Monday, March 27, 2023

Nifty Ten Fifty 2023

2023 Update:

Please check for the latest updates:

3.31.23 I recon'd the course today. Everything is open with the exception of lower Wildcat (SPDR to I-Point). That said, it is my understanding that Wildcat is open to bikes. While I cannot in good faith send the ride that way, anyone wishing to do the standard old course (descending Wildcat) is more than welcome to do so and will not be docked or DQ'd from results. The alternate course comes into play after Climb #2 Marin Ave. The old course goes LEFT from top of Marin on Grizlly Peak Ave to Wildcat, descends Wildcat, right on Camino Pablo (SPDR), then right and up El Toyonal/Lomas Cantadas to Steam Trains. The new course instead goes RIGHT at the top of Marin to Steam Trains, then descends Lomas Cantadas/El Toyonal. At the bottom (Camino Pablo) riders turn around and ascend El Toyonal and are now back on the old course. How you choose to do this section is up to you, and nobody will be DQ'd. However, any riders who choose the new course MUST descend all the way to the bottom of El Toyonal at Camino Pablo. Not doing so will earn you a DQ. Please note that there is a lot of wetness, bad roads, debris, etc. Please exercise caution on the descents, it's slippery out there!

3.30.23 NOTE THAT LOWER WILDCAT IS CLOSED. I WILL MODIFY THE COURSE AND ADD BELOW. UPLOAD THE NEW COURSE ON 3.31.23. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE LATEST VERSION. CURRENTLY IT IS V1.0.

Sportsbasement has chimed in and is offering a 20% discount for Nifty participants. PLUS... overall winner of Nifty (Age/Gender adjusted) will receive a $50 Gift Certificate from Sportsbasement. I will check out the course today to make sure everything is open. This does NOT affect the Nifty Ten Fifty. If there are any issues with Nifty Ten Fifty course, they will be reported here.

$50 Gift Certificate for overall Nifty Champ!



Nifty Ten Fifty will be held on Apri 1, 2023! We are back to the old venue at Cerrito Vista Park, 950 Pomona Avenue El Cerrito, CA. Registration opens at 8:30 AM. Registration closes at 9 AM. Riders can roll anytime after registering. There is an optional non-mandatory $5 donation to participate. Juniors must have an adult signed waiver. Results are virtual from Strava. In order to participate in results you must sign the waiver and you must upload your Strava file by 6PM day of the event. For the TL:DR crowd, here is the Nifty Ten Fifty 2023 SPECIAL NO WILDCAT V1.0. Upload this to your Garmin and show up and ride. For any riders wishing to do the old route and travel the CLOSED Wildcat Canyon, then this is your route: Nifty Ten Fifty OLD ROUTE w/ WILDCAT


Please read the information below carefully:

 I will report on any road closures or issues before the event.

 The Strava KOM for Thorndale will include ONLY Thorndale Dr. It will NOT include the uphill portions of Thornhill, Sobrante, and Elverton. Other Strava KOM's are Marin Ave, and Claremont/Grizzly all the way to Vollmer Peak.

 Please be courteous to other participants, to pedestrians, and to motorists. You will encounter many hikers on the climb to Vollmer Peak. Please warn hikers of your presence, and pass slowly and carefully.

 Do upload the course below to your Garmin. Upload your file to Strava by 6:00 PM on April 1st in order to be included in the results.

 Be sure to upload the rwgps course below to your Garmin. You may also wish to print out a route sheet. You can do this from the link for the gps file.

The Nifty Ten Fifty will occur on Saturday, April 1, 2023. The Nifty Ten Fifty will again travel the newer route that was first run in 2015. Please scroll down for information about the event. Riders will self guide on the newer, improved, easier to follow course.

Do not download the 2014 course. Use the new 2023 course below. Services are available after 7 of the 10 climbs, at mile 41.6 in Montclair, so do bring food for several hours, and some cash to resupply. There is plenty of water on the course in the East Bay Regional Park system.

