24 hours of NorCal

[Telenater]

Previously known as the 24 hours of Tahoe (but presently in search of a new location to call home) is tentatively scheduled for August 21 & 22.

I've talked with some people and heard about others who may be interested in putting together a team or two (or supporting our valiant efforts).

Who's interested in a team, and what kind of goal are you looking at? (completing the race, or winning the race?).


Me:
NateR (Completing and finishing not last)

Others that I've heard might be interested (given suitable arm twisting):
LegoSkier
DiveGirl
Arty50
Tyrone Shoelaces
Superstar Punani
LPH
Watersnowdirt (twist the left arm please).

Freshies?
Onehotchili?

[freshies]

hmmm, did this a few yrs ago w/some buddies.....was fun, but a beat-down physically......however, if we got a group together to do this just for fun (no more serious racing shitz for me...), I would be down. Gotta drink a beer every lap.....

[Telenater]

From what I've heard of people interested, we might be able to put together two teams.

The more I think on it, the more I'm sure that I want to do it just for the sense of accomplishment.

Also, I'm thinking about doing the Tuesday evening races with the Prarie City racing group near Folsom.

[divegirl]

I'm interested in doing this ride. However, I need a mountain bike, first. Remember, I'm a roadie. But I'll try anything, so let's put this together. I'll need some training rides up at Northstar.....and a few dudes to ride with to show me the ropes. Otherwise, I'm down. Put me in the group that has a beer between each leg of the "race."

[Viva]

Originally posted by divegirl
Remember....I'll try anything,

And that is why we like you soooooo much, my dear...

[Telenater]

DG (and anyone else without any MTB racing at all), I highly recommend that you try a race before this one. Racing is a very different feeling even if you aren't trying to bust ass.

I'm also going to be doing some night training because I've never done any night riding on a MTB.

[divegirl]

Viva - shut up, dood! I meant in an athletic sense!

Nater, I'm sure if I put forth some MTB effort once I get my bike (sooooon...), and do a few crazy rides, both during the day and night, that I'll be ready to at least enter and complete this ride. Like I said, I'll be on the beer-drinking team.

[Telenater]

Originally posted by divegirl
Viva - shut up, dood! I meant in an athletic sense!

That can be athletic too.....

Nater, I'm sure if I put forth some MTB effort once I get my bike (sooooon...), and do a few crazy rides, both during the day and night, that I'll be ready to at least enter and complete this ride. Like I said, I'll be on the beer-drinking team.

Never doubted that you'd be ready to complete it. The feel of a race is very different, I'd recommend trying at least one race of some kind first. I tried doing a race as a "fun only" ride once and couldn't pace myself because it felt like a race not a fun ride.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Chalk me up as having interest on the "for fun" team fur sure.

[Arty50]

Originally posted by Telenater
The more I think on it, the more I'm sure that I want to do it just for the sense of accomplishment.

I've gotten that sense in the past. It's overrated. Bring on the beer.

[Lunch]

Put me down. My "goal" or attitude will conform to that of the team.

[watersnowdirt]

I'm in. I should be ready by then, though I'm DEFINITELY on the for fun team since I''ll have been off my bike for 8 months (ARGH!). I'm hoping to be riding again in June, so that gives me 3 months to get decent enough again to not make a total ass of myself.

Never done any racing - Nater, do you have a suggestion for a newbie race that might be good prep for this?

DG - if you are still short on a bike by then, you can borrow my old tanker - it was gift from lph and I rode happily on it for 2 years before going FS. You're welcome to use it if needed.


woohoo! here's to dirt!

[ak_powder_monkey]

24 hour races are the sickest thing ever except how my team of 4 got beat by a solo guy on a fully rigid singlespeed

[Telenater]

So, It sounds like we've got "racers" for at least two teams.

NateR
Lunch
DG
WSD
TS
Freshies
OneHotChili
Arty50
LegoSkier

The above list of people would let us have one 4 person relay and one 5 person open team.

I'll volunteer to captain one of the teams.

I'm not sure about races down your way WSD. I'm sure that there are some. I'd check with your LBS because they'll know about local races better than I will (and if they're on a weekend, let us know too as I'll certainly be interested in heading down.)

[freshies]

I am down for the "fun" team....sone the "srerious" thing here a few yrs ago, and it was a beat-down physically and mentally...I just wanna do some laps and drink some beers around our camp....let me know when ya'll start to pull this together....

and, anyone in the bay (wsd? kellie? nater?) that likes to ride, let me know. i live in mill valley 1/2 the time, and Tam is out my back door. Would be happy to host road and mtb rides any weekend, show ya'll the goods, and hoist a few cold ones post ride @ Joe's Taco Lounge.....

[Telenater]

Freshies, You're on. It'll probably have to wait until I reach the critical point in the drive/ski ratio.

[freshies]

right on Nater....same goes for Tahoe, as I spend half my time up there...so am always game for Tahoe MTB and road rides in the summer....

[Telenater]

Originally posted by freshies
right on Nater....same goes for Tahoe, as I spend half my time up there...so am always game for Tahoe MTB and road rides in the summer....

Not to turn this into a "ME" thread (since I've frequently been told that it's not all about me), but...

Cool. I live between the two (Marin and Tahoe) and am generally willing to head in either direction. I hope to continue my present trend of not spending weekends in Davis over the summer by spending them either on the coast or in the mountains and will be quite interested in biking in Tahoe (N or S once the campsites start opening).

Back to your regularly scheduled discussion of 24hr biking.....

[LegoSkier]

Originally posted by Telenater

Back to your regularly scheduled discussion of 24hr biking.....

