Summer Passion Trail Bikes News! Issue #3

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This week's Topics:

1. Female Friday Fandango July 11th
2. Wednesday Wride: Big Bikes, Dirt Jumps, Bay Trail, Oyster Shells, Flip-flops, Squirt Guns
3. July 19-21: Downieville trip still has a few spots available
4. ROMP Donner Lake Trailcare and Campout Par TAY!!! Aug 8-10
5. Downieville Classic Race and Party July 13-14
6. Northstar has some great Giant bikes for rent (we do too)




1. Female Friday Fandango July 11th, 6:30-10:30pm

Women of the Dirt, unite! All ladies are invited to come to Passion Trail Bikes this Friday for an awesome good time with just the girls. We shall shred some sweet singletrack, get sketchy learning some madd skillz, or just pedal sedately about the park. Your choice! This month we will offer a couple of beginner-oriented rides, so send your sweetie to us so we can show her how much fun a mountain bike can be!

It's true, women have their own style when it comes to getting out on the trail. Offering encouragement instead of smack-talk, waiting and letting the sweep rider catch her breath before taking off again, and don't forget dressing well and smelling nice too.

We're not sure if it's the best part of the day, but another awesome thing about Female Friday is that the boys cook and make margaritas, while the women ride, so we get to come back to a great party on the portch, and hang out and, you know, talk. The menu this month is Italian, and Jay is looking up recipes for tiramisu. Charles has given the lime squeezer a drivetrain overhaul, so we should be good to go!

Come join us and get to meet some awesome women who love bikes! Please remember to bring two X chromosomes per participant! Rides will form into groups to heat out at 6:30, and we should get back by sunset, around 8:30, or a little before or after. Then eating, drinking, and making merry. The shop will be open too, with a skeleton crew if you need to make a purchase.

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2. Wednesday Wride: Big Bikes, Dirt Jumps, Bay Trail, Oyster Shells, Flip-flops, Squirt Guns

Note: The new Weekly ride page will be updated weekly on Tuesdays for the next day's Weekly Wednesday Ride. For the long-winded version of the Wride Write-up, with all the important details, please refer to this page on our website. If your questions aren't answered there, you can also email us for info at info@passiontrailbikes.com.

Sunset is at 8:29pm this Wednesday 07/09/08.

Special this week: Big Bikes, Dirt Jumps, Bay Trail, Oyster Shells, Flip-flops, Squirt Guns . Scott is bringing his big bike and armor. Patty is avoiding hills and heading for the water. Will these rides converge? It's hard to tell. We suspect Scott will be heading over to do shuttles at Carlmont, but there are actually two dirt jump areas near the shop, and Patty's ride will pedal along the paved Bay Trail to "Shells", a jump area in Foster City, where she plans to dunk Reba in the bay. Might even be a sea breeze and a few degrees cooler along the water. We're pretty sure the flip-flops are for hanging out afterwards and drinking and playing with the squirt guns, but you never know with Perez and Sully.

Also, there will be the usual social rides on the twisty narrow singletrack that makes Waterdog famous. All rides start pedaling from the shop: Passion Trail Bikes, 415 Old County Road, Belmont, CA 94002 650-620-9798

The EARLY rides group will go out at 6:15 PM.

The REGULAR rides group will go out at 6:30 PM.

The FBG or Fat Bottomed Girl ride will go out at 6:10 PM. This week Patty sez "I ain't climbing in the heat, see you out on the Bay Trail."

For those that can't sneak out of work on time, or are habitually late, we will be offering a STRAGGLERS ride group that goes out at 6:45 PM.

Please bring a blinky light for the back of your bike, and a white handlebar light for the front.

All groups will meet back here at Passion Trail Bikes shortly before dark (about 8:45pm) for the usual story telling & beverage enjoyment. We will have stuff for the BBQ along with some carb laden side dish, chips and fatty snacks and EANABS to pair up with the Devil's Canyon Brewery offerings. We will hang out until about 10pm, so come on down, even if you can't make the ride! Passion Parties are better with YOU in the mix!

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3. July 19-21: Downieville trip still a few spots still available

Our summer calendar is filling up. The first of two weekends we have reserved at the Riverside Inn in Downieville is just a few weeks away, July 19-21 Come join us as we sample some awesome Sierra singletrack, assisted by some elevation gaining shuttles provided by Yuba Expeditions. The main group will be heading up early Saturday AM, riding DH Saturday, doing an EPIC ride Sunday, and something easier on Monday, coming home Monday night. Trust us, a three day weekend with Monday off is AWESOME. Options include adjusting your schedule with a room added on Friday or Monday night.

