[amydalayna]

Are any of you other ladies racing the downieville dh this weekend?

I'm dreading it already. I have only ridden downieville once and my riding has been off lately. UGH.

 

[dhchix]

Sorry, not my part of the US. Good luck to you! Maybe one of these days I can get out West to ride. What kind of course is Downieville (Fast, rocky, open, etc....)

 

[amydalayna]

Downieville is an hour long DH race. Actually, It's more like Super D. You drop 4,700 vertical feet in 15 miles and there is a 500' climb in the middle.

I'm not going with high hopes.... just plenty of beer for after the race is done to console myself.

Come out west to ride.... It's lovely out here! A lot less rain.

 

[VT Mtbkr]

HOLY CRAP!! Can you even feel your arms after an hour of downhill?

I'm so accustomed to the slick as snot conditions, I wouldn't know how to ride in dry weather.

 

[amydalayna]

the worst part of the race is the climb in the middle. it's hot and your heart is going crazy. just wish i owned a gravity dropper seatpost.

getting used to riding in dry conditions can be tricky. it's dusty... and you need to learn how to trust your bike drifting in super loose, dry soil. i moved out here from connecticut... it took some adjusting.

 

[dhchix]

Wow! That sounds awesome. I would love to try something like that. Talk about arm pump. All I can say is have fun, ride your ride and enjoy that beer. My husband's sister goes to Stanford and she loves it out there. She says the mountain biking is sweet.

 

[luvz2ridez]

Good luck Amy...

 

[Snacks]

Ya, good luck and have fun!

 

[mohshee]

that sounds like a potentially awesome DH race!!!! Have fun!!!

 

[amydalayna]

thanks guys. i'll need it. there's like 12 girls in my class. kind of alot (was hoping it would be a fellow mudhunny and i would have a friend to meet up with).

 

[Snacks]

thanks guys. i'll need it. there's like 12 girls in my class. kind of alot (was hoping it would be a fellow mudhunny and i would have a friend to meet up with).

I'd love to come down and race, but I'm afraid my lungs would give out on the climb

Are they sending you out in 1 minute intervals?

 

[amydalayna]

Yeah. 1 minute intervals. I'm hoping that my fear of getting passed keeps me pedalling.

But I imagine with a course that long there will be a lot of passing going on.

 

[OGRipper]

Amy, you are going to kick butt and you know it!! That climb can't take you more than 10 minutes and you know you can bury yourself for that long. Plus immediately after you get to fly down the super fun Third Divide, plenty of time to recover.

These are the things I'm telling myself anyway. :

Anyway have fun. I'll be there too, hope to share a beer with you and Mr. Amy D at the post-race par-tay.

 

[amydalayna]

I was thinking of drinking before the race just so when people asked why I was so slow I could tell them I'm drunk.

What I'm most concerned about is not knowing the course. The first time I rode Dville was last weekend. Seems like it would be much easier if I had it dialed in.

We'll share a beer for sure!
What class are you racing? What are you racing for a bike? Tires?

 

[OGRipper]

Knowing the course is good but not essential.

And I can tell you from last year, doing the race drunk is not a good idea. (At least not that sad combination of horribly hung over AND still drunk. It was bad.)

I'm racing in whatever non-pro class the 36 year olds race, can't remember but I think it's vet.

I am riding my heckler with 2.5 maxxis downhill tires, pretty much this setup:

 

[amydalayna]

i was just scoping out the competition for mr.amyd.
you guys aren't in the same class so i don't have to poke a stick in your spokes when you ride by.

that seems like an ideal setup. after flatting twice on the course last week i am definitely rocking dh tubes.

see you this weekend!

 

[OGRipper]

Hahaha, yes please no sticks in the spokes. We can all compare times anyway. I am not super fit right now so not expecting great results, just looking for a clean run and some fun.

That setup works pretty well up there. It's the right amount of travel for me and not too heavy, except for the tires. But I just can't get comfortable with skinny tires pumped up to 75 pounds or whatever like the really fast guys. I pay for it on the climb and the false flat near the end but it's worth it to me, more fun out there not worrying about the rocks so much.

I'm heading up in the morning, hope to see you there!!

