Just wanted to drop a note for those of you who like to MTB and run ...

XTERRA Tahoe City, June 26th. & FREE Race Clinic, by Jamie Whitmore, June 25th

The XTERRA Tahoe City is just around the corner.  The day before the race, Jamie Whitmore, World Champion Triathlete, will be hosting a free XTERRA Clinic starting at 6pm at the venue location.  This clinic will be catered to all levels, and will help prepare athletes for the next day's race.

XTERRA Tahoe City’s swim occurs in one of the clearest, cleanest, and deepest lakes in North America, Lake Tahoe. Depending on the lake level, the long course includes a 50 meter beach run. The openness of Lake Tahoe makes for a truly open water swim experience. Tahoe City is also home to some of the area’s most treasured mountain biking trails. The biking section starts with a strong climb, continuing on to take riders through fields of wildflowers, and breath taking sierra views. The trails are faster than they are rocky, but the climbs and elevation will test ones fitness level. The start and finish is at Commons Beach. There will be an after party so plan to have some fun after a hard day of racing.

For More Information and Registration visit www.bigblueadventure.com

Alex Amaral (Point 1/Gamut) snapped off the fastest run at Sunday's CCCX DH race at Toro Park near Salinas. Many fans on course were astonished when Amaral came ripping through at his overall speed, and they could clearly see the Gilroy native had a good thing going. Fastest female on the day was Cathy Cheveron of Capitola. The top Junior rider was Robby McQuillan of Los Gatos. The course proved to be extra technical due to the super dry nature of the trails. Slick traction combined with tight corners and sweeping turns left riders fighting for grip when racing at full tilt.

Full Results are here - http://www.cccxcycling.com/2010dh4resultspage.html

Scott Mosher's Photos are here - http://www.scottmosher.exposuremanager.com/g/cccxdh561310

Results for TBF Racings' first Friday Night race have been posted.

Congrats to Cody Kaiser who won the Experts Men's division.

Although I've already previewed the CCCX DH and Skyline, here is full rundown of this weekend's MTB racing schedule for NorCal:

1. South Valley Endurance Dirty Gears Series #3 (06/12/10)
2. Lake Sonoma Series (06/12/10)
3. Skyline Mountain Bike Race (06/13/10)
4. CCCX Summer DH #4 (06/13/10)

This weekend is also the annual Skyline race in Napa, CA. The course  has hosted events such as the UCI World Cup and the Single Speed World Championships, this event has been designated by USA Cycling as the Northern California State Championship XC race and can qualify riders for the 2010 MTB Nationals in Granby, CO. Top 15 in each age group and category will be eligible to enter the National Championships in July. It is also part of the 2010 NorCal Series, sponsored by Giant Bicycles and Team Bigfoot.

According to organizers, "The course will be a challenge.  Lots of climbing , Lots of singletrack, technical drops, fast smooth singletrack, poison oak avoidance, and 'cliff' side trails.  The good riders will finish, the best will win and be crowned the State Champions for their efforts."

Here's the preview for this weekend's CCCX DH race:

The course for race #4 will be very similar to Race #1 of the 2010 season.  The race route starts out with some super high speed fire road sections.  The trail then dips into some steep singletrack trails that have switch-backs and off camber portions that will really test tire traction and turning technique.  More singletrack trails take the riders to the finish line after 1.3 miles of course with nearly 1000 vertical feet descended.  For this race the traction is slick and the trails are extremely dry and hardpacked.  Tire choice and air pressure will be keys to success for this race.

You can find more details at the newly created CCCX Race Blog - http://cccxraceblog.blogspot.com/

 

I'm poaching this story from the good people at Bike Monkey, but I hope they won't mind --

Just received a very sad note from Murphy Mack of West Coast Gold Sprints. Some time late last night his entire GoldSprints rig with all of his gear, bikes, audio systems, computer equipment (everything) was driven away with:

If you have a way of re-distributing the below message please do so right away…

Sometime between 8pm last night and 8am this morning my entire GoldSprints roller racing rig was stolen.

It was parked in a lot in a normally safe, patrolled, well lit area in an office park on the south side of Novato.

The thieves broke the substantial Masterlock brand tongue lock that was on the trailer, leaving only a bit of debris and a portion of the lock, they towed the entire thing away.

