Northstar DH #2

When covered with a fresh blanket of white snow, Northstar at Tahoe is fittingly referred to as Flatstar. But once the snow melts and the lifts are converted for bike access, the Northstar morphs into a gnarly DH playground with hordes of big rocks lurking beneath a deep layer of their famed moondust.

SF DIRTLAB missed the first Northstar DH race on July 1st due to our trip to BC (poor us), but were there to mash through the rocks at Race #2. DIRTLABBERs Mitch Monroe, Jonathan Clark, and our newest member Shon Stark were there to represent and try to tackle the tough course.

The Expert course would take us down Upper Karpiel to Middle DogBone (the slabs) to Lower Karpiel to Vietnam and finishing on the Daytona Berms. Even with some fun new trails on the other side of the mountain, we still raced the toughest trails on the hill. I always use to be a little intimidated just riding these trails, trying to thread the needle through rock sections without losing a limb. This time it's against the clock at full speed, top to bottom, lungs searing, hands barely hanging on the grips, reflexes slowing after minutes of exertion. If your not feelin it, this is not a course you want to race down.

The top section of Karpiel in a word is loose. A series of loose bermed turns winds down the mountain, with a couple log drops shortcutting the apexes of a couple switchback turns and some mean rocks sprinkled in for good measure. After hitting the little gapper at the bottom of the upper section the Dogbone slabs slow you down enough for the really rough stuff. After rolling the large slabs of rock, it's almost all rock garden all the way to the finish. A series of steep rock chutes where it's best to slow down and enter in control, find your line and then let go of the brakes, spits you out of the trees and under the lift line. A very rocky straightaway covered in deep moondust sets you up for a little rock drop and the Daytona Berms. This last section is a lot better, still loose, but with little roller jumps at the entrance of each berm, that encourage you to flick the rear end into each turn and a showtime finishline booter to show off your sweet jumping skills.

At the end of the race, Shon Stark won the Expert 18-26 class with a time of 4:13:3, Mitch Monroe was the first loser in Expert 27-34, ending up 2nd even with a crash at the bottom of the Vietnam rock chute and Jonathan Clark suffering a front flat.

Tour De Fat 2007

Sat., Jul. 21, 10am-5pm Speedway Meadow, GG Park


Get in on the fun on the inside - Volunteer!
Oil your bike chain and press the polyester, Tour de Fat is back in San Francisco on Saturday, July 21st at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park. Come join us for a ballyhoo of bikes & beer sponsored by the New Belgium Brewing Company, makers of the acclaimed Fat Tire beer. Two parts bike rodeo and one part circus you can expect fire-jumping bike acts, cycling games, cruiser bike parade, live music, tasty eats and great beer, of course - and all proceeds benefit two great nonprofits: the SFBC & the Bay Area Ridge Trails Council!

Now we know what you are thinking...how much is this grand fete going to cost me? The answer is nothing! We are all about FREE! So....how is this a fundraiser? All proceeds from beer sales ($4 for 16 oz.) will benefit the San Francisco Bike Coalition, and The Bay Area Ridge Trail Council. We'll bring the beer and you just bring your bike! (Valet bike parking provided--of course!)
Bike Parade
What is a bike party without a bike ride? Join us at 10am as we costume up, cruise and coast through Golden Gate Park and beyond! The ride is free, but we ask that you help support the work of the SFBC with a $5 donation. It'll be a hoot and a holler, we promise.
Afternoon Ballyhoo
OK Party People, this is where we get down. Not ONLY will we have the fine New Belgium Portfolio of beers to quench your thirst, but we will be featuring the music of Handsome Little Devils, The Asylum Street Spankers, Circus Contraption, The Sprockettes, and Lord Loves a Working Man. But that's not all...look for a few aerialists, total self-sustainability if the form of an all solar/b100 biodiesel fueled event. Don't you worry, there are a few other tricks we're keeping tucked up our sleeves! The show this year will be great!
The music starts at noon.

But wait, there's more!
While at the park, look for opportunities to wrench on your bike, get your face painted, eat some good food, have a beer and join our cycling circus of sensory splendor.
This is one of the best events in the park in the summer to celebrate BIKES! Don't miss it.

Downieville Classic 2007

Top of Butte street in Sierra City, the start of one of the best mountain bike races around. The Downieville Classic is one of the few point to point races left, climbing 4500 feet out of Sierra City, to the top of the Sierra Buttes, dropping 5700 feet down ripping fast singletrack into the historic gold mining town of Downieville. Nobody from SF DIRTLAB was able to register for the DH because its coveted 200 slots were full within 10 minutes of opening. Mitch Monroe and Kim Perrin suffered through the XC race, passing DH pros Eric Carter and Nathan Rennie.

SF DIRTLAB and WTB crew, mixin it up in the pits.

Kickin it back stage with old school homie Mark Wier. He thinks he's gonna beat my (Mitch)record up Montara Mountain later this year.

Pixie Cross champ Super Fro primpin for pimpin.

SF DIRTLAB Chicas go for a lap around the Pixie Cross course

SF DIRTLAB Chicas wrangled Rennie into one of our logo tees. These chics rock!

The girls with the other Mayor Willie.

DJ Echo 5 smoovin the beats for the Pixie Cross race.

Even at a down home local race like D-ville, EC still get the girls.

Big Bike Mecca - Whistler BC

Matt and Mitch headed to Whistler for our annual pilgrimage at the beginning of July. We met up with a huge posse of heckdudes totaling 14 at one point.

We flew in on a Saturday night and hit up Fromme on the North Shore of Vancouver the next morning. We slapped the bikes together in the parking lot of COVE BIKES...from boxes to full rides after a few turns of the allen key. Like a couple of pussies, we warmed up on Seventh Secret and Ladies Only, just to get our BC feet wet. As luck would have it, we ran into one of the NSMB riders on our traverse across the Baden Powell trail to Lower Ladies Only. He was kind enough to lead us down a killer unknown trail with steep rock faces, super smooth early season loam and a little gap jump to double s-berms. The local ripper had a tough time with the soft beat down lip of the jump and cased the landing pretty hard. After that display, we passed, after all it was only day one and no one wants to go home early.

Sunday night took us to the condo at Whistler and house full of already claimed beds. You gotta love it when there are 9 beds and 6 stinky dudes jockeying for position. We have a bunch of pics and loads more stories about the trip, so check back soon on this one.

CCCX #6

Once again, SF DIRTLAB brought the crew to CCCX in Toro Park, Monterey, California. We had a couple of racers in the hunt for the series champion title, Jonathan Clark and John Paul Albe. The crowd was a little thinner compared to some of the earlier races, likley due to the dry dusty conditions of the course and the finicky nature of the typical DH rider.



The people that skipped this race missed out on some unconventional fun...the chainless (coaster) DH race and the mass start pixie (16" wheels bikes) DH race.

Race highlights include Jonathan's 2nd place in Expert 19-34 and Mitch's 4th place in the same class. Mitch also took 1st in the chainless race, beating the nearest competitor by over 5 seconds...good times.

The SF DIRTLAB Chicas were in the house, getting post race interviews and spreading the love.

WTB graciously hooked us up with a 10x10 for the season and we returned the favor by preaching the gospel of their new Dissent and Prowler MX tires.