Here is the 2023 Ride With GPS course,  NIFTY TEN FIFTY 2023 SPECIAL EDITION NO WILDCAT

Check out this video done by Chris Leavel at Peloton Magazine about the Nifty Ten Fifty. You may need to sign in with a free Vimeo account to view the video.

We will have a Strava KOM challenge on Marin avenue, Thorndale, and Claremont/Grizzly/Vollmer Peak, the final climb of the day, and the largest elevation gain. Marin Avenue KOM and QOM will track the best climbers with fresh legs on steep terrain. Vollmer KOM and QOM will go the riders with more endurance, those who have paced well over the day.

If the full Nifty seems a bit daunting, consider the Nifty Lite which is about 42 miles and 7,000'. Still a tough ride, with some difficult climbing. It's also perfectly OK to come out and ride as many climbs as you like, then leave the course and head home. Here is the Nifty Lite 2018 Course.

Do read What is the Nifty Ten Fifty and Nifty Ten Fifty FAQ.

You can also read the New Nifty Ten Fifty Ride Description, a new, fully updated description for 2015 and beyond!
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Monday, May 30, 2022

Nifty Mixty 2022 Results and other Banter

Kristen V takes a break in a neutral section before crushing the next Sector. Consistent riding all day led to her repeating the feat of becoming Nifty Mixty Champ!

Announcing the overall Nifty Mixty Champ!

Results are determined using age/gender compensation so that all riders are on an even playing field. Our 1st and 2nd place riders are both former Nifty Mixty Champs. But this time, it was Kristen V's stellar and consistent riding that led her to victory. Jennie Phillips was a close second. Placings in each of the 6 timed sectors are added up and one "throwout" score is allowed. So your score is the sum of your best placings in 5 of the 6 Sectors. Lowest score wins. 

Four riders scored in the top 5 on every Sector, those being Kristen V,  Jennie Phillips,  John G, and Brian Fessenden. Scroll below to see overall times in each Sector as well as age/gender compensated times in each Sector. 

As far as overall results before age/gender adjustments, Alex Stevenson was the fastest rider on the course placing 1st or 2nd on every Sector except one. Spencer Ingels was second overall, giving Alex some "trouble" on a few of the Sectors. These two were followed by John G and Kristen V. In 5th overall was Chris Randall, a Nifty Ten Fifty vet riding his new, and very sweet Canyon Gravel Bike. Chris has the dubious distinction, or hard man distinction as it were, of completing the Nifty Ten Fifty with a low gear of 39/23 back in the day when we foolishly rode such gears... because that's what we did.

We had two 13 year old riders placing high in the standings, Alex T and Trail Badger. Two 14 year olds,  Carina N, and Juliet D finished mid pack in 13th and 16th place respectively. It's impressive that these young riders completed the entire course. But the fact that they did so while placing well in this field of very competent riders is inspiring! 

And an honorable mention goes to Todd Stiers, a borderline Clydesdale riding a CX bike with impossibly small (for this course) 33mm tires and tubes. He skillfully took care of his tires avoiding flats, while still finishing in the top 10!

Congrats to everyone who rode all or part!

Nifty Mixty overall final results (Age/Gender Compensated)

1Kristen V6
2J Piglet8
3Brian Fessenden9
4John G.17
5Paul McKenzie26
6Alex Stevenson28
7Chris Randall38
8Alex T39
9Spencer Ingels39
10Todd Stiers46
11Trail Badger58
12Joseph Sutton58
13Carina N66
14Vinson Fan72
15Michael Eberhard72
16Juliet D75
17El Coyote76
18Velo r00ster81
19I.Ride.Moore Or Less83
20Ian Kesterson83
21Patrick Garner102
22Ni Co102
23Esai Murillo104
24Wael Iskandar108
25Julia Bleier118
26Jonah F124
27Aslam Chagani131

Nifty Mixty is in the books! What a day! We had better than 50 riders show up at the start, many with no intention of completing the entire ride, but rather just to have fun and see how far they could get. I rode with the front group, which splintered early on after the 1st Sector. Super competent and fun group. I was the slowest rider in the group but was able to more or less hang as the pace was sensible on the neutral sections, and regroups followed every timed sector. The results show those who completed the entire course and signed the waiver at the start. But this represents only about half the riders at the start. I am happy that many come out to ride part of the event based on ability, fitness, or time constraint.

