One of the Premier MTB races in Northern California the Lemurian Classic is a great race held annually in June. There is a long course which is a single 26 mile long lap, a shorter 20 mile loop, and the beginners loop is 8 miles. There is no sandbagging at the Lemurian, you chose which course to race on and a Pro class but otherwise it’s just simple age sex categories. Even better, the Lemurian course is mostly singletrack.

The real kicker that makes this the king of Grass Roots racing is the fact that the proceeds from the race all wind up going directly to improving the trails in the Whiskeytown/ Mt Shasta Area. Combine this with a great great atmosphere, awesome trails, and a laid back group that puts on the event and the $35 entry fee is dirt cheap.

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For people in the South Bay area, you can head down to Fort Ord for a series of 9 weekend races (3 races are over already). These are put on by Central Coast Cyclo Cross (CCCX) and you can find a schedule of events here. There is racing for all classes and ages and from what I understand it’s a very fun series. Entry fees are $35/event.

Here’s some more fun for Sacramento area racers. There is a series of events at Granite Bay (NE of Sacramento) including several Friday Night MTB races, some Duathalons and mini-Triathalons. The races are put on by TBF Racing and there is a schedule if you follow that link. There are 3 MTB only races in June for all classes and age groups. Entry fees are $20.

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I don’t race much, but there are a few races which I enjoy. These are generally the sort of grass roots or fund raising events where the fees are usually low and the atmosphere is generally awesome. I’m going to try and report on all the local/grass roots races in Norcal that interest me. Don’t expect to see Sea Otter or any of the big venues show up here. They just don’t interest me a lot and get plenty of coverage elsewhere. The first grassroots race I want to cover is actually a weekly series in the Sacramento area.

The Prarie City Race Series is a weekly mountain bike race series held at the Prarie City OHV park located between Rancho Cordova and Folsom off of Grant Line Road. The races are held every Wednesday evening at 6:15 PM (show up early for registration) starting April 2nd. The only prizes awarded on race day are random door prizes. This event has been growing significantly over the last few years and currently they average over 350 racers per week. The laps are short, 3-4 miles and the different classes all race varying lengths; 2 laps for beginner, 3 for sport class, 4 for expert and 5 for expert ‘plus’ (instead of pro). The course is very fast, SS friendly with lots of short ups and downs rather than any prolonged climbing.

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Over on MTBR I stumbled across a thread with a fairly decent map of some of the trails near Folsom.   Mostly just Dike 8 and some of the surrounding El Dorado Hills area urban trails.  I don’t consider these to be destination trails but they are great for people that live in area or just happen to be passing though.  It’s also a good place for beginning riders in the greater Sacramento area to get some mountain biking in without any huge hill climbs or super technical riding.  Make sure you scroll further down in the  thread to catch the second map with a few more urban dirt trails. You can also check out the maps below as well.

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So after a bit of a break from updating the site Fiona has goaded me into action again.  Strangely the update I worked on first is completely un-ridable right now since it’s under 12”+ of snow.  However since Fiona is the one who prodded me into working on the site she picked the trail I updated first.

The Strawberry Loop is Fiona’s Favorite ride.  Unfortunately until the thaw she just gets to look at the map and drool and speak of it wistfully to other riders.  This is a great beginner/ intermediate friendly trail about 30 minutes east of Twain Harte off of highway 108.  It also makes for some great bonus miles either at the beginning or the end of a Pinecrest Peak ride.  Without further ado,  here is the Ride Guide for Fiona’s Favorite, Strawberry Loop.

Incidentally some time ago I created a collection of Beginner Friendly Trails which sort of slid out there without mention.  So if you are a beginning rider you might want to check them out.  Many are spread all over Northern Califormia.

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Well, with the first real rain comes the change in the riding seasons. Now it’s time to break out the winter weather gear. I’m not looking forward to cold, wet rides on one hand, but at least I can get in some riding. Every year I have to work hard to encourage myself not to be a fair-weather rider. I hate getting my face wet, but I love riding in the rain. I don’t mind cold weather, but I hate freezing. The challenges of riding on rain-slicked trails are kind of fun too. It just changes everything in even little ways. I’ve been finding myself making mental lists of the trails I plan on hitting within the next few weeks. I have the ‘it’s just rained’ list and the ‘woohoo it’s sunny’ list. I keep looking at weather reports and thinking which list am I going to choose from this time. I’ve come up with Lake Hogan and New Melones if it rains. Auburn and Folsom if it doesn’t. Possibly sneaking in rides a little further up the hill is a thought for adding to the drier days. Of course I couldn’t resist adding “reading about bike riding on the web” for those severe days when no one should be out on their bike.

