Mark Gibson's Blog (20)

This is probably my favorite race of the year; and one of the best weekends of racing out there. I had missed the race last year through injury while doing a practice run the week before, and so was glad to be back in Downieville racing again, injury free, and feeling in good form.

The Downieville Classic consists of a cross country race on the Saturday, and a Downhill race on Sunday. Some racers choose to ride the XC event only, but racing the DH only is not an option. If you want to…

This was my 2nd time racing this event at Wente, a beautiful ~2,000 acre Boy Scout Reservation just outside Willits. Last year I had won my category (expert 40+) but only after battling through a pretty disastrous 1st lap with a flat tire which left me at the back of the field and playing catch up all day. I had eventually taken the lead at the beginning of the 10th lap, and held on to complete the 10 laps in 8 hours 11 minutes. This year my goal was to finish 10 laps in under 8 hours in…

It's hard to believe that we have had 6 weeks of shorty races, and the series is over for another year (its 10th year). I'm really going to miss what has been a super fun regular mid-week race and the boost it has given my fitness. It's been great hanging out with regulars, getting to know people, and taking lots of crap from Mooney! I'm stoked to have been able to make it to all 6 of the races this year, having missed a couple last year.

This being the final race of the series, with…

The number of racers attending this week was down slightly from last week. This was partly because a lot of the High School racers were taking it easy ahead of State Champs this Sunday. However, there were still a few of the fastest NorCal kids out there, with Sean Middleton of Redwood and Robert Raffo of San Rafael amongst them. Bear Dev rider Toby Coughlan would also be there battling; and enduro rider/skills coach Ian Massey turned out too.

The previous week's race had us riding the…

There was a really good turn out of "A" category racers this week, with lots of blazing fast High School racers, who are all in good form right now being in between the NorCal Champs race last weekend, and State Champs coming up in 10 days. Amongst these were San Marin rider Sebastian Dow who just finished 3rd overall for the season in Varsity and is looking good for a podium finish at State Champs; Sean Middleton, Redwood, who's crushed his competition in every single High School race this…

Ding ding, round 3. The temps had picked up a little, and the wind had died down a little too, so conditions were just about perfect. The middle school kids were out there in force this week. So awesome to see those young rippers. The "A" field was not quite as big as last week, but there was still a good turn out of regulars and High School crushers. As we lined up at the start, we all did our best to crowd out Phil Mooney and force him to the back of the line, but he's a sneaky one and…

It’s so awesome that we have these local mid-week races. I am especially appreciative of them at this moment in time as, with a crazy work/travel schedule, I am missing a lot of the weekend races that are happening around now, like Sea otter last weekend, and probably the Nevada City Dirt Classic this coming weekend. The fact I can roll right up to a race after being at work all day is just awesome. Thanks to Acme, Jim and Scott, for all the work putting on the only races in Marin this…

The Shorty is back! I've been looking forward to this series for the last few weeks, with it being the only race in Marin going on this year, and having missed a couple races already this season due to work commitments. It's great to have a local race series, and a huge thanks to Jim and Scott for all the work put in with this event.

It was good to see a lot of the Acme team, as well as some of the local High School racers using the race as a great mid-week intensity training as they…

With the Nevada City Dirt Classic scheduled for this weekend canceled due to snow, I was happy to find this race scheduled for the same day down in Fort Ord.  I headed down the morning of the race with my daughter who was also racing (her first race for Acme!), with the plan for us to both use it as a training race.  We did not have enough time to pre-ride the course, but I knew from the High School races they host in the same area that the course would be flat and fast.  Also sandy, but…

This was the 1st running of the MLE, a 32 mile point-to-point stage race, split into 4 segments of approx 8 miles each, in the Folsom/Granite Bay area east of Sacramento, and organised by local pro Clint Classen, with the backing of Santa Cruz Bikes.  This race was definitely "epic" although, for me, more of an epic fail.

Having sustained an injury in the days leading up to the Downieville Classic the first weekend in August, I had missed that race, as well as Annadel on the following…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

The Summit Shorty is back for its 10th year, and a big thanks to Jim for all the work he puts in organizing this event. For the third time this season, I got to check off another race that I've never done before.  I had been a spectator at last year's series, there to support the Novato/San Marin High School team that my kids are on, and on which I'm one of the assistant coaches.  It's a great event, and excellent mid-week intensity training for the High School teams and anyone else.  Me and…

I headed up to this race not knowing exactly what to expect as I'd never raced it before.  The area had received a lot of rain over the prior week, so I was thinking there would be some mud, but otherwise I'd just have to figure it out on race day.  

Getting there with not quite enough time to pre-ride the course, I did a brief warm up and took my place at the start line. The racers were sent out in waves: pros, then singlespeed (never really understand why the ss go out ahead of all…

I’m only 20 miles in to this 35 mile race and I’m cramping up so badly I’m not sure I’ll make it to the finish.  I had a flash back to the pre-race start-line warnings given by Bike Monkey director Carlos about how tough the race is, and there being no shame in using one of the bailout options along the way.  I didn't take those warnings very seriously and they were now coming back to slap me in the face with a big dose of “I told you so”.

Not being quite race fit yet, I had planned…