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Platinum heads to the far North….

July 12, 2010 · Posted in Uncategorized

Downieville Classic, Downieville Ca 7/10/10
written by Platinum rider Todd Booth

The Downieville Classic cross country race is one of the last remaining point-to-point bicycle races in the United States. The 29 mile course follows a rugged “Gold Rush” era route that departs the mountain town of Sierra City (elevation 4,100′), climbs to the crest of the Sierra Nevada (elevation 7,100′), and then plunges 5,200 vertical feet into downtown Downieville. A golden pathway, selected as a tribute to the mountains, the rivers, the big trees and the fresh mountain air. And to the hard men that carved these trails through the river canyons in search of gold and prosperity.

The adventure begins with an 8 mile, 3,000′ climb up the face of the Sierra Buttes, a metamorphic crown that stretches 8,600′ towards the wide-open sky. This legendary climb is known to many as the “Trail of Tears”. It starts with pavement, turns to dirt, and then gradually steepens and narrows to a loose, exposed, shaly double track. We try to make things more comfortable by providing an overhead water mister at the 2 mile point, and Clif Bar supported aid stations at the 4 and 7 mile markers.

After cresting the saddle, the route follows a rolling jeep road to the east rim of Gold Valley and the top of “Baby Heads” – a fast, loose, rocky descent that is responsible for numerous flat tires, get-offs and lead changes. At the bottom of this anarchy awaits Gold Valley and the Pauley Creek crossing. This 30′ wide crossing can be as deep as 3′ during the race, often making it difficult to navigate across at high-speed.

Once across, the route turns to single-track on the Pauley Creek Trail, a 17 mile creek side plunge that blends flowing turns and rolling jumps with jagged rocks and slippery roots. After descending 2,000′ and crossing three foot-bridges, the trail climbs from the Pauley Creek Canyon to the Lavezzola Creek Canyon, and to the trail-head of the world famous Third Divide Trail. Third Divide is known for it’s Star Wars like speeds, magic carpet tread, bermed corners and lofty airs.

After a thrilling 3 miles, Third Divide Trail dumps out onto Lavezzola Road, which descends to the upper First Divide trail, a 150 year-old water flume built to provide water to a nearby hydraulic mining site. This stretch of trail requires a ton of pedaling as it winds its way downstream through the Lavezzola Creek Canyon, across a saddle, and into the Pauley Creek Canyon to the long awaited streets of downtown Downieville for the finish.
(The course description is by the Downieville Classic Race organization)

With that said…here’s my interpretation of the race. In many ways you could call this “Hell of the North”. This was one of the toughest courses I’ve raced on in twenty years, but very enjoyable. The Northern California style of racing is mass starts…which means all the Pro’s and Cat 1’s start together. With a total of 800 racers chomping at the bit to get a good start it was a lung burning pace from the gun. We started on a steep road climb that turned into a very long (8 mile) fire-road grunt that only became steeper and looser as you made your way to the top. Did I mention that it topped out at 8,000 plus feet! This is Nor-Cal style…no leg markings and no divided age categories which made it impossible to know who you are racing against. I did see the familiar studs of my age group Chuck Ross, Don Myrah, and Guy Sutton.  My brother, Ryan was the defending “All Mtn Champion” the last two years and he knew the course like the back of his hand. In fact, he was smoking me on the downhill the day before in practice. So getting to the top in front of Ryan and in sight of the other three was my plan. That plan blew after the first mile or so. The altitude drained me from the day before and I was left with a feeling of no energy…I was spent and I had a long climb ahead. I was in survival mode and had no idea where the climb ended. This was my first time here and I pre-rode the descent but never the climb. Ryan climbed conservatively knowing that he would make up his time on the descent. I struggled just behind Ryan and teammate Bob Nisbet.
Knowing that the course was 29 miles long and anything could happen I didn’t give up. In fact, before the race I was very concerned that I was under prepared. This downhill was like no other that I have raced on before. With 16 miles of technical, fast, rocky and tricky cliff dropping single-track..my main goal was to not break my bike, get a flat and stay upright. I love technically challenging courses, but this was a handful especially on a XC bike. Almost all of the riders were on large dual suspension bikes. The prior day I saw two downhill bikes with broken frames!!! These bikes are built to blast down the hill. I was also surprised over how many Nor-Cal riders could fly down the very tricky descents. I was tasting a lot of dust this weekend.
Once I reached the top I knew I had nothing to loose..just go as fast as possible! I caught Bob on the top of the first single-track section and that gave me some motivation. I knew that at least fifty riders (all classes included) were ahead of me. I was riding a very smooth race having only a handful of riders passing me on the way down and I passing over twenty riders as well. The descent is deceiving, there is 1000′ of climbing over the 16 miles. Mixed into the “white-knuckle” thrill ride was little punchy climbs and cold water crossings that sapped any left over energy from your legs. Just passed the halfway point on the descent I saw my brother Ryan pulled over on the side of the trail with a sidewall tear. That dropped all aspirations of his chances of a third straight title. The last part of the course everyone is in survival mode. Fatigue and cramping become very common, especially if you don’t get enough fluids down. The race finishes off on just under a mile long road leg with a short punchy climb just before the finish. I was racing three riders through that section and won the sprint. That was the only time I though my 29er came in handy throughout the entire race. Don’t get me wrong, my 29er is the best race bike out there but for this race the Specialized S-Works 5 inch travel Stumpjumper took top podium. To my surprise, I ended up 3rd in the XC race and 8th in the combined XC and All Mtn (with 80 riders). This is one race every mountain biker must do at least once. For the guys from So-Cal, the 9 hour drive is part of the journey. I had a great time with my teammates Terry Dalh, John Reveles, Andy Osburn, Bob Nisbet and brother Ryan.

Results:
Todd Booth 3rd      Cat 1 XC 35-44
Bob Nisbet    8th      Cat 1 XC 45+   (Tire Flat)
Andy Osburn 9th     Cat 1 XC 45+
John Reveles 18th   Cat 2 XC 35-44
Ryan Booth    24th   Cat 1 XC 35-44 (Tire Flat) …… 5th Cat 1 35-44 DH

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Platinum heads to the far North….

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