EXPLORING NEW TRAILS IN DOWNIEVILLE
AN EXCLUSIVE FIRST RIDE REPORT
After having to lie to me for six months about the development of Santa Cruz’s eMTB, Seb Kemp, Santa Cruz Bicycles’ brand manager, finally got the green light to bring me into the circle of trust. After a cryptic email, I got a phone call from Seb, “Well man, you’ve been bugging me longer than anyone else and I’ve had to keep this latest bike super secretive, but I think you’ll be very interested. What do you think about a weekend trip to Downieville?” Seb didn’t offer many details, and I didn’t ask. I just grinned from ear to ear knowing that Santa Cruz finally had an ebike and I was going to be one of the first people to ride it! I asked Seb to book a ticket for me and my video guy and we’d see him soon enough.
About a month later, Brian Niles (Treeline Cinematic) and I arrived at the Sacramento airport and strolled outside. Santa Cruz’s Seb Kemp was at the curb waiting in a rented Grand Caravan. He opened the trunk and there they were – four new ebikes…covered in moving blankets. Dammit!
I’m not going to lie here, as a total bike nerd who’s cynicism has been invigorated by all the new technology and engineering behind these eMTB machines, the fact I was going to have to wait another two and a half hours to see these bikes killed me. I didn’t know what it was called, I didn’t know what color it was going to be, how much travel it had, nothing!
Not wanting to appear overly excited, I ignored the voice in my head. The three of us made small talk as we headed east into the Sierra Mountains, bound for Downieville. More specifically, we were headed to The Lure. It is a riverfront adventure lodge with cabins, scenery, and access to the quaint yet somewhat odd town of Downieville. The old gold mining town is a home away from home for Santa Cruz Bicycles and where they come to test new bikes. It was a regular proving ground for their new eMTB, so it made sense for us to get the first ride on the trails that helped shape it.
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From The Loam Wolf
The Loam Wolf has been watching from the woods and mountains above, waiting for the right time to attack the status quo. We have descended, hell-bent and heaven-sent to reignite the stoke in riders around the world. Our pack has been growing and we smell blood. The passion, wildness, and grassroots love for our sport will no longer go without a voice. The Wolf Pack is here, and we will do our best to unite photographers, industry friends, athletes and mountain bikers of all kinds while giving them a voice and place to remember why they fell in love with riding bikes.
