In the interest of timeliness over quality, here is a quick (maybe) and dirty (very) run down of the 2015 / 20th running of Downieville Classic – one of our all time favorite events in one of our all time favorite locations!

Full. Complete. UTTER EXHAUSTION. That is the only way you know you gave everything to the Downieville Classic in exchange for the opportunity to test yourself and push your limits in a way not easily replicated.

The Cabin Crew: Steve, Bri, Brian, Evan, Jett and Tera!

Our pal Steve Lewis shows what it’s like to have left everything on the trail. In his first attempt he put up a solid XC time and pulled though a broken dropper post and loss of the front brake to nail down a strong DH run, too! Thanks for all of your incredible help, support and enthusiasm!

This year we were lucky enough to have Jett Chandler join us for the weekend. Although not able to nab an AM entry, he brought his hardtail and a strong shot of courage to test his mettle. It proved quite good initially as he was in the leading climbing group before succumbing to a bit of a leg issue. His maiden voyage down the course was not kind as he sampled a few dirt and rock treats, but made it through with what only amounted to a bite from the course that will be sure to see him infected with a strong desire to return for revenge…

Before and After!

Marin / Rabobank was in full effect as Brianne was rocking her Marin Mt. Vision 140mm travel bike and Evan was going big on his 160mm Attack Trail. Race prepped in the secret dungeon of performance and ready to shred!

Brianne with Jake and Nye Yakle. Both boys put up some super fast times this weekend!!

It’s rare, but Clark doesn’t hate everyone. Turns out Jett has a good soul and Clark loves him!! New friends are a tradition of Downieville for sure!

Bri found Carli and Ben after the race!

There is no way that our tribe could have put down such great results without the help of our super supportive families who also take the weekend to enjoy the mountains and cheer on some bike racing! One thing we love about bike racing is the great family atmosphere and it truly takes and army to support this band of ragged misfits. Brian, Kim, Kris and Joe put out huge amounts of effort all weekend to ensure a successful cause! Enjoying the weekend with great friends and family only serves to make the experience all the more memorable!

The one and only Billy Damon with Steve and Brian

One thing that is undeniable about this race, is that you know the strongest competition, comprised of the fastest, fittest, most well rounded riders will make an appearance. Bringing your “A game” is not essential, it’s required.  With Bri and Brett hitting their goal times and so many of our friends landing on the podium, it really is a weekend experience that creates lasting memories. Brian loves his IBIS HD3 and it landed him a personal best 3rd XC.

Daniel Kuhn captured the last dirt corner before the red carpet stroll to the finish line. At this point, the reserves are depleted. The tank is empty. The metaphors have run out. It’s you against the hardest gear you dare in your quest to scrub every last second from your ultimate finish time. Well done and well deserved. The 2015 Downieville Classic did not disappoint in creating another landmark experience for our tribe. Now it’s time to hit the river and clean up!

If there were an award to go to the most improved race from the 2013 California Enduro Series (CES) to the 2014 events thus far – that award must be handed to China Peak, which will no doubt go down as an instant classic and “must do” event for riders looking to truly test themselves and “endure” a taxing and challenging enduro like no other thus far in the series or on the regional level. This type of relentless event was what we were expecting when we signed up for the North American Enduro Tour (NAET) event in Hood River – unfortunately, that event didn’t seem to live up to the expectations we had set for a “National Caliber Event” – but China Peak did! NAET take note, CES is bringing some truly top quality events to the forefront!

At the riders meeting they alluded to this being “an all day adventure” with a long +/- 90 minute climb that would need to be completed three times before dropping into some rough and rugged stages that were capped off by a new “stage 4”. Add in some “hike-a-bike” sections and what turned out to be some searing heat and all of this taking place at elevation… things got real tough during the day!

Last year, this event was the first time we had ridden bicycles at a lift-style ski resort which made it a fun experience. This year, there was an additional twist in that a full face helmet would be required for the Stages, too. This would be another first for us! With the aforementioned challenges already on the menu, Brian decided to go the “two-helmet” route and carry the full face helmets during the climb. Bri used the Bell Super 2 with removable chin guard and both set-ups proved to be solid given the conditions. One note about riding a full face helmet is that you can really hear yourself breathing…and it’s a bit unnerving listening to what sounds like a heart attack inside your helmet during each stage! That took some getting used to!

In the end, making the long slog up the fire-road was well rewarded with super fun stages each time! Stage 1 started in the woods with some fun flow trails that were challenging but not too tough before dropping onto a fire-road pedaling section and back into some more loose berms prior to finishing in another twisty wooded section – good times! Apparently, there was a suspect line dropping onto a tricky fire-road corner, but Cannondale Over-Mountain rider and CES points leader, Marco Osborne, was having no such tom-foolery taking place!

The transfer to Stage 2 is mild and doesn’t require a full mountain climb like the other stages…so this was probably most riders’ favorite transfer! Stage 2 offers up slightly deeper corners and more rocks than Stage 1. The bottom is always a popular section for spectators as riders zig-zag down a seemingly endless section of tricky switch-backs before dumping out onto a fire-road sprint to the finish. With two stages down, we were both riding clean and staying off the ground!

