Race RECAP: Racer J @ 2021 California Dirt MTB series — Nevada City, CA.
My journey into competitive mountain biking
started in April of 2021. I signed up for the CA DIRT series XC race out in Nevada City, California. I was 230 lbs., trying to fix the things I didn’t like in the mirror. During a 50-mile ride of self-loathing-turned-self-love, my good friend “H” convinced me to sign up for a mountain bike race with him. H used to race XC MTB and Dual Slalom back in the early 2000s as a junior and in University. He even landed a few grassroots sponsorships from big names such as SRAM and RACE FACE. So that settled things; H would be my cycling athletic coach, and I would be the new blood bringing Joie de vivre to the sport of XC MTB. We quickly formed a plan of attack: technical skills training, endurance training, ride, ride, ride. The race was some time late June 20-somethings. It was still a couple of months away so there was time to train and time to tune the bikes. I was a new rider who was jumping back and forth between a titanium Merlin hardtail from the 90s and a 2013 Giant Reign all-mountain trail bike. H was an experienced racer who was choosing between his 00s Spooky Darkside and a 90s Klein Attitude. Either bike would be kitted out with full 3x9 XT and a black box SID rolling on Mavic CrossMAX wheels.
I learned how to climb up technical rock gardens and slide across muddy roots at Mt. Sutro in San Francisco. I tackled hairpins both up and down in Oakland’s Joaquin Miller Park. I learned berms and dropoffs and flow in Waterdog park (aka Hayden’s backyard). I trundled across the John Nicholas Trail in Saratoga. I put in my miles and did the work.
Much of the discussion during the training sessions was centered around which bike would be more appropriate for a modern XC race, considering H had not been in the scene for over 10 years and I have zero experience whatsoever. H was confident in the 26-inch hardtail and the aggressive terrain was no problem for him. I was much less confident in my decending abilities on the Merlin and found the equipment limitations of trying to race on a 3x8 XTR drivetrain and a Rockshox Judy from the 90s. You’ll notice that the Merlin even still has bar ends, along with a mismatching front disc brake and rear v-brake. Vintage equipment is tough to keep alive and I consumed my fair share of vintage XTR components in the 2 months of training. I decided to deepen my training and build confidence on the more modern 2013 Giant Reign and began tweaking the setup.
I experimented between XC racing tires like Schwalbe’s Racing Ray and downhill tires like Maxxis’ DHF on different course surfaces. Over the span of a month I found that I preferred the grip of the DHF in almost all situations, regardless of the energy loss from pedaling the knobs around. I spent time tuning the suspension’s air spring pressures to be just right. Then disaster struck.
In a series of bad luck events, Racer H snapped his derailleur
and then on another ride he snapped the frame.
So then Racer H got a new bicycle, the 2021 Scott Scale 940. I continued on with the Giant Reign, and June 26th was upon us.
2013 Giant Reign 26”
XT cranks — 34t wolftooth chainring
1-10x XT cassette with 40t Wolf tooth climbing gear
PNW externally routed dropper post
Maxxis DHF 2.35 x 26 tubeless w/ OrangeSeal
XT Wheels + Hubs
Shimano Saint and SLX brakes
Fox TALAS CTD
32 lbs.
I still remember the race. The start line was hilarious, several of us thought we were to set off with the High Schoolers and so jumped the start and had to be called back for a false start. Then there was the heat. I think the weather started out hot at 80 degrees Farenheit, and just got hotter. By the time we were midway through the race, temperatures had climbed up to 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
The start line was a 100-yard dash into the redwood forest straight into a series of freshly dug powder-dirt trails designed to sap the adrenaline and energy out of the people who got a good hole shot and start position. It then wound its way around a flat-looking off-camber section that somehow felt like it was a climb. The combination of the camber and trail direction was deceptive. Then straight into a flowy snake through a ditch that paralleled the road coming in. This part of the race was where much of the aggressive passing and positioning happened as there were so many alternate lines through the course. Then onto a fire road sprint where the pack stretched out. There were a series of beautiful uphill hairpins; one after another after another until the brain lost count and the lungs burned for air. At the top of the hairpins, the women’s XC racers started passing me on their beautiful hyperbikes. The ladies always get the best-painted bikes. Best colors. Then I got my first reward for climbing, the downhill flow of the Hoot Trail. This was the first time I had ever ridden a flow trail and I remember learning really quickly to scrub over the hills and tabletops because I couldn’t jump and land safely, I simply didn’t know how. But I distinctly remember the intuition that said — move the bike as if you are riding through a berm that exists in the space above the hump. Somehow that became the motion of scrubbing — riding an imaginary berm over a hump. Then just as soon as you started to have fun with the downhill, the course took a turn off the flow trail straight into an incredibly steep climb through a connector fire road which then continued into more climbing.
I remember crashing in a flat turn from simple over-speed; I remember cramping my legs at the final climb with the sweeper behind me on an E-MTB. I rode through the cramp and tore seized muscles. I forced my will over my pain and finished. I was the last rider to finish — but I finished and that’s what counts.