Another Year, Another Downieville All Mountain Race - DH Edition

[Jim Hewett]

Okay.  A new rear derailleur solved the chain drop and my legs were feeling pretty good, prior day's racing considered.It It looked like Wicks opted out of the DH, so I had a ghost rider in front of me for my run.  I didn't figure I would make two minutes on the guy that started 8th, so everything would be set for me to have a clean run.  It was a little warmer than the day before, but my relatively early start time kept that from being a factor.

Sunrise went down smoothly, within 3 seconds of my fastest time, and I pedaled hard over to the singletrack.  I was feeling good and staying focused, straightening the corners where I could and powering through the pedally sections, all while avoiding a flat.  My line through the waterfall was a little slippery, but I held it together.  All the pre-riding helped a lot, as I tried to keep speed everywhere I could.  I hit the interesection with the XC course in record time (for me).  I felt pretty fresh as I climbed up to 3rd Divide, doing the climb almost half a minute faster than the day before.  I took some chances on 3rd Divide, noticing how even a slight speed increase changes the lines in some of the corners.  I hit the bridge at the bottom and pedaled every chance I could through 1st Divide.  I was on the last paved descent to the finish when I was slowed by a moto in the road (WTF?) and barely avoided a crash while trying to pass him.

I rolled in slightly faster than last year at 49:36, almost a minute slower than my fastest time, for another 16th place finish.

My combined points earned me 15th out of 47 in the Pro All Mountain category.