[smw]

This past weekend about 15 mtbr members met up in Downiville for a weekend of fun, exploring what Downiville has to offer. Our morning on saturday came early as most of us had less then 4 hours sleep. Our first destination was Big Boulder, the Pauly Creek baby heads were just a sample of what was still to come, we flew by several jeeps on the decent before regrouping for the painful climb up to Big Boulder. The climb was difficult, more baby heads only this time while we were climbing. The views made it worth the effort. We regrouped at the top, tired but eager to continue. I may have been a bit too eager, as before long I went flying over the bars then about 100 yards later I ate dirt again . I got up checked myself and bike out and decided I had better cool it a bit. As I journied on, Crashmaster Andy went over the bars behind me. After that we seemed to get it together. We got to third divide for another regroup before flying down third divide at mach speed. Velicpus( aka Dennis) found these trails to his liking as he was the speed demon followed closely by Derelict. A few pinch flats later and we were in town having lunch before heading back up to give Butchers a go. For me, it was a mistake. Although I made it down in one piece, I was really tired and I just held on as best I could to get back down the mountian. Lots of tired smiles and several more pinch flats for the group and it was back to camp to eat drink and rest. The cold river felt very good on the tired aching muscles.

Sunday morning came quickly, we caught out third and final shuttle. Today the group decided to give the Pauley Creek trail a go. This is now my favorite route. The decent was long, and offered a huge variety of trails, beautiful loud river crossings and beautiful views in every direction. All of us got down without incident. We regrouped at the bottom of Butchers and 2nd divide. Most of the group went down 2nd divide, myself and Steve opted for 3rd divide since we were exhausted by this point. The remainder of the group rode 2nd divide, and returned with huge smiles and a few stories.

Thanks to everybody for a great weekend, it was one Ill not soon forget. I am still exhausted which is why I wrote this quick recap. A few pictures from our journey below. I have a new respect for the punishment and effort it takes to ride downhill.

sean

 

[smw]

a few more

Who else took pics, lets see em.

 

[grrrah]

looks like a great time.. bummed I missed it.

if you are exhausted, you made a good choice by skipping 2nd divide.

 

[jdubsl2]

Downieville is awesome. I'm convinced that it's sole purpose for existance is mountain biking. Every car had a roof rack with bikes on it. If the bikes weren't on the roof, they were being ridden around the town or blazing down the mountain. The trails pushed me to my max and I rode faster than I've ever ridden before... over some of the most technical terrain I've ever encountered. By far the best trip I've ever taken. I can't wait to go back. I'll post some of the pictures I took when I'm on my home PC.

Thanks everyone for an unforgettable weekend.



Justin

 

[smw]

Those in attendance;
Derelict, Velicopus, 8-Trak, Plim, Crazy Cat Lady, CruzSS, Crashmaster, JDubsl2 and friend Steve, Dan51, The Law, Chum, K-Less, Gus and a friend, Winona also had 2 friends there, and myself. We started our first ride with 19 riders.:thumbsup: It was great to meet and ride with all of you, and my regular group as it was the first time in a while since my injury.
If I forgot to mention anyone please speak up.
Sean

 

[GuruAtma]

Looks like a great time. Wherewolf and I will be there this coming weekend if anyone who missed your trip wants to join us. :thumbsup:

 

[Wherewolf]

I can't wait!

Looks like a great time. Wherewolf and I will be there this coming weekend if anyone who missed your trip wants to join us. :thumbsup:

After two consecutive big Tahoe rides I'm ready to give the knees a break. I agree smw, Pauley Creek is the most fun trail. Wish you had a few close-ups of a couple of those riders

 

[smw]

After two consecutive big Tahoe rides I'm ready to give the knees a break. I agree smw, Pauley Creek is the most fun trail. Wish you had a few close-ups of a couple of those riders

I wasnt a very good camera man this trip. I only carried it on one run, and I was in the middle of the group that just flew down the mountian with very little stopping. My battery was really low too. I am hoping someone else got some. I know Justin took alot of pictures, but I dont remember seeing anyone else with a camera out. It is getting really dusty too, so on the trail action shots were tough. I think I just didint want to stop and follow the dust clouds down the mountian. I look forward to your pics next week. I wont be back until the fall.

Sean

 

[Uncle Bri]

It looks like you guys had a blast too, I guess our trails didn't overlap. It was an awesome weekend for me also, and getting home on Saturday rather than Sunday was nice since it left us a day to rest before work.

