Mauriceman
09-26-2002, 03:26 PM
From: http://www.yubaexpeditions.com/pages/entry/entry.frame.html
“The time has come, the walrus said,
to speak of many things.
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax,
and cabbages and kings.
Of why the sea is boiling hot,
and whether pigs have wings…”
There has been much inquiry and hand wringing in regard to this year’s SSWC.
Many, many emails and phone calls have been received by many people. And
they have all been equally ignored. Why?
Because these are one speeds, folks. How much preparation and fretting do
you really need to put yourself through. Just show up, prepare to drink and
ride hard, and give it no further thought. This was never meant to be a
complex or serious kind of thing.
However, we do have some details for you:
When and where?
October 12th. Downieville. Race will start at 10:00 a.m sharp. Staging will
need to commence at start line about a halof hour earlier. Registration will
open the day before, at the Yuba Expeditions shop in Downieville. It’s the
only bike shop in town, on the only business street In town, so it’s hard to
miss. First come, first served. In the very unlikely event that the event
looks like filling up, remaining spots will be determined by applicants
familiarity with Lewis Carrol’s poem “The Walrus And The Carpenter”. You
have been warned. We will also pull aside about a hundred entries for
foreigners, returning champions, ringers, and dignitaries. You know who you
are.
There will be casual drunkenness on Friday night, and a party with a band on
Saturday night. Winners, men and women, will be branded this year, as
opposed to the tattoos of years past. Don’t want a brand? Don’t win. All
racers drink for free, and there should hopefully be a feed of sorts after
the race on Saturday. Loads of prizes. Everyone should go home with
something.
What’ll it cost?
20 bucks. We have to pay for band, brand, permits, insurance, and food.
Thanks tro our sponsors for all the goodies we will shower you all with, a
choice of either a t-shirt or swank limited edition poster, food and much
beer, but we need the cash to pay for a lot of it. Don’t worry, none of us
will be going home with any money in our pockets. However, we are still very
seriously considering charging all Canadian entrants double.
What’s the course?
To be brutally frank, who cares? Just show up and ****ing ride!But, since
some of you (Canadians, in particular) have been incessantly whiny about
details, here goes: At the moment, it looks like the course will be a 35 or
so mile single loop with about 6500 feet of climbing in it. A thirteen mile
opening climb (mostly mellow fireroad) will be followed by more climbing of
the short gutbuster variety, punctuated with rolling short downhills on
dubletrack. Then it will get rocky, and steep. Then you will go downhill on
very steep, sketchy boulder fields. Then, it’ll mellow out, but stay rocky,
more up and down stuff, before dropping into a nice, fast, loose doubletrack
valley. Then it’ll go up again for another 1000 or so feet, half of which is
kind of push climb-ey. Then there’s a whole shitload of fast and often
sketchy singletrack downhill to the finish, with a few short, sharp mind****
climbs thrown in for good measure. High point of the course is about 7100
feet above sea level. If you want to be a geek about your gearing and
equipment, we would recommend going with an easy-ish gear (although we still
strongly recommend just riding whatever gear you are used to), wearing shoes
that are good to run in, and bringing some very fat tires. Right now, it’s
super loose everywhere. If it rains, things might firm up and become
absolute heaven. But we wouldn’t bet on it.
All this is subject to change without notice, depending on what the forest
service lets us run with. Whatever we do have, mind you, will be pretty
similar in profile from what we have just outlined. That’s just the shape of
the countryside around here. We currently have four different courses under
consideration for permits. Again, none of this really matters. Just show up,
quit asking dumb questions, and race.
What if…?
A couple important ones. Course might change somewhat depending on whether
the forest service approves our loop, but regardless, it will be AT LEAST as
long and as steep as what we have outlined. It will also be a big single lap
with a couple aid/party stations, unless it snows and we get forced down to
the lower ground. Speaking of snow, it might. This could really spice things
up. But it might also force us to use a 36 mile, two lap race with 6600 feet
of climbing. Almost all singletrack.
Either way, be prepared for any sort of weather. If the snow comes early and
ultra-hard, which is conceivable but not likely, we might have to cancel.
There will be a posting if this occurs. In the meantime, pack for hot OR
cold conditions.
What else?
Downieville is a small town of 300. There is one bar, and a strong
population of rednecks, some of whom really hate mountain bikes. Manners go
a very long way here. People who act like dicks sometimes get their asses
kicked.
There are several campsites within ten miles of town. Indian Valley, Rocky
Rest, Ramshorn, and ???? are downstream of town, while Union Flat and
Loganville are between Downieville and Sierra City. All are on the banks of
the North Yuba river, all are Forest Service sites, all cost about $14 per
night per site and are filled on a first come, first serve basis. This time
of year shouldn’t be too crowded with anyone but gearless bike riding fools.
There are also several places to stay in Downieville; Downieville River Inn,
Downieville Inn, Carriage House, Riverside Inn, and numerous vacation rental
houses. There are also accomodations twelve miles away in in Sierra City.
Prices start at about $70 per night for most of the hotels, and about $100
per for the houses, most of which can sleep eight or more people. Check with
the Downieville Chamber of Commerce for more info.
That’s about it. Don’t bother to call or email us, because we won’t respond.