I’ll have to see how this winter plays out. So far it seems to be like waiting for the other shoe to drop.  There’s still barely any snow at Lake Tahoe and it’s the end of October.  It would be great to get at least three rides in each week at the minimum, but I honestly expect to only be able to ride twice a week on average.

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Check the weather update at the bottom of the post

On September 22nd and 23rd the TROGS, the Ogre (from Ogrehut.com), and some Sonora area locals are inviting you to a get together at Pinecrest Peak. Prepare for 2 days of riding, camping, and general MTB mayhem. If you’ve never ridden at Pinecrest, this is a great chance to try out some awesome Sierra Nevada trails which are a bit off the beaten track. Anyone is welcome to show up and we have plans for any level of rider.

Location : We will be camping at Fraser Flat Campground near Strawberry on both Friday and Saturday Nights. All rides will meet at the Strawberry Store (Big Red Store on Right).

Times : Rides will meet at 10:00 AM on both the 22nd and the 23rd (Sunday’s Easy ride will start at 11AM)
The Rides: Exact rides and routes will depend on who shows up. Currently the following rides are planned.

Friday: We’re going to have a Friday night ride at 9PM along Fiona’s Favorite trail. The ride will be laid back and at a slow pace. Expect a mellow ride dodging trees through some fairly tame terrain. This is about a 9 mile loop and will be the only ride to start and finish at Fraser Flat campground. (Rain/ snow cancels)
Saturday: (none of the rides planned on Saturday are to be shuttled)
Easy Ride: Fiona’s Favorite Loop, down Ewok Trail from Strawberry, crossing the river at Spring Gap Road, then returning on the RR Grade to Strawberry. 10 miles, easy pace with very little climbing.
Challenging Ride: Climb up to Pinecrest Peak and alternately climbing up Willow Creek or Hammil Canyon then returning via Pinecrest Peak Trail.
Expert Route: This is a highly challenging ride for expert level mountain bikers, it’s a 35-40+ mile route with tons of climbing, technical cross country riding and finishes with the the killer Pinecrest Peak Downhill.

Sunday: Sunday’s plans are not set in stone yet. Here are the tentative plans for the day.
Easy Ride: 10-15 miles riding along the Flume trail above the Stanislaus River (may have a delayed start time due to shuttling Challenging riders)
Challenging Route: This will be a shuttled ride, the shuttle will drop riders off at the base of Eagle Peak and riders will climb up to Eagle Peak coming down some fresh new singletrack. At that point they can go directly to Pinecrest Peak via forest roads or drop down Willow Creek trail before climbing to Pinecrest Peak.
Expert Ride: A second day of high mileage, challenging cross country riding. The second day will likely not include Pinecrest Peak but will include 30-40 miles of challenging singletrack.

Cost: Zero $ (responsible for own campsite and food/ alcohol)
Registration: Just show up at Fraser Flat on Friday Night or meet us at the Strawberry Store on Saturday or Sunday Morning.

Saturday
Mostly cloudy with rain or snow likely. Highs 41 to 51 higher elevations…54 to 64 lower elevations. Snow level 7000 feet.

Weather seems to be deteriorating on Saturday. Still have a chance that it will blow over but I would suggest anyone day-tripping to come on Sunday rather than Saturday. The trails should be awesome post rain/ snow. I’ll be up there both days rain or shine and will likely ride on Saturday if it’s just limited to showers or a light drizzle. Friday nights ride is canceled if there is rain. Night rain rides are not fun (I’ve done it)

Also, note that Sunday’s Easy Ride will start at 11AM rather than 10AM as was listed originally.

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I’m working on updating my ride guides, one at a time like.  The first one to get a serious retinkering is my Pinecrest Peak Guide.  The format is slightly different and it’s very focused on getting you around the loop since there are so few other references out there for this trail.  I have also included some options for bonus mileage and even some simple shuttling instructions.  I’m going to try and add some maps soon as well.  Let me know how you like the layout.

The Ogre’s Guide to Pinecrest Peak

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