The Off Season

Fall color.

The Santa Cruz Super Enduro was my final race of 2014 and the beginning of the "off season".  Fortunately I live in a place that allows me to never stop ridding my bike throughout the year so I have no excuses to stop riding throughout fall and winter!



Sawtooth Trail, Truckee

Fall in Northern California is my favorite time to ride, the dusty blown out trails of summer have been replaced with tacky beautiful ribbons of singletrack, and even high sierra trails are still open to play on.  I was able to ride in Downieville, Truckee, and Forest City throughout the Fall and was treated to the best trail conditions of the year.

Big Boulder Trail, Downieville

Truckee Ditch Trail, Forest City

Big Boulder

After a month of just having fun on the bike I started to put in a lot of base miles and start to prepare for the 2015 NICA NorCal series where I will be competing at the varsity level.

NU Team Rides

The NorCal high school season officially started December first and teams across the state began training for the races in spring.

Road rides on the hardtail.

As winter rolls in heavy rains can make the trails unridable for a few days so I have been putting in base miles on pavement as well as spending a lot of time the spin room.  On my local trails downed trees and washouts can become serious problems.

Downed tree on 8 Ball Trail.

I hope everyone can remain being active through winter and enjoy these beautiful days whether it be on white or brown pow.  Happy holidays!

Bullards Bar Trail

2014 BONC Grouse Fest

The third annual Bicyclists of Nevada County Grouse Fest rolled around an was a great mix of trail work, fun around the campfire, and epic back country riding.

photo by Keegan Zetterberg

The first day I set up camp and enjoyed the beauty of Lindsey Lake and the surrounding mountains that were the setting for great time in the mountains.  Towards dark we had an awesome night ride down Bull Pen trail and back up to camp.

The next morning volunteers were caravanned on 4x4 jeep road and then had a few mile hike to get to the work site.  Tons of progress was made on the first day and the despite thick Manzanita roots the new rerouted Lindsey Lakes trail was close to completion.

The second day some volunteers choose to continue to work and complete the trail work project while others choose to enjoy the technical back country mountain biking Grouse Ridge has to offer.  On the last day there is always a big group ride that show cases the best trails of the area.  Here are a few photos from my ride.

Photo by Keegan Zaetterberg

This years Grouse Fest was tons of fun I cant wait to see what this event will grow into in the future.  Thanks to the USFS Tahoe National Forest and Bicyclists of Nevada County for making this event possible.

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

Nevada City Dirt Classic # 3

The last race of this years Nevada City Dirt Classic series happened on September 29, and was a blast just like the other two were. I came in second in the 15-18 Cat 2 division. This time the course was reversed making it more technically and physically challenging, because you had to climb the Halleluiah Trail switchbacks and go down through the "rock garden".

Me on my last lap !

Horn of The Bull Taquaria served great Mexican food, and smoothies made from a bike powered blender were free to racers.

Most of the racers that podiumed in the last race.

 If you did not make it to this event this year be sure to attend next year YBONC race or races to have a great time and support mountain biking in our area at the same time! - Ruffrder

Nevada City Dirt Classic

My competition and me (202) on the start line.

Hi all, last weekend I raced in the Nevada City Dirt Classic Race #2, and it was awesome. I competed in the Cat 2 15-18 division.

I did three laps on the almost 6 miles course that included the infamous "Rock Garden" on Upper Pioneer Trail, Halleluiah Trail, and part of Upper Pioneer Trail. My total mileage was 17.95 miles, my time was 1:43:34, I had a average speed of 10.4 mph, and ended up coming 2nd place.
Me coming across the finish line.The Nevada City Dirt Classic is an awesome event, and races 1 and 2 were tons of fun. So do not miss the third and final event in the race series on September 29th! -Ruffrider