Santa Cruz Demo Day!

Last weekend on July 16th Yuba Expeditions held a Santa Cruz Bicycles Demo day in Graegle, California, as a fundraiser for the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship.  The Santa Cruz Tallboy Carbon, Bronson Carbon, and Solo Carbon were available to demo for free on some fine high sierra singletrack, shuttles cost $10 which, proceeds support future trail projects in the Downieville/Lakes Basin area!


Santa Cruz tents in downtown Graegle.

I rode the Santa Cruz Bronson Carbon, it was awesome to be able to spend some solid trail time on such a nice bike.  I loved the 650b wheels and for bike with 150mm of travel pedaled excellently.  We were shuttled from Graegle to a fire road, from there it was a three mile climb to Mills Peak Lookout and the top of Mills Peak Trail.  This was my first time riding this great trail and was impressed by how the rocky root filled tread still had excellent flow and is defiantly one of my favorite trails!                                                                                                                                                                                          

The Santa Cruz Solo is the shorter and lighter travel brother of the Bronson with 125mm of travel.

This event was totally awesome, and was well attended.  I hope other demo events will occur in the Downieville area!!!

 

Nevada City Dirt Classic # 2

On the twenty-ninth of June I raced in the second Nevada City Dirt Classic XC Series at the Hallelujah and Upper Pioneer Trails, it was a lot of fun and the rain during the previous week left the trails tacky and perfect for racing!  I competed in the CAT 1 15-18 age group and came in second place with a race time of 1:36:49 doing three laps on the 5.7 mile loop.

Larry Sussman in third, Liam Ruff in second, and Alec Crofoot in first.  The CAT 1 M 15-18 podium.

The next and last Nevada City Dirt Classic Race will be held on the twenty-seventh of July on the Hallelujah and Upper Pioneer Trails and is a great chance to be able to race on the fine trails of the Tahoe National Forest.  As always the profits made by this race series will go toward supporting local youth bike clubs and getting kids on bikes!  More information about this awesome race series including registration information and past race results can be found at YBONC's web site.

The day after the race it was up to Downieville for some great riding!

Nevada City Dirt Classic # 1

The awesome Nevada City Dirt Classic XC Race Series is back again this year!!!  Race number one was located on private land in Grass Valley, California, and was one of the best XC courses I have ever raced.  The five mile loop included grueling climbs and very fun technical descents.  Thank you to the land owner, Ron Sanchez, for letting YBONC use his land for the race, these trails are NOT open to the public at any other time.
 

This was my first race since getting back on my bike after the injury and I was super stoked to get first place in the CAT 2 15-18 division, we did three laps on the fun but exhausting loop, with around 700 feet of climbing per lap.

The next race in the series will be on Saturday, June 29th at the Upper Pioneer and Hallelujah Trail on Forest Service land in the Tahoe National Forest.  It will be tons  of fun and supports local youth cycling groups and mountain biking opportunities in the area! For more info go to YBONC.  There was a great turn out at the first race in the series and some professional riders including Jason Moeschler came out!

 

Photos courtesy of Robert Lowe.  Thank you Bob for taking great pictures at the race!

Injury, Recovery, and Riding!

I have just started riding again after two serious fractures in the Tibia and Fibula bones that kept me off the bike for twelve long weeks.   Unfortunately my injury was not due to any epic mountain bike crashes or dangerous activities, I broke fractured my ankle walking down the stairs of my school.  I had surgery and one screw put in my ankle, I was treated at the Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee, California.  My orthopedic surgeon was Dr. Osgood who was a great doctor and good to work with.  I spent nine weeks on crutches and then moved on to a cane.  I spent eight weeks in physical therapy at Body Logic Physical Therapy in Grass Valley, California.

     After twelve weeks from being away from the sport and activity that I love I was over joyed to get back on the mountain bike!!!  My balance and fitness are coming back and I am looking forward to lots of riding over the summer.  So far I have gotten up to Grouse Ridge and Downieville areas for some great truly gnarly rock laden terrain, as well as other wonderful local spots.   I came in first place in the Nevada City Dirt Classic #1 in the CAT 2 division, and am currently training for the Downieville Classic Cross-Country Race.

 

North Yuba Trail

The sunset

Today I did an out and back on the new section of North Yuba Trail from Goodyears Bar to Downieville.

