So much Bikey doings!

Hey.  I don't get as much time to do this as I'd like, and there is a ton of Bikey stuff that is happening or has happened.  So....I'm going to shotgun a few things.

Interbike is in Reno this week and will host CrossReno at Rancho San Rafael today .  You missed (or made it to) a great talk by Adventure Cycling director Jim Sayer.  There is a trail building seminar at Patagonia tonight at 7pm! 

So get out and do something bikey!

Reno Cross is at Rancho San Rafael today from noon until 9ish!

Trail Building Talk at Patagonia tonight!

Jim Sayer giving a great talk that made you want to plan your next tour today!

Patagonia was packed for the talk....over 100 people turned out!

Pigeon Head provided some excellent IPL!

Gear Hut (a new second hand gear store off of Wells Ave) was hanging out to encourage us recycle our used gear!

Cyclocross prep work.

Ok kids, you missed a good one this weekend.  Saturday morning the Sagebrush cyclocross series kicked off with a clinic run by some of the regions top riders, followed up with building a new course for this coming Saturday's season kickoff race.  I took a bunch of pics for your pleasure.  However, I'm not going to reveal all the race winning knowledge they imparted upon us!

The group working on dismounts and remounts above the previous lesson on how to ride slippery side hills.

Once you have the running dismount....let's add barriers and split second timing to the mix!!

Nick (yellow helmet) makes it look smooth and easy!

Barriers aren't enough....now it's a dismount, shoulder the bike, run the stairs drill.

If all these drills weren't enough for you (and it was hot)....you were cordially invited to meet up in the parking lot after a lunch break to go dig, rake, scrape, pick, and manually remove rocks, dirt, and goat heads for next weeks course!  Being a glutton for punishment (and having no real plans) I foolishly agreed!

Having raked the previous 1/4 mile of course....picks were employed to dig out the lead in to the first run up.

Yeah, this isn't a photo shopped perspective....the picked out trail leads into a "run up" (as in no one can ride this incline) that goes pretty much straight up the rockiest hill you can find!

A look back down for perspective.

The red outline shows the rough shape of about 1/2 the course.  Every inch had to be racked, cleaned of goat heads, cleared of brush (the dotted line) and otherwise made rideable!

Three hours later the course had been beaten into shape.  It was goat head tested by several dogs (dog paws are magnets for goat heads)!  The 10-12 dusty, tired workers gave it an official one finger salute and officially called it a day by cracking open a beer....Ok, so that's what I did.

Any way you look at it, it's a completely awesome new course that is going to beat the tar out of even the best riders out there!  So join us next week as a rider or spectator to see all the spectacular misery this course will inflict!

Here's a complete overview of the basic course.

We're all in this together....

Interesting, this video about a year old but it's new to me.  Seems like it takes the right tact on how we need to build bicycling up (rather than ram it down peoples throats).  It happens to be focused on mountain biking and trail building, but the similarities with bike lanes on the local streets is hard to ignore. 

Anyway here's the trailer to get you thinking!

Pedal-Driven: The Official Trailer from Howell at the Moon Productions on Vimeo.

Trail builders still needed!

If you've got the time to help out, please join the crew down in Carson City this weekend!

 Taken from Muscle Powered (author Jeff Moser):

Saturday, November 12 - TAMBA Trail day with Carson Valley Trails Association.

Upcoming Trail Work Days

We started the season here with the IMBA Trail Care Crew visit in April. CVTA has been busy all summer working on the Sierra Canyon Trail with trail machines putting in around 13 miles of new trail. Now they are trying to finish the last half mile section by hand. Let’s head down there and help them out!! Meet at the end of Carson Street (2 blocks south of the 4-way intersection) in Genoa at 9am. Bring your own lunch, we’ll be eating on the trail, about a 15 minute hike in. For those that stay till the end, TAMBA will buy the first round at the oldest bar in Nevada, walking distance from the trailhead! Wearing layers would be good and typical safety items like safety glasses/sunglasses and gloves. We’ll have the hardhats. More info on TAMBA website: http://mountainbiketahoe.org/


Lower Sierra Canyon Work Day – Photo courtesy of CVTA

This is the plan from CTVA on the rest of the season:

Starting this Saturday November 12, we will have trail building opportunities every day through November 20th from 8 a.m to 3 p.m. each day at the end of Carson Street in Genoa. The project site is a 15 minute walk from the trailhead. There is work in the sun or shade depending how cold it is. Wear layers, some days will be chilly and if you’d rather come a bit later in the morning, go for it.

We have built about about 1,000 feet of trail over the past 8 work days, some of the most challenging you may ever build, thank you. We have about 2,300 challenging feet left to go to connect and open the final ~8.1 mile Genoa Loop.

Important:
Required work wear is long pants, long-sleeved shirts, sunglasses or other eye protection…very important, good hiking shoes and work gloves.
Bring lunch and water.
Tools and hard hats are provided.
Check the CVTA website for cancellations if the weather is questionable.

Trail builders needed!!!

From Bike Carson this morning:

CVTA needs your help to finish trail

From Carson Valley Trails Association (http://www.carsonvalleytrails.org/)
This is an urgent call for help building trail up Sierra and Genoa Canyons (up to the Tahoe Rim Trail) to all mountain bikers.
Background: The CVTA is dedicated to providing access and developing trail in the Carson Valley for all users (hikers, bikers, and equestrians). Under a matching state grant program, the CVTA was able to build a significant new trail network from Eagle Ridge (N of Genoa) to Genoa Canyon and up Sierra Canyon to the TRT (near Genoa Peak) this summer. The mountain bike possibilities on this trail are tremendous including loops and downhill runs starting from the TRT between Daggett and Spooner Summits.

Construction on the Genoa Foothill Trail System

What is needed: CVTA is in desperate need of volunteers to help build trail (at this point mostly trail cleanup). Hours are needed to comply with the matching portion of the state grant. The deadline to provide matching volunteer hours is the end of calendar year 2011. If bikers are going to be users of this trail it is only fair that they pitch in to help build and maintain the trail.
What you can do: Trail building dates are posted on the CVTA web site: http://www.carsonvalleytrails.org/Programs-Calendar.html
All tools are provided and NO experience is necessary. We need all cycling groups to post this message to their members. Help is needed urgently as future trail development is contingent of the success of this major initiative.
Please pick a date and show up. If you enjoy the trails you should realize that they are only exist because of the hard work of many volunteers. Won’t you be one of them?
CVTA invites you to “Build for Bill”
Saturday, October 22, 2011
8am to 3pm
Genoa Canyon (located at the end of Carson St in Genoa)
Come to Genoa Canyon and “Build for Bill” on Saturday, October 22. Every hour of trail building that you donate will be an hour of support for Bill Hay, CVTA president, who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer, which prevents him from doing the trailbuilding he loves. For more information on how you can help, see the  “Build for Bill” flyer (.pdf).