This past weekend was a busy one… I raced both XC (Sat) & DH (Sun) at the 17th Annual Southridge Challenge, Fontana, CA.  Saturday was the last leg of the XC portion of the Triple Crown Challenge (TCC).  The 1^st was in Bonelli Park, San Dimas, CA (Oct) and the 2^nd at Mt. SAC in Walnut, CA (earlier this month).  We had a strong showing from our Team in different disciplines of the Fat Tire – XC, SS, Super D and DH.

Saturday:  I was faced with 8 other competitors.  Three were familiar faces from the other two segments of the TCC.  Two were my regular nemesis (friends really) from the 2008 racing season.

                                     Clydes

At the starting line, we were grouped with the Women’s 35+.  At GO, we sprinted on a flat dirt road which quickly turned into an elevated left-handed U-turn.  Here is where I experience the first hold up.  At this turn, series leader Mike D. falls, then a lady from the 35+ group.  Half of the racers that were stuck behind them (including myself) were forced to either dismount or find an alternative route which caused us seconds that counted.  As I made my way past the crash, I sprinted to chase the pack.  From here I would stay behind teammate Kim Finch.  Approaching the first real climb on dirt (where the DH starts), Kim and I pass our friend Val (he looked exhausted).  We passed him then made our way to the winding singletrack.  At the bottom we caught up with our other team mate Priscilla Policar.  We would ride together for a bit, while motivating and encouraging each other.   Passing the smokestack-like structure is another climb.   From the bottom I see Scott V. (a clyde in my class) reaching the top portion of this climb.  From here I broke away from Priscilla and Kim in hopes to catch Scott.  (There is history with Scott and I, as we battled throughout the year.  We took turns placing better than each other at various races.  He is currently one-up on me so I was really motivated to catch him!)

I made my way down another singletrack segment, through the paintball field, then up the final climb… I can see Scott up ahead.  I continued to grind up.  I knew I had to close the distance.  When he reaches the final singletrack descent he’ll open up the gap.  Through the singletrack at the backside of Southridge I tried to go as fast as I can.  Reaching the left-handed drop into the culvert, I see Scott on his way back on the flats.  In front of him was Ner (Val’s brother) with a big smile.   On the flats I big-ringed it back.  From the distance I see Scott and Ner pulling away…man these guys are fast!  Coming around the riverbed/aquaduct area I see Ner but not Scott… uh oh!   I knew we were almost finished and this was not good.  I finally caught up to Ner and passed him but Scott was no where in sight.  I ended up finishing last in my class.  Despite not catching Scott, I was please with my race.  I came in last but my finishing time was better than any of my previous races in Fontana.

                                                                                       Overall I felt good about the race and my performance of the series.  Prior to the awards for the overall results of the TCC, they posted me as 3rd place and totally omitting Mike D. (series leader).  As RL stated on his post, I took the liberty of advising the officials that Mike was not even on the list and should be.  After recalculating the points, Mike was on top and I was bumped down to 4^th.  Bad thing is there is no recognition of 4^th  as they only went three deep for the awards.  Never the less, I was pleased with myself for racing all three races and finishing each one.

Sunday: Armor time… I’ve ridden on Fontana’s DH course several times but have yet to race on it.  This was the day.  Around 8:30ish, I met up with RL, Priscilla and their kids.  After preparation and seeing the line for practice, it would appear that we will only have time for one practice run.

As I stood on top of the mountain, I have to admit that I was very nervous.  With this many people and not familiar with the course I was intimidated with the pretty much everything.  RL went first on the practice run.  I gave him about 5 seconds they off I went after him.  I tried to stay on his heels as I wanted to follow his lines but as soon as we started winding through the upper rock garden panic set in.  The rock sections were fairly easy but after not seeing which lines to pick I stalled out.  I have to admit I walked several sections but had every intentions of re-doing it.  As I made it down to the bottom, before the lower rock garden, RL was waiting for me.  As I neared his position, off he went and I followed.  I stayed behind him heading into the rock garden then… he was OTB!  All I see was his green bike up in the air.  Fortunately he was ok and got back up, then rode to the bottom.  I followed him shortly after reviewing the lines through this section.  At the same time the course officials were telling everyone to ride through as practice was over.  Darn, that means I’ll only have one run.