On Friday our plans were to ride two DH runs and check our time, but the first one turned into a shake-down ride as I had trouble with flatting. Once I got rid of the POS tubless/rim strips stuff and got some good old fashioned tubes in there, I had no problem. And on the second run, Ross rolled like a 45 and I was like 5 minutes behind him. Which is great since even though the course is about 2 minutes longer, I was able to get down in about the same time as lasts years race time. I even mostly stopped at the stop signs in town. Third is a lot slower than it used to be.

Looks like Ross is on form for another victory -- good luck man.

A young rider apparently fell off the cliff on Upper First sometime between our first and second runs. I stopped and talked to his friend, they said he was ok. But that would be scary. Those must be huge drop-off cliffs there. I personally don't take my eyes off the trail and try and think happy thoughts as I ride it.

We stayed at the Kokanee Kabins on friday night, which turned out to be a great choice since they still had a cabin open for race weekend. A nice place with a kitchenette so I can bring the wife and kid up. Yeah.

Saturday's ride was awesome. Packer Saddle over to the A-Tree and down Lavezzola. Pure sweetness. We were planning on going down the Basin and doing a out-and-back on Mt. Elwell, but the patches of snow were slowing us down enough that we changed our mind. Lavezzola is in great shape right now, but when we finally came down off the trail, a local standing in his yard with his two huge dogs was saying "you can't come through here" -- did we miss a turn or something? I felt like saying "go eat a bag of dicks" but I didn't.

UB.

 

[smw]

I agree about third divide. It was way faster just 2 weeks ago. The dust is getting very thick.
Sean

 

[Uncle Bri]

Yeah, that too. I was mainly talking about the erosion-control trail rerouting that's been going on.

UB.

 

[smw]

Yeah, that too. I was mainly talking about the erosion-control trail rerouting that's been going on.

UB.

Oh, this is the first year Ive ridden Downiville, so I wouldnt know any differance there. I assume the flatter 180 turns are part of that.

Sean

 

[Plim]

Here's a pic. It's of CHUM after he endoed off the trail on the second divide. He hit his handlebar on the rock wall in the upper left of the picture, which caused him to lose control.

I was super-psyched to see it because I'd done the exact same thing a few minutes before, except with my lack of crashing skills I faceplanted on the trail before going over - CHUM did a nice graceful roll. Watching a crash from both first-person and third-person views is a treat!

 

[Fast Eddy]

This is not...

... a fvcking Jeep!

Nice writeup! I wish I could've come up...

 

[smw]

... a fvcking Jeep!

Actually there was kinda one of each, a Jeep, a land cruiser, an old Bronco, and some cool big huge Mercedes. They were out there doing trail work.:thumbsup:

Sean

 

[Fast Eddy]

Unimog

Actually there was kinda one of each, a Jeep, a land cruiser, an old Bronco, and some cool big huge Mercedes.

They come in a few styles, and have been made for a long time, at least since the '50s.

I was going to make a comment that the Jeep and Bronco guys brought the Land Cruiser guy to pull them out in case they got stuck, but if they had a Unimog...

They have something like 24 forward gears and 18 in reverse. Also notice that the axle centers are way above the wheel centers. There is an additional reduction gearbox at each wheel.

Here's a modern one:

 

[CHUM]

All I know is while coming up on the group this BRIGHT Orange jersey temporarily blinded me causing me to bump the mountain & consequently endo/roll onto a steepy-loosey section.....the only thing I remember while sliding was several people yelling "save the bike.." as I'm moving towards the abyss

Overall a really AWEWSOME weekend...and sharing the same crash site with Plim is just plain funny :thumbsup:

Here's a pic. It's of CHUM after he endoed off the trail on the second divide. He hit his handlebar on the rock wall in the upper left of the picture, which caused him to lose control.

I was super-psyched to see it because I'd done the exact same thing a few minutes before, except with my lack of crashing skills I faceplanted on the trail before going over - CHUM did a nice graceful roll. Watching a crash from both first-person and third-person views is a treat!

 

[smw]

something like that first one, but it was fixed up pretty nice.

Sean

 

[zorg]

All I know is while coming up on the group this BRIGHT Orange jersey temporarily blinded me causing me to bump the mountain & consequently endo/roll onto a steepy-loosey section.....the only thing I remember while sliding was several people yelling "save the bike.." as I'm moving towards the abyss

Overall a really AWEWSOME weekend...and sharing the same crash site with Plim is just plain funny :thumbsup:

Damn, crashing on 2nd divide could be way scary in some parts... Glad everybody had a good time.

 

[smw]

Glad you made it out of there. Sorry I split so quick, I was dead tired and wanted to get home, I was sleeping by 8pm. Still feel like I need more sleep.

Sean