Inaugural Trans-North California Bikepacking Race Complete

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Inaugural Trans-North California Bikepacking Race Complete Mendocino, California- October 18, 2014- The Inaugural Trans North California bikepacking race took place this week. The 400 mile race started at 8:00 AM on Saturday, October 11 in Reno, NV, and ended in Mendocino, CA, with 14 participants. The race was organized by Doug Fredrick of Napa, CA and Dan Hensley of Oakland, CA. In the standard format of bikepacking races, the Trans North California is an unsupported race with the riders supplying their own food and camping along the way. The course includes pavement, gravel roads, and 75 miles of single track, going through the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, the Sierra Foothills, the Central Valley, and the Coastal Range. Cities and towns along the route are Camptonville, Oroville, Maxwell, Lodoga, Potter Valley, and Ukiah, Other points of interest along the way are Stampede Reservoir, Tahoe National Forest, New Bullards Bar Reservoir, Oroville Wildlife Area, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, East Park Reservoir, Lake Mendocino, and Mendocino Headlands State Park.

Kurt Sandiforth of Nevada City, CA, won the race with an unofficial time of 49 hours and 8 minutes. Alice Drobna of Bend, OR, won the single speed category and placed second overall with a time of 68 hours. Blake Bockius, of Truckee, CA, was disqualified after getting off the course, but would have finished in less than 48 hours. “I pushed on and on at times wondering where the hell I was going and other times loving the fun and swoopy trail in my giggly delirium. It was quite a race,” said Sandiforth a bikepacking triple crown finisher. Drobna, who competed in the Tour Divide this year, compared the Trans North California to the Tour Divide course: “My worst, absolute worst three days on the Divide, where I was hitting rock bottom, was nothing compared to this. The course is so hard, it takes everything you have and then some.” Drobna suggested the Trans North California as a training race for the Tour Divide. “If people are getting ready for something, this is the way to get ready. This will get you ready for anything.”

Doug Frederick is a project manager for a retail construction company who has been mountain biking for over 20 years and has resided in Napa, CA for close to two years. Dan Hensley is a former bike shop owner with over 20 years experience in mountain biking who resides in Oakland, CA. The Trans North California race will be an annual event taking place in October. Contact: Doug Frederick douglasbfredrick@gmail.com 516-426-9780 ###