It is a PACE American 12′ dual axle white utility trailer with a side door and barn doors on the rear. I had just put a burly new Masterlock on the rear of the trailer as well.

All four of my gold metal flake Kreitler rollers with fork stands, the four wood stage decks, four Marin Ignacio black fixed gear bikes and four Globe Roll bikes were inside. They are unusual in that they all have 53 x 13 gearing and are brakeless fixed gear bikes.

My Mackie speakers and Mackie subwoofer as well as four bins of sound, video and computer cables were inside along with all my associated tools and hardware. A Rane brand mixer, 19″ LCD monitor, video projector and Globe banners as well. Two power drills and a red Craftsman toolbox full of hand tools.

If you spot the gold Kreitler rollers or fixed gear bikes with stupid tall gearing from Marin or Globe or any of the other items I’d love to hear about it as would a couple of local police agencies.

Via Entire GoldSprints Trailer Stolen « Bike Monkey Magazine. Please keep an eye out for this.

For those of you making your weekend plans, here is quick rundown of this weekend's MTB racing schedule for NorCal:

1. Return On The Jedi (06/05/10)
2. Tamarancho Dirt Classic (06/06/10)
3. Peavine Challenge (06/06/10)

For those of you who haven't set your plans for TONIGHT, Murphy has a suggestion: GOLDSPRINTS

This time I'm leveraging the AWESOME FUN POWER of GoldSprints Roller Racing to help the Marin County Bike Coalition.

To make the evening of racing, beer, music, heckling, food & fun EVEN BETTER I'm flying in H.R. Muff'N Stuff from LA... She's a singer and performer who will entertain you with songs about riding her bikes in the city and dropping the boys off the back. The Pedal Panties Girls are performing as well... so you don't want to miss this TOTAL ENTERTAINMENT PACKAGE!

DJ's spinning all night, more beer than even we can drink, hot food and PRIZES GALORE.

500m, 1000m, BEER SPRINTS, Catch-the-Bunny, Couples and Team Beer Sprints and more! Top prize is a beautiful brand new full carbon top-end Cannondale road frame and fork.  We've got Capo Forma gear, Sheila Moon gear and more.

Free bike parking, clean bathrooms and loads of cool people await you.  Racing starts at 7 and goes till the beer is gone or they kick us out.

Mike's Bikes is right off the 101 in San Rafael.

Spectating and heckling are free, racing is just $5 and it goes to support the MCBC, you can't do it better than that...

What else are you going to do this Friday night?  Go to some movie that will be playing for another month?  Go to some lame bar and see the same tired old faces?  Stay home and play the same hand of Scrabble?

These are always fun, if you've never been.

Some changes for the CCCX events:

Due to scheduling conflicts with other XC & DH races held in NorCal, the CCCX Series will be making two date switches for the upcoming CCCX events:

• The CCCX XC race which was scheduled for Sunday, June 13 in Ft. Ord, will now be switched to Sunday, June 20 (at the same location, Ft. Ord).
• The CCCX DH race that was scheduled on Sunday, June 20 at Toro Park, will now take place on Sunday, June 13 at Toro Park.

These date switches will now enable the CCCX XC racers to take part in other races such as Napa's Skyline XC Race, Lake Sonoma XC Series, South Valley Endurance Series.   The CCCX DH racers will now be able to make the NORTHSTAR DH event which was re-shuffled to June 20.  The CCCX DH Series will also have a few dates added for 2010 later in the year, to make up for the canceled DH event earlier in the year, and to extend the DH Series for 2010.  Thank you! to all the racers who support the CCCX DH & XC Series!

Here are the upcoming CCCX Races-

• CCCX DH SERIES JUNE 13 (Toro Park)
• CCCX XC SERIES JUNE 20 (Fort Ord)
• CCCX XC SERIES JUNE 27 (Fort Ord)

All CCCX Race Info Can Be Found at www.cccxcycling.com.