Weather was perfect for riding — Clear, sunny, and cool.

Please send your photos and a paragraph about your experience to macpaulster@gmail.com


The front group after completing Soaring Hawk


Style award goes to Aaron. Let's start with the bike. An 80's Centurian with Suntour Roller Cam brakes. My goodness me, what a classic. And dude can ride the thing! And what about the attire? Day Glo vest (no jersey), and JORTS! Aaron, you da man! It ain't the bike, it's the rider.


Overall Results (Before age/gender compensation):

Here are the overall results before age/gender compensation. Places were determined by adding together the placing on each segment, adding them up, then throwing out the rider's worst score. This is done to give riders a break in case of a mishap, flat, or whatever. Also to compensate for the occasional GPS glitch where a segment does not register. 

Alex Stevens is the undisputed champ. He had one segment where he was not at the top rung but even so, he is still by far the fastest rider. He placed 1st on 4 segments, 2nd on one, and 9th on his throw out. More notable mentions; Brian Fessenden, at 67 years old never placed below 9th on any segment. And Kristen V was a consistent force on every segment, never placing below 5th. Amazing performance from KV coming back from illness. 

John G. (3rd) never faltered... well actually he did. He took one wrong turn and I was able to correct it and deduct the time lost on his detour to give him a correct time score for the Sector. With that done, he was actually second fastest before the throwout, but Spencer Ingels, who had one "bad" Sector, placing 11th, was able to throw that out and move safely into 2nd. (Numbers in the right hand column are scores before the throwout).

And what about the youngsters? Well, Casey Warren, a.k.a. "Trail Badger" was 8th overall, finishing ahead of yours old and truly. Casey is just 13 years old and getting stronger every day. And Alex T. also 13, made a show for the young women, finishing 13th overall. Dang, son! Anyone who finished this event also deserves kudos.

1Alex Stevenson615
2Spencer Ingels1021
3John G.1216
4Kristen V1722
5Chris Randall2633
6Todd Stiers3246
7Brian Fessenden3746
8Joseph Sutton3857
9Trail Badger4354
10Paul McKenzie4961
11J Piglet5571
12Vinson Fan6382
13Michael Eberhard6686
14Alex T6895
15Velo r00ster7291
16I.Ride.Moore Or Less77102
17Julia Bleier98123
18Carina N100122
19Ni Co100126
20Juliet D101153
21Patrick Garner122152
22Jonah F126153


Results: Note that below are overall results for each timed sector. These are NOT age/gender compensated.

Sector 1 Wildcat Creek
1Spencer Ingels18:51
2Alex Stevenson19:21
3John G.19:33
4Todd Stiers20:08
5Kristen V20:16
6Vinson Fan20:34
7Chris Randall20:48
8Michael Eberhard20:48
9Brian Fessenden20:52
10Joseph Sutton21:39
11Wael Iskandar22:14
12Paul McKenzie22:26
13J Piglet23:00
14Trail Badger23:04
15El Coyote23:52
16Ni Co24:10:00
17Anne Spalding25:12:00
18Alex T25:38:00
19Velo r00ster25:53:00
20Aslam Chagani25:59:00
21Juliet D26:51:00
22Carina N26:53:00
23Jonah F26:54:00
24Esai Murillo26:55:00
25Julia Bleier27:00:00
26Dan Leaverton27:02:00
27I.Ride.Moore Or Less27:03:00
28Paul Hainsworth27:03:00
29Kelly Keller29:00:00
30Patrick Garner29:59:00