From the end of the practice until our start time was a good 1.5 hours.  There was plenty of time to think about the course and the lines to pick.  But for me anxiety was kicking in.  I was nervous, MORE than any of my other DH races that I have entered.  For some reason the “rocks” were really intimidating me and I could not shake it from my head.  Often I found myself pacing or just trying to walk around to stay calm.  This is typically not me.  About an hour prior to our start time we lined up for the shuttle.  RL was first to be taken to the top then I followed shortly.  Reaching the top and seeing RL was a relief.  Still nervous, I made small talk with several other guys that I have seen in previous races.

As my group lined up, I was first on the list.  The group in front of me was a Women’s group.  They will give the last woman (Lala w/Incycle) and I a one minute gap as oppose to the 30 sec between riders.  With many thoughts of the course running through my head, I tried to stay focus.  Donny says “Joe, go on 1”… At 1 I sprinted down to the bottom.  Approaching the upper rock section (where I walked in practice) I put my trust in my bike and maneuvered through the rocks.

                                        Upper section. Pic by Dino Brown

There were a few areas where I slowed down, such as the corners with huge ruts, but I managed to get through them smoothly.  Somewhere in the upper section, I heard Johnny D (racer after me) on my heels (on the video posted by RL, you’ll see Johnny go over the bars right behind me).  Reaching the bottom, by the cul de sac, I was very close to catching Lala.  She heads into the lower rock garden but slows down just before the spot where RL went OTB (in practice).  By this time I was literally on her rear wheel… With no momentum and thoughts of crashing, I dismounted off my bike, placed it on the step down and got back on.                                                                       Lower rock garden. Picture by Christopher Wood

I rolled through the remaining rocks and headed to ‘the wall’.  Here is where you test your legs as it is a long sprint on a 40+ lbs bike. At this point I finally pass Lala and make my way to the finish line!                               Picture by Sharky

In the end I finish 4^th out of 6.  I was very relieved that I made it to the bottom unscathed.  I know I wasn’t going as fast the others but it was a big weight off my shoulders and a relief mentally just to complete the course.         

I had a great time participating in the Triple Crown Challenge and the DH on Sunday.  I cant say it enough that our Team rocks!  This weekend we had racers in XC, SS, Super D and DH. We podiumed in each category! 2008 has been a great year in racing!

Many thanks to our sponsors – MtnBikeRiders.com, BikeCommuters.com, Evomo, Ergon and Hoss!!!

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The bikes: ready to rock the SART… or is it ready to be rocked by the SART? We soon find out.

We jokingly considered buying lift tickets again for Sunday morning’s ride, but riding some of the best singletrack in So. Cal. was too tempting. After cleaning up the cabin and packing our stuff, we set off to visit the local bike shops in town… for umm… research. Then off to the trail.

Our trusty steed all loaded up waiting at the Visitor Info center

The Santa Ana River Trail is somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 miles of trail, the vast majority of it being singletrack. Because of time, fatigue and lack of knowledge of the trail, we decided to ride just about 8 miles of it. Since the trail is really best done as a shuttle, and us with only one car, we had to ride a little over 4 miles of fireroad to get to the trailhead. 4 miles of fireroad with a return of almost 8 miles of singletrack is a deal I’ll take everytime.

Yes, a flowing river in the middle of summer in So. Cal. No cement side walls either

We parked at Angeles Oaks off of Glass and Hwy 38 then rode 4 miles to the South Fork campground. I never really thought about it before but SART actually parallels the Santa Ana River. The 4 mile fireroad also paralleled the Santa Ana River even crossing over it a few times. The gradually ascending fireroad was a relatively easy ride if we hadn’t juiced our legs the day before. But, we grunted it out and quickly got to the SART trailhead.

Tim & Jeremy riding the fireroad for four miles

WOW. It’s not often when something actually lives up to its billing, but the SART definitely did. Singletrack for 8 continuous miles, probably the longest stretch of uninterrupted singletrack I’ve ever done. SART, though, isn’t for the faint of heart though. During the 8 miles, we probably had some sort of exposure for at least 1/3rd of it. Exposure is both good and bad in that it makes the ride more technical, but has its dangerous aspect if we fell. It’s also great for getting some sweet vistas of the river and valley. Some of the exposure was VERY umm… exposed, like someone made the singletrack half as wide as normal and there was a sharp dropoff that left absolutely no room for error.

