A Place Appropriately Called Downieville

I was fortunate enough to join the mtbr group up in Downieville again this year.  It turned out to be some of the best riding I’ve done this year.  If you knew exactly how much riding I’ve done this year, you’d think that wasn’t much of a declaration, but a weekend in Downieville is always something to remember.  I was able to drag my better half along with me for her first ever camping trip and I also convinced a co-worker to join me on his brand new Ibis Mojo for a weekend of trail abuse.  If you have never worked up the initiative to check out this part of the country, put it on your bucket list!  It is worth every effort it takes to make it happen.

We had our own campsite reserved this year, so I ended up being a bit of a recluse and not meeting any new people unlike last year when I had to crash at a stranger’s site.   I found myself pretty worn out by the time the evenings rolled around and not much in the mood to do anything else but enjoy a few beers, watch the campfire burn out and hit the sack.  In my case, sack refers to a leaky air mattress that slowly sank my body into the hard ground each night.

The first day of riding involved a shuttle of Mills Peak and a ride into town via Sunrise, Butcher, 3rd Divide, etc.  We were beat afterwards!  It was a long but very rewarding day.  Day 2 just entailed another shuttle of Mills Peak.  There is something about that trail that I just can’t get enough of.  We ended up coming home a night early after we imagined what the Sunday I-80 Tahoe traffic would be like.

above: Some of my favorite breweries from down south.  We started with the red and worked our way into the hoppier stuff.  Ballast Point never seems to disappoint me!

below: Lots of new things for me on this trip.  The Element handled its first adventure well.  I was hoping my bike would roll right into the back of it up-right, but the bike is too tall.  Oh well.

 

above: If you have the good fortune of shuttling to the top of Mills Peak, this is what the jeep road looks like that gets you there.

below: 27.5 inches of DW-link American made al.  Others call it a Turner Burner.

below:  A few shots of the Mills Peak sessions.

above: I experienced what many are complaining about in regards to the Fox 2013 CTD shocks.  They are very linear throughout the entire range of motion.  The following day I added 5psi to the shock.  I didn’t bottom it out, but I could tell it was harsher in a bad way.  Might have to send it to PUSH soon!

 

below:  A few shots from the ride into Downieville via Sunrise, Butcher, 3rd Divide.

below: The camera I stick in my bag is a Sony Alpha A-100 with a Minolta Maxxum 24mm f2.8 fixed lens.  It works great for some things (landscapes, smaller physical size), but I do often find myself missing the zoom range of other lenses I own.  For the shot below, I was standing off the trail directly above the rider.

below: The split of 3rd and 2nd Divide.  We took 3rd Divide which heads up to the right.

below: Not sure if this is the area known as the ‘Waterfall.’  I’ve seen videos on youtube of riders cleaning it.  We decided to walk it.

above: The totals from the 2 days of riding from my Garmin Edge 305.

below: S’mores by the campfire.