Fast mechanic

Posted by PeterD Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:49:00 GMT

Seems our head mechanic, John, is rather fast. He took Charles’ Enduro up to Downieville Classic last weekend to race in the cross country race. If you aren’t familiar with the race – it is an epic, point to point race, with lots of climbing.

Here is what the race promoter says about the course…

The Downieville Classic cross country race is one of the top rated in the world, and is one of the last remaining Point-to-Point race courses in the US. This historic Gold Rush route connects the mountain towns of Sierra City and Downieville, and includes rugged jeep roads, flowing singletrack, and a whole lot of adventure.
The race start is at the base of the Sierra Buttes mountains in Sierra City (elev. 4,100’). From the starting line, riders look straight up for 4,500 feet, to the top of the Sierra Buttes. This can be inspiring and discouraging, especially since the first eight miles are all uphill on a steep and sunny mountain road. This challenging climb to Packer Saddle (elev. 7.100’) is known to many racers as the “Trail of Tears” and it will weed out the weak.
After cresting the saddle, grabbing refreshments and gathering senses, riders roll their way towards Gold Valley. But, before the flower show and refreshing creeks crossings, riders must endure the rocky stretch of jeep road referred to as “Baby Heads”. During the race this section of anarchy has been responsible for numerous flat tires and get-offs, and is always a factor for racers when it comes to tire and tube choices.
Once riders reach beautiful Gold Valley, they steer themselves towards Pauley Creek trail, and begin a 17 mile singletrack descent to downtown Downieville for the finish. This unmatched singletrack descent features Pauley Creek, Butcher Ranch, Third Divide and First Divide trails, the perfect Sierra blend.

John raced in the Sport Veteran category, and took 6th place out of 71. One spot short of podiuming, but still an awesome result. His time was 2 hours 37 minutes 20 seconds – that is a long cross country race!

But, actually, not as long as a race he is doing later this year – the Trans Rockies, which goes some 7 days and 350 miles…