Downieville TR

[CS]

FKNA wow

Kellie





Pete

[Arty50]

Yup. This trip kicked serious ass.

[CS]

pics added

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

more!

[PeachesN'Cream]

this trip was a shit ton O' fun!!!

i got lots of words and a few pics to add but i'm damn tired and i didn't even need to drive too far. gonna have to wait for tomorrow.

[watersnowdirt]

I'm tired, battered, bruised, but HAPPY as a kid in a candy store.

more tomorrow. pooped beyond words right now.

[Squirrel99]

Damn, that looks like fun! Nice Pics.

BC- How'd ya like poppin' the new bike's cherry in CA?

[lph]

WOW! What a fun weekend.

I have a few pics but need sleep first.

[Superstar Punani]

Downieville with the Mags was a SHIT-TON of FUN!!!

Pics soon...

[watersnowdirt]

I took no pix, despite my best intentions - too busy laughing my ass off and riding the goods.

But here are a few things I learned about the maggots this weekend.....

lph - can ride with his achilles tendon cut in half, he's so burly.
bc flow - likes the 'chup.
kellie - drinks coffee through a straw, and will loan out her running shoes despite her sneaker "issues."
cyrus - carries a psycho knife with him, which comes in handy sometimes
CS - knows how to ride a bike. for real.
divegirl - for a mt biking newbie, she ripped the shit out of downvieville!
punani - a magnet for flats.
Spats - likes steak. A lot. And can play the guitar.
Uber - a true trooper for riding the gnar gnar though new to the sport
Arty - can eat 4 tacos without slowing down.

The weekend was seriously fun. Downieville is like a fantasy land where you ride some of the funnest singletrack and technical trails in gold country, hang out with the coolest folks around (how much does Greg Williams rock??), eat the world's largest burritos, walk around town with an open beer in your hand, sleep by a fresh clear river under a huge sky full of stars, and sit around a fabulous campfire at night with a rad group of new and old friends.

I'm still pooped, and stairs seem to be a bit of a challenge right now, but I'm already excited for the next time up there.....

[CS]

It goes somthing like this:

Get dropped off, around 5,000 feet and 15 miles above the end of the ride. Head down a road with multiple berms and jumps (which reminds me, any bike ride that contains any kind of dirt road with an embankment on the side, should have berms. Next to singletrack and catching air, they are the funnest damn thing on a bike.) Hit the dirt road, practice your manuals (getting sooooo close), but be quick on the brake, cause you don't want to float back too far going this fast. Then hit the trail, which casually starts off fast (theme of the weekend) and some nice roller airs to get you going even faster.

If there was ever created a perfect trail, it would follow the guise of Downieville, just without the dust (solution: get there early season). There I said it. Quite possibly one of the best, funnest riding I have ever done. Sure, the XC freakos will wax on about the need to pedal yourself up there to get the "complete experience", or some such drivel, but why? I guarantee it's not any more fun going down for them than it is for me. In fact, my ride is probably smoother and faster, so I win. Hah!

But I digress. This is about the ride, not the means. Picture if you will a thin ribbon of dirt snaking through perfectly spaced trees. Twisting, turning winding, always working with gravity (ok, ok, there are a couple sections you actually do have to pedal up), occassionally throwing rocks, roots, and streams at you. Keep you on your toes. As if the speed hasn't already awoken every nerve and synapse. I give the brain a lot of credit. Its abilitly to focus through the blur of trees, dust, and dirt. Firing its impulses to hand, foot, and body. To the fingers: left hand squeeze lever, but not too hard, caress. Right hand: bush bar down. Body: lean into the turn. Feet: lean, pressure outside right foot, inside left. Get through the turn. Repeat. Repeat.

And so it goes. 15 miles of it. Just when you think you can't have any more fun, you get to 3rd divide. I beleive this is where words fail. How to express the sheer joy of blasting through trees and down a thin ribbon of dirt? Going faster than I've ever gone on a bike, conscious of the surrounding but focused on the trail ahead. The world is a blur. The bike is no longer an aparatus ridden, but an extension of body. Being just on the verge of control, where disaster is iminent, but strangely distant.

I've said it before, and I will do so again: I can only compare this to the deepest of days. When deep snow and good company combine to create an experience that will not be forgotten, but relived over and over in the mind, hoping only to find that moment again. The moment was found, on a bike, in the mountains of Downieville.