Sector 2 Sea View
1Alex Stevenson15:15
2John G.16:20
3Spencer Ingels16:37
4Kristen V16:48
5Paul Hainsworth18:02
6Chris Randall18:18
7Esai Murillo18:24
8Trail Badger18:26
9Brian Fessenden18:49
10Dan Leaverton19:57
11Paul McKenzie20:14
12Todd Stiers20:37
13Velo r00ster20:56
14J Piglet21:02
15Alex T21:31
16Joseph Sutton21:35
17Wael Iskandar21:47
18I.Ride.Moore Or Less22:01
19Anne Spalding22:07
20Vinson Fan22:24
21El Coyote22:50
22Ni Co23:11
23Juliet D23:42
24Patrick Garner24:50:00
25Michael Eberhard25:26:00
26Carina N25:46:00
27Jonah F26:25:00
28Aslam Chagani27:59:00
29Julia Bleier30:42:00
30Kelly Keller34:41:00


Sector 3 MacDonald
1Alex Stevenson7:29
2Spencer Ingels8:13
3Kristen V8:34
4John G.8:48
5Chris Randall9:19
6Todd Stiers9:41
7J Piglet9:57
8Joseph Sutton10:02
9Brian Fessenden10:06
10Trail Badger10:17
11Paul McKenzie10:31
12El Coyote10:41
13Michael Eberhard10:52
14Velo r00ster10:59
15Wael Iskandar11:00
16Alex T11:28
17Vinson Fan11:48
18I.Ride.Moore Or Less12:16
19Esai Murillo12:45
20Carina N12:58
21Ni Co13:00
22Patrick Garner13:04
23Juliet D13:05
24Anne Spalding13:08
25Aslam Chagani14:31
26Jonah F15:14
27Julia Bleier15:15

Sector 4 Soaring Hawk
1Alex Stevenson8:13
2Spencer Ingels8:35
3John G.8:45
4Kristen V8:56
5Chris Randall9:16
6Brian Fessenden9:55
7Todd Stiers9:57
8Joseph Sutton10:27
9Paul McKenzie10:37
10Trail Badger10:40
11J Piglet10:56
12I.Ride.Moore Or Less11:14
13Vinson Fan11:18
14Alex T11:24
15Michael Eberhard11:28
16El Coyote11:28
17Wael Iskandar11:38
18Velo r00ster12:07
19Carina N12:25
20Esai Murillo12:26
21Juliet D12:42
22Aslam Chagani12:59
23Ni Co13:02
24Julia Bleier14:21
25Patrick Garner14:32
26Jonah F15:17

Sector 5 Brandon Trail
1John G.10:16
2Kristen V11:01
3Todd Stiers11:42
4Brian Fessenden11:44
5Chris Randall11:48
6Joseph Sutton11:54
7Paul McKenzie11:57
8Trail Badger12:08
9Alex Stevenson12:23
10El Coyote12:43
11Spencer Ingels12:55
12Alex T13:04
13I.Ride.Moore Or Less13:09
14Vinson Fan14:16
15Michael Eberhard14:22
16J Piglet15:05
17Esai Murillo16:26
18Ni Co16:35
19Carina N16:37
20Juliet D16:37
21Aslam Chagani16:40
22Wael Iskandar16:46
23Velo r00ster17:02
24Jonah F17:04
25Patrick Garner18:48
26Julia Bleier20:04


Sector 6 Graham Trail
1Alex Stevenson5:23
2Spencer Ingels5:59
3John G.6:05
4Kristen V6:32
5Chris Randall7:17
6Joseph Sutton7:19
7Trail Badger7:20
8Velo r00ster7:24
9Brian Fessenden7:40
10J Piglet7:41
11Paul McKenzie7:49
12Alex T7:58
13Vinson Fan8:17
14Todd Stiers8:19
15Michael Eberhard8:26
16El Coyote8:31
17I.Ride.Moore Or Less8:40
18Esai Murillo9:04
19Ian Kesterson9:07
20Carina N9:10
21Anne Spalding9:36
22Juliet D9:45
23Ed Kupa9:52
24Ni Co10:48
25Julia Bleier11:08
26Patrick Garner11:31
27Jonah F11:52