Not quite yet...cause I want to play too! I'm always up for MTB on either shore of the lake.

OK, now back to the 24hr talk.

[divegirl]

Originally posted by watersnowdirt
DG - if you are still short on a bike by then, you can borrow my old tanker - it was gift from lph and I rode happily on it for 2 years before going FS. You're welcome to use it if needed.

Thanks WSD! I may still be in need of one. What can I say.....I'm buying a much needed pair of skis soon, so if I get a bike, it will either be a used/new hardtail (best for my money) or a used FS. My neighbor has a bike I can borrow, provided he'll let me use it alone so I can train. Now, back to reading the rest of this thread.....

Also - WSD - good to hear you'll be back in the game!!!

PS to everyone - I'll be the JONG of this race.....hope no one minds (being the conformed roadie and all...)??

[freshies]

yep, Truckee and Mill Valley are where I hang my hat(s)......so, to sum my position on the multiple topice contained in this thread:

24 hr : yes, I am in - on the casual team, drinking beers between laps

rides: road and mtb, do both, love 'em both, all good...

trails: marin county, or tahoe area, or foothills (auburn, downieville, nevada city, etc) - all good, will go anywhere to ride...

that is all......

oh, one more thing.....can we get one last frickin' storm please!

[Telephil]

I might be in if anyone wants to race, not that I'm that fast necessarily, but I try to be.

[Lunch]

Originally posted by freshies
so, to sum my position on the multiple topice contained in this thread:

24 hr : yes, I am in - on the casual team, drinking beers between laps

rides: road and mtb, do both, love 'em both, all good...

trails: marin county, or tahoe area, or foothills (auburn, downieville, nevada city, etc) - all good, will go anywhere to ride...

that is all......

This is a good summary for me, as well.
However, I might add that I'm rehabbing a blown knee so I'm a little behind on my mileage and may be limited in the near future.

[lph]

wsd just told me about this thread.

i would be interested, although definitely in the 'casual' group, although i don't drink and ride.

[Telenater]

Just got a message from the folks at that run it....

One or two teams....

Howdy 24 Hours of Tahoe Race Fans,

Thank you all for the great responses to my recent e-mail. It was clear from the quality and quantity of the responses that everyone appreciated the opportunity to weigh-in. While opinions varied regarding the various considerations that I asked about, it was heart-warming to me that the most consistent thread that ran through the majority of the responses was the quality of the course. That's certainly been our priority here at Granny Gear. Real courses for real mountain bike racing. Courses that provide challenge and entertainment value to core mountain bikers.

On my recent scouting trip to NorCal I had the opportunity to scope out 3 different venues but I came home dissappointed that non of them would work out for various reasons. However, while I was in the Tahoe area, I contacted the owner of our old 24 Hours of Donner Pass venue and he was ammenable to hosting the event again.

Putting the event back at Donner Pass is an interesting idea. Many of you may have raced the Donner course and those who haven't may well have heard stories about it. Here's some of the pluses and minus:

Pluses:
1) Truly awesome, specatularly scenic, world-class course. There's a brutal climb at the start, then some high speed downhill, followed by some fun, curvey singletrack. Next there's a short climb and then... the fun begins. The remainder of the course is all technical singletrack back to the finish. It's as much an adventure race as a mountain bike race with several strategic dismounts, depending on your riding skill. At one point in the course you ride within 15 ft. of the edge of a 700 ft. cliff, overlooking Donner Lake, truly spectacular! The course length is 10.8 miles with about 1,600 ft. of climbing. My best time (slightly above average sport, tortoise climber, hare downhiller) was a 1:04.

Minuses:
1) There's no lodging to speak of. The camping is on a gravel parking lot. The area is fine for RV's and trailers but it's not the kind of surface you'd want to pitch a tent on without some serious padding undeneath.
2) Technically the venue is closed for the summer. Since there's no source of revenue for the venue(lodging income) the venue is asking for a surcharge to open the place up. What I had considered doing here was to apply a $15 per racer surchage ($140 entry fee vs $125) that would cover the costs of the venue, port-o-lets, hot showers, campground insurance, trash removal, etc and then allow free camping to all racers, support crews and spectators. Net, net, it should actually be cheaper for everyone since none of your support crew will have to pay any camping fees.
3) Not a lot of food service. The folks at Donner have indicated that they'd set-up some outdoor food during the day but that they would not be able to spin-up the kitchen and keep it open all night.

I'd certainly like to keep the momentum going on our NorCal event and this opportunity appears to be the best chance of doing this. While our Tahoe event hasn't always been profitable, it does pay the bills and some of our staff's wages. We'd need to approach the 100 team mark to make this event worthwhile financially. Anyone who's raced our Northstar course and liked it will like the Donner course too. While the Donner course is more technical in some ways, it's a little easier in terms of the total amount of physical output on each lap.

So, I'll ask for your input again. Even if you didn't reposnd to my last e-mail, I'd appreciate you feedback on this one.
Would you be up for this race?
Do you think we could field 100+ teams?
Will you commit to spreading the word and bringing new teams? (There's no better form of advertising than word-of-mouth)
How do you feel about the $15 surcharge and free camping?

Thanks for your on-going enthusiasm and support. If the feedback is sufficiently encouraging, we will announce this event very soon, going with the same dates we've had posted, August 21st & 22nd. Personally, I adore this course and would be eager to produce the race again. It levels the playing field between pure fitness and skills, more than any other course I've ever raced. If you get yourself in the right frame of mind as you approach this course, I can guarentee on of the most exciting and memorable races of your life.
I look forward to your feedback.
Happy Trails,
-Laird