The mark of greatness is reflected on the faces of the participants. As good as a trail can be, it is nothing without the company with whom you ride it. At the end of the day, though exhausted and wary, only smiles were seen. Once again, a long drive to hang out with "friends from the internet" proves time well spent. Thanks go out to all for the good times. For the efforts of watersnowdirt, and for the company of everyone and the laughs shared (not to mention seeing Punani double pinch both tubes in one deft move). Sorry for the length and randomness. Just some thoughts on the long drive home.

[hev]

sweet pics and write up. this place is definately on my biking to do list.

I got to say this bike forum is turing out sweet. this is about the third TR in three weeks that has kicked ass.

[CS]

Some other thoughts:

the ladies kill it, seriously

Kellie and Divegirl should not even be that damn good this early on in the game. And what can be said about our lady of liquid, crystal, and earth? Getting us to the most kick-ass campsite ever, setting up the shuttles, and doing her own part to ownerize the trails.

Then there are the fellas:

lph: hammering a Heckler like he's riding a VPfree
BC-FLOW: not only can he ride, he carves one hell of a hot dog roaster
Arty: can somebody give that man his bike already? Oh, and a better grill master cannot be found.
Punani: carry some damn tools (and I was silently hoping to witness some of your moments you write so much about. But no dice)
Spats: thus begins the torment of continual dreams of a squishy bike
Lego: quietly and smoothly slays it, and yeah, carries a big ass knife
Uber: get back on the bike and do it again man, the fun has barely started (and put that burrito on the fire, dammit )

[Viva]

So, is Spats's mountain bike a recumbent also?

[watersnowdirt]

Nicely said CS. Seriously. Now I'm gonna get no work done. I'm daydreaming about riding.

You know how after a long day on the hill or in the surf you go to sleep and you still feel like you're out there? That happened over and over again yesterday. As we were driving home and I was sacked out in the back snoozing, I kept feeling like I was still biking, and every corner the car took was me riding a switchback or flying around the bend on 3rd Divide (which really is heaven on earth). Then when we slammed on the brakes on one point, I sort of braced myself to not go over the handlebars. Weird.

Going to sleep last night, happy, tired....REALLY happy and tired...I continued to feel like I was going over rollers, getting bounced around babyheads. I even dreamt about trying to hit a dirt jump.

More...I want more....

[Ubersheist]

Fun weekend fo sho!

Originally posted by CS

Uber: get back on the bike and do it again man, the fun has barely started (and put that burrito on the fire, dammit )

Hey! I yanked it off as soon as I started to sort of hear grumblings amoung the ruffians. Did you notice that the second burrito never touched the grill? Mmmm.....burritos..... they were good!

Don't worry... I'll get back on the proverbial horse as soon as my perineum (look it up) stops hurting. It's still sore right now...

Like WSD said, it was very cool hanging out with "a rad group of new and old friends." Not one person encountered was anything less then that.

Highlights for me were:

• catching a bit of shut eye in LPH's super comfy chair while the rest of y'all were being bad-asses
• checking out Lavazolla Creek while the rest of y'all were being bad asses
• campfire frivolity
• "Give your momma some of Dee's Salty Nuts for Christmas." - BC-FLOW
• hangin' with the maggots I've met before and meetin' new some of you new-to-me, kick ass maggots!

[Ubersheist]

Originally posted by CS
Getting us to the most kick-ass campsite ever, setting up the shuttles, and doing her own part to ownerize the trails.

Oh yeah... forgot about that. Thanks again, WSD. Very cool of you to set it all up.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Originally posted by Tyrone Shoelaces
more!

What he said!

[Superstar Punani]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!! Downieville is the most insane places I've ridden.

Spats and I rolled in around 2am Saturday morning and everyone was crashed out already.

The next morning the crew is up early. Rode from camp to town on first divide and the first thing we saw was CS's steep steeze.



The pic doesn't do it justice because of the shit angle and backlight, but that's a 75-80 degree pitch he's rockin.

So we're gathering at the Yuba joint waiting for the rest of the gang.



The Yuba shuttle is the best $15 I've ever spent outside of a nudie bar. 5000 miles of vert and 17 miles of hard-on inducing singletrack pleasure.



45 minutes later we're up at Packer Saddle checking out the sweet views.

So we're hauling down the first road section, a group of around 15 mags going apeshit.

Butcher's was the first trail. Insane singletrack with dry dusty sections, followed by technical shit, a bunch of creek crossings, more technical shit, rocks, trees, stumps, bushes, berms, jumps, airs, mud, dust, logs, babyheads, boulders, drops, switchbacks, and all things fun.

This was the coolest craziest shit ever. As a first timer I had no idea what to expect.

