Anyone ever ride there?
What are your impressions of the riding?
Hard, easy, shuttle worth the money?
What are your impressions of the riding?
Hard, easy, shuttle worth the money?
Anyone ride Downieville?
- Thread starter Jesus
- Start date
Everyone has ridden there except you. I've been a few dozen times myself.
It was cool about 5 years ago. But the downhill has been cleaned up and sanitized (making it much easier). They've done this because of the amount of traffic the trails get (and the races), and the Downieville Stewardship has done a very good job maintaining the trails and access rights for future riders.
It's an intermediate level downhill, with enough climbing and pedaling for you to want to take a sub 40lbs bike. Go early in the season (June) to avoid crowds, dust, and excessive trail wear.
Shuttle is $15, and well worth it. If you stop along the way to take it all in (and wait for your other riders) it takes about 1.5 to 2 hrs to complete the DH run. Race record is under 45 min.
If you ride XC, there are some GREAT XC trails around the area that you should ride.
-Brad
It was cool about 5 years ago. But the downhill has been cleaned up and sanitized (making it much easier). They've done this because of the amount of traffic the trails get (and the races), and the Downieville Stewardship has done a very good job maintaining the trails and access rights for future riders.
It's an intermediate level downhill, with enough climbing and pedaling for you to want to take a sub 40lbs bike. Go early in the season (June) to avoid crowds, dust, and excessive trail wear.
Shuttle is $15, and well worth it. If you stop along the way to take it all in (and wait for your other riders) it takes about 1.5 to 2 hrs to complete the DH run. Race record is under 45 min.
If you ride XC, there are some GREAT XC trails around the area that you should ride.
-Brad
Jesus said:
Road trip???????????????????????
Road trip for sure!
Sounds pretty nice. A 2 hour DH, hell yeah!
Sounds pretty nice. A 2 hour DH, hell yeah!
How long of a drive is it?
TJ, wanna make the trip this weekend?
Downieville is just one of many classics up and down the Sierras. I'm headed up to the Sierras in 2 1/2 weeks for a tour of my favorite trails. Downieville is a nice easy trail to finish your trip with. Only a couple intermediate technical spots and a ton of smooth, fast singletrack. The setting is amazing.
If you're going to DV, then you have to detour to N* also
The shuttle in poncha springs colorado is about 10 times better.
.......and closer to kintuckeee
.......and closer to kintuckeee
Downieville is fun..hit it last year for a few days. The thing is, dont go in thinking of true downhill. It is very xcish in my opinion...lots of pedaling and not a lot of steep decents. Mostly super long single track. It is fun, but pretty much intermediate riding, not a lot of jumps or drops. (well, at least we couldn't find many)
The scenery is outstanding, and it is worth riding at least once. Bring lots of bug spray, even the flies want to bite you. Mosquitoes seem like they haven't eaten in months...
I went with 3 cars, so we shuttled. Either way you have to get to the top but driving wasn't half bad to us. Some of the group would fix lunch so it worked out and saved us a bunch since we had so many peeps.
The scenery is outstanding, and it is worth riding at least once. Bring lots of bug spray, even the flies want to bite you. Mosquitoes seem like they haven't eaten in months...
I went with 3 cars, so we shuttled. Either way you have to get to the top but driving wasn't half bad to us. Some of the group would fix lunch so it worked out and saved us a bunch since we had so many peeps.
It was worth the money, think of a long DH at Pisgah except 5 times longer, nothing you can't ride an xc bike on...
Northstar is definitely right around the corner if you want shuttled, steep, and rocky.
Northstar is definitely right around the corner if you want shuttled, steep, and rocky.
Been going for years and sas just there a few weeks ago. The riding is awesome but it's not super technical or steep at all, plus there is a lot of flat sections as well as one climbing section. You do not need a full on dh bike, the fast sections are not worth the price you pay on the flat and uphill parts. It's hot, dry, and dusty and you're riding at elevation (somewhere between around 8500 and 7000 feet I think) so it's hard work. Flats are common so bring tubeless or some tough tires.
There is some awesome camping up near the top of the shuttle runs, check out packer lake in particular. If you're there for more than a couple days you'll want to check out some trails other than the main shuttle run, there's a lot around but you'll need to pedal to get there.
You can book shuttles, get maps, and rent bikes from Yuba Expeditions, good bunch and I'm pretty sure they were the folks that put D-ville on the mtb map. Call ahead to reserve shuttles and rent bikes, there's usually plenty of room but they can fill up or if it's slow they might not run the usual shuttles.
As for your bike, to me the hot setup for up there would be an air-sprung Heckler with a Z150 SL, a Switch SL, or something like that with 2.35 or bigger tires, tubeless if possible. Something with low gears and full seat post, light enough to climb yet burly enough for anything up there.
There is some awesome camping up near the top of the shuttle runs, check out packer lake in particular. If you're there for more than a couple days you'll want to check out some trails other than the main shuttle run, there's a lot around but you'll need to pedal to get there.
You can book shuttles, get maps, and rent bikes from Yuba Expeditions, good bunch and I'm pretty sure they were the folks that put D-ville on the mtb map. Call ahead to reserve shuttles and rent bikes, there's usually plenty of room but they can fill up or if it's slow they might not run the usual shuttles.
As for your bike, to me the hot setup for up there would be an air-sprung Heckler with a Z150 SL, a Switch SL, or something like that with 2.35 or bigger tires, tubeless if possible. Something with low gears and full seat post, light enough to climb yet burly enough for anything up there.
my roomate's bike was broken and he did it on my hardtail and didn't really have any problems. I on the other hand enjoyed the relatively easy DH sections but was haiting my ~45lb bike on the flats and uphills. I would guess that just after the snow melts is the best time to be there. The tacos next to Yuba Expeditions were really good.
That is some of the XC riding mentioned above.Slacker said: