Downieville Classic XC 2013

Suffering, sweet single track, beers and smiles pretty much sums up racing the Downieville Classic XC.  

This was my second time racing but my first time racing the entire course (2011 was shorten by 8 miles due to snow) The weekend started off with heading up on Friday morning and meeting up with a couple friends Brendan, Ja and Joe and take in a 2pm shuttle with Yuba Expeditions, Joe and Brendan both rented Bronson's I brought up my Blur TRC and JA rode his Turner "Burner". 

Pretty much the whole week leading up to the race I was a bit worried about how I would do, so prior to our run I made sure I drank a cold Sierra Nevada before getting into the shuttle and that followed by a  sweet trouble free run down the hill with friends was the best thing I could've done! all my worries were gone! One of the my favorite things about riding Downieville is the way it relaxes you! it's almost like the trees soak up all the stress we live with in the bay area!  (Heavy I know:)

Yuba Expeditions are the "Bomb" 

 After a flat free rubber side down run we headed back to the "Stone" house and swapped riding gear for swim trunks and grabbed some cold ones for the river across the street. After a relaxing dip we went into town and had a awesome dinner at the Grubstake followed by some drinks at Wills place.

Joe headed home that night so the three of us headed back to the house and Brendan and I got our bikes prepped for the race. 

Ja's Grubbing looking Steak!!

The gang Friday night at the Grubstake

Relaxing at the river

Me and my buddy Will

The Blur TRC race ready! Yes I was near the bathrooms! :)

Saturday morning we woke up and started our preperations and loaded up the car for our ride into Sierra City. Ja dropped us off and headed back into town to check out the scene and give his shot at the Shimano casting competition. Brendan and I did some riding around to warm up and I also attempted to see how many times I could go bathroom prior to the start! Jeez I didn't think I drank that much water (Beer) :)

Pre race and feeling the Lycra!

Brendan pre race ready

Pre race lineup

We lined up on the hill along with the rest of the crowd and at 9:40am our class (Cat 2 34-44) was off! Brendan and I talked about hanging together for the race but the way people single file due to the small race line it wasn't going to work out. We held together on the road till we hit dirt and we pretty much were on our own after that. The climb was better than my previous time racing and I was able to make progress thru the traffic making small passes when the opportunity presented itself. 

One of my worries the week before was my gearing on the blur with a single 34t on the front of my XX1 set up but I couldn't imagine having anything smaller as it was perfect for the climb! As we came close to the false summit I saw my rammer friend Forrest taking pictures at a sweet spot and I was looking forward to having "The shot" for my garage but unfortunately the person in front of me slipped a tire and the train came to a halt at the spot of "The shot" so my hopes were shattered as I ran past Forrest to remount and continue up the hill:( I'll try again next year:). 

"The Shot" oh well next year!

So After the 8 mile climb to Packer Saddle I was rewarded by a cool shot of Tecate beer from the spectators and headed down Sunrise, Sunrise was a train of 3 of us just recovering from the climb but we had a good flow so no one was complaining. As I hit the bottom and merged onto the fire road to Pauley I noticed a little cramping in my quads so I took a Salt Stik capsule and continued on the fire road, this is a area where I will need to step it up next year because I found my self "cruising" more than "Racing" probably thinking of survival at this point as we had 19 miles of racing left. As I we headed into "Baby Heads" I felt pretty good but I kept it conservative with my line selection as this is a pretty popular pinch flat area and even though I was running tubeless some of the rocks are pretty dam jagged and I didn't want to take any chances but after looking at my Strava when I got home I had a PR after all so not bad:).

 So I finished baby heads and crossed the creek and headed down Pauley. This is a trail I had never been on before as I normally cross the creek and head up the hill to Big Boulder so this didn't help me on my "Flow" but I managed along with a single file line of 4 riders and made into back into familiar territory as we connected back with Butcher. 

From Butcher I headed to the bridge and the famous climb up to the top of Third divide in a conga line of 20 riders at a snails pace but my hamstrings were starting to make some noise so I kinda enjoyed the break. Towards the top of the climb just as we passed the "Rooster" the guy in front of me slowed down even more and decided to loose his  breakfast on the side of the trail! Guess he was letting it all hang out:).

I made it to the top and had a pretty nice run down Third and passed a couple riders without issues and headed down the fire road to first and again I found my self "crusing" and not "Racing" but the end was near and my run was trouble free so why change it now. On First divide things got a little crazy as I had a guy decide to run his knee into the side of the hill at a sketchy section and I pretty much try to run my Noby Nic up his ass! So I demounted and ran past him and got back in line with the group and hit lower first and at the picture corner I made sure to "Look" good and not have my mouth open like most my shots are:) from there I made it to the pavement and this time I pushed it to the finish because I new It was over and there was a beer and a river with my name on it! 