Just show up, ready to race. See you then.
“The time has come, the walrus said,
to speak of many things.
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax,
and cabbages and kings.
Of why the sea is boiling hot,
and whether pigs have wings…”
There has been much inquiry and hand wringing in regard to this year’s SSWC.
Many, many emails and phone calls have been received by many people. And
they have all been equally ignored. Why?
Because these are one speeds, folks. How much preparation and fretting do
you really need to put yourself through. Just show up, prepare to drink and
ride hard, and give it no further thought. This was never meant to be a
complex or serious kind of thing.
However, we do have some details for you:
When and where?
October 12th. Downieville. Race will start at 10:00 a.m sharp. Staging will
need to commence at start line about a halof hour earlier. Registration will
open the day before, at the Yuba Expeditions shop in Downieville. It’s the
only bike shop in town, on the only business street In town, so it’s hard to
miss. First come, first served. In the very unlikely event that the event
looks like filling up, remaining spots will be determined by applicants
familiarity with Lewis Carrol’s poem “The Walrus And The Carpenter”. You
have been warned. We will also pull aside about a hundred entries for
foreigners, returning champions, ringers, and dignitaries. You know who you
are.
There will be casual drunkenness on Friday night, and a party with a band on
Saturday night. Winners, men and women, will be branded this year, as
opposed to the tattoos of years past. Don’t want a brand? Don’t win. All
racers drink for free, and there should hopefully be a feed of sorts after
the race on Saturday. Loads of prizes. Everyone should go home with
something.
What’ll it cost?
20 bucks. We have to pay for band, brand, permits, insurance, and food.
Thanks tro our sponsors for all the goodies we will shower you all with, a
choice of either a t-shirt or swank limited edition poster, food and much
beer, but we need the cash to pay for a lot of it. Don’t worry, none of us
will be going home with any money in our pockets. However, we are still very
seriously considering charging all Canadian entrants double.
What’s the course?
To be brutally frank, who cares? Just show up and ****ing ride!But, since
some of you (Canadians, in particular) have been incessantly whiny about
details, here goes: At the moment, it looks like the course will be a 35 or
so mile single loop with about 6500 feet of climbing in it. A thirteen mile
opening climb (mostly mellow fireroad) will be followed by more climbing of
the short gutbuster variety, punctuated with rolling short downhills on
dubletrack. Then it will get rocky, and steep. Then you will go downhill on
very steep, sketchy boulder fields. Then, it’ll mellow out, but stay rocky,
more up and down stuff, before dropping into a nice, fast, loose doubletrack
valley. Then it’ll go up again for another 1000 or so feet, half of which is
kind of push climb-ey. Then there’s a whole shitload of fast and often
sketchy singletrack downhill to the finish, with a few short, sharp mind****
climbs thrown in for good measure. High point of the course is about 7100
feet above sea level. If you want to be a geek about your gearing and
equipment, we would recommend going with an easy-ish gear (although we still
strongly recommend just riding whatever gear you are used to), wearing shoes
that are good to run in, and bringing some very fat tires. Right now, it’s
super loose everywhere. If it rains, things might firm up and become
absolute heaven. But we wouldn’t bet on it.
All this is subject to change without notice, depending on what the forest
service lets us run with. Whatever we do have, mind you, will be pretty
similar in profile from what we have just outlined. That’s just the shape of
the countryside around here. We currently have four different courses under
consideration for permits. Again, none of this really matters. Just show up,
quit asking dumb questions, and race.
What if…?
A couple important ones. Course might change somewhat depending on whether
the forest service approves our loop, but regardless, it will be AT LEAST as
long and as steep as what we have outlined. It will also be a big single lap
with a couple aid/party stations, unless it snows and we get forced down to
the lower ground. Speaking of snow, it might. This could really spice things
up. But it might also force us to use a 36 mile, two lap race with 6600 feet
of climbing. Almost all singletrack.
Either way, be prepared for any sort of weather. If the snow comes early and
ultra-hard, which is conceivable but not likely, we might have to cancel.
There will be a posting if this occurs. In the meantime, pack for hot OR
cold conditions.
What else?
Downieville is a small town of 300. There is one bar, and a strong
population of rednecks, some of whom really hate mountain bikes. Manners go
a very long way here. People who act like dicks sometimes get their asses
kicked.
There are several campsites within ten miles of town. Indian Valley, Rocky
Rest, Ramshorn, and ???? are downstream of town, while Union Flat and
Loganville are between Downieville and Sierra City. All are on the banks of
the North Yuba river, all are Forest Service sites, all cost about $14 per
night per site and are filled on a first come, first serve basis. This time
of year shouldn’t be too crowded with anyone but gearless bike riding fools.
There are also several places to stay in Downieville; Downieville River Inn,
Downieville Inn, Carriage House, Riverside Inn, and numerous vacation rental
houses. There are also accomodations twelve miles away in in Sierra City.
Prices start at about $70 per night for most of the hotels, and about $100
per for the houses, most of which can sleep eight or more people. Check with
the Downieville Chamber of Commerce for more info.
That’s about it. Don’t bother to call or email us, because we won’t respond.
Just show up, ready to race. See you then.