Another Year, Another Downieville All Mountain Race - XC Edition

[Jim Hewett]

I was back this year for another crack at the Downieville Pro All Mountain weekend.

This year, I was racing a 2017 Fuel EX with 130mm travel in the back and a 160mm Pike on the front.  This longer fork raised the bottom brackett a little and slacked out the head tube, both of which come in handy for me when riding fast into the many rocks on the course.  I chose Maxxis Minion SS tires front and rear, with a low tread center to roll fast and chunky side knobs for cornering traction.  At just under 800 grams with the EXO protection, I figured they might make it without a flat.  I ran a 32x11-42 drivetrain, Level Ultimate brakes with 160mm rotors front and rear, and a 125mm LEV dropper.  A 60mm stem with 750mm bars didn't put me in the best climbing position, but felt pretty good going down.  At 25lbs, 11 oz, I felt I had made some good compromises for the course, especially with the current scoring that did not combine racing time for the XC and the DH, but weighted the two races equally giving points for finish place.

I had symptons of a cold leading up to the race, but felt alright on raceday.  I was not in peak form, but my legs were feeling pretty good. The weather was unusually cool, and cloud cover looked like it might save us from the brutal sun on the exposed climb up to Packer Saddle.  I was given the number 10 plate, which earned me a callup to the front of the 50+ person Pro XC field.  Lots of familiar faces, many of the usual suspects.

When things got underway, I settled into the top 20, probably making the right turn from the pavement after the first 6 minutes in 15th.  I was feeling pretty solid, keeping a sustainable pace with my heartrate between 160 and 168.  I was behind my fastest time to the false summit, by over a minute, but I felt like I was riding smart for my current fitness.  I found myself in with a pretty good group on the last of the climb with Scott Chapin, Ryan Gardner, and a few other guys.  I was fresh enough to sprint up the last climb, passying Ryan and another guy to get into Sunrise.  I felt like I was moving okay as we started pushing it in the singletrack, and then my chain dropped.  Damn!  I was off the bike as Ryan and the other guy got by me, and Chapin caught up as I started again.

I had dropped my chain once the day before on my preride, and hadn't thought too much of it.  Everything in my drivetrain had been replaced within 2 weeks except the rear derailleur, so I hoped that this would not be a continuing problem.  I finished sunrise and Chapin and I closed the small gap to Gardner, Myles Lucas, Barry Wicks, and a few other guys.  We stayed together for the fireroad traverse over to The Babyheads.

I went into the rocky descent near the back of the group.  Despite the dust, I was able to move around 3 or 4 guys pretty quickly.  Chapin got away ahead of me, but I caught Wicks and Lucas.  I was going pretty well in the chunky stuff when Gardner came by me taking some rougher lines really fast.  I stayed in touch with him until the left turn onto smoother stuff, where I noticed my chain had derailed again!  Wicks and Lucas came by me again as I fiddled it back onto the chainring.  Not much else I could do but keep trying, so I dug hard and closed the gap to them.  We got back into singletrack and Wicks and I were pushing Lucas.  He let Wicks by, but I was stuck behind him still until my chain came off again, costing me precious seconds.  I made up the time quickly and Lucas let me by as we jammed down to the bridge at the climb to 3rd Divide.  This 3-4 minute climb has often caused me concern about cramping, but I felt pretty good and soon saw Wicks ahead.  He crested the climb and started down 3rd Divide about 20 seconds ahead of me.  As I hit the top, I could see another racer behind me coming on fast.  I laid off the brakes on the descent, going faster than I ever have on the relatively straight trail through the woods, and soon began to see Wicks' dust trail.  I caught him before the rocky part and urged him to push it as we flew to the bridge.  I passed at the start of the fireroad and kept ahead on the road over to 1st Divide, where I promptly dropped the chain again.  Wicks and the guy I had seen on the climb to 3rd Divide came by me, and I worked hard to catch them.  I didn't see Wicks again until the last of 1st Divide, and I was digging hard to get him on the last climbs, when, of course, I dropped my chain again.  This kind of destroyed my chance to make up another place, which was obvious once I started the pavement to the finish.  I rolled in at 2:09:47, a little faster than last year and a minute slower than my fasted time, in 16th place Pro XC,

It was time to soak the legs in the river and then solve the dropped chain issue for the DH race the next day.