Two new Nor-Nevada races to add to the calendar:

• The Nevada Cup has added a fourth race to the end of their series. The Great Flume Race will take place on September 12, 2010 in Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park (Spooner Lake) and is sponsored by the Reno Wheelmen. More details as we get them (thanks to Scott P for the heads up).
• dhRENO has word of a race that's part of the Black Rock Rendezeous: "Great Basin Brewing Company Bicycle Race. Participants will convene at the Main Camp at 8 am on Sunday May 30th, 2010 to disembark to the starting line. Transportation will be provided for bicycles and riders. The race will start at 10 am at Sulphur near the old auto graveyard, and follows a dirt jeep trail along the railroad tracks for 7 miles before turning west along the scenic and historic Applegate Lassen Emigrant Trail. The route continues for an additional 10.7 miles, crossing the Quinn River, and finishing at the Black Rock Hot Spring. There is a $25 entry fee, and all participants will receive an event T-shirt. Cash prizes for the top three finishers will be a percentage of the total purse collected: 25% for 1st, 10% for 2nd, and 5% for 3rd place. Great Basin Brewing Company will provide a selection of their micro-brewed beers to be enjoyed by finishing participants of legal drinking age."

Both events have been added to the calendar.

It's a big week for MTB racing all across region - both weeknight and weekend. For those of you making your plans, here is a quick rundown of this week's MTB racing schedule for NorCal:

1. Blazing Saddles Mountain Bike Race Series (Thursday)
2. Paper Plate Races (Thursday)
3. 12 & 6 Hours of Weaverville (05/22/10)
4. SB Racing.org, Winter XC Series, Round 5 Final Round, Fort Ord (05/22/10)
5. Pine Nut Cracker (05/22/10)
6. South Valley Endurance Dirty Gears Series #2 (05/23/10)
7. Gravity Day (05/23/10)

Okay, this came to me out of the blue, but it sounds like a great opportunity for some NorCal Pro or soon-to-be Pro to get some exposure:

MTV Networks is looking for a downhill mountain bike racer between the ages of 25-35 who is willing to relocate to San Francisco, CA for 4 to 5 weeks to help a high school student who has never rode on a bike become a downhill mountain biker racer. Interested coaches should be energetic, charismatic, have experience working with teens in boosting confidence and also put safety above all else. Coaches should have strong credentials and be available during our shooting weeks (June 1-July 16). Send picture and resume as well as any mountain biking links to MADECoaches@mtv.com

If any of you get this gig, I expect my agent fee :)

 

The Tamarancho Dirt Classic is Marin County’s only annual XC mountain bike race, taking place Sunday, June 6, 2010, at Camp Tamarancho outside of Fairfax, California: Prizes 3 deep in each category, and a tough 6 mile singletrack & fire road course including the infamous Dead Heifer (20+ percent).

Proceeds will go to BTC Marin and Access4Bikes for trail maintenance, creation and advocacy throughout Marin.

Registration is open now via active.com, and ends a week before the race. No day-of registration. $40 adults, $25 juniors 18 and under.  More information at http://tamaranchodirtclassic.com/.

Looks like it was a difficult loop of 5.5 miles with over 600 feet of climbing per lap.  So the Pro/Experts logged around 3000+ climbing during their 28 mile race.  Menso de Jong (Santa Cruz Bikes) was the Pro Expert winner.  Female winners on the day were Carolyn Thompson (Velo Girls), Livia Peras of Santa Cruz, Janel Lodge (Black Market-Family Cycling), Anna Eyre of Daley City.

A full list of the winners:

PRO/SEMI-PRO- Menso de Jong- Santa Cruz Bikes
PRO/EXPERT SINGLE SPEED - Tim Cannard- Ibis/BuyCell.com
EXPERT MEN 35-44- Brian Butler- SB Racing
EXPERT MEN 45-54- Mark Howland- Black market -Family Cycling Center
EXPERT 55+- Bob Blanter- Bikes 4 Life
SPORT/JR MEN 18 & UNDER- Alphonse Le-Duc- San Jose
SPORT MEN 19-34- Christopher Kelly- Oakland
SPORT MEN 35-44- Bill Dean- NPS
SPORT MEN 45-54- Michael Urbina- Team Wrong Way
SPORT MEN 55+- Jeff Townsend- Plus 3
CLYDESDALE- Andrew Murray- SCCCC
SPORT SINGLE SPEED- John Lukasko- Bike Station Aptos/WTB
SPORT WOMEN19-34- Carolyn Thompson- Velo Girls
SPORT WOMEN 35-44- Livia Peras- Santa Cruz
SPORT WOMEN 45+- Janel Lodge- Blackmarket/Family Cycling
BEG MEN 19-34- Ben Blakley- Pacific Grove
BEG MEN 35-44- Kris Cowdrey- Joselyns
BEG MEN 45-54- Steve Anderson- NOAA
BEG MEN 55+- Jim Claflin- Chico
JR MEN 13 & under- Jacob Labosky- Santa Cruz Chain Gang
JR MEN 14-18- Wesley Barnes- The GI Jane Experience
BEG WOMEN 19+- Anna Eyre- Daly City

