East Bay Dirt Classic

Twenty-six seconds. The amount of time it typically takes me to put my bibs on in the morning. That is the margin between first and second place currently, with Fun Ghi taking the title from James Kinney yesterday. There remains twenty six hours of racing…so I’m guessing we may see another attempt from a few people out there.

On the QOM side, Ekaterina Rakhmatulina continues to lead second place Sally Aldridge by over 12 minutes. I know there are a few other very fast individuals out there looking to test this mark within the next day. Keep an eye on this space.

We look forward to seeing many of you tomorrow. Scroll down to the previous post for details on the BBQ and award ceremony.

– Your friends at C510

On Saturday October 15th our annual East Bay Dirt Classic barbeque and awards presentation for all registered competitors kicks off at 12 PM. Top riders will be eligible for awards and there will be many other awards on hand from our sponsors for raffle winners.

Some important information about the barbeque:

• Date: Saturday October 15th, 2022
• Racing ends at 1 pm sharp. Any finishers completing the course after 1 pm will not be included on the leaderboard nor considered for awards.
• The barbeque will start and the kegs from our generous sponsors East Brother Beer Co and Fieldwork Brewing will be tapped at 12 PM.
• Awards and raffle winners will be announced at 2 pm.
• Address: 5656 Weaver Place, Oakland, CA 94619
• PARKING: PLEASE DO NOT PARK ON WEAVER PLACE OR DENTON PLACE. Please park along Skyline BLVD and walk down Weaver Place to the barbeque.
• Feel free to bring a bathing suit. There is a pool and hot tub.
• Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

The last rays of sun on the observation area above Bishop’s Walk signal the end of week one. What a week! As a recap, in the KOM competition James Kinney still holds a sizeable lead over new 2nd place holder Ben Arnold who has a 2 minute gap over Alex Peterson.

In the QOM competition, Ekaterina Rakhmatulina took over the top spot by a wide margin today. She had a crushing time last year as well and was on the podium at Wente back in June if I recall correctly. She holds a 12 minute gap over Sally Aldridge in 2nd and 17 minute lead over Rebecca Lewington in 3rd. Lots of time left in this competition, but great to see so many competitors signing up and getting after it.

We’d like to also take this time to thank our sponsors and remind everyone about the great prizes on offer this year. Thanks to our sponsors, some of our cyclists this year will receive:

• Mike’s Bikes gift certificates and clothing
• East Brother Beer Co. beer
• R&A Cycles bike service
• Fieldwork Brewing beer
• Obsidian Ridge wine
• Sports Basement gift certificates
• GU sports nutrition gels
• Peak Design gear
• CAPO Cycling wear

Enjoy your time out there on the bike in our beautiful local parks. And remember, your participation helps to support the Alameda County Community Food Bank! Hope to see many of your at the post-event party and award presentation next Saturday, October 15th!

– Your friends at C510

Here we are nearing the end of week one and there are two surprises at this point:

1) I don’t have an inbox full of emails about the difficulty of route-finding. I hope this means that most have found the route without too much difficulty. It could also be that I have mail-forward set up to send my emails to Hightowah during the riding period. Either way, I hope some of the details sent out this past week have helped.

2) That guy James Kinney is fast. I mean we may actually have a race on our hands this year. He bested the 2nd place time by 10 minutes. Now I know one sure thing about this event having watched it play out over the last couple of years: Fun Ghi will be throwing down some time in the next week. But he now has a high mark to shoot for. Well done James! There is rumored to be at least one other very fast cyclist jumping in next week to keep things interesting and I’m sure there are many others we have yet to meet who are getting ready to give it a go. Good thing I didn’t etch Fun Ghi’s name onto the belt buckle yet this year…

On the Women’s side, Piedmont High School coach Sally Aldridge holds the fastest time currently. Knowing Sally she’ll be out on course again in the next few days besting her current fast time.

Once again the weather looks prime for some great riding this weekend. The nighttime fog has decreased the dust so the dirt should be primo. Do your homework on the course and head out there and have fun!

– Your friends at C510

We’re closing out a gorgeous weekend and a number of cyclists took advantage of the weather to get out and give the 2022 EBDC course a go. For those interested in seeing the 2022 East Bay Dirt Classic Leaderboard, please click here.

