News: Downieville Classic=Fun and Games
The local bar puts its glassware away and serves drinks in plastic cups when more than 800 mountain bikers swarm on Downieville, California (a few hours northeast of Sacramento), for three days of rowdiness that includes jumping bikes into the river, a cross-country and downhill race, live music and free schwag from the bike industry.
The event is the Downieville Classic, and the bartender hides the breakables when it happens each September because there is no telling what fired-up mountain bike racers will do after a day of ripping around on singletrack in the pines. This year, the pinnacle of destructive entertainment came late on Saturday night -- people took turns ramming an electric scooter into a stack of empty beer kegs and folding chairs while Saddle Tramps belted out tunes on Main Street -- but there were also notable moments during the races.
For example, this year a cross-country racer finished on foot after losing his bike over the side of a 130-foot cliff. The bike landed not far from where another bike was previously lost, then abandoned when rappelling down to retrieve it was deemed not worth the effort.
It's a long way to the bottom.
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The biggest attraction of Downieville and the Downieville Classic is the epic trail system through the Sierra Mountains, which features huge rocks, roots, drops and mandatory water crossings that leave you muddy as hell. Trails aside, there is more to life than riding bikes -- like watching people do goofy shit on bikes. The log pull qualifies as goofy shit, and it's worth watching. Riders attach a 120-pound log to their steeds and tow it down Main Street while a crowd cheers them toward a beer at the finish line. Good-ol' bikes and beer -- shitchyeah!
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