Age/Gender Compensated Sector Results:

Sector 1 Wildcat Creek
1J Piglet
2Kristen V
3Brian Fessenden
4John G.
5Paul McKenzie
6Todd Stiers
7Chris Randall
8Michael Eberhard
9Spencer Ingels
10Alex Stevenson
11Alex T
12Joseph Sutton
13Carina N
14Vinson Fan
15Juliet D
16Trail Badger
17El Coyote
18Ni Co
19Wael Iskandar
20Julia Bleier
21Velo r00ster
22Patrick Garner
23I.Ride.Moore Or Less
24Ian Kesterson
25Jonah F
26Aslam Chagani
27Esai Murillo

Sector 2 Sea View
1Kristen V
2J Piglet
3John G.
4Brian Fessenden
5Alex Stevenson
6Paul McKenzie
7Alex T
8Chris Randall
9Spencer Ingels
10Trail Badger
11Esai Murillo
12Juliet D
13Todd Stiers
14Velo r00ster
15Carina N
16I.Ride.Moore Or Less
17Joseph Sutton
18Patrick Garner
19El Coyote
20Ni Co
21Ian Kesterson
22Wael Iskandar
23Vinson Fan
24Michael Eberhard
25Jonah F
26Julia Bleier
27Aslam Chagani

Sector 3 MacDonald
1J Piglet
2Kristen V
3Alex Stevenson
4John G.
5Brian Fessenden
6Paul McKenzie
7Spencer Ingels
8Chris Randall
9Alex T
10Todd Stiers
11Ian Kesterson
12Joseph Sutton
13Trail Badger
14El Coyote
15Michael Eberhard
16Carina N
17Velo r00ster
18Juliet D
19Patrick Garner
20Wael Iskandar
21I.Ride.Moore Or Less
22Ni Co
23Vinson Fan
24Esai Murillo
25Julia Bleier
26Jonah F
27Aslam Chagani

Sector 4 Soaring Hawk
1Kristen V
2J Piglet
3Brian Fessenden
4John G.
5Paul McKenzie
6Alex Stevenson
7Chris Randall
8Spencer Ingels
9Alex T
10Todd Stiers
11Carina N
12Ian Kesterson
13Joseph Sutton
14Trail Badger
15Juliet D
16I.Ride.Moore Or Less
17El Coyote
18Michael Eberhard
19Velo r00ster
20Vinson Fan
21Wael Iskandar
22Ni Co
23Patrick Garner
24Julia Bleier
25Esai Murillo
26Aslam Chagani
27Jonah F

Sector 5 Brandon Trail
1Kristen V
2Brian Fessenden
3John G.
4Paul McKenzie
5J Piglet
6Alex T
7Todd Stiers
8Chris Randall
9Joseph Sutton
10Trail Badger
11El Coyote
12I.Ride.Moore Or Less
13Alex Stevenson
14Carina N
15Spencer Ingels
16Michael Eberhard
17Juliet D
18Ian Kesterson
19Vinson Fan
20Ni Co
21Patrick Garner
22Velo r00ster
23Jonah F
24Esai Murillo
25Aslam Chagani
26Wael Iskandar
27Julia Bleier

Sector 6 Graham Trail
1Kristen V
2J Piglet
3John G.
4Alex Stevenson
5Brian Fessenden
6Spencer Ingels
7Paul McKenzie
8Alex T
9Chris Randall
10Velo r00ster
11Trail Badger
12Joseph Sutton
13Carina N
14Todd Stiers
15Michael Eberhard
16Juliet D
17El Coyote
18I.Ride.Moore Or Less
19Vinson Fan
20Esai Murillo
21Ian Kesterson
22Patrick Garner
23Julia Bleier
24Ni Co
25Jonah F
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