In our last post I mentioned the tricky route finding parts. Despite being afraid of dirt, our tech wunderkind got out on a mountain bike this weekend and shot some videos of the sections I mentioned in my last post. I am including them below.

Segment 3: Badger’s Bump: This video shows the merge from the upper Sinawik Loop down onto the lower Sinawik trail and the end of the segment with the sharp left turn up to the observation area above Bishop’s Walk. The segment ends just before the quick left turn uo to the observation area.

Video of last 1/4 of segment 3, Badger’s Bump

Segment 4: Angry Ray’s Revenge: The first video shows the exit from Upper Palos Colorado, staying right after the final left turning switchback and exiting Upper Palos directly into the staging area where Big Trees and Sequoia Bayview meet.

Video of top of Upper Palos Colorado trail portion of Segment 4, Angry Ray’s Revenge

This next video shows the necessary left turn (instead of going up and right) midway through the Big Trees trail. Granted our fearless tech wunderkind stopped immediately after the left turn to chat with some other dirt fiend, but after 30 seconds or so of gabbing, he continues on towards the windy singletrack of the rest of Big Trees. Hopefully you get the point and can forgive the camerman.

Video of Big Trees trail left turn at intersection midway through the trail on Segment 4, Angry Ray’s Revenge

Route finding has been one of the difficulties every year and we hope these detailed explanations along with the videos and segments (which you can “favorite” and set as live segments in Strava) help reduce some of the challenges of route finding.

– Your friends from C510

Two things I heard today from C510 brethren who rode the course: 1)There is a lot of hard climbing. 2) Route finding on segments 3 and 4 are challenging, particularly on segment 4. So I’ll try to give as much detail for segments 3 and 4 as possible.

Segment 3 – Badger’s Bump is the upper Sinawik Loop in Joaquin Miller. It starts with a short steep loose climb and then settles into nice rolling singletrack. It merges with the lower Sinawik trail (BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS MERGE) heading toward the observation area at the top of Bishop’s Walk. Rather than pop out onto the road early and roll on tarmac to the observation area, follow Sinawik trail a little further to the abrupt uphill left turn which exits directly at the observation area.

Segment 4 – Angry Ray’s Revenge climbs Upper Palos Colorado Trail BUT (AND THIS IS IMPORTANT) near the top at the last left turning switchback, stay right (as opposed to continuing on the last bit of Upper Palos Colorado which exits a little further down Sequoia Bayview) and exit directly into the parking area/confluence of Sequoia Bayview and Big Trees and continue directly on to Big Trees. On Big Trees about midway through, there is an option to turn right uphill (shorter Big Trees version) or turn left downhill through some more windy singletrack (longer Big Trees version). AT THIS JUNCTION GO LEFT AND DOWN STAYING ON THE LONGER BIG TREES SEGMENT INCLUDING MORE WINDY SINGLETRACK.

I hope these descriptions help clear things up a bit. Please do look at the segments on Strava and ensure the above makes sense and download the course and “favorite” the segments to help with guidance along the way. Ultimately please be safe and have fun out there!

The 2022 East Bay Dirt Classic 2 week window opens tomorrow, October 1st! Weather should be perfect for testing the legs and the lungs with mid-70s temps for both Saturday and Sunday. If you haven’t registered yet, please find the registration link here. There are some great prizes on offer this year from our sponsors, including donations from GU, R&A Cycles, Mikes Bikes, East Brother Brewing, Obsidian Ridge Winery, Sports Basement and Peak Design! Many thanks to this year’s sponsors!

Year after year this event helps to raise money and awareness for the members of Alameda County who are food insecure. All of the net proceeds from the EBDC registration and our annual C510 fundraiser go to our friends at the Alameda County Community Food Bank. So thank you once again for your participation in the East Bay Dirt Classic and your help in supporting those members of our community who are most in need.

Get out there and enjoy the riding and share the stoke! – Your friends at C510

Registration is now open! Please click here to register for the 2022 East Bay Dirt Classic.

Also, we have been super fortunate to get some great awards from our sponsors for this year’s edition including magnums of wine from Obsidian Ridge, gift certificates and jackets from Mike’s Bikes, three full tune ups from R&A Cycles in Walnut Creek just to name a few!