I finished with a time of (3:07) and placed 33 out of 58 riders in my class. Not great but not bad for my first time racing the entire course. I learned a a lot for next year and I had a trouble free run and had a blast doing it so no reason to complain!

 Plus it's riding in Downieville what can be better than that? 

Cheers!

March Madness!!

70 degrees in March with less than a week of rain combined for 2013! As much as I hate cleaning my bike and gear man do we need the rain to get here and gone before we have a snowy mountain June!

So I sold the Tallboy LTC and ordered up another TRC for the summer. Why? personal prefrence thats all. No I'm not off the 29er Coolaid and no I won't say one is better than the other but honestly its a matter of what you like:) I still have the HT 29er set up SS and it's really challenges me physically and strait up a blast to ride! I just think out of the box besides the Blur Xc carbon the TRC was the most fun to ride and being so light it was a great light xc bike or all mountain rig for places like Downieville.

On the vehicle side of the garage I bought my first non truck vehicle:) A Subaru Outback.....Yes I know its a lesbian's car but I'm not a lesbian so it's cool! The truck has been retired to light duty with 237k miles I  didn't want to risk having it crap out on the Bay Bridge or in the mountains. The "Subie" is pretty sweet except for having the bikes on the back of the car and thinking my $7k plastic bumper may be crushed at anytime. It's a blast to drive and the kids who are growing up faster than I would like are much more comfortable on longer drives than the truck.



Anyways more on the new whip in a week:)..............

Lycra attack!

Happy New Year a month late!

So I started off the year trying to find a place to ride that didn't reguire having to wash my bike and gear after every ride but it was tough! Pretty much been riding the Tallboy LTC toward the end of December and beginning of January then started to focus more on the single speed Nimble 9 hard tail 29er. I entered my first single speed xc race last weekend in Monterey at the first CCCX XC race of 2013 at Fort Ord for some punishment and it was all that! The course is acuatly a flowing fun 4.6 mile loop that Cat 2 does a total of 4 times adding up to 18.7miles on the Garmin, Took me a time of 1:50 min to complete putting me in a 3rd place finish amongst a group of 5 :)

I learned a couple things about racing a single speed that day and one being it's faster to run up a hill in traffic that stall out and also that 20mph is the spin out range for a 32x18 setup!

All in all I'm happy with my finish and looking forward to racing this month on the 16th.

Thanks to Team Spare Change, Alamo Bikes and Sports Basement for their support!

If it looks like I have Lycra on in the pictures your correct!
18 miles of comfort! :)

Let the comments begin!

Sean

Last ride of the year!

Good way to end the year!
Looking forward to more miles in 2013!

Sean

Happy Holidays!

Wanted to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all and your families. May everyone get out and ride!

"The non professional review" Canfield Brothers Nimble 9

So I picked up a Nimble 9 from Canfield Brothers a couple weeks ago as I was looking for a steel HT 29 with a slack head angle that I could run single speed or gears. This frame is my first Chrome Moly 4130 frame as I heard of the hype of steel vs aluminum and from my first ride the difference was very noticeable! it almost acts as suspension and the bike is very quite and stiff. The bike has a slack 69 degree head angle when using a 100mm fork and a short chain stay that is adjustable with slide drop outs for either single speed or gears. The frame is very well built and the attention to detail is crazy for the price you pay ($650).

The ride of this bike is a blast! quick and stable handling at any speed and with the short chain stay it turns on a dime! one of my biggest concerns of having a slack HA/short chain stay bike was the ability to climb steeps, no worries with this bike just crank and it goes up without the typical slack head angle front end "wandering" and when you get out of the saddle the bike just digs in and goes!

I'm currently set up SS with a 32x20 combo that works best for the places I ride though I feel a 18 for the rear is in the future as soon as my legs get stronger :) I'm running a Fox Float 100mm fork with a Cane Creek head set with a Thomson 70mm stem and Easton Haven carbon bars (711mm wide). Formula R1 brakes. Thomson Elite set back seat post with a WTB Volt saddle (awesome saddle) The wheels are WTB trail 29 hoops laced to a Chub Front hub and a Chub single speed rear with Maxxis Ardent 2.25 tires set up tubeless. For cranks I'm running the E13 XCX+Single Speed crank set and bottom bracket. To finish it off I'm running Shimano XT pedals. The complete build weighs 26 lbs! Not bad for a steel HT29:)

One thing that also turned me on to the Nimble was the great customer service I received from Sean at Canfield! I must have emailed him 50 times with questions and concerns and he responded to all of them! Being a smaller company you really get that "Mom and Pop shop feel"

If your interested you should check out their website at www.canfieldbrothers.com or give them a call at 801-548-2556 ask for Sean :)

Back on the 29er!