Eroding singletrack. Time to dab or walk… not time to do something stupid

Other times, the singletrack would drift away from the side of the mountain and we would find ourselves in a beautiful meadow dotted with trees. During these instances, we would open up the throttle and hammer along until we got into more exposed singletrack that required a bit more technical acumen and bike handling accuracy. Add in a few short climbs with baby head sized rocks thrown in for fun, some short descents going in and out of the forest, lots of blind turns and you basically had the 8 miles we rode. At the point where we turned off the trail I think all three of us stared longingly at more singletrack. This is definitely a trail we are going to hit up some more.

Khoa comes into the clearing

Part IV, some lessons learned and miscellaneous pictures that weren’t on the other posts.

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The morning trails were not what we were expecting when we decided to come up and do the lift-assisted riding. At least it was not what 3 of us were expecting. The two who had driven up for the morning are definitely on a different level of riding then us and prefer different types of riding… which is another lesson learned and one that will be examined in the last part of this series.

Trail leading up to Grand View point

During a subdued lunch, the three of us reviewed our morning. We especially were downtrodden when we recalled how little riding we did compared to how much walking we did. For all the walking I did, I even received a little prize in the form of a cut & bruised knee. Tim, the resourceful one, decided to change our course for the afternoon and took things into his own hand by walking up to a random gal riding a nice Specialized Safire and engaging her in conversation.

Tim resting at Grand View Point

After chatting up the gal, we find out that she is a local. Even better is that this gal, Deb, volunteers to lead us to the much sought after but not found XC style trails. Deb, and her husband John, whom she rounds up and explains the plan to, then proceed to spend the rest of the afternoon with us as we hit Pirate, Fern, Pineknot, Grand View and other linking trails. It got so good that we took very few pictures! As bad as the morning was for us was how good the afternoon turned out to be.

Khoa posing at Grand View Point

Singletrack, XC style

The afternoon was spent riding many, many miles of fast, swoopy, singletrack trails with a little bit of technical challenging sections that also happened to be accomplish-able. These XC style trails were fun in so many ways and were the exact trails the three of us, who had spent the night, were looking for and expecting. Riding the singletrack we darted among the trees, going up a little but down a lot, launching off of small rocks, using body english, ripping it all… sweet XC riding. After just riding one short section of trails with Deb & John we knew we had found a couple with penchant for the trails we liked. Even better was that I knew I could take off my elbow & knee armor.

John, leading us back to the bikes after our break. John, who was fighting a little cough, was still WAY faster then any of us out there.

By the way, Deb & John, who have kids that are just a couple years younger than us, are FAST out there on the trail. John led the majority of the time while the rest of us played catch up, without ever catching up. Familiarity always makes you faster on a trail but John wasn’t fast due to familiarity, he was fast because he was fast. Deb was skilled as well taking on pretty much everything the trail threw at her with aplomb. But not only were Deb & John fast and skilled, they were also great ambassadors of mountain biking. Deb, towards the end of the ride, said that she didn’t want us riders to head out of Big Bear thinking that the trails sucked when there were actually great trails to ride that fit our style. How cool is that?

We’ll be riding down there tomorrow on SART

Part III coming tomorrow as we ride part of what is widely considered to be one of the top trails in Southern California, the Santa Ana River Trail aka SART.

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Cabin sweet Cabin

This past weekend three of us went up to the local mountains for one day doing lift-assisted riding and the second day riding the Santa Ana River Trail (SART). We drove up on a Friday night and stayed at a cabin that had a front porch with full view of the lift we would be riding up on the next day. The bikes got a great spot in the kitchen. Every time I glanced at the bikes that first night I smiled. It’s just one of those things that bikes do to you.

The slopes & lift could be seen from our cabin porch!

Things had changed over the years in our local mountains. Just a few years ago the local mountain lift, Snow Summit, allowed you to bomb down the ski slopes with huge downhill/freeride bikes. But as the years have gone by, the local mountains have banned downhill/freeride bikes as well as riding down the slopes. In the meantime, great XC style & downhill trails developed as alternatives to the straight downhill slopes used by the winter skiers and snowboarders. The only difficulty? The XC and downhill trails are not marked, not on the trail and not on the map.

