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Craig and Nash sweep the all-mountain championships in Downieville

By Seth Lightcap
Published: Jul. 13, 2009
2009 Downieville, day 2: Adam Craig on First Divide.
2009 Downieville, day 2: Adam Craig on First Divide.
Photo: Seth Lightcap

All the beers have been cheered and bloody scrapes Band-Aided for yet another installment of the Downieville Classic mountain bike race.

The second and final stage of the Northern California testpiece went down Sunday afternoon as competitors took off at one-minute intervals to attack a plummeting 17-mile Super-D style course that climbed a mere 1,000 feet while descending 5,333 feet into the streets of Downieville, a quaint mining town one hour north of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Foothills.

Competition had never been stiffer in both men’s and women’s pro fields as the Classic’s all–mountain title has become one of the most coveted cycling crowns on dirt, attracting big dogs from every off-road cycling discipline.

2009 Downieville, day 2: Katerina Nash enroute to the all-mountain title.
2009 Downieville, day 2: Katerina Nash enroute to the all-mountain title.
Photo: Seth Lightcap

Beaming through the constellation of top riders, the brightest stars of the day were once again Giant’s Adam Craig and Luna’s Katerina Nash. Both rode brilliantly and defended their day 1 victories by pedaling their way to the top step of the day 2 podium and hence, the all-mountain throne.

Racing at Downieville for the first time, Craig started 33rd in the day’s stage and deftly passed five racers on the way to his second course record of the weekend. His time of 43:48.3 bested defending champion Ross Schnell’s 2008 course record by 45 seconds.

“Everybody I caught up to was super cool and let me pass right away,” said Craig about negotiating the friendly crowds en route to his new record. “Surprisingly I had a pretty clean track all the way down.“

Two others who got a clear shot at the course were Schnell (Trek) and Jason Moeschler (WTB-Santa Cruz). Although Schnell was the first rider on course, Moeschler found a “cleaner” line, thanks to Schnell.

“I nearly hit two animals,” said Schnell. “A coyote and a deer. I was so close to hitting the deer I could have touched it. Guess I cleared the course for Moeschler.”

2009 Downieville, day 2: Downieville served up a few tacos to unlucky riders.
2009 Downieville, day 2: Downieville served up a few tacos to unlucky riders.
Photo: Seth Lightcap

Steering clear of the wildlife paid off for Moeschler as he beat Schnell by nine seconds to take second place in the stage. Schnell settled for third in the stage.

Stacking Craig’s two course records left him four minutes up on Moeschler overall with a combined time of 2:35:52.

Though Moeschler’s day 2 performance was not enough to catch Craig, it was enough to wrestle the second spot overall from Sid Taberlay (SHO-AIR). Taberlay suffered from a slow leak in his back tire that plagued him the last quarter of the stage. He skidded on however, and finished fast enough to hold onto third overall.

2009 Downieville, day 2: The downhill course could have been dustier, but no one called it tacky.
2009 Downieville, day 2: The downhill course could have been dustier, but no one called it tacky.
Photo: Seth Lightcap

Canadian strong man Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz) rode just off the back of the podium placers to take fourth overall. Schnell (Trek) ended up sixth overall having taken ninth on day one.

Nash throws down ... Again.

Luna’s Katerina Nash continued her 2009 winning streak beating back 2007/2008 Downieville women’s champ Rachel Lloyd (Proman) to add another stage victory and an all-mountain title to her ever-expanding resume.

Nash’s stage 2 of 49:52.2 undercut the hard charging Lloyd by only two seconds, but combined with her decisive win on day one, she finished four minutes ahead of Lloyd overall.
“Going into the weekend I was excited to be racing close to home,” said Nash, who lives an hour away in Truckee. “I knew I had to do well both days because the women’s category was super competitive. Really happy with the results.”

“I kept it conservative descending yesterday, but not today,” Nash added comparing her stage strategies. “Today I pushed it.”

2009 Downieville, day 2: Ibis' Olivier Guincetre took second in the Water Jump World Championships.
2009 Downieville, day 2: Ibis' Olivier Guincetre took second in the Water Jump World Championships.
Photo: Seth Lightcap

Kelli Emmett (Giant) slipped in behind Lloyd, grabbing third on the stage and likewise third overall. Willow Koerber (Gary Fisher) held strong in fourth.

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