Mountain Biking - Downieville...with pics

A couple of weekends ago a group of us headed off to mountain biking paradise, Downieville, Ca. Downieville, located in the Sierra mountains, is an old mining town surrounded by an incredible amount of trails, many created by the old 49rs.

Here are a few pictures of our rides on Saturday and Sunday.

The plan on Saturday was to ride up from Sierra City to the top, which is known as Packer Saddle. The climb would be about 9 miles and would take us to an elevation of about 8000' above Sea Level. The climb was grueling at times but the scenery surrounding us made the pain well worth it. Of course, knowing that we had a 15 mile downhill awaiting us made the pain even more bearable.


Here I am riding in front of a small waterfall about a third of the way up.

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This is about halfway up the climb. The scenery was just spectacular. If you look to the left of the pic you can make out the trail we were climbing on.

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These are the two other brave souls that decided to do the climb with me on Saturday, Andy and Julie. I have to give big Kudos to Julie. Although she hadn't been doing much riding this year she made the climb while the rest of our group wussed out and took the shuttle. The story behind this picture is that on the map it said to turn right after passing a cabin. Well, we kept going back and forth without finding this stupid cabin. Finally after looking a little closer we found the remnants of the old cabin.

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Here I am at Packer Saddle with Sierra-Buttes in the background.

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Going through a creek crossing on the way down.

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Some cascades we found along the way.

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I can't even begin to describe how incredible the singletrack is in Downieville.

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Here is Andy catching some air.

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Saturday was just an incredible day worth of riding. Four hours of riding time with a total of 13 miles worth of climbing and over 4000' of elevation change. Add to that the 15 miles downhill with over 5000' of elevation loss, you have an epic ride.

Sunday:

After our long ride on Saturday, our legs were pretty tired so Andy, Julie, and myself decided to join the rest of the group and take the Shuttle to the top.


Here are the happy campers waiting to board the Shuttle.

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Here is a picture of the Van loaded up with our bikes.

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Here is the group at Packer Saddle after being dropped off by the Shuttle.

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And...here is the crew back showing off their scrapes, bruises, and bandages. Note the healthy snacks being eaten after the ride.

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I didn't take many pictures of the ride on Sunday because...well, I ran out of film but also because I had stopped so many times on Saturday to take pics that I really wanted to bomb down the trail on Sunday. I just stopped long enough to take a few group shots.

Anyway, I can't wait to go back there. Downieville is an incredible place to ride. If any of you are in the area, you must check it out. If you don't like to climb, you can always take the shuttle to the top and enjoy the 15 mile downhill.

Awesome pics dude. :)

Really enjoyed your photos, Joe. Thanks for sharing them! That was obviously a weekend to remember.

Man I'm drooling all over myself. Wish I lived closer! I'd love to ride that trail with you Joe. Looks awesome. Thanks for the pics.

Well Grinder, just let me know if you are ever in the Bay Area and we'll go hit the trails in Downieville and Tahoe. I'm always looking for a good excuse to head up there.

Hey Joe,

Great photo's man! The bike's looking great too...keep posting those photo's...it makes me realise what I'm missing in the UK!

Cheers

Rich

Really looks, That you had a wonderful time, and you deserved it!!!!!!!!

Pics are great! , but the bikes too :D

Man, I'm jealous! Looks like a trip to the Bay area needs to be planned.

Great pics Pozer!!! That is definetly a cool place to ride. I hope to head for the mountains soon.

Downieville is definitely a mountain bikers paradise.

Rider, if you make it to the West Coast make sure you make time to ride at either Tahoe or Downieville. The riding is epic.

I will post a few more singletrack pics in the coming days.

Joe - I was supposed to do the 24 hours of Tahoe this year, but my team mates have bailed. We would have completed the Granny Gear circuit: 1999 24 hr of Canaan, 2000 24 hr of Moab, 2001 24 hr of Moab.

I've been trying to work a Tahoe trip in for the past 2 years for either snowboarding or mountain biking, but timing just hasn't been right. I've got to do it soon though!!! Your pix and descriptions just make me want to go more.

I won't even go into the snowboarding. It's awesome...I've never been snowboarding in Colorado or at Whistler so I can't compare it to them but it sure beats East Coast skiing.
Frebruary is probably the best time to head out here for snowboarding. That's when you get the most fresh powder. Nothing better than making first tracks. My favorite place is Kirkwood. I think it's got the best steep terrain.

Hi Joe,

I was lucky enough to do some snow boarding in Banff (British Columbia) a couple of years back. It was a right laugh, but I ended up on my a** more that on the board.

I also hired out a bike to get some extreme riding done, in fact the terrain was so extreme, I ended up walking about 90% of the trail!!! He he...Canada is great!

Rich :p

Speaking of snow (and ice), that new partner site, http://www.enteract.com/~icebike/, is well set-up and interesting. It brought back memories of my one and only black-ice crash, which enabled me to stay home two days from work....

You're right Jon,

That is a really cool *sorry for the pun :p* website. Living in London, I don't really get the opportunity to do snow/ice riding, but where we're moving to in deepest darkest Kent, there should be plenty of chances to skid and slide all over the place....

Can't wait!

Rich

Man, those pix are so inspiring. Let me tell ya.. they make me wanna ride bigtime

Hey Trekn, how is the new bike treating ya?

Yeah, everytime I see these pics I just want to get in my car and drive to Downieville. Such a beautiful day outside and I'm stuck inside. I wish I was on my bike.

My bike is amazing. I really love it. I ride around on the streets alot on Weeknights... Just to get my muscles in shape.. I've only been riding for about a month now.. I usually do the trails on Saturdays and Sundays.