The weekend will be fun, casual, and supported with logistics and meals. Given that most of the dining establishments are iffy these days in terms of actually being open, Patty will be doing a bunch of cooking, and serving several meals on the deck overlooking the Downie River. Also providing breakfast and sandwich makin's. And on Monday we will have a room reserved just for showers and changing prior to returning to the Bay Area, so it adds a great relaxing element to the end of the weekend.

To secure a spot we require a $100 deposit to claim your space for the weekend. Send Patty an email at patty@passiontrailbikes.com to let her know of your intentions. Depending on which options you choose, (shared vs. private room, 2 vs. 3 nights) the trip costs between $195 and $475 per person for the entire weekend with meals, lodging, and shuttles included, depending on how many days and what accommodations and shuttles you choose. Note that we can accommodate non-riding partners, vegetarian food, and other special needs.

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4. ROMP Donner Lake Trailcare and Campout Par TAY!!! Aug 8-10

ROMP's prez Josh Moore stops in at Passion pretty often, and we caught this notice he posted to the ROMP email list:
August Tahoe Mountain Biking Trip (August 8-10 /Fri-Sun) It's a trail work and ride weekend that we are coordinating with several other local clubs - MBOSC, ROMP, FATRAC, BTCEB, and BONC.

There is a ride scheduled for Fri afternoon, trail work Sat morning and early afternoon, ride Sat afternoon, and an epic ride Sun. The plan for the weekend is as follows:

Friday afternoon: Sawtooth Ridge Ride 3PM (Truckee - fun trail that is SS friendly)
Saturday: Trailwork 9AM-2PM Glacier Way to Drifter Hut segment of the Donner Lake Rim Trail. This will be a new section of singletrack! Dirty Harry Ride 3PM
Sunday: 9AM Epic Ride - Hole in the Ground plus Donner Lake Rim Trail

We have reserved camp sites for Friday and Saturday at Donner Memorial State Park. Some people are planning to start our weekend on Wed Aug 6 - some of us want to get more riding in Tahoe..... For more info and to reserve a campsite, contact Josh Moore mtbikes@gmail.com. back to table of contents


5. Downieville Classic Race and Party July 13-14


Every year, the guys at Yuba host one of the most important races of the year: the Downieville Classic as a benefit for the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship. We'd like to encourage people to go, and race if they like and spots are still open, or just hang out for the fun atmosphere in town. We aren't sure, but we think the River Jump World Campionships might be the best part. You might want to go just so you can decide for yourself.

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6. Northstar has some great Giant bikes for rent (we do too)

A whole bunch of our customers have come back telling stories about a great day up at Northstar at Tahoe, the only lift-assisted mountain bike park within a reasonable drive of the Bay Area. We wanted to let you know that Northstar offers Giant Bikes for rent, including the Giant Glory, Reign, and Trance. They also rent full-face helmets and armor if you'd like to test your limits up on the slopes of the high Sierra. They also have some nice hiking trails, so you can bring a non-riding partner to enjoy the beauty of the woods.

Giant is running a sweepstakes right now, called the Maestro Mayhem, to encourage people to try and buy a Giant bike with the Maestro rear suspension technology. Enter and you could win a 5 day vacation at Northstar!

If you would like to rent a bike from Passion Trail Bikes to take up to the Sierras, give us a call at 650-620-9798, or drop Daniel an email daniel@passiontrailbikes.com. We have a couple different models to choose from, and our two-day rentals are a bit cheaper than the rate you'd pay on the slopes, plus we will set your suspension and fit the bike to your body weight and proportions so you'll have a great time. We also offer Specialized and Maverick bikes for rent, which you can't get up at Northstar.

Here are a couple pics to give you a feel for what awaits you up at Northstar, courtesy of L.G. Brown, who posted these and more on MTBR:

The mountain at Northstar has a variety of trails available.

The bermed downhill run has sprinklers to keep the dust down

Man made stunts and technical trail features pepper the trails

There are a few "Skills Development Areas" where you can practice your moves and get your groove

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Happy Trails, the PTB crew
Charles, Patty, Berry, John, Bret, Sterling, Daryl, Daniel, Peter, Reba and Buster

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