Nevada City Dirt Classic #3

The third and final Nevada City Dirt Classic took place on the extremely dusty and slightly rocky Upper Pioneer and Hallelujah trails 15 miles outside of Nevada City in the Tahoe National Forest. 

Rock garden time!

The course proved to be challenging and with PRO/Expert racers doing four laps it turned out to be a little bit of a pain fest, despite the grueling and steep climb out of the headwaters of deer creek there was still many ribbons of velvet singletrack winding through the forest to enjoy and the long lose rock garden on Upper Pioneer is always a good time.

The CAT 1 field heads out.

For me I hit it hard the first two laps, and was feeling great, but as I rolled around for the third time fatigue set in and by the fourth lap I was suffering from back pain and could only push on slowly.  After almost of 28 miles of dry, loose, pain I still managed to be first in the Expert 15-18 category and the day was an excellent training session.

Having fun through the rock garden.

The final race of this  awesome series not only featured great riding but also the long awaited raffle of your choice of full suspension Specialized mountain bike as well as other great prices from all the event sponsors.  Additionally riders who got on the podium all three times got free entry to next years race series.

Thanks to all the volunteers and sponsors who make these races possible, especially to Jet Lowe who is the driving force behind YBONC and the Nevada City Dirt Classic.  Also a big thank you to Rob Lowe who always comes out to take amazing photos of the race and makes them available on his website free of charge.  Looking forward to next year!

Nevada City Dirt Classic #2

The second Nevada City Dirt Classic took place in the Tahoe National Forest on the Pioneer and Dascombe Trails just a few miles outside of Nevada City, this race was also a stop in the Sierra Cup race series.

This race was extremely dusty and on the first lap you could barley see your hand in front of your face let alone the trail ahead of you.  The two favorite features of the course were the "half pipe" a fun sweeping bermed section that dived in and out of an old road bed, and a steep rooty downhill section that went into a drainage and proved challenging to get up and out of on the other side.

Unfortunately for me my race was plagued by two flat tires and proved to be a game of catch-up for the rest of the race.  After a bad start where I was left at the back of the entire expert field I finally worked my way up to a racer in my category, my thought that I might have a shot at doing well were soon smashed as the rear end of my bike began to weave around and I knew I had a flat.  I fixed it but not before the entire sport category had passed me.  After this I put in a hard effort and managed to catch the end of the expert train, after passing dozens of sport racers.  I soon caught a glimpse of my competition and felt a wave of hope for my race but unfortunately, I again heard the soul crushing hiss of my rear tire punctured again. I had no more tubes and I had no idea what to do, running with my bike to the top of the root section, I rode down with a completely flat tire where a friend who was posted as a course marshal was able to lend me a 26 inch tube, I forced it around my 29er rim, got my tire on, and was able to rip another lap and finished the day fifth in junior expert.

There is still one more chance to get in on the fun of the Nevada City Dirt Classic on July 12th on the Hallelujah and Upper Pioneer trails 15 miles above Nevada City.  Go here for more info:http://ybonc.org/events/dirt-classic/

Photos courtesy of Robert Lowe and Jared Mickel

Nevada City Dirt Classic #1

The first race of three in the Nevada City Dirt Classic Series was held on private land in Grass Valley, California and featured some insane trails and possibly the most interesting cross-country race I have ever competed in. 

The course featured flowy downhill trails with berms and jumps to an Enduro Motocross track with monster truck tires, many log roll overs, and an old car to ride over. Not only was this race technically challenging but it had 800 brutal feet of climbing per lap that made for a super tough race.

 

Competing in the CAT 1(Expert) 15-18 category I came away with third place.  This was truly awesome and was both technically and physically challenging.  Thank you to the land owner, Ron Sanchez for letting Youth Bicyclists of Nevada County put on this race two years in row now!

 

The expert boys 15-18 podium.

 

Photos courtesy of Robert Lowe

CES #2 China Peak Enduro Fest

The second race of the California Enduro Series took place at China Peak Resort in the Central Sierra Nevada at the very end of highway 168.  The course was much more technical than the Battleborn event and featured lose unpredictable trail conditions, deep switchbacks with boulders waiting to catch a tire, and super technical rock gardens.

Friday the lifts were open for a day of pre-ridding, it was all pedaling on race day though.

