Taming of the what . . . ?

bwaaahahahahaha. This old ad is definitely out of date especially when it comes to at least three spirited women I know who have absolutely NO yearning to "be tamed" (or being compared to a car) . . . to all the ladies out there on bikes - let it fly!! The higher the better.

kd

CCCX #5 DH Race Results

Women's Sport Class

1 328w 3'52''.86 Mary Moncorg'e unattached Livermore
2 338w 4'09''.31 Tina Wilson Girls on The East Side Auburn
3 312W 4'19''.08 Ayshe Tuncer Chainsmoke Aptos
4 310W 4'26''.22 Jill Henrich Chainsmoke Sunnyvale
5 337w 4'28''.39 Kirstie Douglass Girls on the East Side Auburn
7 320w 4'41''.66 Natalie Morris Ventana Sacramento

Full race results here . . .

It was a beautiful weekend for a race in Salinas, CA. The sun was finally shining after weeks of clouds and rain. We pushed our bikes up a two mile hill to the top of the course for practices and the race -- thank goodness the course was fast and fun (see the "Thumbs Up" post on course conditions two posts down) -- which always makes it worth it! The riding was great and the atmosphere was too. It's so satisfying being around a group of people who share your passion for MTBing and the comradery is inspiring! The Girls on the East Side met the Dirt Divas (how gang do we sound?) and hope to do some riding in Santa Cruz sometime. Looking forward to more races in the season - yeaaaah!

(Race photo of Tina and practice photo of Kirstie taken by Rick Rasmussen).

kd

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

Download now or watch on posterous

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.

Posted via email from levineclan's posterous

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!

Updated Race Schedule

January 31st - DH- CCCX - Salinas, Ca
April 3rd - DH - 1st of a DH Series- Auburn, Ca
April 16th -18th- DH & Super D - Sea Otter Classic-Monterey, Ca
(May 13th - 19th - Trip to Moab!!)
June 19th - Super D - The Oak Tree Super D - Auburn, Ca
June - October TBA- Super D Series (5 races)- Northstar-Tahoe, Ca
August 14th - Super D - The Oak Tree Super D - Auburn, Ca
September TBA - Mammoth Bar DH - Auburn, Ca
October 2nd-3rd- Super D - Tara 4 - Northstar - Tahoe, Ca
kd

Excitement is a new bike . . .

Some of us were very nice this year and got a BIG present under the Christmas tree (no, it wasn't me. I'll try and be nicer this coming year - hehe). Yummy, my mouth is watering looking at the picture. Can't wait to meet the new beast in person. TRW - we are all gonna have a blast!!

kd

Our Playground

Out here are some awesome local trails you can't beat for a five minute trip into the canyon! This morning as I took a side-tracked drive through the canyon just taking it all in I saw a truck full of guys we know with their bikes hanging out the back and I knew they were doing shuttle rides into the mist. I wanted to go home and grab my bike and join them so badly, but the flu and office work I had to attend to left me musing about the rides these boys were about to take instead of taking one myself. Hohum. Tomorrow is another day! You bet I'll be there.

kd

Girls on the East Side Hit Northstar on the Back Side

(We found the back side of Northstar had fewer people and more powder than the main trails. Right up our alley).

(Hey, what happened to Livewire?)

What do you do when your home town trails have been washed out and the snow has fallen thick in the mountains? . . . you head up to your usual mtb park and trade in the bike for skis -- for now. (Two of the three Girls pictured here with one daughter on the snowboard. She's a bad-ass in her own rights on the board. That's the way it's done darling).

That was Monday. Today the trails had a chance to dry out a little, and although there were a few slippery areas, some lines washed out and tree branches littering the trails -- it was an awesome ride! In fact on Flood Trail (aptly named) a fallen tree lay across the trail with a bare branch on the ground and the bushy part of the rest of the tree making a perfect arch above it. The obstacle at first caught me off guard and I grabbed a handful of brakes, then my brain quickly processed it as something fun to try and hopping my bike over the branch while at the same time crouching down to fit snuggly through the opening of the other leafy branches, it was an obstacle that rivaled any made at a bike park. Yeeehaa! All that was left to do was light the branches on fire and I could have lept through a burning ring (nod to the Man In Black). Just joking -- even though the canyon was still quite damp, no one is recommending lighting anything on fire, ever, I assure you. Luckily where we live there will be plenty more winter riding ahead -- and we'll hit up more skiing too. It's good to cross train and you can't beat it when it's so much fun!

kd

Enjoy . . .

Katie Hayes Promo from 406 Productions on Vimeo.

kd

Tenetive Race Schedule 2010

January 31st - DH- CCCX - Salinas, Ca
April 16th -18th- DH & Dual Slalom- Sea Otter Classic-Monterey, Ca
May TBA - DH - Spring Thaw Downhill - Ashland, Or
June - October TBA- Super D Series (5 races)- Northstar-Tahoe, Ca
October 2nd-3rd- Super D - Tara 4 - Northstar - Tahoe, Ca

Yeeeehhhhhaaaaaaaa!!
kd

Winter DH Race Series

CCCX Fall/Winter DH Raace Series. . . See you there?
kd

Indoor Bike Park

While we pretty much get to ride all year round in Auburn, with it getting darker earlier and the chill starting to set in, life would be so complete in the winter if we had one of these close by . . . Ray's MTB Indoor Park.
kd

Why We Ride at Night

We ride at night because we didn’t get a ride in during the day and still need our fix.
We ride at night because we long for the feeling of adventure and isolation.
We ride at night to make tired trails new and to make known trails unknown. Our bike lights are lower than the sun and cast a long shadows on the trail, making “baby heads” look much larger and obscuring our depth perception. It’s surreal and spooky.
We ride at night to explore forbidden trails that belong to hikers and horses.
We ride at night to commune with the moon , the dew , the crisp air, and the rising and turning of the night sky.
We ride at night to have the green, yellow and red sets of eyes staring and piercing the darkness from our left, right and center.
We ride at night to encounter the unseen owl with the flap of his wings, the frantic rustling of the deer in the brush, the coyotes laughing from some nearby ridge and to feel the presence of the cat that creeps ever so close. We ride at night to hear the silence, the frogs and the crickets.
We ride at night because we love our bikes and darkness should be no reason to let them sit dormant.
This piece is really written by Chris Wilcox who used to work for a bike light company. I added a few lines that I thought would make the experience complete.