Raced in the SB Racing Winter XC Series Round 3 mountain bike race today at Henry Coe State Park. The beginner course was 15.5 miles, seemingly all uphill, with 2600′ of elevation gain. Like any ride at Coe, it was steep, rocky, and a little scary. There were 2 rippin’ downhills, on Tule Pond trail and Lyman Willson Ridge. I won my class, and came 3rd overall in Cat 3 (Beginner) behind a couple of 20-29 year old guys.

Here is my GPS track including elevation and speed detail. The race results are here.

Here is the GPX file.

posted in Bikes [ comments ? ]

On Sunday I joined a mountain bike ride at Henry Coe State Park. It was a group ride organized by one of the regulars on the MTBR Northern California forum. We started at 9:30am with about 10 riders, but by the middle of the day there was a core group of 6 slugging up and ripping down the steep Coe terrain. The wildflowers were in bloom and the sun was hot. Great ride with lots of fresh trails. Flat Frog and Middle Ridge are great, as is the descent into China Hole. The descent down Grapevine was much more run than the last time I was at Coe. Though I was whipped, my confidence was high and I bombed through the rocks with the exception of the final rock garden.

My GPS said 35.1 miles, 6600′ of climbing. Here are the details on Garmin Connect.

The route was: Hunting Hollow » Gilroy Hot Springs Road » Coit Road » Anza Trail » Jackson Trail » Elderberry Spring Trail » Rock Tower Trail » Domino Pond Trail » Cattle Duster Trail » Coit Springs Trail » Cross Canyon Trail » Coit Road » Mahoney Meadows Road » China Hole Trail » Manzanita Point Road » Flat Frog Trail » Hobbs Road » Middle Ridge Trail » Poverty Flats Road » Shafer Corral » Narrows Trail » Mahoney Meadows Road » Lost Spring Trail » Mahoney Meadows Road » Coit Road » Cross Canyon Trail » Coit Springs Trail » Grapevine Trail » Anza Trail » Coit Road » Coyote Creek entrance » Gilroy Hot Springs Road » Hunting Hollow parking

Great pictures on the MTBR thread.

posted in Bikes [ comments ? ]

What a week. Friday afternoon I arrived home after a week in Bangalore, India, and a 26 hour trip. Saturday morning, I woke up, jumped out of bed, and raced in the SB Racing Winter XC Series Round 2 mountain bike race at Fort Ord.

It was a very fun course, featuring a couple of scary rutted downhill sections, ripping down some fire roads, a fair share climbing (including a long uphill grind known locally as “the grind”), and fast, fun single track.

I placed 2nd in my category (the “old, slow guys” category). It was an extremely competitive race, with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place separated by only 2 seconds!

Here is my GPS track including elevation and speed detail. The race results are here. Pictures on flickr.

posted in Bikes [ 1 comment ]