Possibly rankled by allegations of being a wannabe hipster douchebag, Highlander spent a whole mess of time dirtbagging in Downieville prior to the race and as a result took home top bragging rights as "highest place SCB employee" at the Downieville Classic this year. Morgan Meredith photo

I skip the Downieville Classic for the first time in about a decade, and look at all the fun that’s had without me! For starters, a full-court press of big time famous people came out of the woodwork to push the hype a little even further into the red zone than usual. This guy and this girl showed up and crushed everyone in the All-Mountain race. Given that we’ve had a stranglehold on both the men’s and women’s titles for several years thanks to both Mark Weir and Rachel Lloyd’s focus and strength, this is bittersweet. But if we have to lose, at least it is to genuine hammers, and we can’t think of anyone better than Adam Craig and Katerina Nash to do the toppling.

Regardless, there was SCB throwdown aplenty:

Rachel Lloyd is still our hero. 2nd overall in the AM race, with a combined 4th in the XC and 2nd (by 2 seconds) in the DH. the only people ahead of her were gals who get paid to do this shit for a living. Morgan Meredith photo

Jason Moeschler is also our hero. As close to local talent as it gets up there, he is a perennial dangerman. This year everyone had to contend with an ass kicking from Adam Craig. Jason, who also has a day job and doesn't get paid to pedal into the red cloud for a living, managed 3rd behind Craig and Sid Taberlay in the XC, and 2nd behind Craig in the XC. Hero. Kris Pederson photo

Chris Sheppard is a hero too. Former World Cup racer/black sheep from Canada/husband of April Lawyer/tile guy/student/massage therapist in the making, he also has a day job. Or three. And he just won the BC Bike Race. Giving up about a decade in age to almost everyone else in the top ten, he still rolled to 4th overall in the AM. Class. Morgan Meredith behind the lens, again.

Mark Weir didn't race, but he's still our hero. He's been busy doing other things. Seen here with the main other thing - new baby boy Gus, the 2023 Downieville AM champion, getting his first taste of the town. In this picture, Mark is protecting his child from a dapper but eccentric older gentleman who was politely inquiring about the most effective way of rolling and smoking a child. Morgan Meredith reports from the scene of the potential crime.

Chapin takes the oft-used "rim line" on 1st divide, after one of the hatchet shaped rocks on upper 1st flushed his race. Not long after Morgan got this shot, the remnants of Chapin's wheel exploded with enough violence to crack his swingarm as well. Good thing he works at a bike factory...

Managing product with style. Josh Kissner, who doesn't get to ride near as much as Highlander and Chapin, still managed to throw down a company employee best time in the DH and a 9th overall in the expert AM. He's a rock, that lad. Seth Lightcap snapped this pic

Then there's these two clowns. On the left, in the red, Rob Roskopp, owner of Santa Cruz Bikes. On the right, nicely matched in black, Burl Darden, lucky winner of the "Win Rob's Bike" contest. Burl was the name picked out of the hat of 70-some entrants for this contest. This was his first mountain bike race ever. He trucked down to Downieville from Oregon, with his wife and freshly minted baby, and stepped up. Camped out with the SCB crew, ate red meat, beat rob up the climb in the XC race before things went pear-shaped mechanically, then had the reverse happen in the DH race the next day. Roskopp beat him on overall time, which gave him the choice of denying the new bike to But Burl brought a whole stash of Obey clothing down with him, was a stand up guy, beat Roskopp up the hillclimb in spite of about a 30-pound body weight handicap and snagged a real pretty brake rotor brand for his efforts. So we let him keep the bike anyway. We're suckers for a happy ending... Seth Lightcap photo

Burl’s take on the whole weekend was as follows:

“Good time in dville is a understatement. Downieville was all time!
So incredibly stoked on the whole experience..I went into the weekend
with hopes not to make fool and finished that downhill on Sunday
feeling like I accomplished the IRON MAN of MTB contests as the Yuba
folks dub and seeing as how this was my first rodeo, I had no idea what to
expect. I can ride a bike and I’m in decent shape for being an oaf of a
human, but a 8 mile climb up 3000′ out of the gate. I just grannied my way
to the top with smile, especially big when I passed Roskopp at the top,
then just when I feel like I have a cushion I fuct myself while
tailing this broad and stupid crashed, tweaked the stem, then burnt my leg
on the hot ass rotor twisting it back. This is when Rob passed, Fuck!
No big, back on the BLUR (anagram for Burl) and back in the game.
A few clicks later I flat, Downieville is the rockiest topography,
I’m in what literally seems like a dry creek bed full of little boulders,
should have been running higher pressure, did I mention I didn’t pre-ride
the course? I just barely pedaled this new bike through Sierraville
before the start. Anyway I CO2, assume the DT QR is tight enough,
full pedal crank start and the bastard comes loose. I tighten it to the max
and continue. My psi must have been at 25 cuz I could feel the rim bottom
out and the tire wanting to cut loose around corners, I stop again for
help this time, dude loans me his CO2 regulator, (blew the gasket out
of mine and canisters wouldn’t seat) that gets me where I need to be.
Down I go, passed a few guys and gals and finished with my sanity.
Whew, I don’t even know the proper recovery tech, so I drink a recoverite
have a Chris King fajita, some New Belgium medication and feel like one
million dollars. The Blur LTC is a awesome, awe inspiring machine.
Especially with that build, it pedals and handles like a Porsche.

The downhill was as nerve racking for me as the XC, guys on trainers
in the parking lot with shaved legs, women who look gnarly, checking
out my lack of steez. Really, everyone seemed cool, I just don’t feel
acclimated to these environs yet, so I pedal in circles for a few.
I start one minute ahead of Rob, feeling good about the gap. I rail it to
the best of my heart and leg capability, the blur loves every minute, I
have to dismount in the sketchy rock garden that I’d been you-tubing
to prepare for, lame, then I get to the 1000′ climb and lower my head, all
the while waiting for that green jersey to show behind me, never did!
So proud I made it without bailing. Chris King pancakes and New Belgium.

Long winded.. Everyone from SCB was amazing! I thank you all for a great
weekend. My wife and kid thank you as well!

Sincerely,
Burl Tolstoy”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Thanks for playing, Burl. And thanks for having an anagram of Blur for a name. Bike’s in the mail.

Okay, that about wraps this one up. There should be a whole lot more. Like the fact that our favorite French ex employee OG almost won the river jump contest, but was beaten by one of our almost ex sponsored riders, Andrew Taylor, leaving us wondering where our wonder-grom, Sierra City’s tough love child, Tyler Marshall, ended up in all this. Not to mention the fact that we want to post a whole gallery of Thomas Frischknecht pics from the weekend. Who gives a shit if he rides for Scott? The dude is pure class, and a legend of the highest order, and he showed up in Downieville and played it damn well. Actually, he might steal “fast aging hard man” honors from Shep for his showing. Not to mention the fact that his teenage son crushed the juniors something fierce.

But we’re out of time. It is late. There is canned beer to drink. We shall talk more soon. We leave you with this. Burl’s way of showing us the true meaning of “brand loyalty.” Too bad we didn’t think to get little logos cut into that brake rotor: