So, I didn't bother doing a race report of the US National Championship DH
race at Infineon raceway this year. That was sort of a boring course at a
venue out in the middle of no where, put on by Norba (shuttles=good, circus
atmosphere and high-cost entry fees=lame). However, I think that this first
CCCX DH race is much more worthy.

When I describe what it's like to those who've never done a DH race, I
usually say "it's just like riding down any old trail, only you're being
timed so you're trying to do it as fast as you can". No where is this
usually more evident that at a grass-roots local race, where the trails are
often just regular trails and fireroads in a park that anyone can hike/bike
on, but which are closed to all other traffic on race day. The CCCX DH#1
race at Toro County Park fit this description perfectly, and provided a
perfect venue for a perfect day of grass-roots DH racing at it's finest.
The only thing missing was a BBQ at the end.

Rich Davis and I carpooled down and arrived at Toro Park a little after 9am.
It was still pretty chilly and overcast (which actually made for a nice
climb to the top later on), but we pulled in to the "race area" parking lot
to find a pretty full lot of cars and trucks. We bumped into an interesting
character who came out of retirement for this: The Mad Scientist, Dr. Heim
(seeing him just made this whole day feel even more like Hollister...).
Registration was quick and easy - they allowed people to choose their start
times, but later on this all got thrown out the window, and people just
picked their starting order at the top - you might think that this would
suck bad, but it actually worked fine.

$35 might seem high, particularly because they had no shuttles, but it paid
for the exclusive use of the park trails used for the course, racer
insurance, EMTs on hand, organized organizers, cash-prizes to the 3 fastest
riders, and some really cool medals that KD had made up for the podium
spots. Cambria Bicycles is one of the sponsors, and had a booth set up for
anyone needing last minute replacement parts and the such. Shwag is being
collected from the likes of Fox, WTB, Cambria, and Montara MTB, and is
supposedly going to be handed out (along with series plaques) to the points
leaders at the final race.

We suited up, and up the hill we went - no shuttles, so we had to ride/hike
up. But, it really wasn't bad - especially because the weather was pretty
much perfect, and the way up was mostly rideable. As advertised, it took
about 30 minutes to get to the top. The course was a mix of fireroads with
short-but-deep waterbars guaged accross them (which you could easily
bunnyhop), and short sections of tight singletrack. The terrain was very
similar to the hills of Laguna Seca and Fort Ord accross the canyon and to
the West - a very sandy soil, which made for some deep ruts that had formed
in some of the tight corners. But, nothing steep or difficult to manage -
you just had to check your speed and keep your wheels in the rut in some
parts. Overall the course was fast and FUN - and lasted about 5 minutes,
which is a perfect DH length. Only really one small uphill section, but it
was over quick, and then you were bombing down the next fireroad, and
turning onto the next single track section, with no fear of hikers or anyone
coming up.

We just did a couple of practice runs, and then our race run. Jon actually
did two race runs, after opting to add a hardtail run in for just an extra
$10. Timing was done with stopwatches, but I they seemed to do a good job,
and they posted results VERY quickly. I felt great and really had a great
run, and managed a second place in my class (8 secs behind KD, the
organizer, who always likes to race at his own races which is cool). I even
edged out Eric Brecheres (owner of Mr. E's), who took third, who I usually
only beat if he crashes. Rich had a pretty good run himself, and also took
home a 2nd place medal. Heim made it down without crashes on his suspended
run, but I didn't have a chance to find out how his hardtail run went before
we took off (sorry Jon, you'll get to hear about more about my diet some
other time - haha).

Will I do the next races in the series? Absolutely! Would I recommend this
to others, even people who've never done a DH race before? Absolutely!
This really is the perfect first-timers DH race. KD is a CX/XC guy, so you
know he's going to hold a race that favors fitness more then equipment.
There was everything there from full-armor clad dudes on long-travel DH
bikes, to skinny XCers in lycra on hard tails out there yesterday, but the
course didn't necesserily favor one over the other. Travel and armor
allowed you to bomb the fireroads with no fear, but lycra and a short-to-no
travel bike allowed you to pedal like mad. I think it paid to be
aerodynamic - Beavers in his skinsuit and XC lid took the fastest time
overall.

A small/medium travel FS bike with fat tires (running low pressure) was
probably the ideal bike. I ran my Nomad which had way more travel then
needed, but also allowed me to run 26-28 lbs in my 2.24 Motoraptor (w/thick
sidewalls) up front, and 2.3 Nevegal DTC in back, which resulted in a combo
that absolutely hooked up out there. My Blur, or even a shorter travel bike
would probaby have been better from a travel/pedaling standpoint, but a
frame/fork that can house 2.3 sized tires front and back I think is even
more important. Even a hardtail with 2.3-2.4 tires would probably have been
a fast bike. In fact, the fact that you can add extra catagories
(including single-speed, and hardtail) for only $10 extra, has me now
thinking about building up a hardtail for the next race.

So, who's in for the next one? I've got extra armor if anyone wants to
borrow it...
http://www.cccx.org/mtbdh/2006/index.shtml

-S