If you're thinking about a casual, bucolic Sunday drive up to Sonoma this weekend, please be advised that the now annual Father's Day installment of NASCAR will be descending on Infineon Raceway, complete with a legion of loyal male fans and a possible repeat appearance by Tom Cruise and his son. That intersection of Routes 121 and 37, therefore, will be all snarled up and crazy by late afternoon/early evening, and you will be kicking yourself for not keeping track of such things as you sit, buzzed and tired, in your car trying to get back to the city. [SF Citizen] more ›

The best professional road cyclists in the world are competing for the maillot jeune on the rolling plains and brutal mountain passes of Europe right now, but this weekend, we've got our own battle for cycling supremacy going on right here in the Bay Area.

Today through Sunday, road cyclists from Pro down through Cat 5 and beyond can compete in the Cougar Mountain Classic on and around the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. As an added bonus, the Cougar is playing host to the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships. That's the Nationals baby, right here, almost within sight of Mt. Tam, mountain biking's Hoboken.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty good, but overall, 2006 has been a crappy year for NoCal mountain bikers. From rained-out training rides to unrideable trail conditions to poorly functioning equipment, this year's record rainfall has left local mountain bikers underprepared, underconditioned, and slightly frustrated heading into the prime-time riding months.

Because of this year's early season muddown, local mountain bikers have been looking to July for salvation. In addition to the legendary Downieville Classic Mountain Bike Festival at the end of the month, this year, both the Cougar Mountain Classic at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma and the NORBA MTB National Championships in Mammoth are being held in the middle ofJuly, moved up from their traditional dates in September.

D'oh!

Well, ever since we saw Danica Patrick finish fourth at Indy, we've been smitten. The story has everything SFist could ask for -- incredibly fast cars, high technology, controversy and a woman in a man's world. Doesn't hurt that she's kind of super-cute. more ›