The second time up the climb was hotter and more difficult than the first…everyone was probably beginning to realize just how difficult this race was going to get as we still had to make the accent one more time, too…

Tylor, Bri and Anker all cooling down with ice before the last transfer!

All the riders were looking for the shade!

Stage 3 has got to be a highlight stage for the entire series with good bits of rocks, high speed danger, deep corners to call riders out… and then the infamous rock garden section where spectators always cheer the riders on – so cool! With a new woods section replacing some of the fire-road from last year, the test was even more fun! Despite having some issues during practice, everyone made it through this test clean during the race. Phew! Afterwards, riders were definitely stoked on how things were proceeding…but also contemplating what lay ahead!

Photo by Scott @calledtocreation

Fortunately, the allure of the new Stage 4 and the steep rowdy challenges it brought were more than enough to motivate riders to head back up the steep slopes one more time!

Arriving at the top of the mountain once more, it seemed like riders were definitely taking a moment to compose themselves before the prospect of rousing up one more dose of awesome-sauce to unleash on the final test. This one hurt. Oh so good!

At the bottom Brian said his hands and arms were “moto-tired” which is generally only achieved on twist grip rides and not during pedal bike rides. That’s a sure sign of a solid day! Despite, giving her maximum focus, Bri had her only crash on the day during this Stage – a situation that seemed common for several riders!

The stories on the day were the stuff of legend as riders spoke about overcoming obstacle over challenge in order to persevere what turned out to be an absolutely incredible bike race that likely made everyone in attendance a better rider by the end of the day! Stage 5 is likely the most popular stage on the day as evidenced by the smiles and good times had by all at the swimming hole! 🙂 Here’s a little clip of Bri jumping off the rock: https://goo.gl/photos/JUjzRoGoKstSxZGk8

Jeremiah and Bri had the fastest men and women times in the speed trap!

The Marin/Rabobank Team

Brian on the top step!

Brian, Dillon, Tylor and I headed up to Hood River Oregon for the North American Enduro Tour (NAET) – It was a long drive, but we had some good company!! About halfway through our trip there was a lady trying to get our attention and pointing at the front tire, so we pulled over. Looks like there was a sidewall failure, so we had to do a tire change on the race van!! The spare was a little low, but luckily my super fantastic pink bike pump
doesn’t just pump bike tires and stability balls, but it does car tires too!! So Dillon got to work on pumping while Brian and Tylor got the tire off. We had the change done in about a half hour and were back on the road again. After Brian made us research every tire store option in Southern Oregon, we ended up stopping at a Walmart and got a new tire…while we waited we had some fun!! Thankfully, this whole ordeal went about as good as it could considering the minor setback.

We got to our rental house around midnight and Dillon tried to convince everyone that the house was haunted! He scared the crap out of me the entire weekend! I hope he knows that paybacks are a Bee-otch! Watch out Bae! When we woke up we were stoked to be only about 5 minutes from the staging area for the event which was super nice. We signed up for the shuttles from Hood River Adventures, Drew is AWESOME!!! If you ever need shuttles, you should definitely hit them up. We ended up on the Shuttle with Curtis Keene and Mitch Ropeleto who we rode with for the morning. They took us through all of the stages and gave us tips as we went along. These are two of the nicest guys you could ever meet. They are truly worthy of their factory Specialized support and are wonderful ambassadors for the sport. After practice, we headed home and got ready for day 1.

We got a shuttle to the top for the first stage and then pedaled about 20 minutes to the start. Once we were up there we got to play the hurry up and wait game! As I was standing there, this girl came up to me and said, “Are you Mallory’s sister?” (For those of you that don’t’ know my sister lives in Texas and only started riding bikes about a year ago!) So I was shocked as crap as to how someone knew my sister from Texas!! It turns out her name is Porsha and she is friends with a friend of my sisters that ride together. I remember my sister telling me a while back that two of her friends were going to be traveling and racing. Such a small world!!! And as it turns out, Porsha is a force to be reckoned with!

After over an hour long wait, I lined up to start the “XC – Stage 1”, which was a super fun, pedaly stage that I ROYALLY Fu@$*d up!!! I’m so used to the California Enduro Series (CES) and their starting procedure where we roll out anytime with 5 to 1 seconds left….well up here, you go on the buzzer. My dumb a$$ started on 2!!! WTF, so I hesitated, then stopped then went, the stopped, then the buzzer went, tried to pedal and the chain jumped it almost bucked me off the bike, then I went like 3 more feet and clipped a root and came off again!!!! WTF!!!! Luckily I heard Brian in the distance yell, “Focus babe, this is a long stage!” He was right it was about a 10 minute stage, so I tried my best to get my mind back on track and pedaled as fast as I could especially knowing that Kelli Emmett was behind me!! When I got to the bottom, a couple of girls back said I was going to get a 30 second penalty for jumping the gun! WHAT??? It was a total mistake and I was super bummed. I found the guy in charge at the next stage and he said the most I would be penalized was 5 seconds…so that was good.

