Just got this. Didn’t do it last year, but raced it several times in the past and always made for a great weekend up at Northstar. Bummed to see it go.
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Nooooo! I’ve done this twice in years past. Always planned to go back one day. Bummed to see this.
I heard that they dropped the qualifier in Alabama also (coldwater?). Will be interesting to see if they add others or just focusing on less events.
Curious if these were Lifetime-owned events or 3rd party events that Lifetime partnered with. I believe with the Rattler (The Austin qualifier), Lifetime took it over from the prior promotor several years back.
I feel like the Coldwater Trail was cut due to the proximity and timing being so close to Little Sugar.
The course sounded pretty cool too, bummer but now I bet the cost of it will drop quite a bit which is nice.
I kind of wish the Rattler was still a smaller/cheaper event. Lifetime does a great job with it, but it’s gotten pretty expensive and the chance of getting a Leadville entry is so small now that it’s not much of a selling point for me. I guess people still do it for Leadville corral placement if they already have a spot, but you have to be really fast or lucky to get a Leadville entry these days (unless you are a gal). I still tend to do it most years because it’s close by and I always enjoy it, but the entry fee has had me on the fence the last couple years. It’s a $165 entry fee for 2026.
Coldwater got pretty low attendance too, and while it was a fun course, there wasn’t anything else in the area that was a draw either.
Leaves a big hole in Northern California xcm racing. As I understand it,
-Tahoe Trail 100 gone
-Carson City Offroad ended
-Sea Otter went from mtb race to gravel event now
I do not know of any big cross country events here at all now. A number of small xc series (think 60-90 minute races, often laps of shorter course, flatter etc). Really disappointed, as TT100 was my 2026 a-race. Glad I didn’t drop the money for a new full sus xc bike yet.
I can’t believe it’s financial why TT100 is shutting down, as they were the only game around. I heard a theory that the course change last year was due to national forest permit issues.
Anyone know more?
It’s not as big as a lifetime races but there’s local / grassroots events like Fort Ord 50, Tahoe-Truckee Gravel and Lost & Found. There’s the grasshopper off-road series and of course big events like Downieville.
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Another one bites the dust… Would love more XCM/hundo events in CO (besides Pbville), but most mountain bikers don’t want to pedal anymore, sad really.
Hard to reconcile how Leadville is massively oversubscribed, but “feeder” events like TT100 (and Carson City Offroad, Sea Otter mtb) are ending. Bay Area is like 8 million people I think, and Tahoe is absolutely amazing, with so much National Forest land around it. I really would have thought some entrepreneurial race promoter would capitalize on that underserved market.
Good that the grassroots series in Northern CA are steady/growing, just a shame that there’s nothing much between them and Leadville. Unsure what I’ll do now for an a-race. It’s either gravel events, or have to spend a lot more money and do Silver Rush or Leadville Stage Race. Somehow doing 4 laps of the same course at Granite Bay is just not as much of an A-Race as TT100.
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Sea Otter mtb (the fuego) still exists. Just because the grand prix decided to switch over to the gravel race to make the series 3 mtb and 3 gravel events doesn’t mean the event went away. It’s just not the “main event” at Sea Otter now. Not only that, but the fuego xl is a Leadville qualifier.
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Thank you, I did not know that.
That’ll likely be my 2027 a-race then, as I can’t see me bringing in my 2026 goal from July to April, but 2027 is easily accommodated.
Thanks.
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Pedalpalooza in Mammoth is a great race! Did it last year and it’s very well run. Would love to sign up for it this year but unfortunately will be out of town then
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Very disappointed to see the Coldwater event dropped by Lifetime. Yes, it had low numbers, but when I spoke to some of the Lifetime folks at the event, they sounded very pleased with the first year number of registered/participants.
I had planned to do the 50k run again next year, hoping to get a coin for the Leadville 100 run. I loved the event, but with it being a five hour drive from my house, I will not enter again without the opportunity to get in Leadville. Sad to say this but its the truth, and I am betting there were a lot of others with similar thoughts/ideas.
Here is a link to the California Dirt Endurance Series. SERIES WEBSITE
It includes the 3rd Annual Fort Ord 50, the 12th Annual Gold Rush Growler (40-mile) and the 1st Central Coast Dirt Century.
-Repack Racing/3CX Racing
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To be fair though the Tahoe 100 was also laps… just bigger laps. 
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Most of the Carson Off Road races were a big single lap, except for the year where there was too much snow up high.
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I’d built up in my mind that I want to do a Leadville-lite type race, with some big climbs, some beautiful scenery etc. That is partly because of how hard Leadville is relative to my fitness, but also partly because of the sheer expense of getting from California to Leadville and racing. TT100 is an hour’s drive on race day, and just the $150 or $170 or whatever it was, for the race.
Still, hopefully someone fills the void left by TT100 and Carson City Offr-oad ending.
I’ll likely aim to do a 100km xc ride from Northstar in July anyway, just won’t be an event, and will have to avoid old race course sections that involved riding up any downhill trails.
other side of the lake and on the road but you could do the death ride. I think Jonathan did it last year in prep for Leadville.
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