Downieville, all mountain bikes are the best

[shiloh]

After missing last years Downieville Classic, I was excited to get back on the awesome trails Downieville offers.  The extra snowy winter we had caused rumors of snow tunnels and 20 minute hike a bike sections through two feet of snow.  but that was not to be, the course was simply shortened. the sunrise trail and the baby head section were cut out. The climb was the same and the decent used the upper part of the down hill course.

       I have yet to learn my lesson at the start line in Sierra City.  I lined up right under the banner that said start on it, started chatting with a few other people around me and soon noticed that there were about 200 racers lined up in front of me.  next year, I thought, I going to hide about 100 yards up the road and then roll down 2 minutes before the start.

       When the gun went off I stood there for a good 30 seconds before bobbling through the crowd clipping bars a few times.  It soon began to spread out and when I saw openings I went for it.  I spent a good 80% of the fire road climb In the rough lane passing all the single file riders taking the clean line.  When I needed a rest I hopped onto the train only to find that my 1x9 setup didn't allow me a low enough gear to ride smoothly in the train. The 1x9 forced me to ride faster which turned out to be a good thing. 

       At packer saddle I was offered a shot of Tequila by Murphy, Which I respectfully declined, and a bottle of water form a woman in a bikini which I gladly accepted.  Was it the product or the sales person? O crap! I had to get my head back in the race. I chugged half the bottle and the rest went down my back. Aw that felt good.

       Dear god this decent is fast and fun. most of the snow had melted leaving some of the trail super tacky and some of it super snotty. The remedy was turning out to be a great choice. instead of getting beat up, like on a hard tail, I felt invigorated.  I blasted through rock gardens ripped around corners and was only passed once.  At the first bridge crossing my legs began to cramp as always luckily its a short climb then back the to high speed decent.  The shorter course left my legs feeling good at the bottom of the mountain. I put in a good hard sprint along the long flat section and into town passing a few more people.  My time was 1 hour 50 minutes which was good enough for for 4th place. and I still felt good at the end of the race, I don't think I'll ever race Dwonieville on a hardtail again.