The race at China Peak was an all-around good time, camping was available, and a bike movie was shown Saturday night, the atmosphere of this race was truly laidback and friendly.

After a day of fun racing Saturday I was 9th out of 22 other racers in the highly competitive Junior Open category a great improvement from Battleborn but still not where I want to be.

Yes there were goats at China Peak as well as Battleborn, after the last race I'm starting to think they are a key element of enduro.

 Here's to enduro and the next stop of the California Enduro Series at Northstar Resort in Truckee, California on August 30th.

CES #1 Battleborn Enduro

ENDURO... seems to be the focus of every mountain bike website, magazine, and video these days, but what exactly is it?  Enduro is form of mountain bike racing that features a course with untimed transfer climbing stages and multiple timed downhill stages.  The reason for its popularity is obvious; it takes out the long hours of training, good diets, lycra, and nasty tasting energy products of cross-country, but at the same time does not  require lift access terrain, heavy protective gear, or the 8 inch travel bikes of downhill racing.  In a sense it is mountain bike racing in its purist form.  Granted to be competitive at these events requires the fitness of a XC racer with the technical skill of a DH racer.  So I decided to head for the scorching sun and sagebrush of Reno, Nevada to race in the first of five races of the California Enduro Series.

After climbing the 8 miles to stage one racers stood in line eagerly awaiting their first timed run of the day, with warnings of rattlesnakes and the ever increasing heat.  Unfortunately about half way down my chain popped off and I had to complete stage one chainless, running the last 100 hundred yards of slight uphill to the finish.  With a zip tie courtesy of a fellow racer I forged a makeshift chainguide and hopped for the best on stage two, but despite this attempt my chain fell completely off dragging behind me and it was another chainless run on an extremely peadally course.  After some climbing it was time for stage three.  As this was the smoothest course of the day I got a clean ride in with zero dropped chains.  Stage four however was a different story, my chain dropped shortly after pedaling out of the start gate, and after getting off the bike and putting it back on I was able to ride conservatively to the finish for a disappointing 19th place out of 24 racers in the junior open category.  Despite serious time delays due to dropped chains I still had a great time and am looking forward to the next California Enduro Series race at the China Peak Ski Resort.

Me, Larry, and Dylan after a day of enduro racing!

Photo courtesy Scott McClain and California Enduro Series.

My Summer Season

For this summer my main focus is the Downieville Classic All-Mountain race, an infamous technically challenging and physical event with a grueling cross-country on day one and a gnarly and pedally downhill race on day two. I will also be competing in the California Enduro Series and my local race series in Nevada County the Nevada City Dirt Classic.
Here is a video of my shredding a local trail, filmed and edited by Matteo Piezarri.

NICA California State Championships

For the final high school race of 2014 it was back down to the sand and wind of Laguna Seca Raceway near Monterey, California.

After the cool temperature, tacky dirt, and lush forests of Boggs Mountain it was a shock back to more painful side of racing when we showed up to the California State Champs, the course started with lay it all out paved climb into a steep lose singetrack that could make or break your race, after this a fast downhill got your heart rat down, then you hit "hurl hill" a few mile long climb mainly on fire road where racers faced steep grades and relentless soul sucking wind after this it was time to back around again.  Despite not being my favorite race course I still managed to come out fifth in a field of around 70 competitive racers.

The 2014 Sophomore D1 podium for the entire state of California, there was a lot of fast guys out there.

NorCal Championships at Boggs Mountain

The NorCal High School Championships took place at Boggs Mountain, in Lake County, California and proved to be a fun and wet rap up to the NorCal season.  Boggs was by my favorite high school race of the year with terrain, foliage, and trails similar to what I have at home it was easy to feel comfortable despite the completely liquid trail surface and the occasional snot slick rock or root.

The slightly technical trails of Boggs Mountain twisting through dark picturesque forests played well to my riding style and I came away with the win completing an undefeated season in the Sophomore D1 Category and therefore the overall win in that category for Northern California.

Pictured here is the Sophomore D1 Boys podium for the day.

Here it is the overall Sophomore D1 Boys podium for Northern California, it was a lot fun everybody.

With all the races done for the NorCal season there was still one more one more High School event that was on everyone's minds, California State Champs at Laguna Seca near Monterey two weeks after Boggs, where high school racers from Northern and Southern California come to battle it out for the final NICA race of the year.