So it's raining and looks like a wash out for today(will try for tomorrow) so I thought I might as well post up on the Blog since it's been months!

SeanLife's been busy since my last post with the kids back in school and work busy as ever and trying to get rides in whenever possible. So you might have noticed I'm back on a 29er again (Santa Cruz TBLTC pictured) after I sold the TRC after summer time. Hell I also got a hard tail 29er single speed as well to kick my ass :) Pretty stoked on this ride so far, Climbs really well even with a single 35 tooth up front (1x10) and when you point it down it really comes to life! Weighing in a 27lbs it's light enough for a epic xc day of riding but strong enough for a awesome day in Santa Cruz! I will post some more reviews after I get some more miles on her.

Thanks

Sean

Coolest 24hr Race For Cancer

So I'm recovering from yet another great time with my extended family at this years Coolest 24hr Race For Cancer at Soda Springs! As you know I've lost some great people in my life from this terrible disease from my mother in law to my good friends Allan and Chris's dads so to spend a sleepless weekend doing what I love to do and for the cause well... count me in!Team Spare Change came in a respectable 2nd place this year making a improvement over last years 3rd place. Plus we avoided having to wear pink next year as we where threaten by our team mom that if we lost to the all girls team that would be our punishment! They came in 4th! Great bunch of ladies who have never done a race before! I want to thank Jim Northey with Global Biorhythm Events for putting on another great race! Check out his site for some great races he puts on!   http://www.globalbiorhythmevents.com/

I also would like to thank Eileen Milleza one of the sweetest people I have ever met, I call her mom because she is so caring and giving she makes you feel like giving her a hug! :)  Also to all my team mates and families they have made me feel welcome and part of their family for the last three years and I always look forward to spending a sleepless weekend with! 

Its funny I could write a bunch of stuff about how the race was and so on but I've pretty much summed it up with spending a great weekend with great friends working to make money to kick Cancers Ass! 

Here are some pictures from the race.

Thanks  to all that supported and donated to the cause! 

Sean

The non professional WTB Frequency i19 TCS rim review

So I've been so impressed with the new WTB Frequency i19 TCS rims I thought I would give you some feedback on them after my second trip up to Downieville this past weekend. First I need to clarify that I'm not known for having the best line choices by my riding buddies! not that I don't have a agenda when I'm pointed down the trail but the fact is if I think to much about the line I'll screw it up anyways! Regardless these rims are very strong and for a 185lb rider, shitty line choices and rocks galore on Butcher trail (man it's getting tore up!) I've yet to dent or burp them! I'm running a WTB Bronson 2.3 AM TCS on the front and Wolverine 2.2 AM TCS rear. Also I'm running them tubeless (who doesn't?) and on that note this combo that WTB has created the TCS rim/tire is the best sealing set up I've used yet! They hold air for days! These are also very light rims at 385g so if I want to go xc racing I can bolt on some lighter rubber and park the Reverb for my Thomson and be ready to race at a sub 25lb's!

So there you have it another review from a guy who likes to ride.

For more info on WTB check out their site
http://www.wtb.com/news/

Liking the brakes so maybe the next review?

Sean

The non professional Santa Cruz Blur TRC Review

Thought I do a little review on my latest ride a Santa Cruz Blur TRC with a modified SPX build kit.

First off I want to say that coming off a 29er back to a 26er wasn't a big change as I would of thought.Yes the 29er rolls faster if your not pedaling and does handle the small chop nicely and takes less thought in climbing technical stuff but that being said I've found I haven't missed those things since I've been riding the Blur TRC. This thing fit's perfectly between my last Blur Xcc and my Nomad Carbon, Light at 26.3lbs with a XT kit and a Reverb seat post.I'm running a 1x10 with a 35 ring up front and a Lopes guide and Crank Bros Egg beater pedals.This things climbs like a goat! much less effort than the 29er by a long shot! I removed the 10mm spacer from the fork to get the full 140mm travel on the Fox fork and added Easton Havoc carbon bars and a Thomson 70mm stem and this thing rips down hill and tracks really well! Also with all the comments of "Pedal Strikes" in the reviews out there I hadn't had a issue even at Downieville on Butcher Ranch on my second day on the bike! Putting the fork to 140mm did raise the BB a 1/4 inch so I'm sure that help:) The Shimano XT components are top notch and the XT Brakes are unbelievable how much power they have even running 6" rotor front and rear!
The WTB I19 hoops with the DT Swiss 350 Hubs work perfect and the WTB Bronson TCS AM front tire and WTB Wolverine TCS AM Rear are a great compromise between XC and DH trails (Tubeless of course with Schwartz Special Brew Sealant) Also Santa Cruz did a great job on cable routing on this bike, no open cables and a guide added for a seat post! The Fox RP23 is the best I've ridden so far it really works well compared to the previous models along with the Fox Float fork you can tell Fox is at their prime!

