg Alsterlind's Blog (31)

My start time was 12:12:30. I decided to play it safe and run a heavy tube in my rear tire. I have only ridden the downhill course 4 times in the last 15 years and never with out stopping so I had no splits to meet. I did do Sunrise fast a few days before with Jim, so I had a goal of under 8 minutes to the fire road. We were leaving every 30 seconds and I had 2 teenage riders in front of me. I started my Garmin 30 seconds before my start so I could just focus on getting out as fast as I…

My 3 rd race here but my first All Mountain. I had this race as my most import of the year. I bought a TREK Fuel EX 9.8 with this race in mind. With a lot of help from Jim Hewett, I had the bike set up to weigh in at 27lbs. I ran Maxxis Minion  SS 2.3 tires front and rear. I swapped the FOX 34 Performance fork with a Fox 34 factory 130mm. The bike felt fast up hill and was a big improvement over my Top Fuel for the down hill. Jim and I got up Friday morning the day before the race and met up…

This was the final race of the series for what YBONC.COM advertised as the California State Campionship. Jim and I signed up for all 5 and Simon did 4. We all came into this last race with the chance of finishing on the podium for the top 3 in our classes but Simon got a better offer and missed this last race. I was excited for this last chance to win even though I am fully aware that the poor attendance of the previous 4 races and the leval of compition was not what a State Championship…

This year seemed to go by so fast. The A group was well attended by the under 35 group with a lot of very strong riders. I was lucky enough to have the strength to keep up with Gavin Parnes when he showed up. Last year I was keeping up with Willson Perry but this year he took it to the next level. I no longer have the speed to stay close to Mark Ingwersen and Mark Gibson is faster than I have ever been but I still enjoy this race. It is fun watching the kids get stronger and always fun to…

This was my first trip to Susanville and I had little information on this trail. It looked to have a lot of climbing so I chose to stick with my hardtail Trek Super fly and a seat dropper. It rained most of the day before the race but the trails soil soaked it up well and conditions where almost perfect. Our start was a Mass start of about 40 Pro's/CAT 1 and single speeders. We had a 1/2 mile or so of single track that lead us to Paul Bunyan Logging road. The next mile plus was 3% grade with…

Another super fun trai near Nevada city. The YBONC group has upped their game with electric timing and larger attendance. I missed this race last year but heard that it had a good flow trail. I would say it is the best flow trail I have ridden. I raced the CAT 50+ class that had us ride 3 x 7 1/2 mile laps. The best part was this 4 plus minute flow section. Hearing that there was nothing to rough or technical about the course , I choose to ride my hard tail. The main climb was a 5 mintute…

 Another fun, intermediate loop in the Nevada City area. As far as I know this was the first race held here? YBONC has included this trail in their California Dirt/State campion series of races. The race started at the Diamond Arrow Christain Conferance Center. The start had us roll through the cabin area and quickly start into the first of two climbs. Our 11am group was all the Cat 1 ages, Pro's and single speeders(35-40 people). The first climb was less than a 1/3 of a mile with about 100'…

Another beautiful day at Fort Ord. I wish this is how I left Sunday but it wasn't. Fort Ord is a fast mostly fire road with short climbs course. Nothing to techincal but at these high speeds there is plenty of reason to be careful.  I have not worked only my training thus far this year and this was the result= 20th out of 25. 3 plus minutes slower than last year. I need to remember- Disappointment comes with anything we are passionate about. The result of this race is what I needed to decide…

I was planning on racing the Nevada City Dirt classic but it was canceled due to a much needed storm system. Thankfully the CCCX group had a race set up as part of their series on the same day so Mark Ingwersen, Jim -Simon Hewett and I made the early trip down. CCCX uses the Nor Cal high school courses for their races at Fort Ord. I am not familiar with this course or area but I did do their Toro Park race a few years ago and did enjoy the trails. This course was very different. It was…

My third time racing this challenging course. This year I had Jim at ACME rework my Trek top fuel and get it down to 22lbs. Two big changes to the bike where changing the front fork to the new Fox factory SC and removing the KS seat dropper. This year I left the Maxxis Ardents in the garage and went with Maxxis 2.2 Ikons for tires. The bike felt great and after a week with only one ride in the mountains , my legs felt good too.

The race has the hardest start of any I have been in- up…

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…

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…

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…

The hardest MTB race got harder. The heavy rain of this last winter left this course with a lot more obstacles than last year. I was back on my Trek Top Fuel and stayed with the XR1 2.0 tires. I think the smaller tire got through the mud a little easier and was worth a little slower down hill times? My training program called for a rest week heading into this race and I was questioning if that was the right move, as the race out here two weeks ago left me feeling I needed to spend more time…

Sometimes it is better to write these a day or so afterwards. This race was a big disappointment but a day afterwards I have a different perspective. I was back on my Top Fuel but changed my tires to XR1 Bontragger team issue 2.0. Skinny but fast rolling. The trail was all over the place (muddy, rocky, hard pack and loose gravel).  For the most part the tire was great. I started my race watching my heartrate meter as we made our way up the paved section. I was careful to stay 95% of max.…