Registration for 2022 East bay Dirt Classic: https://eastbaydirtclassic.com/registration/

We are less than two weeks from the start of the 2022 East Bay Dirt Classic! The course is set and covers very little of the prior two years’ courses. I rode it on a hardtail with 100 mm fork and Diamond rode it on an Open with gravel tires and we both agreed having 1) some suspension makes parts of the course more comfortable and 2) having a sizeable granny gear will make certain segments more manageable. The summary description of this year’s course is “steep and bumpy”. There is some technical singletrack this year, including Cinderella in Joaquin Miller (not a timed segment) and a technical descent down West Ridge in Redwood Park (not a timed segment). Both of these sections are heavily rutted and at times rocky. Please be very careful on these sections and dismount and walk if unsure.

This year’s course is 24 miles with 4,000′ of climbing. Click here to preview it in Strava. As in years past, there are five timed segments (listed below), four of which are climbing, one of which is more rolling singletrack. Please observe proper trail etiquette at all times – slow speed and yield to hikers, come to a complete stop for equestrians and call out when passing.

2022 East Bay Dirt Classic Segments

1. Lone Wolf’s Walk – Mostly gradual uphill on fire road through Chabot on the Grass Valley trail. It starts just as you turn left onto Grass Valley and ends prior to the cattle gate. It’s a good warm up. Badger would probably call it an amuse-bouche.
2. Pants’ Party – All blame for this one (and most other things) should be directed to Donger. For those who remember fondly Snake’s Slither from last year, you should appreciate this segment as well. Very steep at the start, it mellows out a bit after the first quarter. It starts at the turn off Redwood Road onto Montiero Trail, turns left onto Dunn and then continues onto Graham all the way to Redwood Bowl.
3. Badger’s Bump – This segment follows the Sinawik Loop Trail in Joaquin Miller. It starts with a short, steep, loose climb and then settles into a fairly short singletrack section. Be aware of your speed, as there is a drop off to the right. Near the end there is a steep descent which can be loose, so please be careful of your speed. At the bottom of the descent it merges with Sinawik trail, so caution and attention are advised as other hikers and cyclists may be on the Sinawik trail. The segment ends just before the sharp left up to the sharp glass at the observation point. Take a drink and take in the view. You’re over halfway done.
4. Angry Ray’s Revenge – Angry Ray has been seeking revenge for some time and the cows have finally come home to roost. This section starts a bit steep and technical with some roots and tight switchbacks as it climbs upper Palos Colorado. Watch out for cyclists descending. At the final switchback it’s important to stay right (as opposed to continuing on to the end of Upper Palos) and exit at the confluence of Palos, Sequoia Bayview and Big Trees. But don’t stop yet. Continue straight onto Big Trees (remaining on the longer Big Trees course – staying left midway through) until the top at the parking area. The segment finishes just before the parking area.
5. Diamond’s Downfall – Diamond doesn’t like steep climbs. Said so himself on Saturday. Could have fooled me. Anyway, this steep short climb starts at the trailhead of Macdonald and ends once the trail levels out. You don’t need to hammer all the way to the land bridge. Spin it out and rest the legs across the flats and the land bridge to Parkridge Drive.

The registration site will be live this week and opening day is Saturday October 1st. All net proceeds from the registration and our fundraising around the EBDC go to our friends at the Alameda County Community Food Bank. Thanks to all of you who have participated and given so generously over the years. We hope to see you again this year!

The time is quickly approaching. The 2022 East Bay Dirt Classic kicks off the morning of Saturday October 1st, and the 2 week window to ride the course will close on Saturday October 15th at 1 pm.

We have been tinkering with this year’s course and I plan to ride it Saturday morning and will post it this weekend. A little preview of what we’re thinking: we’re anticipating roughly 25-30 miles of mostly dirt, encompassing parts of Chabot, Redwood and this year for the first time, Joaquin Miller. We will have 4-5 segments ranging from rolling to climbing, with two of them in Joaquin Miller to mix things up a bit. The route and registration link for the EBDC will be up and ready beginning next week.

What’s that? You like beer? It does tend to mix well with dirt riding. We’re stoked to announce prize donations from local brewery East Brothers Brewing as well as a keg they’re donating for the party on October 15th. We have already had generous prize donations from Capo cycling and Sports Basement and are anticipating new prizes from other sponsors this week.

Finally, straight out of West Texas, we have two custom 2022 East Bay Dirt Classic belt buckles for one male and one female competitor (see last year’s edition below). More to come this weekend!