Tahoe Fat Tire Festival

I just got back from racing Super D at the Tahoe Fat Tire Festival in Squaw Valley  this Sunday.  Super D is a relatively new form of mountain bike racing and is basically Cross Country mixed with Downhill racing.  This race was the last in the Sierra Cup Series.  The course was super technical,  it was steep, fast, and infested with rocks and roots as well as a few wooden features.  It was a lot more technical than the Downiville Classic race courses and was not for the faint of heart. The run was 3.9 miles long, had over 2000 ft of descent, and only 101 ft of climbing!  I came in first place in the Cat 3 Men category with a time of  17 minutes and 31 seconds. Despite two crashes in my practice run.

The results !

 
The race started at High Camp and finished at the Village.

The tram ride up to High Camp

The race was a single run format and we were staggered in one minute intervals.  The scenery was spectacular.

Starting my Super D race run with Lake Tahoe in the background.

This festival also included a Short Track race, a Hill Climb, a Cross Country race, and Downhill, in addition to Super D.  The event also was a fundraiser for Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA).  Hopefully this event will return again next year, it was awesome no matter if you are on or off the bike.  With all the disciplines of racing included at this event you will definitely find something that suites your skills.  Be sure to attend next year, for some great High Sierra racing. 

 On the podium !!!

"Downieville Downhill"

Me at Packer Saddle.
Today I got to ride the awesome "Downieville Downhill" it was insanely fun. This was the first time I got to rip the DH without having to do climbing first, the descent is a lot more fun with a full tank. For those of you who aren't familiar with this ride, it starts at Packer Saddle and ends in Downieville, it drops 5000 ft in 17 miles! The route includes Sunrise Trail a flowy singletrack with banks and rollers, Butcher Ranch OHV Trail a fast steep fire-road, Butcher Ranch Trail, 3rd Divide Trail, and the 1rst Divide Trail.

Me on the top of Butcher Ranch Trail.
Butcher Ranch Trail is steep, fast, filled with rocks and roots, includes countless small creeks, and has a 700 ft climb afterwords.

One of the many tricky creek crossings on Butcher Ranch.
This trail is my absolute favorite trail and includes the ultra technical "Waterfall" (a big ass rock garden).

Me clearing the "Waterfall".

3rd Divide Trail is a wonderful descent, it's smooth, super fast, and has nice airs. After riding a little bit of Lavezzola Road we took the 1rst Divide Trail, this trail follows old ditch grades from the mining era and goes back and forth between singletrack and wide doubletrack. After a few miles of good peddle work we popped out on the paved section of Lavezzola Road witch takes you to downtown Downieville! In my opinion these are the best trails in the area, and if you haven't ridden these yet you need to get out there! There are two bike shops in Downieville that have a shuttle service and rent excellent mountain bikes, Yuba Expeditions and Downieville Outfitters. Thanks to Morgan Hainline for all the awesome pictures! - Ruffrider

Grouse Ridge Epic Ride

Yesterday I attended BONC's (Bicyclists of Nevada County) monthly Gala Ride, and It was tons of fun. This months ride was up at Grouse Ridge in Nevada County. The advanced group started at Loney Meadows and from there ascended up some cattle roads and singletrack to a great view of Bowman Lake and the surrounding mountains.


From there the ride went downhill through some technical lose rock. After that the trail turns into a painful, steep, and loose climb. Then the trail starts to roll Grouse Ridge style, steep downhill followed by super steep uphill. There were lots of backpackers and some folks trekking with some llamas. We rested at a beautiful cobalt blue lake to eat lunch. From there we climbed up to a campground and the access point to hike up to the lookout. From there we descended down some singletrack to what I think was the Grouse Ridge Trail. After that we regrouped near some Native American Petroglyphs. From there we rode some super technical, rocky singletrack to the top of the next downhill.


This descent is basically just a seasonal creek bed / rock chute, it goes almost straight down the side of the mountain except for some tight switchbacks that do nothing to impede the flow of water, and is full of baby heads, rock drops, and small boulders. Despite sounding like hell, this descent is my favorite part of this ride. After this the route levels out somewhat, into a smooth granite face bike play ground. After several miles of fun/brutal riding we recuperated at the headwaters of the South Yuba River. From there the trail parallels Lake Spaulding's shoreline but remained pretty technical with rocks, roots, and log features.

a penstock
After this we crossed the large hydroelectric penstock, bushwhacked a little to find the very end of end of Pioneer Trail and took the end of Upper Pioneer Trail to the bridge that crosses over the South Yuba. From this point we took Bowman Lake Rd. to Bear Valley and ended our journey. This was an awesome all-mountain back country ride, for all of you who live for technical rock trails the Grouse Ridge area is a must ride destination. We were out there for 7 hours probably more than 5 of which were riding. This ride was 24.18 miles in distance, had 3979 ft of assent, and 5063 ft of descent. This ride is so brutal that it was probably the equivalent of a 50 mile ride on normal trails. Thanks for looking -Ruffrider