Big Brothers Big Sisters Endurace Ride

I rode the Big Brothers Big Sisters Endurance Ride for the first time this year, completing the challenging fifty mile option with over 8,000 feet of climbing.  This was a very nice way to wrap up my cross-country race season and was a lot of fun.

The town of Washington.

From Pioneer Park in Nevada City riders climbed up to the Five Mile House, then climbed up Pioneer Trail past Skillman Campground, from here riders descended the old Omega Road a scary fast fireroad into the town of Washington, after a much needed lunch break participants followed the South Yuba Trail to North Bloomfield Road, which took riders back to Nevada City.

Cookies are the best on long rides.

It was overcast the entire day with even a bit of rain at a few points, this kept the temperature pleasant and trail conditions sweet.  I choose to ride my hardtail race bike but unfortunately did not change to a more aggressive tire, my 1.95 inch renegade tire in the rear was no match for the fast and rough downhill to Washington suffering from a sidewall tear and two other flats during the ride.

Larry helps with trail side flat repairs.

The South Yuba Trail is a always a challenge to ride with extreme exposure to cliffs, steep climbs, sharp turns, and tricky descents.  The 13 miles along the South Yuba were the most demanding and physical of the ride but were still very fun. 

"I only ride technical."

After this portion the course follows North Bloomfield Road which drops down to the river and then climbs out of Purdon Crossing which was extremely difficult at the end of such a long ride, after this climb it was mainly rolling terrain back to the finish in Nevada City.

That was a long day.

CES #1 Battleborn Enduro

Practice on Stage 5.

Well it happened again, the Battleborn Enduro proved to be a fun and successful event for all of the nearly 300 competitors who descended upon Peavine Mountain near Reno, Nevada.  Despite rain and snow storms all through the previous week the Battleborn trails were dry, dusty, and loose as ever, keeping racers on their toes the entire day and making cornering interesting.  After a short riders’ meeting, racers made their way up the first transfer stage. This consisted of a gradual eight mile climb that put racers on the top of the fast and loose first stage.  Even with competitors separated into two groups there was a fairly long wait at the top of the first stage and racers stood shivering in the wind, some seeking shelter low to the ground or behind their bikes.  The cold temperature at the first stage proved to be a sharp contrast of last year’s race which saw temperatures in the 90s all day.   Tightened and stiff muscles made me feel awkward on the bike and it took awhile to find my flow on the first stage. 

Just before dropping in to Stage 1.

The second stage starts with a series of sharp blown out corners and then opens up into one of the fastest sections of the course but still managed to throw in a handful of little climbs that could make you feel like you were bleeding from the eye balls if you wanted to carry speed.  I felt a lot better on the second stage but still did not feel completely confident in my race run and kept it conservative in the corners.

Enduro transfer stages!

To get to the third stage racers had some climbing to do after picking up some great tasting nutrition from the Tahoe Trail Bar aid station.  The beginning of stage 3 is always a bit of a challenge with a series of extremely tight switchbacks that can break even the most experienced racers.   After that it becomes one of the more wide open stages of the day and can get really fast towards the bottom.  For me this is where my race finally started to come together and I started to feel more and more comfortable in the loose ball bearing dirt of Peavine Mountain.

Getting ready for stage 5.

After a little more pedaling it was time to shred the fast, extremely physical, and longest stage of the day.  Stage four starts out with a fun, fast, and flowy downhill section with bermed corners and the occasional table top.  However the fourth stage is not all fun and games the course soon turns into a true test of racers fitness with a bit of climbing and a flat path along a creek bed that leaves you with no choice but to put the power down for a decent race time.  For Beginner/Sport racers this was the finish of their Battleborn adventure, but for Experts/Pros it was time to pedal up one more transfer stage to the most technical stage of the day.

      Stage 5 was a welcome sight to more downhill oriented racers and featured several burly rock gardens as well as a steep chute section.  Depending on how fatigued you were at this point stage five could leave you grinning ear to ear or coming off the mountain with a broken bike or body.  I kept my run as smooth and consistent as possible and was able to make it to the bottom in one piece and can easily say it was my favorite stage of the day.

Liam Ruff in second and Matt Koen in first for Expert Boys U18.

The Battleborn Enduro is definitely not an event to miss and was a perfect way to kickoff another exciting California Enduro Series season.  This race is truly an all around test of technical skill and pure fitness that make up the best mountain bikers.  Even though I felt slightly off in the beginning of the day I managed to finish second place in the Expert Boys U18 category offering redemption for my numerous chain drops and mechanical issues I suffered from last year.  The Battleborn Enduro was a blast riding with rad people on sweet trails.



Second place medal!

 

CES Finale in Santa Cruz

Heading to Santa Cruz

 The Santa Cruz Super Enduro was the finale of the California Enduro Series and was a great way to wrap up an awesome season of Enduro racing!  Located in the Redwoods of the Soquel Demonstration Forest racers had access to free camping and amenities at Camp Loma.  There was also an expo area, and bike demos were available on Sunday from Trek, Intense, Marin, Santa Cruz, and Juliana Bicycles.