So hope you find this review interesting as it's my first review:)

Time to ride!

Sean

Downieville Memories

So I headed up to Downieville Saturday afternoon to meet up with Jeff who was staying up with his family in town so he offered me the couch for the night so we could book a late shuttle and ride again on Sunday (Much thanks) I was dying to try out my new ride for the summer a Santa Cruz Blur TRC (yes back to 26" wheels) loved my TBC but had been wanting to give this bike a whirl! It had rained the night before so the conditions where near perfect and Jeff and I had a great ride! On Sunday John came up and we rode with Joe and his son Angelo  and we had a great ride as well.  Funny every time I get on the mountain It's like all the stress in life is just lifted off your shoulders and your mind is wiped clean of all the crap everyday life can throw at you! Then again that's pretty much why we ride! right? :) Anyways afterward we got a burrito at the local Mexican place and then headed over to our friend Will's place (49 Wines) and had a beer or two or three:) Will and I ended up closing the place and just talking about life in general (mine and his) and we both came to a realization that life is all about the memories you have and give to people and not material objects or money so many of us strive for!
So I thought to my self Downieville always gives me great memories so here are a couple of my favorite shots of my favorite place to ride! Enjoy and I'll try to post a little sooner next time :)

Thanks
Sean

Hazard Peak Trail

I was going thru some pictures of my bikes from the past and came across this shot I had taken down in So Cal near a job we did at Morrow Bay. The Hazard Peak Trail system has to be on my top 5 funniest places to ride so far. The trails are clearly marked and each trail head they provide shovels and rakes for people to help maintain the trails! Wait people actually wanting bike riders to have a place to ride? Crazy!!! Any how if you get a chance to get down to So Cal you must stop and spend the day riding these awesome trails near the ocean! FYI mines the Nomad on the left :) 

Giving it all for a good cause!

So it's been awhile since I've last posted but it's been pretty crazy. Last weekend I ran with a 12 person team for "The Relay" a race from Calistoga to Santa Cruz!  Basically each person ran a total of 16 or 20 miles in a span of 24 hrs (or 30!:)

and this little gem was at our 2nd van hand off near Petaluma.

All in all it was a great time and for a good cause but I still prefer riding my bike than running! ;) 

Wicked picture

Friend of mine is going off! on the nature shots!

Just a cool shot!

Sea Otter Classic 2012

So yesterday was my first Sea Otter Classic Cat 2 cross country race and my first time back at SOC in 2 years. Previously I had ran DH but my fitness had been shitty and bikes to big and heavy! :) So my buddy and I headed down Saturday around 11:30 and checked in our hotel in Monterey and unloaded the bikes and arrived at SOC around 2:30 and it was pretty dam hot out! Stopped by the WTB booth and saw Forrest and Marsh and Dev and got to hold little Finn for the first time! We walked pretty much the whole booth area and grabbed a beer and headed up the hill to the DS final. These guys haul Ass! Cool to see Ryan Condrashoff get 14th killing it in a skin suit! Afterwords we headed back to town for some grub and one last beer before calling it a night. The next day we woke up and headed out to a foggy morning but at least it wasn't sunny and hot as I was concerned about riding in the heat! My Class had 39 riders so I staged my self towards the back of the pack about 5 rows (On the right side of the picture)

So at 8:05am my group took off for a good stint on the road course before filing off onto the dirt. My thoughts of hanging back and not burning out of the start kinda backfired on me because I ended up getting into alot of traffic on the first single track descent so it was a little follow the leader but after a little bit I was able to pass people on the climbs and fire roads. My body felt in pretty good shape but I think I need to push more for sure next time but you have to start somewhere:) My goal was to finish in the second half of the group and I accomplished that by taking a 16th place out of 39 riders in my class with a time of 1:47 Not bad for a traffic filled 20.6 miles:)

So I would like to thank RideSFO and Team Spare Change for there support and looking forward to some more races this year! Sean