First ride up to the top: Khoa, Jeremy & JJ

We met up with two other friends when we got to the lifts. The other two guys decided to only join us for one day of riding… the wusses. j/k. 3 of us had never ridden the lifts before. 1 guy had but it was years ago and he spent most of that time on the now forbidden slopes. The last guy did the same lift-assisted riding last summer, so at least it wasn’t totally blind leading the blind. But still, we basically guessed wrong the whole morning.

A paragraph ago I mentioned that there were XC style & downhill trails? Well, all morning, except for maybe a short 1 mile section, we rode downhill style trails. “Rode” may be too generous a term here as you’ll see in the pictures below I did very little “riding” and lot more walking. And as always, the camera never makes the trails look as steep as they actually are.

Jeremy walking

Jeremy walking… some more

Jeremy walking… even more

OK, just so you know it wasn’t just me… Jeremy, Tim & JJ walking

Some random pictures:

Gotta love them lifts

The great thing about walking our bikes is that we get to see things we don’t normally see, like this caterpillar that Tim picked up. Tim nicknamed him the dinosaur caterpillar due to the horns and weird tail.

RL, you like the caterpillar?

Justin hitting the log jump

Justin, adding some flair to the jump

JJ, grinning like a mad man

Justin riding a log, no sweat

Redline Mono 9 & Trek 9.0 ready to hit the trails

Well utilized Honda Ridgeline

Part II, a HUGE lesson learned as things get much better.

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We’ve got a new build project that we’ll be working on soon. This one is a bit unique from the Ultimate All Mountain Bike, The Sette Reken, and the Full Suspension Single Speed. The bike we’ll be building has two purposes.

1. Be comfortable enough to ride epics

2. Be aggressive enough to race with

I’m sure there are plenty of bikes out there that can do that, but the goal of our build is to customize it for the rider. As you all know, Priscilla is our Podium Girl…no she’s not the one that gives the winners their medal and a peck on the cheek, nope, she’s our girl that places when she races. She’s also been known to enjoy an epic ride.

The problem that Priscilla faces with her current set up, a XC hard tail is that it can be a harsh ride, especially if she’s on the trail for hours at a time. That said, this bike we’re building will suit her racing and epic needs. We’re going to build it up with some great parts…nothing that would break the bank and of course some pink accents to celebrate that she’s a chick.

If you’re wondering which frame we’ll be using…here’s a hint!

We’ll be getting this frame later on this week and once we have it in hand, we’ll post some glamour shots of it…you know on the bed, with a feather boa and all polished up….oooh!

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This Memorial Day Weekend Joe, Priscilla, our friend Christine and I did some riding at a couple places. Our first destination was Fontucky to ride the world famous Southridge XC course. What’s great about Fontucky is that this place has a XC course, DH course and a 4X section. Nationals are held here every year and some of the biggest names in the business show up.

Anyhow, Priscilla has been itching to do some races and the last time we were at Fontucky she didn’t like the trail. But since then they’ve carved out some new sections that eliminated the parts that she didn’t like. This trail is pretty fun, but can be brutal…especially if you’re on a single speed. Joe and I macho’d up and both rode our SS rigs.

I’m not going to lie, Joe and I walked up some of the toughest parts of the trails…no shame in that. At the end of the 7 mile course, we played on the 4x track. It’s pretty similar to a BMX track and you have to do allot of pumping much like a pump track…and it comes with some sweet berms!

I love stuff like this so I made a few passes on the track. I’m sure I was going way slower than what some 4x racers ride this thing through, but it was really fun!

Weee!

I made a little video of our adventures at Fontucky…enjoy!

Then on Monday, the three of us decided to meet up at El Moro, its basically the Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach. But as we drove down there, dark clouds were hovering the area. As soon as we got there Joe, who had arrived earlier and was waiting for us, said that the trail was closed due to some rain that occurred last night and early this morning.

It sucked to see this sign…

We were all pretty bummed out, so Joe led our caravan down to Santiago Oaks in Orange/Anaheim Hills.