Full Results are available here: http://www.cccxcycling.com/2010xc5resultspage.html. Photo(s) courtesy of Scott Mosher Photography (many, many more available)

For those of you making your weekend plans, here is quick rundown of this weekend's MTB racing schedule for NorCal (and some SoCal):

1. California Golden State Series #3 (Saturday): Okay, this certainly isn't in NorCal. But a lot of people are looking for state wide championships and this is one of those series.
2. MTB Benefit Races at Loma Rica Ranch (Saturday): Debuting 5.8 miles of new mountain bike trails at Loma Rica Ranch, Grass Valley, California.  700 ft/ climbing per lap.  Hilly course is on a 127 acres parcel with amazing flowy single tracks among stands of old pine and madrone stands.
3. CCCX XC (Sunday):  This Sunday- CCCX #5 will be a special event as results will count towards TEAM BIGFOOT'S 2010 Giant NorCal MTB Championship Series. CCCX #5 will use a counter clock-wise loop that will be about 5 miles in length.  Features on the trail will be a few sharp & steep climbs, fast fire roads, and lots of twisty- turning single track.  Speeds can be very speedy for this loop as trail conditions look rather optimal for this Sunday's competition.

Congratulations to all the race winners at CCCX DH #3, this past Sunday at Toro Park near Monterey.  Santa Clara's Jimmy Amaral (Point 1 Racing) posted the fastest time of the day at 3'14".13, just edging Santa Rosa's Sean Tracy by only 1/2 a second.  Racing was super tight in all divisions on a course that featured 1000 feet of vertical drop, fire roads, lots of single track, and one 20% grade portion of trail which turned into a mud/waterfall slide section that claimed many victims on the day.  The overall fastest Women's race was even closer then the Men's, with Livermore's Mary Moncorge taking first with a time of 4'03".88 compared to second fastest Female on the day San Jose's Sharon Hill (Another Bike Shop) who posted a 4'04".19.  Fastest Junior rider on the day was Nick Dommen (WTB/NEMA/GAMUT) who ripped off a stellar time of 3'27".06.
PRO-SEMI PRO- Jimmy Amaral (Point 1)  
PRO WOMEN - Sharon Hill (Another Bike Shop)
EXPERT WOMEN all AGES- Mary Moncorge (Livermore)  
EXPERT MEN 19-34 - Marshall Eames (Santa Cruz MTB)
EXPERT MEN 35-44- Andrew Reams (Alamo Bikes)  
EXPERT MEN 45-54 - Tim Dennis (Pleasant Hill)  
SPORT WOMEN- Jessica Spray (Stockton)
SPORT MEN 19-34 - Morgan Brewer (Oakland Republic/Kona Grass Roots)
SPORT MEN 35-44 - Tim Fraser (Tech Tim)  
SPORT MEN 45-54- Jeff Van Damme- SCCCC  
MEN 55+ - Scott Seery- Point 1/Rock Garden Sports  
BEGINNER WOMEN - Mary Pralinsky- San Fransisco  
BEGINNER MEN 35-44- Ali Tajeldin- Hayward
BEGINNER MEN 19-34 - Tim Kunakov- Pacifica  
JUNIOR BOYS EXPERT- Nick Aguilar- Belmont
JUNIOR GIRLS 18 & under- Faith Siebe- TREAD  
JR. BOYS 16-18- Daniel Thompson- Above Category Dev Team
JR. BOYS 14-16- Nik Dommen- WTB/NEMA/GAMUT
JR. BOYS 13& under - Niko Kilik- San Jose  
CLYDESDALE- Eric Battiato- Blossum Valley Const.
SINGLE SPEED - Dylan Wade- Gilroy  
CHAINLESS- Jimmy Amaral- Point 1  
HARDTAIL- Brian Zimmerman- Oakland Republic