On to stage 2 and what turned out to be my favorite stage!! It started with a fast pedal into some rock gardens and then through some twisties down at the bottom. I didn’t go until the buzzer on this one!! HAHA!! I went as fast as I could and ended up finishing about 6 seconds behind Kelli – that was pretty awesome!! We had some SUPER fast girls in our class and a few of which were local! The girl that ended up winning the race was a French girl who happens to be a World Cup XC racer, she was fast as SHIT!!

Stage 3 had to be everyone’s least favorite. It was somewhat like a flow trail except none of the corners had any traction and it was slippery as crap!! I knew I just had to get through it without crashing! I was so happy to be done with that! Brian finished just after me and he learned that he was penalized on that stage for clipping in at the buzzer instead of after it…he was pretty bummed out. We later found out that the rules are clear, but the volunteers weren’t all up on them, so that was a bit of a bummer! Live and learn. We were done with Day 1 of racing, I think it was less than an hour total on the bike, so we went up to practice Stage 5 which was the most technical.

Stage 5 was super steep, plus it has a bunch of rocks and roots and then when you come out of the trees there is this small drop. Porsha and I sessioned the section a couple of times and felt dialed!! After that we went to the Columbia River and swam, it was so nice!! There are a ton kite boarders and wind surfers, which is what this area is really known for.

Day 2 was here and I was sitting in 5th place with about a 13 second gap, so I was happy with that. Stage 4 was basically Stage 2 with a fire road leading up into it, so I knew I would do good on this stage as it was my favorite from the first day! I got to the bottom and felt good with my time. I headed up to Stage 5 and told myself all I had to do was ride smooth and stay on the bike. Well unfortunately something went wrong in the steepest
section…I don’t know how or what happened but my left bar hit a tree and my front brake and I ended up over the bars landing on my face. Ouch. I guess there is a reason full face helmets exist. I got up and struggled getting my bottle back on my bike, finally got on the bike and went to find out I had no brake lever when I went to brake and ended up crashing again!!!! It was awful, I figured out it had twisted 180* in the crash, so I had to hit it back into place. I somehow made it off the drop and finished the stage. I got to the bottom and realized my Garmin wasn’t there, UGH! The next girl behind me was Jenny Konway and she said she had a friend up there and asked him to look for it, she said chances were good since he was a mushroom hunter!! HAHA! Apparently I looked really dirty because people were asking if I was ok. I was fine, just super pissed knowing I probably lost my 5th place with the crash. (Notice my brake lever flipped in the pic below!)

Get a bit loose on stage five, clip a tree, and kiss the dirt. Breanne Spiersch taking precious seconds to get sorted before getting back on the bike. It’s a good call to take that extra second to make certain everything’s ok after getting tossed hard on a steep, loose section of track like that.

I headed over to Stage 6 and was having nothing but problems with the shifting and looked down to see my derailleur was bent to shit. A super nice guy tried to help me fix it and it broke off completely! GREAT!! He felt so bad, I told him it wasn’t his fault at all it wasn’t pedaling anyway. Another guy came up and said he could give me the easiest gear, but I couldn’t put pressure on the pedal. I told them thanks and decided to wait for my
fellow Marin Riders to see if any of them had a derailleur hanger and if they didn’t I would try to ride and be careful with what I had. Turns out not one of the boys had a hanger so it was off I went. I barely got a few pedal strokes in before I heard it start making a lot of noise so I started pumping from there. There were a few rollers I almost didn’t make it up, and I could hear the derailleur making a ton of noise when I went over rocks and roots so I was being super careful not to make it move too much. I got to the bottom of 6 and saw Brian. I was pretty bummed out with my situation but I just decided to head over to the last stage. I had to walk most of that transfer because it was all up hill.

I got to the top and let a few of the boys go before I headed off again! I told the timers it was going to be the most anticlimactic start ever before I spun out. Haha!! I was a little worried about the g-out in this stage because it was pretty steep, so I just told myself to let go of the brakes or I wasn’t going to make it up the other side!!! I made it through and coasted the rest of the way. There were a ton of sections I would normally have been pedaling, but I just worked on my pumping and being as smooth as I could be!! I was so ready to be done with the race!! All the girls were cheering for me at the end which was super nice of them! I got to the car to put the derailleur hanger on so I could ride more, but it turns out the derailleur was missing a part and couldn’t be fixed. Luckily I have the most amazing sponsor support from Chris at Marin Bikes – he had one in the mail for me when I got back from the trip! That is definitely worthy of Raawr!!!

Dillon killing it!

Everyone seemed to be pretty happy with their races. I ended up losing quite a bit of time in Stage 5 and 6 ( I had the slowest times on both) but on stage 7 had a pretty good time! I was in 6th place for the weekend and didn’t lose anymore spots which was good. Overall it was a really fun weekend of racing on some super fun trails!! I can’t wait to go back up for Mt. Hood later this year!!

Brian up on the top step! He and Sam battled all day.

We celebrated with some Ice Cream on the way home!