All you really need.

The Santa Cruz Super Enduro consisted of four stages with Juniors/Beginners only racing the first three.  Stage 1 was Corral Trail and started with fast singletrack which turned to fireroad with many fun side features and some drops.  Stage 2 was Braille Trail the most technical and my favorite stage of the day, it was fast with some steep pitches and a lot of roots.

Me on Stage 2.  Photo Bogdan Marian

After Stage 2 racers climbed Tractor Trail to Stage 3 which was Sawpit Trail, Sawpit had a bit of everything with fast open sections, technical rock gardens, and a bit of bleed from your eyeballs sprints.  After Stage 3 Junior and Beginner racers headed back to Camp Loma and everyone else climbed up once more for Stage 4 the new Flow Trail in the Demo Forest.  I finished 9th in Junior Open at the Santa Cruz Super Enduro and claimed 4th place overall in the California Enduro Series Junior Men Open.

Overall Junior Men Podium! Photo Called to Creation.

 I had a lot of fun racing my first season of Enduro and I am super stoked to make it on the overall podium next to some of the fastest Junior racers in the sport.  Kudos to everyone who participated in this event!

Demo from Marin Bikes.

 On Sunday I got to try an awesome Marin Attack Trail, on Braille Trail, this thing rips!

CES #4 Kamikaze Bike Games Enduro

For the fourth stop in the California Enduro Series 300 racers descended upon three stages of loose kitty litter root laden trails on Mammoth Mountain that proved to be both fun and challenging.  This race was part of a bigger weekend of fun at Mammoth, the Kamikaze Bike Games, which included  the infamous Kamikaze Downhill, Dual Slalom, Pro GRT Downhill, Cross-Country, Speed and Style, as well as a Best Trick contest. The Enduro race was on Sunday and there was an awesome array of booths in the expo area all weekend.  Originally there was going to be four stages with stage 2 being part of the Kamikaze Downhill course, starting at 11,058 feet. This fast, scary and loose fire road is rich in mountain bike history as it was home to some of the first downhill races in the 1990's.

Pre-Ride at 11,000ft.

 However, come race day rain moved in, making the lower trails on the mountain tacky but at the top of the Kamikaze course a dusting of snow and sub freezing temperatures forced the cancelation of stage 2.

Pre-Race bike check!

The rain on Sunday postponed the race for a few hours but made trail conditions perfect.  After a short chair lift ride to Stage 1 it was time to race, only 20 seconds between racers made for a bunch of sketchy passes on the mainly singletrack technical stages.  Stage 1 started with a tricky root drop section then got more physical especially at high elevation  with some flat stretches, at the bottom it included part of the Pro GRT course on Bullet Trail with a few fun rock gardens and a high speed finish.

Stage 1 finish on Bullet!

Another lift ride and a short but lung busting climb brought racers to Stage 2, this was my favorite stage of the day and started with rolling high alpine singletrack that wrapped around to the CAT 2/3 Downhill course from the day before and included fast root sections with occasional ladder bridges and wallrides. For the transfer to stage 3 racers had a several mile pedal and then a quick gondola ride to the top of the stage.  Stage 3 was the most physical of the day but still had a few technical sections and some bike park terrain.  Starting on traversing singletrack stage 3 then turned into a fast Downhill trail with a few jumps and wooden features that meet the bottom of Stage 1 for a fun finish down to expo area.

End of Stage 3.

I finished 8th in Junior Open a strong result that brought me up to 4th in overall standings with the finale being held in Santa Cruz in a few weeks!

Devil's Postpile!!!

CES #3 Livewire Enduro at Northstar

 

Stage 1 Livewire

The third stop of the California Enduro Series at Northstar Ski Resort was a blast and featured flowy bike park terrain, physical cross-country trails, and  technical black diamond runs.

Me and other racers from the NU Miners MTB Team.

The race was part of Northstar's Livewire Classic which brings their downhill and enduro race season to an end, the enduro race was well attended and had close to 300 competitors.



Stage 3 Speed Control/Pho Dog
 

Stage one was Livewire one of the bike parks most popular trails consisting of fifty 20-50 foot table tops and massive berms Livewire is also fully irrigated.  Stage 2 took place on various multi-use trails on the mountain and proved to be extremely physical, to get a good time racers had to go through over fifteen minutes of hair bleeding agony.

Pho Dog

For stage 3 it was back to the fun side of things and was my favorite stage of the day, it started on Speed Control a fast flowy bike park trail and then went into Pho Dog a mildly technical downhill run with jumps and berms.

At the end of the day I finished 9th out of 29 fast riders in the Junior Open category and was able to some good stuff in the post race schwag giveaway and raffle.

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.