Full results can be found here- http://cccxcycling.com/2010dh3resultsandphotospage.html

For those of you making your weekendWEEKNIGHT plans, here is quick rundown of this week's MTB racing schedule for NorCal:

1. Prairie City Race Series (Wednesday)
2. Summit Shorty (Wednesday)
3. Reno Wheelmen Twilight MTB Series (Thursday)
4. Blazing Saddles Mountain Bike Race Series (Thursday)
5. Paper Plate Races (Thursday)

Scary news coming out of Specialized:

Specialized recommends that consumers stop using the affected bicycles immediately unless otherwise instructed by a Specialized dealer or representative.The shock mount for the Brain reservoir on the models’ swing arm could break causing loss of control of the bicycle.

Riders should immediately stop riding affected bikes and contact their Specialized dealer for a free repair. For additional questions, contact Specialized toll-free at (877) 808-8154 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. MT Monday through Friday or visit www.specialized.com

The following models are affected:

• 2010 Epic Marathon Carbon
• 2010 Epic Marathon Frame
• 2010 Epic Expert Carbon
• 2010 Epic Expert
• 2010 Epic Comp Carbon
• 2010 Epic Comp
• 2010 Era FSR Expert Carbon
• 2010 Era FSR Expert
• 2010 Era FSR Comp

I completely misread this as "Youth Community Racing" instead of "Racing at Youth Community Park." Either way, there is some short track racing in Santa Rosa, CA this month:

Actually, I don’t know where else they would come too since YCP is a lovely little acronym for “Youth Community Park”. Inside the famous “back-side” course that twists around unkempt open-space behind YCP, Bike Monkey is hosting three evening dirt-crit mountain bike races on May 6th, 13th and 20th.

Via Bike Monkey Magazine.

For those of you making your weekend plans, here is quick rundown of this weekend's MTB racing schedule for Norcal:

1. SB Racing.org, Winter XC MTB Series 2010 Round 4, Santa Teresa (Saturday): The penultimate race in the series moves to Santa Teresa Park.
2. Red Tail Adventure Race (Saturday): Big Blue Adventure is putting on both an XTERRA and Adventure Race May 8th in Del Valle Regional Park, near Livermore. There will be a short and long course option for both the XTERRA and Adventure Race. The Adventure Race takes advantage of Del Valle’s plush single track, and large lake. It features kayaking, allowing racers to take a cool break on a sure to be warm day (kayaks are provided for the sprint race). The course is designed by ARNavSupplies’ Mark Manning.
3. XTERRA Del Valle (Saturday): XTERRA Del Valle promises to be a fun and challenging course. Racers will swim in the calm lake at the heart of Del Valle, and ride and run through the surronding single track. Both races will end with a after party of food, cold beer and a raffle where as much $3,500 of Salomon, Merrell and other sponsor swag will be given away.
4. Lake Sonoma Series (Saturday): The Lake Sonoma series has moved to a new site but the North Bay favorite is still technical.
5. CCCX Summer DH #4 (Sunday): The CCCX DH series will be back in action for the Mother's Day at Toro Park. "The past few weeks of sunny weather has dried up the wet sections of trails in the interior of the canyons at Toro Park. This should allow for usage of one of my favorite trails in Toro Park, the Bessie Canyon blitz section I created over the past season. This new portion of trail is looking better then ever. As usual I will have a few new surprises for the route to spice up the DH shredding that Nor-Cal's best riders deliver each CCCX event.

I've seen this a few places but dhRENO had it best:

Straight from Jim “Hacksaw” Severt:
“So it is official …Squaw Valley USA is opening a Mountain Bike Park this summer (on or around July 4th) and I am the Mountain Bike Park Manger. Hope to see you on the Mountain this summer.”

Squaw Valley will join Northstar at Tahoe as the second resort with summer bike parks.

Results are posted here:

Lemurian 2010 Intermediate Age Groups Results
Lemurian 2010 Intermediate Overall Results
Lemurian 2010 Long Course Age Groups Results
Lemurian 2010 Long Course Overall Results
Lemurian 2010 Short Course Age Groups Results
Lemurian 2010 Short Course Overall Results

Congrats to Tim Olson (overall men's long course winner) and Sarah Maile (overall women's long course winner) for their rides.

