Well this got a little long, but it's not been edited. Sorry, no pics.
For those that have never been, Downieville (CA) is a small gold rush town in the Sierras, a little Northeast of Lake Tahoe. It's become a mountain biking destination in large part as a result of the efforts of Greg Williams and others (Wayne, Metal Mike, George, Asa, etc.) at Yuba Expeditions and the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship. Just about any summer weekend is great up there but once a year they do a race weekend known as the Downieville Classic. There are DH (really Super D, more on that in a second) and XC races along with a river jump comp, and they shut down Main Street for a vendor expo, beer sales from Sacramento Brewery, and a fun concert with the Saddle Tramps, who lay down a rocking mix of rockabilly/punk/whatever and usually get a pretty good pit going.
I raced the DH on Saturday. It's really a Super D - it drops 4,700 feet over 15 miles but there is also a 500 foot climb in the middle and a bunch of flat and pedally stuff near the end of the course, including a false flat right near the bottom. It's never very steep or technical compared to real DH, but it's rocky and ridiculously fast in spots. Picking the right bike and tires is key - you need enough beef to get through the rocky and fast sections without flats, but not so much that you get bogged down when it's time to pedal. I rode my heckler with a pike, 2.5 maxxis DH tires, and a gravity dropper post. Worked out well but I will probably go with slightly less rubber next year.
The course record held by Mark Weir (from last year) is a little under 40 minutes and that is just freaky. After some trail work the course is a little slower this year. IMO, anything under an hour is a good time, but to be competitive you need to be under 50 minutes. I wasn't really in the running for a win, I was just hoping to have fun, improve on my time from last year, and (of course) beat my riding bros.
I got into town around 1pm and did a practice run. Town is at around 2900 feet and the course starts just shy of 7,000. To get to the start you either shuttle yourself or catch a ride with one of the shuttle companies. I always go with Yuba - good people in it for the right reasons. Although I took it easy I was feeling good. It's so friggin gorgeous up there it's hard to have a bad time.
After my practice run I intended to take it easy and rest up for the race. Well instead we went on a river float that almost turned Deliverance-esque. We were in tubes floating through some nasty rocks - not a gentile beer-in-hand float. One of my buddies hurt himself bad enough that he couldn't race. I got out with only about a dozen direct hits to the tailbone. It was lots of fun, but definitely more work than I wanted to do the eve of the race.
On Saturday I headed up to the start with plenty of time. Got to chat with Mr. and Mrs. AmyD for a bit, then it was on. The course first hits Butcher Ranch, which begins with a bunch of loose wide stuff before dropping into tight rocky singletrack that occassionally crosses or puts you in shallow running water. I've been riding up there for around 6 years now and have never ridden that trail as fast or clean. I passed one rider on his bike and about 4 who were fixing flats. At that point I was feeling smart for riding DH tires.
At the bottom of Butcher you cross a river and then hit the climb. I kept in my 36 and basically buried myself. Passed another rider, which felt awesome - last year I got passed by two guys on the climb and didn't pass anyone. Still thinking my tires were not slowing me down too much.
At the top of the climb the course drops onto Third Divide. The fastest parts of the course are on this trail. The fun factor is off the ridiculator and I was feeling great. Like Butcher Ranch, I have never ridden it so fast or clean. I passed two more riders and another 5 or 6 people with flats. I was even getting some boost from the spectators: There is a big rock near the bottom that gives riders fits - you come around a bend to find a 10 foot steep rock wall to get up and over. Many riders get flats from ramming it at speed. I am usually able to get up on it ok but end up in too big a gear to clean it. That's what happened this time too, but the crowd of 10 or 15 people cheering people gave me the boost I needed to grunt it out. Nice!!
After Third Divide, there is a short little uphill, then a fire road that starts flat and eventually goes down. I tried to stay on it but could really feel the DH rubber holding me down. At the end of the fire road you get onto upper First Divide. This is where I saw Sanjuro and some of his crew cheering me on by name, which was totally cool.
First Divide is a super fun tight trail that runs along the river. It is most flat and rocky with lots of exposure. I knew I was on a good time (for me) and really tried to bury myself to keep it up, but I could feel my power lagging and my lower back was starting to throb from the stupid river float tail bone injuries. At this point, I knew I was starting to slow down and the DH rubber was not my friend. But I also knew I had to save a little juice because there is a false flat section near the bottom, then a short pavement run into the finish. Thinking about it now, I probably saved a little too much. But I made it through those parts feeling pretty good and finished at 55 mins.
That turned out to be my new best time and was surprisingly good enough to beat my bros, but that's only because the fast guys got flats or had mechanicals. More importantly, I was just stoked to have so much fun out there. I passed three people and didn't get passed once. I rode everything clean and although I might have left something out on the course, it was really satisfying. It's easy to say, but between wasting energy on the river run and riding too much rubber, I'm pretty sure I can get into the 50 minute range next year. Stay tuned!
From there the celebration was on. At 2:30 in the afternoon I had already had a couple finish line beers and with a margarita in my hand told one of my buddies to get ready for a 12-hour shift. Well, he didn't make it but it was after 2 am before we crashed out. I won't go into details but will say it involved closing the bar with the duct tape girls...
Yesterday was spent doing more riding, swimming in the river, and soaking in the good Sierra vibe. Sorry this got a little long but all in all an awesome time!