Once we got there, we geared up and about a mile into the ride, we saw a rider who stopped and was obviously staring at something…a big rattler! From what I’m hearing from other riders, these suckers are coming out all over SoCal to get some warm spring sun…

Pretty eh…this is the view we were treated with.

Here’s a shot of the girls right before we got into some single track.

and Joe doing his “queso” pose.

Today I was riding the new test bike that we have at HQ, the KHS XCT 535. The bike is set up as a mix of XC and trail bike, and so that meant climbing was doable and bombing down trails was a must. Santiago Oaks has some really nice, groomed single track with plenty of technical sections that can and will beat you up if you’re not paying attention. The trail varied in terrain, from hard pack, clay, baby heads 1-2 footer drops and chutes. What’s cool was the XCT 535 was able to handle everything that Santiago Oaks had to dish out.

Priscilla got a new haircut, its cute huh?

Joe and I broke off from the girls just so we can have some extra fun. It felt like we were flying down some of the trails and it was really cool to ride with Joe because I feel like he and I have the same riding style. So that means we were both speeding through some of the hardest parts of the trail. In the shot below, it was pretty gnarly.

Right before it is some single track that has some exposure on the left side. I came around the corner way too fast and looking at where I had to go, I felt like I ran out of options. I braced myself to go over the bars and luckily I sat way back on the XCT 535, so far that it felt like the rear tire was buzzing my butt! I tried to slow down as I entered this section but any time I tried to, my rear wheels would skid and I’d lose control momentarily. I figured, I’ll feather the brakes, but I was still going too fast for comfort. As I pointed the bike exactly where I needed to go, the bike responded, and the suspension was very forgiving…I made it without eating it! Phew! I was so relieved.

When I finally got down, Joe joined me at the bottom and we waited for the girls to show up. But these two riders appeared and Joe and I were doing some trail side commentary. The first guy started loosing control right at the beginning and slid down sideways with one and sometimes both feet on the ground. But the fella made a great recovery and rode through. The second guy came along and he freaked out and held onto his bars while both legs where on the ground trying to slow himself down. Luckily he was able to make it down without getting hurt. So now it was the girls’ turn. They were smart and walked that portion of the trail. I don’t blame them, that section is pretty scary.

So today this bike was pretty much my guardian angel. The KHS XCT 535 is still being reviewed but after today, I have come to realize that this bike is the shiznitz! In other words, it’s wickedly awesome!

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The KHS XCT535 has arrived at the MtnBikeRiders HQ and the review process has been initiated.

The XCT 535 is KHS’ line up in the world of XC/Trail bikes. The MSRP for this bike is $1599 and its equipped with some choice componentry, great geometry and outstanding performance.

Here’s the tale of the tape (specs):

Frame
New Trail Design AL6061, 4-bar Horst bearing linkage 5.5″ Travel
Rear Shock Rock Shox Bar 2.1, air w/rebound adjust
Fork Marzocchi MX Lo, 120mm, variable compression lockout
Headset Tioga ZST2,Threadless,zero Stack
Rims WTB Speed Disc doublewall, w/eyelets
Hubs Front: Alloy disc, Rear: Shimano disc, QR
Tires John Thomac Nevegal 26×2.1
Spokes 14G black, 32°
Front Derailleur Shimano Deore
Rear Derailleur Shimano XT Shadow
Shifters Shimano Deore
Chain KMCZ9000
Crankset FSA Moto MegaExo 2-piece, 44/32/22
Bottom Bracket FSA MegaExo outboard catridge bearing
Cassette Shimano HG50 11-34 9-Speed
Pedals Wellgo M919 clipless
Seatpost Alloy Micro-adjust
Saddle WTB Silverado
Handlebar FSA XC-280B, 31.8, Alloy, 40mm rise
Stem FSA Alloy
Grips WTB Weirwolf
Brake Levers Avid FR5
Brakes Avid BB5 cable disc, 7″ front/6″ rear
Color Flat Brown-Gray
Frame Size S, M, L

The first thing I noticed on this bike was the sweet horst link suspension. I’ve ridden many Specialized bikes equipped with this magic suspension setup and I was always impressed with it. Knowing this, I knew the XCT 535 would be very responsive on the trail.