The final date on the Lake Sonoma Series schedule has been moved to avoid conflicting with the Downieville Classic:

We've swapped the Lake Sonoma Series Finale from July 10 to July 24. Now Downieville doesn't have to cancel their race.

I've updated the calendar.

In addition to their Solo Cup, Team Bigfoot is also organizing the Giant NorCal MTB Championship series in XC, Super D and DH. Here are the details:

WIN A GIANT XTC2 !
We'll be giving away TWO bikes, $870 value each.
Here's how it works, at each and every race you do in the series you'll earn chances to win a bike based on your finish: A win gets you five tickets, 2nd=4 tickets, 3rd=3, 4th=2, 5th=1. You don't have to keep track of tickets, we'll take are of that. We'll draw the winning ticket the Lagrange Fall Classic, one cross-country racer and one downhill racer will each take home a brand new Giant XTC2 mountain bike. Must be present to win the bike.

Series champions will be crowned in every category at the finals in Weaverville. Champions will be awarded with a 1st place medal, special Nor-Cal Series socks from Sock Guy, and will be eligible to purchase a championship jersey.

Here are the dates (yes, some have them have already past, sigh):

GIANT Northern California Championship Series 2010

CROSS COUNTRY (Best 4 finishes + Final)

• NAPA VALLEY DIRT CLASSIC, April 11
• LEMURIAN CLASSIC, April 24,
• CCCX, May 15
• CCCX, June 12
• SKYLINE PARK, June 13
• HOWELL MOUNTAIN CHALLENGE, August 8
• KIRKWOOD NCCS WEEKEND, August 21
• WHISKEYTOWN CLASSIC, Sept. 26
• LAGRANGE FALL CLASSIC, Oct 24

DOWNHILL (Best 3 Finishes Plus Final)

• CCCX, May 9
• GRAVITY DAY, May 23
• HASTA BE SHASTA #1, July 3
• SHASTARAMA, July 18
• CCCX, June 20
• HASTA BE SHASTA #2, Oct. 10
• LAGRANGE FALL CLASSIC (FINALS) Oct. 24

SUPER-D (Best 4 Finishes Plus Final)

• GRAVITY DAY, May 23
• SHASTARAMA, July 17
• SIX HOURS OF KIRKWOOD (double points!)
• HASTA BE SHASTA #2, Oct. 9
• LAGRANGE FALL CLASSIC (FINALS) Oct. 22

The Irons Angels race has been canceled. Sorry for the late notice.

For those of you making your weekend plans, here is quick rundown of this weekend's MTB racing schedule for NorCal (with a SoCal race bonus):

1. Shasta Lemurian (04/24/10)
2. Iron Angels (04/24/10)
3. California Golden State Series #2 (04/24/10)

Obviously, the big race this weekend is the Lemurian, the start of the way NorCal racing season. This year's edition looks to be excellent with temperatures heading into the high 70s.

Summit Shorty #1 results have been posted.

Congrats to Matthew Erbentraut (C), Victoria Yoham (W), Thomas Ravina (B) and Joe Yoham (A) for their wins.

Team Bigfoot's Solo Cup series is back for 2010 with two different divisions this year.

SILVER CUP SERIES
The format is simple, we add up your miles from your races and whoever has the most in your category at the finals at Whiskeytown Lake in October is awarded with a championship trophy. Must be present to receive your trophy.

• 12 Hours of Weaverville, May 22
• 6 Hours of Weaverville, May 22
• Kirkwood Nine to Five #1, August 28
• Kirkwood Nine to Five #2, Sept. 18
• Whiskeytown Nine to Five, Oct. 2

GOLD CUP SERIES
This one if for the hard-core riders. You need to do at least one 24 Hour to be eligible for the championship. The format is simple, we add up your miles from your races and whoever has the most in your category at the finals at the 24 Hours of Gold is awarded with a championship trophy. Must be present to receive your trophy. Any of the races above, plus any of the races below:

• 24 Hours of Kirkwood, August 28-29
• 24 Hours of Whiskeytown, October 2-3
• 24 Hours of Gold, November 13-14

Bad news:

Prairie City Race #4 is CANCELLED TODAY!
(Wed April 21) - yup, first time in history???

