Video: The Dirty Sanchez Enduro
The Dirty Sanchez Enduro is a bucket list, once-in-your-lifetime type of event. Held on private property in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the race encapsulates everything a mountain biker could want out of a weekend of racing. Trails that mix natural, steep terrain together with groomed berms and screaming fast rhythm sections, a select crew of really, really good people, barbeques, beer, bonfires, RC cars, hecklers, and one helluva time in the woods. The twist to this event is that's it's private, and with limited spots available getting an invite is a pretty special affair that pits fast-as-heck pros alongside local California rippers.
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 Shuttle anyone? Practice day was picture perfect; the dirt here is the kind you dream of, that makes that velcro sound when laying into a corner. Shuttle vehicles run us up and down the mountain all day. |
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| Practice was carefully scheduled, and sometimes a particular track was only open for an hour, so racers had to check in constantly before selecting a training run. |
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| Teal Stetson Lee during practice, getting far, far away from her XC roots. |
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| Ron Sanchez |
Ron Sanchez is perhaps a godfather to the local mountain bikers of his area and quite possibly one of the best dads out there. In 2009, with the permission of the local land owner, Ron took it upon himself to start building trails for his son Casey, who was racing for the Northstar Giant DH team at the time and needed somewhere more local to ride.
 | The year was 2009 ish. When I started building I didn't even own it, I had "permission" from the developer. I bought it when the developer went under. If that had gone through, there would be 70 houses up on top. - Ron Sanchez |
Instead of cookie cutter homes lies 370 hectars of Ron and Casey's creations.
We head to town for a pre-race party at the Ol' Republic Brewery in Nevada City.
Jerome and Marco Osborne mix it up with Mallory Burda at the pre-race party.
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| A steady overnight rain storm changed the previous day's tacky dirt into sticky clay, promising to make racing a challenge. Enough so that one track was eliminated from the race and shuttles were suspended - the roads were too steep and too slick for the shuttle vehicles, meaning riders were going to be doing things the old fashioned way, using pedal power from the bottom up. |
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| Jerome Clementz's race bike at the Dirty Sanchez. He'd been preparing for the Sanchez in the lead-up with a custom designed beard and moustache combo for the race |
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| Bacon anyone? The Cannondale pits were serving up the good stuff. |
Marco Osborne adjusting the angle of the dangle.
Conditions on day 1 saw Jason Moeschler busting out the mud spikes.
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| Anthony Medaglia getting low on run one. |
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| Mark Weir sudsing up on the portable beer garden that accompanied the action. Weir finds it more fun to assist at the race so he can relax and enjoy himself... |
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| Joanna Petterson tackling "Axe Grinder," a track that the racers ran blind. |
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| Bullwinkle taking a toll on Dane Petersen. |
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| Jason First from Sedona's Over the Edge bike shop getting his Sanchez going on "the Godfather" trail. |
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| Sticky does not even begin to describe the clay out at the Sanchez. Mason Bond resorted to beating his tire with a stick to clear the tread blocks. Other racers just scraped off as much soil as they could. |
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| The Sanchez wasn't just serving up muddy bikes. Oh no; there was also a healthy diet of fast, flowy trails to be had as well. |
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| "Ass Slap Alley" was a short uphill along a barb wire fence line that didn't give the racers much room to escape the hearty ass slaps being dealt out by a gauntlet of heckers. Casey Sanchez giving Mason Bond a cheeck full of cheer. |
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| Casey was in the spirit track side the whole time. |
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| WTB's Jason Moeschler had Jerome dropping in behind him each run. The heat must have worked though as JC didn't catch Moeschler once and he landed 9th overall. |
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| Mark Weir was in prime heckling position on the rock garden in the Godfather trail. |
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| No hander, sure, why not. |
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| Fox Racing's original soul racer Ariel Lindsley took a very respectable 14th place. |
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| Devinci's Mason Bond coming in hot for 6th place. |
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| Once the bonfire was lit it was time for an RC car rally session. |
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| Late night campfire shenanigans. |
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| The rider meeting on day two was decidedly drier, but the red slop had now turned to a thick clay. The side-by-sides were able to make it up the hill today, so riders were shuttled through the final six stages. |
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| Day two started with a harsh wake up call: Cupcake. |
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| Ben Cruz dropping into the top of Vigilante. Lower down was nothing but pure, unadulterated chaos, but the top portion had some rim wrecking potential as well. |
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| Jerome Clementz pinning it through the lower section of Vigilante. Vigilante is a vicious pit bull of trail--it's every bit as nasty as the hardest trails to be found on the EWS. |
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| How, we will never know, but Marco Osborne rode this nightmare out and took 2nd place overall, with everything still intact. |
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| Smith Optic's Mallory Burda was ripping both days, but being a good Samaritan she stopped to check on fallen fellow racer Becky Gardiner during one of the stages. Mal lost her rank in the race, but her stock went up in the good karma fund. |
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| Rachel Throop slamming into the wall rides. |
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| It may not be the PA Pro GRT, but the Dirty Sanchez brings out its own brand of hecklers. |
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| Duncan Mason, 15th place for the 15-year-old local. |
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| Jon Buckell, 4th place. |
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| Mason Bond charging hard on the entrance to Red Beard. |
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| Post champagne dousing, the men's podium--a Cannondale/WTB sweep with Ben Cruz in 3rd, Jerome Clementz in first, and Marco Osborne in second. Cruz had proved he can contend with the big dogs on the EWS, but Marco Osborne was only 16 seconds back from Clementz, Sure, he knows the tracks, but that kind of result shows the promise this kid has. |
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| The women's podium: Teal Stetson-Lee (3). Joanna Petterson (1), and Rachel Throop (2). |
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| Jerome was so stoked on the trails he donated his stage win "Primes" back to the Ranch for trail building. |
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| At the end of it all, food and beer were provided--hot dogs and some of the Old Republic Brewery's finest. |
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| So what does Ron decree you have to do to get an entry into the Dirty Sanchez Enduro? |
| You'd either better be fast, or you'd better be entertaining. - Ron Sanchez. |
The Dirty Sanchez runs on the support of WTB, Cannondale, Camelback, Royal Racing, Smith Optics, the Ol' Republic Brewery, Gu, Fox, Modus Sports Group and the Sanchez family.
Additional photography: kingmanphotography.com
Words by Rachelle Frazer and Colin Meagher.
MENTIONS: @wilderness-trail-bikes, @Cannondale, @SmithOptics, @meagerdude
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P.S. that trail builder deserves "dad of the year" award by the looks of those trails he built
my first mtb race (30 yrs ago) doesn't even come Close to this one