Guardians of the Mountain

Why

Canyon roads like Highway 9, Skyline, and Highway 84 pull riders in with the same thing a racetrack offers: corners, speed, the feeling of getting it right. The difference is what happens when you get it wrong. On the mountain there's oncoming traffic, telephone poles, a guardrail, a cliff. There's no instructors there to teach you, or assistance standing by to help.

We started Guardians of the Mountain after losing people we rode with. Not to make anyone slower — to give the fast version of them somewhere to go that's safer. The track is where you actually get to find your limits with less risk than the roads that regularly take lives.

A sportbike rider leaned through a closed-course track corner.

How it works

Your first track day, handled.

Our process is simple, and we walk you through each step to complete your first track day. Start it by reaching out today.

Turn 1

Reach out

Message us and tell us you're a street rider who wants to try a track day. New riders are exactly who this is for.

Turn 2

We walk you through it

Straight advice on your bike, your gear, and what a beginner group day actually looks like, so nothing about that first day catches you off guard. You sign a standard participant waiver.

Turn 3

We help you get there

Sorting out the logistics — what to bring, getting you and the bike to the track, and help with the entry cost when we're able. You won't be figuring it out alone.

Finish

You ride

You show up with people there to look out for you, turn laps in a controlled environment, and leave knowing where your speed belongs. Pay it forward when you can.

Why the track is safer

Same corners. No surprises.

A track day isn't racing. It's a closed course, organized by skill group, with the dangerous parts of the public road designed out of it.

Riders and motorcycles set up in a track paddock garage.

One direction

Everyone moving the same way. No oncoming traffic, no driveways, no car turning across your line.

Room to be wrong

Paved and gravel run-off instead of guardrails and cliffs. A mistake costs you a lap, not your life.

People watching out

Corner workers with flags, a rider's meeting, and medical on site. You're grouped with riders at your pace.

Who we are

A small nonprofit run by riders.

Guardians of the Mountain is a California public benefit corporation. We're not a club and we're not selling anything. We're a handful of track riders who got tired of hearing that another person we knew went down on a mountain road.

The whole model is simple: take riders who are drawn to speed on public roads, and help them put that energy somewhere built for it — with guidance, a hand with logistics, and financial help when we have it.

A group of riders standing with their motorcycles in the paddock.

Organization

Legal form: California public benefit corporation
Tax status: 501(c)(3) application in process
Founder: Mark Hayenga
Secretary: Kit Wetzler
Treasurer: Jamie Lo
Based in: Northern California

Note: our federal tax-exempt status is still under review. Until the IRS grants it, we can't promise that a gift is tax-deductible. We'll update this the moment that changes.

Get help

Ready to take it off the mountain?

If you ride the canyons and you've never done a track day, you're exactly who we're looking for. Tell us a bit about yourself and what you need, and we'll take it from there.