Sorry folks, we could not even begin to set up a course today, IT WAS THAT BAD.

We will try to schedule an additional race at the end of the season! Everything that was supposed to start today, will start next week (like the Juniors races).

Living pretty near to Prairie City, I can vouch that it has rained cats and dogs for the past few days.

All of the results (at least it looks like all the results) have been posted to the Sea Otter Website at http://www.seaotterclassic.com/raceresults/index.cfm/2010.htm.

Some notable finishes:

• Melissa Buhl and Jared Graves won the Women's and Men's Pro DH
• Georgia Gould and Burry Stander took the Women's and Men's Pro XC

More as I see it ...

Northstar at Tahoe has released their 2010 MTB racing schedule this week. As in past years, they will have three racing series:

• Downhill MTB Races (DH)
• Cross-Country MTB Races (XC)
• Super D MTB Races (SD)

Here are all the race dates, in order:

06/13/10: Northstar DH Series
07/01/10: Northstar XC Series
07/08/10: Northstar XC Series
07/15/10: Northstar XC Series
07/22/10: Northstar XC Series
07/23/10: Northstar Super D Series
07/25/10: Northstar DH Series
07/29/10: Northstar XC Series
08/08/10: Northstar DH Series
08/12/10: Northstar XC Series
08/19/10: Northstar XC Series
08/26/10: Northstar XC Series
08/27/10: Northstar Super D Series
08/29/10: Northstar DH Series (LiveWire Classic)
09/17/10: Northstar Super D Series
09/19/10: Northstar DH Series
10/02/10: Race For Tara 4

For more information on these races, look in the archives for past year's coverage.

Another big day at Sea Otter:

• Downhill: Cat 2/3 finals
• Cross Country: Cat 2
• Pro Short Track
• Pro Dual Slalom

For up to the minute coverage of the overall event, check out MTBR's Sea Otter coverage.

For all of you playing hooky at work and driving down to Monterey for the Sea Otter, here are some events and the schedule for today:

• Super D: practice and finals
• Dual Slalom: Cat 1 finals, Cat 2/3 qualifying
• Downhill practice
• Cross Country: Cat 1 race

Should you be Trek fan (or just a lunch fan), head over to booth #555 today at Sea Otter:In addition to lunch, Bontrager will also be unveiling a few new models today. Check out the Bontrager booth space (booth numbers 143-147) at 2pm (Friday, 4/16).

This weekend's Napa Valley Dirt Classic is in the books and it truly lived up to the "rain or shine" warning.

The Men's Pro race was extremely tight with Aren Timmel edging Mark Weir and Jim Hewett by just seconds. Amber Broch was the top female finisher.

Full results from the Napa Valley Dirt Classic are available here.

Team Madcat or MTBR probably have the best race reports / pictures from the event.

The Reno Wheelmen have announced their annual Twilight XC series as well as the dates for the Nevada Cup:The dates are being entered onto the calendar and should be all up by the end of this week. More details at the Reno Wheelmen website.

Some word out of the East Bay:

The Stone's Throw Short Track events held at the Bailey Bike Park have now moved to Thursday evenings. Gates open @ 5:30, registration opens at 6:00, racing begins at 6:30. 30 minutes + 1 lap. For more info, check out http://stoneracing.wordpress.com.

This actually started last week, so I think there should be another race this Thursday (April 8th). I don't have them on the calendar yet, but should sometime today or tomorrow.

I'm really, really late on this (as race #2 is tonight), but better late than never ...

• Results are posted here
• Photos are here
• Kevin had the best race report

Summit Marin's summer series is back:

The Summit Shorty series returns to Marin for Spring 2010! Come test your fitness in the A,B,C or Women's category on our multi-lap course.Races last for 20+ minutes on fireroads and singletrack. Only $10 to enter and prizes to the top 3 as well as series winners. Races start at 5:30pm, end by 7:00pm. Perfect mid-week training for longer XC races, or just a fun way to push yourself on a Wednesday evening. 5 races in the Spring series: 4/21, 4/28, 5/5, 5/12, 5/19. No license required. Check EVENTS at www.summitmarin.com for more details.

See the entire series on the calendar. The first race is April 21st.

For the curious, here's a link to a video of last season's course.