 

[goodtobeIrie]

good luck you two!!!

and as long as your lungs are in shape...you'll do great Ms. Amy D... no need to worry about not knowing the course...it's the people that are in good cardio shape that kick azz on this course...

 

[amydalayna]

here's a picture from this weekend. i'm the tall one up top. got 3rd place. happy with that. and happy that someone super cool won.(she's the shorter girl up top who looks a little drunk)

 

[narlus]

nice job!

 

[Snacks]

WOO HOO! Great job Lady

How'd you feel after the climb?

 

[OGRipper]

Awesome stuff Amy! Congrats again. Good to see you two at the start and then again later. What a super fun weekend.

 

[amydalayna]

Climb in the middle didn't kill me... I was breathing hard, it's the climbing at the end where I'm just thinking "end already!!!"

Only thing that annoyed me in the race is there is the fire road section in the middle. I got stuck behind an ambulance going slow that would not give me any space to pass on either side. Just had to ride behind it breathing it's fumes and serious dust. bummer. but glad i wore goggles!
Looking forward to racing it again next year and see if I can beat my time.

 

[amydalayna]

Awesome stuff Amy! Congrats again. Good to see you two at the start and then again later. What a super fun weekend.

Bummed I drank too much after the race and had to go to bed early. Wish I partied it up in town with everyone. I was so tired though. Hope you lived it up on my behalf!

Good job to you too! I'm glad that you, Mr. AmyD and I all had clean, flat-free race runs.

I'm still waiting for Sanjuro to post the picture he took of Marla Streb taking a swig of whiskey out of their flask as she fixed her 4th flat.

 

[OGRipper]

Bummed I drank too much after the race and had to go to bed early. Wish I partied it up in town with everyone. I was so tired though. Hope you lived it up on my behalf!

Good job to you too! I'm glad that you, Mr. AmyD and I all had clean, flat-free race runs.

I'm still waiting for Sanjuro to post the picture he took of Marla Streb taking a swig of whiskey out of their flask as she fixed her 4th flat.

Thanks Amy. I had so much fun during my run and ended up with a personal best time, so it was really satisfying. I cleaned everything and just felt great the whole time.

Props to Sanjuro for cheering me on at the beginning of first divide! He was like a Wrestlemania fan out there, it was awesome.

I overheard Marla at the start sounding very confident that her XC bike and tires were perfect for the course...didn't really work out that way I guess.

And yeah, after rocking out the Saddle Tramps we ended up closing the St. Charles around 2 or something. So I did my part to represent!! It's funny, at 2 in the afternoon I had a margarita in my hand and told my buddy to get ready for the next 12 hours. He thought I was crazy but we made it!!

 

[amydalayna]

Props to Sanjuro for cheering me on at the beginning of first divide! He was like a Wrestlemania fan out there, it was awesome.

his crew totally cheered me up. i was getting pokey, but having them freak out when i went by made my day. since they had the ladies go last, there was hardly anyone there on the course when i went down.

I overheard Marla at the start sounding very confident that her XC bike and tires were perfect for the course...didn't really work out that way I guess.

her time was double what she had last year on that course. guess her setup didn't work out as she planned.

And yeah, after rocking out the Saddle Tramps we ended up closing the St. Charles around 2 or something. So I did my part to represent!! It's funny, at 2 in the afternoon I had a margarita in my hand and told my buddy to get ready for the next 12 hours. He thought I was crazy but we made it!!

i'm lame. i had 4 beers after the race and before dinner and got very sleepy. next year i'll eat food AND THEN drink.

but you partied enough for the both of us!

 

[OGRipper]

his crew totally cheered me up. i was getting pokey, but having them freak out when i went by made my day. since they had the ladies go last, there was hardly anyone there on the course when i went down.

[snip]

i'm lame. i had 4 beers after the race and before dinner and got very sleepy. next year i'll eat food AND THEN drink.

but you partied enough for the both of us!

Yeah I had tried to save something for First Divide but seeing Sanjuro and his buddies was great. It's always fun to have people cheer for you. You know that big rock on Third Divide? I got up on it clean but was in too big a gear (as usual) and almost came to a stop. Normally I would have put a foot down but there was like 10 or 15 people up there cheering so I grunted it out, and when I did that they went nuts. So fun.

We ate a lot and paced it pretty well 'til the sun went down. After that it was on...