Licensed by Specialized.

Our test bike weighed in around 30.5lbs…that’s a bit lighter than some trail bikes we’ve tested. The Ibex Ignition is at 33lbs, my Giant Warp is at 34lbs, the Woodstock 707 came in around 33lbs.

I’ll get down to the nitty gritty about what I thought about the KHS XCT 535 on its maiden voyage. The bike is super plush. It handles really well on technical sections, climbs ok…but the fork has a lock out so that helps. Shifting was like butter…that’s a good thing! Oh man, the XT rear derailleur combined with the Deore shifters makes this bike easy to deal with. It never mis shifted or jumped gears while I was riding it.

The XCT 535 really shows its true colors on descents. The John Thomac Nevegal 26×2.1 tires gripped the trail as if it they were claws. I’ve mentioned this already, but the bike really is super plush. The suspension responds really well to what the trail dishes and not once did I feel insecure of the bike’s integrity. I had a great time on it today.

But I’ll be doing more test rides on it to get a better feel on how this bike handles various terrains. In fact tomorrow we’ll be riding a trail that is going to allow me to ride the bike harder.

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I’m returning to my higher volume lower psi days on the rigid 29er. With no upcoming races to train for and just fun riding on the horizon I’ve decided to go with increased comfort and grip at the expense of more weight, more rolling resistance and more noise.

For the last few months, the 29er has been set-up with a Maxxis Ignitors and a front suspension fork. I consider the Ignitor to be a mid-volume sized tire at 2.1 inches wide and a claimed weight of 705 grams which is neither light nor heavy in the 29er tire world. This setup has worked as a great race front tire in So. Cal. conditions with, in my opinion, an ideal blend of volume, low rolling resistance, grip and weight.

But since I’ve gone back to rigid and I’m not racing anytime soon I’ve decided that I’d like to add a little more comfort to the equation. Because of this I slapped on a Panaracer Rampage 29 up front. The Rampage is definitely a high volume tire. At a claimed weight of 800 grams the Rampage is getting a bit portly for my normal type of riding (think XC / light AM) but because I’m going rigid I’m willing to take the weight penalty for the ability to run a lower PSI and gain the comfort of the higher volume.

Panaracer Rampage 2.35″ of rubber = high volume

I was running my Ignitor at about the 35-ish psi for the races and fast training rides prior to the race but for the Rampage I set it at just under 25 psi which feels so much better. I’d like to run it even lower but changing tires on the WTB Laserdisc wheels are a HUGE hassle so I’m careful not to run it too low and be prone to pinch flats.

I was able to get in a quick shake down ride of the Rampage / eXotic carbon 29er fork setup with Moe & RL this morning. We rode a quick 7 miles which had only 1 half mile descent. Once I got on the trail I could instantly tell the new setup would be more comfortable than the Ignitor + eXotic carbon fork setup but I really knew this to be true on that mild descent. The eXotic carbon fork does a great job muting the tiny bumps on the trail. The Rampage does a great job of muting slightly bigger bumps. Combining them together meant more comfort for my hands. I can’t wait to ride some more on it.

Click here for info on the Panaracer Rampage.
Click here for info on the eXotic carbon 29er fork, which has been awesome under my 215 lbs.

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The Fat Tire Classic XC race is less than a month away, since I’m not in any ‘racing shape’ and my lightest bike weighs 29.5 lbs, I decided to build an XC rig.

I decided to go with a KHS Team Alite frame, at 3.0lbs, my 6-yr old daughter had no trouble holding the frame. Why a KHS frame?, (no, it was not free) after testing over 6 KHS bikes and owning 3, I’m convinced that KHS produces awesome quality stuff. (Not to mention that Melissa Buhl scored a championship on a KHS frame)

Here’s my spec list:

2008 XT Cranks, Shifters, F & R derailleurs
2007 RockShox Reba Race Dual Air Fork
2007 Vuelta StarLite AL Wheels with Michelin Tires
Answer ProTaper CF Bar
Thomson Elite seatpost
Hayes Nine Brakes (from another bike)
I still haven’t decided on the stem and the pedals (most likely Crank Bros).

My goal is to be at around 20lbs and be done by the 20th. Come back for the updates!

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