PFMBC ride the Quarry Trail

Ride leaders Rich and Marianne had to ride single speeds today so we picked the Quarry Trail with less climbs than our regular routes, but we had plenty of fun with mud puddles, short cuts and detours. Thanks to everyone that joined us and made this a memorable ride.

Thumbs Up

Practiced the CCCX race course today -- really FUN! The course has steep sections, lots of corners, winding single track, and few small jumps . . . and no rocks - smooth sailing on tacky, not at all soggy dg almost the whole down. The sun was shining and we had huge smiles as we figured out the course today. Let you know how tomorrow goes - yeeehaaaa!!

How Excited Are We?

Let me tell you . . . pretty darn excited! The reason is The Oak Tree Super D coming this Summer, June 19th and August 14th.

Rumor has it a DH series is starting too, April 3rd.

See you in our backyard!

kd

PFMBC 2nd & 3rd ride

Here is an Animoto video of the two latest rides with the high school kids. It's a blast to ride with them and watch their progress. The American River Canyon is an amazing playground for us mountain bikers. Some kids are already so good that they are hard to keep up with. Others are just starting out and their improvements can be noticeable in one ride. These last couple of rides we stayed together as one group and the strong riders would climb the hills twice to allow newer riders a chance to catch up. On downhill sections the fast riders could practice balance skills etc, while waiting up for the group. As the club grows we'll offer two different rides for the kids. One competitive and one recreational. I hope you like the video.
Marianne Levine

Riding In The Rain

A little rain and mud never hurt anyone -- in fact I am of the opinion it is good for anyone. Today we had an amazing ride in the 'inclement conditions'.

Obligatory post-ride photo.

Marianne was cracking up because at one point in the ride I had mud all over my teeth. I said it must have been because I smiling the whole way. Fortunate for us we knew the trails so well because visibility was not on our side -- glasses all fogged up and spattered with rain drops and mud. We didn't miss a beat though.

I couldn't put my washing machine through that mess so after washing my bike (in the now pouring rain) and then my helmet, goggles, gloves, shoes, camel back I had to strip down outside and hose off my clothes as well. We were covered -- and we were happy.

kd

Quotables From Historic MTB Women

"My saddle was getting way more action from me than any person was." - Jacquie Phelan

"Women can be strong and do anything they want." - Marla Streb

"To me it's a soul sport, an art form. I see the world in a different light when I'm looking at it from a bicycle." Missy Giove

All of these sentiments have been uttered among the Girls on The East Side at one point. Maybe just worded differently. Maybe almost exactly the same. It's interesting to note that no matter what level you ride at, we share a common thread about the sport we love . . . more to come . . .
kd

More on Bikes

Read a small blurb about the first recorded female mountain biker. To see a little more, watch the documentary "Klunkerz." Klunkerz tells an interesting history about the origins of mountain biking. My favorite point made in the documentary is that mtb'ing was born out fun -- a group of people wanting to do their own thing, go out in nature and have FUN -- before it became an industry. I hear you!!
kd

Epic first club ride for Placer Foothills Mountain Bike Club

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First Epic Ride.mp4 (12019 KB)

Placer Foothills Mountain Bike Club had its first official ride yesterday! We had 4 high school riders, 8 ride leaders and were joined by pro downhill rider Joanna Petterson. Joanna is ranked among the top 20 racers in the world and she races for South Africa but resides in Folsom and Kauai. Several riders missed this historic day and for them, our fans and the riders that made it, my husband and I put together a music slide/ video of some footage from our ride. The music selection was approved by our son Dylan and his friend Jordan Klopp. Jordan is joining our club. Please note that one picture is of our Norcal League competition from Oakmont High School. They have their jerseys and were finishing time trials on Stage Coach Trail. We don’t have our jerseys yet but we sure look like fierce competition. What do you think? Please comment.

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Girls On The East Side hit the East Side.

What a fun day. Yesterday was a valuable but long day of practicing coaching techniques for the Placer Foothill Mountain Bike Club for high school kids so we had to ride like we minded our behavior, but today we got to tear it up on the East Side. East Side Girls on the East Side, literally! We were psyched because we don’t ride on the east side as much as we would like to. We had a brave “joiner inner” named Lisa Auchincloss. Rarely do women riders want to ride with us. Lisa is a strong road rider for U.C. Davis but she also enjoys mountain biking. She did great on the east side and discovered her new favorite trails. We hope that she'll join us again. In the first picture we are getting ready to ride the East Side which had been swept by fire last summer. Lisa took the picture of Marianne, Kirstie and Tina. In the second picture we have Lisa, Tina and Kirstie getting ready for the fun thrill of Stonewall. At the end of the day we were freckled by mud and enjoyed a Single Track beer and a Gobble Me Please sandwich from Tsuda's Eatery. Yum. What a perfect day. Thanks ladies. Next Sunday we'll hit it harder!