One of the fun technical sections on  N. Yuba

This new section of trail is super fun and is probably 12 to 18 inches wide most of the way and is scattered with lose rock that could send you in the N. Yuba Canyon if you don't pay attention to the trail.

My Camber and my dad's HiFi.

  It is 6.5 miles one way and if you are going to only do it one way start in Downieville and go down to Goodyears Bar.

There was a little snow.

There was some snow and we came back in the dark but this just made this adventure even more epic.  This new portion of trail was constructed by the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship along with the United States States Forest Service.

A huge boulder in the woods.

  This is another awesome trail in the Downieville area that is still passable in the winter months.  Definitely get out there and ride the sweet piece of single track because it is a total must ride trail.

 

N. Yuba Trail

TBF MTB Classic

Last weekend I raced in the Total Body Fitness MTB Classic in Granite Bay, California.  I came in second place out of 23 racers in the High School Sport category. I will also compete in the next TBF race on February 17 in preparation for my my high school Nor Cal season.

Hammering into the finish

  I had a race time of 1:26:01 and did three laps making it a 18mi race.  The course is a roller coaster of ups and downs with some scattered rock gardens and sandy conditions.

Me in the front making my move.

On the podium

  TBF does a great job of putting together these awesome local races.  These races are are a great way to get in shape for the 2013 mountain bike racing season so I hope you come down to next races they put on.

So Cal MTB Trip Part 2

 Here are some more pictures of our trip.  Enjoy!

Bloody Nose Trail

  Montana de Oro State Park has some great mountain bike trails, but Bloody Nose Trail is not one of them. Equestrian use has pretty much trashed this trail and is now a sand trench filled with poor attempts at water bars.

My bike getting some sun

Coming down Hazard Peak Trail

Hazard Peak Trail in Montana de Oro SP has awesome flow and is smooth and fast. These trails are beautifully maintained by Central Coast Concerned Mountain Bikers (CCCMB).                                     

 Another cool feature of Montana de Oro were the tool stations along the trails, so anyone can do a little work to keep these trails  sweet.                                                                                               

Cruising

 

Rock-it Trail

  Aliso and Wood Canyon County Park had some fun trails especially for being so close to an urban sprawl.  Rock-it Trail was our favorite trail in the park and has some fun rocky sections.

San Juan Trail

We rode San Juan Trail as an out and back, to Cocktail Rock and back down to the parking lot.  This was of the best rides of the trip and is truly awesome.                                                                       

Sunset SLO City style

So Cal Trip Part 1

  For the past week I have been in Southern California riding some of the great trails down there.  I rode the Hazard Peak Trails, part of Backbone Trail, Aliso and Wood Canyon Trails, San Juan Trail, and the Nobel Canyon Trail.  
  Nobel Canyon was by far my favorite ride of the trip, it features some extremely technically difficult rocky terrain that keeps you on your toes the entire ride.  We started at the lower trail head and rode up Pine Valley Rd. to the third trail intersection after over 2000 ft of climbing we started the awesome descent this is the way to go if you want an epic All Mountain loop.  The trail passes through different ecosystems including Alpine Forest, High Dessert, and Scrub Brush.

The "Staircase to Hell" on Nobel Canyon Trail.

   The climb is a long paved fire-road and is not too bad if it is not too hot.  

Some snow at the top.

    The Downhill starts out smooth and we experienced snow in early January, it then turns into miles of some very chunky terrain that means hike-a-bike for most riders.

Take one.

Take two!

 This ride is awesome and can also be shuttled but climbing to the top is what makes this an epic adventure. 

getting rowdy on Nobel Canyon

Made it down!!!

 If you are in the San Diego area this is a must ride trail for expert and intermediate riders who like technical riding.

Forest City Flow

Last weekend I got out to Forest City to enjoy miles of the fun flow Cross Country trails.  I started at the kiosk, ascended the Sandusky Jeep Road, went around Truckee Ditch Trail to Big Tree Trail Head, and then descended back to town on Ridge Runner and High Grade Trails, a very nice 16 mile loop.

A berm on Truckee Ditch Trail.

One of many creek crossings on Truckee Ditch.

The top of the climb !

The new section of Truckee Ditch Trail.

If you have never been out to Forest City I strongly suggest going, the trails are fun for all levels and there are lots of optional bike features.  All of the trails were beautiful built by the Forest Trails Alliance (FTA).  Happy Trails-Ruffrider

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