Here's some of the crew on a breather


Nothing beats the thrill of hauling your ass down a singletrack and having the world shrink to the 50 feet of track in front of you. Adrenaline kicks in and does most of the work while reflex actions take over from conscious decisions. Initial fear and shit-packing gave way to an eerie sense of calm as you squeezed less on the brakes and let it rip.....hard.

The weirdest feeling that I got were intense sections where you feel completely out of control.... There were memory blackouts of the trail. When you stop your brain's like "what the fuck just happened and what did I just do and how am I still alive and HOLY SHIT let's do it again!!!" That was on the 3rd divide section. When we stopped the discs were literally sssmmokin!!!

CS was on another level. It was fun watching him and trying to keep up, only to be met with a faceshot of dust. Here he is:


Most of the wipeouts were more laughter than pain. Arty took the first one on the knee. lph had blood on his leg and didn't even know it, wsd loves to kiss baby heads, trees were hugged, and many a testicle were subjected to a world of pain

Dust-eatin' grins all 'round. Love the stoke that just oozes from this shot of Kellie, wsd, BC-FLOW, lph and CS.



There's this section of lower 3rd divide with a technical boulder. It had already claimed LEgo's tube. Most got it up halfway, then CS comes and BAM! Explodes and airs the fucking thing. Spats and I go back to session it again. On my third try I slam into it at full speed....
BAM!
BAM!
HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

FUCKING FUCKITY FUCK SHIT FUCK COCKSUCKER FUCK SHIT FUCK

Hahahaha haha haahahahahahahahahahahahaha double flat!!!

Special thanks to Pete and BC FLOW for the tubes and tool, and to lph and Arty for helping me fix my flats.

Within 30 seconds, I hit a rock, followed by another hissing sound of Pete's 38-cent tube, a bunch more cusswords, and a 2 mile haul back to the campground to borrow more tubes and tools.

I will buy tools and tubes ....
I will buy tools and tubes ....
I will buy tools and tubes ....
I will buy tools and tubes ....
I will buy tools and tubes ....
I will buy tools and tubes

Lumbergh is calling.
Stay tuned for the next installment.... Ride #2- Pauley Creek

[mtnrider]

looks like I missed out on a great trip...I can't believe you rode w/o tools and a x-tra tube...walking back sucks.
awesome pics everyone.

[Superstar Punani]

So we're back in town, completely buzzing from adrenaline. The local burrito place was infested by maggots. They were gooooood, but the cabbage and beans, which were later mixed with copious amounts of beer, made me the most unpopular guy in the campground.


We load up for the 3pm shuttle to hit up Pauley creek, a longer ride paid for by a few ass-sucking climbs.

The downhill section was littered with tons of baby heads. I love the random pinball effect of these trails. The hairiest section was when wsd's front tire became squirrelly and she faceplanted onto rock. Missed her by a few inches and the crew's helping her out. A little woozy and bloody, but nurse Kellie comes to the rescue with some painkillers. wsd slammed her face and bit through her lip



Lego was down the trail fixing his second flat trying to catch up to my 3 tubes.

Pics from ride 2:

More CS steezin'


Trying to figure out how to make a bungee cord from all the tubes we have:


SERENITY NOW!!!!!!



We haul down some fun creek crossings, more singletrack and end up down at lower butcher ass haul section....third divide gets ownerized again, and before we know it we're back at camp, swimming in the icy cold river to wash the dust and blood off.

Saturday night was spent having an insane feast of meat and beer by the campfire. Musical entertainment provided by Spats and Uber, and special treats dished up by wsd, the qieen of the Smores.

Good times with great friends:




You are getting sleeeeeeepy



Coming up:
Day 2 / Ride 3

[watersnowdirt]

Originally posted by Punani

my lip, it is so sexy, no?

damn that hurt. it's good and swollen now, and my leg is a disaster. Woohoo! riding season has arrived !

[lph]

As Punani said, this was near vertical to a flat road on soft earth. CS left a 2.7" tread mark in the dirt and his 'sluff' followed him down that rut. The guy redefined for me what I thought a 'good' mtn biker is, he absolutely slayed the terrain, he has mad trials type steeze and is as humble and nice as they come.

[Viva]

Originally posted by watersnowdirt
my lip, it is so sexy, no?

damn that hurt. it's good and swollen now, and my leg is a disaster. Woohoo! riding season has arrived !

Hey, at least you didn't land your shoulder again.

[onehotchili]

nice TR folks! those pictures are awesome and it totally looks like a great time.

i wish i could have swung by.... but the wife was busy doing the Donner Tri yesterday. i would have rather played in the dirt than hang out with a bunch of swim/road/run geeks...