Downieville Classic 2008
The Downieville Classic has always been a true mountainbikers course, requiring the lungs and legs of a fit roadie, and the bike handling skills of a seasoned singletrack slayer. Since my first time competing in it when I was a 19 year old punk in the expert class, then the Coyote Classic, to 2008, a washed up XC racer turned downhiller; I’ve always wanted to do well here.
The XC race is a point to point, starting in Sierra City at elevation 4100 ft., climbing up to Packer Saddle at 7100 ft., and descending 5100 ft into Downieville. About 20 of the 29 miles are on truly epic, fast flowing singletrack that every mountainbiker dreams of.
XC Race Day
After a quick breakfast and camp coffee, we piled in to Murr’s van at 7:45 AM for the half hour drive up to Sierra City. We geared up, filling the Camelback, pulling on the diaper and taking several of the mystery anti-cramping capsules I scored from my XC homies with the Content Works race team. We all went our separate ways to register, warm up, pre-race purge, etc. Murray, Tim and Brian still needed to pick up their registration packets, so headed up the road to get a little warm up in. If you head up the road past the start you’re bound to run into all the race favorites getting their legs warm and patting each other on the butt. Since all pro DH racers were required to do the XC race as well, many legends were up there warming up. You had perennial favorites like Weir, Moeschler, and Tim Olson, as well as some OG (original gangster) DH pros that have come out of the woodwork to try to knock off Weir in the DH. Brian Lopes, Myles Rockwell, Greg Herbold, and Jurgen Beneke were among the ex world champions lured to Downieville to get a crack at Weir. Other notable riders included Canadian legends Wade Simmons and Andreas Hestler.
The race began with a traffic jam of multi-thousand dollar bikes, and toned muscle, bumping handlebars and elbows, scooting forward with one foot clipped in, trying not to get tangled with anyone. It was a weird start to a pro race; with an entire group AM entrants, just kinda cruising along at and easy pace, juxtaposed to the eager and desperate group of fit XC racers feverishly trying to get by. I had started next to Jurgen and our group followed Lopes, Rockwell, Herbold, Simmons and Brian Culp, all the while getting passed by a steady stream of shaved legs pumping like pistons. We made the U-turn off the pavement and began the arduous climb known as the Trail of Tears. I had no business racing XC at any level, what to speak of Pro, so I just settled in, grabbed and easy gear and tried to find a rhythm. My goal for the day was to avoid cramping and bonking, to finish the XC in under 3 hrs. I wound through the first several bends of the trail in the middle ring, past the mist station and up to the sharp right hand turn that makes the first big change of direction. At this point, most riders have found their pace and are keeping formation on the better line of double track, while the faster riders are passing through the rough. The trail turns steeper and looser here, forcing the single speeders and less technical riders off their bikes, suffering through a windless valley, exposed to the searing heat of the Sierra sun. I figure I’m doing good by keeping on my bike and passing a couple of walkers, keeping the mantra in my mind going, “go easy, don’t cramp”. We snaked the side of the Sierra Buttes up to Blue Point, a false summit and the location of the first feed station. When Downieville virgins first get here, they think they’re done with the climb, but another few miles of up and some steeper pitches await. I gladly took a full water bottle to drink and poured another over my head and neck to cool the core a bit.
At this point I had been spinning pretty easy gears and thought I was doing a good job taking it easy. We encountered a couple of steep technical sections that forced some riders off. I thought I deserved a little effort from my legs, so I shifted to the middle ring and got around the walkers. I pedaled by Wade and made a little push for the saddle. As I hit the relatively flat fire road section to the saddle, I jumped on the wheel of a guy that came blazing by. It turns out he had started 5 minutes back in the sport class and was ripping through the tail end of the pro/ex field. I told him my legs were useless and to not expect me to pull. He obliged and I drafted. When the pitch of the road increased right before Packer Saddle, the sport guy took off and I attempted to stay in the middle ring. When I stood up out of the saddle, I felt the first twinges of cramps coming in my inner thigh, first the right, then the left. It was exactly what I was trying to avoid. I had to pull over and massage and stretch my legs for a minute. All the guys I had just dropped went right by as my legs locked in pain. I knew from this point on I couldn’t push hard up any climbs at all. Back to granny gear, I struggled up to Packer Saddle where a slew of onlookers surely wondered if I was even racing at all.
I forced a bag of Cliff-Blocks down my throat and washed them down with some water. As I crossed the timing mat before Sunrise Trail I pulled over to let a group by before the little climb. Finally some descending, undulating turns, loose berms, a few little nugs to pop off, Sunrise Trail is super fun and flowy. Sunrise spits you out on fire road that traverses the side of the Sierra Crest, from Packer Saddle to Pauley Creek. If you still have any juice here (and I obviously didn’t) this is where you can make up a ton of time, reeling in dudes that have cracked after the climb. I just cruised along, trying to make up time when gravity was on my side and going seeming backwards as soon as the pitch turned up hill. Racers went by like I was tied to a tree.
I finally got to the Baby Heads section leading to Pauley Creek. The dudes at Crankbrothers were cool enough to lend me a Joplin post for the race and I took advantage of it here. I dropped my seat to fun height (about an inch down) did my best to make up time lost on the climbs. I had done a pre-ride two weeks previous, so I knew the lines pretty well. I careened from one pile of rocks to another, giving my suspension and tires a thorough beating, all the while passing slower riders through the rough. To my surprise, I had caught Wade by Pauley Creek. We pedaled across and walked up the other side (isn’t it pathetic when you’re racing someone, and they’re not racing you). I assured him it was all downhill from here and to let it rip. I got off to a good start and passed several guys before hitting the pavers section. I flowed several more sections, crossed a bridge and felt pretty good. Too bad, because as soon as any little climb or pedally section came up, so did the cramps. Now it was both my hamstrings and my quads. I had to pull over again and work em out. A large group of guys went by including Wade, Ponch and the guys I had worked so hard to get around. At this point I was just pissed I couldn’t hold position and pretty much stopped passing anyone because I knew I would just be in the way on the next climb.
I finished out the rest of the course, walking all the up hills and just holding position on the downhills. I finished second to last in the AM Pro class in 2hours 48 minutes. The winner, Ross Schnell finished in 1 hour 57 minutes, almost an hour ahead of me.
Pixie Cross
SF DIRTLAB was privileged enough to provide some volunteer service for the Classic, similar to last year, providing DJ services for the Pixie Cross World Championships and the SF DIRTLAB Chicas were the official awards girls. This year we were asked at the last minute, to also build the Pixie course, organize sign ups and run the race itself. We took it in stride and coordinated with Yuba volunteers to build the course and organize the event.
The 2008 Pixie Cross WC was a bit more organized, with racers divided into heats of 4, with the top two advancing to the next round. There were only three divisions; under 16, over 16 men, and women.
The under 16 boys had two heats leading to the final, with Mitch Nuyens taking the win over his younger competitors. The women also had two heats leading to the final, which Pro DH racer, Niki Gudex, easily won.
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