For those that have never been, Downieville (CA) is a small gold rush town in the Sierras, a little Northeast of Lake Tahoe. It's become a mountain biking destination in large part as a result of the efforts of Greg Williams and others (Wayne, Metal Mike, George, Asa, etc.) at Yuba Expeditions and the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship. Just about any summer weekend is great up there but once a year they do a race weekend known as the Downieville Classic. There are DH (really Super D, more on that in a second) and XC races along with a river jump comp, and they shut down Main Street for a vendor expo, beer sales from Sacramento Brewery, and a fun concert with the Saddle Tramps, who lay down a rocking mix of rockabilly/punk/whatever and usually get a pretty good pit going.
I raced the DH on Saturday. It's really a Super D - it drops 4,700 feet over 15 miles but there is also a 500 foot climb in the middle and a bunch of flat and pedally stuff near the end of the course, including a false flat right near the bottom. It's never very steep or technical compared to real DH, but it's rocky and ridiculously fast in spots. Picking the right bike and tires is key - you need enough beef to get through the rocky and fast sections without flats, but not so much that you get bogged down when it's time to pedal. I rode my heckler with a pike, 2.5 maxxis DH tires, and a gravity dropper post. Worked out well but I will probably go with slightly less rubber next year.
The course record held by Mark Weir (from last year) is a little under 40 minutes and that is just freaky. After some trail work the course is a little slower this year. IMO, anything under an hour is a good time, but to be competitive you need to be under 50 minutes. I wasn't really in the running for a win, I was just hoping to have fun, improve on my time from last year, and (of course) beat my riding bros.
I got into town around 1pm and did a practice run. Town is at around 2900 feet and the course starts just shy of 7,000. To get to the start you either shuttle yourself or catch a ride with one of the shuttle companies. I always go with Yuba - good people in it for the right reasons. Although I took it easy I was feeling good. It's so friggin gorgeous up there it's hard to have a bad time.
After my practice run I intended to take it easy and rest up for the race. Well instead we went on a river float that almost turned Deliverance-esque. We were in tubes floating through some nasty rocks - not a gentile beer-in-hand float. One of my buddies hurt himself bad enough that he couldn't race. I got out with only about a dozen direct hits to the tailbone. It was lots of fun, but definitely more work than I wanted to do the eve of the race.
On Saturday I headed up to the start with plenty of time. Got to chat with Mr. and Mrs. AmyD for a bit, then it was on. The course first hits Butcher Ranch, which begins with a bunch of loose wide stuff before dropping into tight rocky singletrack that occassionally crosses or puts you in shallow running water. I've been riding up there for around 6 years now and have never ridden that trail as fast or clean. I passed one rider on his bike and about 4 who were fixing flats. At that point I was feeling smart for riding DH tires.
At the bottom of Butcher you cross a river and then hit the climb. I kept in my 36 and basically buried myself. Passed another rider, which felt awesome - last year I got passed by two guys on the climb and didn't pass anyone. Still thinking my tires were not slowing me down too much.
At the top of the climb the course drops onto Third Divide. The fastest parts of the course are on this trail. The fun factor is off the ridiculator and I was feeling great. Like Butcher Ranch, I have never ridden it so fast or clean. I passed two more riders and another 5 or 6 people with flats. I was even getting some boost from the spectators: There is a big rock near the bottom that gives riders fits - you come around a bend to find a 10 foot steep rock wall to get up and over. Many riders get flats from ramming it at speed. I am usually able to get up on it ok but end up in too big a gear to clean it. That's what happened this time too, but the crowd of 10 or 15 people cheering people gave me the boost I needed to grunt it out. Nice!!
After Third Divide, there is a short little uphill, then a fire road that starts flat and eventually goes down. I tried to stay on it but could really feel the DH rubber holding me down. At the end of the fire road you get onto upper First Divide. This is where I saw Sanjuro and some of his crew cheering me on by name, which was totally cool.
First Divide is a super fun tight trail that runs along the river. It is most flat and rocky with lots of exposure. I knew I was on a good time (for me) and really tried to bury myself to keep it up, but I could feel my power lagging and my lower back was starting to throb from the stupid river float tail bone injuries. At this point, I knew I was starting to slow down and the DH rubber was not my friend. But I also knew I had to save a little juice because there is a false flat section near the bottom, then a short pavement run into the finish. Thinking about it now, I probably saved a little too much. But I made it through those parts feeling pretty good and finished at 55 mins.
That turned out to be my new best time and was surprisingly good enough to beat my bros, but that's only because the fast guys got flats or had mechanicals. More importantly, I was just stoked to have so much fun out there. I passed three people and didn't get passed once. I rode everything clean and although I might have left something out on the course, it was really satisfying. It's easy to say, but between wasting energy on the river run and riding too much rubber, I'm pretty sure I can get into the 50 minute range next year. Stay tuned!
From there the celebration was on. At 2:30 in the afternoon I had already had a couple finish line beers and with a margarita in my hand told one of my buddies to get ready for a 12-hour shift. Well, he didn't make it but it was after 2 am before we crashed out. I won't go into details but will say it involved closing the bar with the duct tape girls...
Yesterday was spent doing more riding, swimming in the river, and soaking in the good Sierra vibe. Sorry this got a little long but all in all an awesome time!
