Docu: Dirt Magic | From Dying Mining Town to Mountain-Bike Mecca

What a great and beautifully made feel-good documentary is this. About the rebirth of an almost deceased American gold rush” town of Downieville, California. How a small group of mountain bikers gave it a new lease on life that actually started with setting out and maintaining a number of trails in the beautiful mountains of the Lost Sierra. They started a small event that was meant to attract some customers for their splattering bike shop. An event that has grown into what looks like a fairly rowdy bike event.

On Saturday there is a very tough cross country race, and on Sunday the downhill. A nice pearl of wisdom from the mouth one of the founders of the event: “The downhill is the most important thing, … it’s cooler, it’s just the way it is, I’m sorry.” Smile, sip of beer. As a lover of gravity, I found myself nodding a bit more than slightly.

I don’t know if I would like to go to the event myself, I am not necessarily a festival type, but visiting that charming town and riding what look to be epic trails, that sounds like a really good idea. The bucket list has just become longer.

Sponsored by Patagonia and very beautifully filmed and produced by Teton Gravity Research and Freehub Magazine, the film may give an idea or blueprint to other small sleepy villages in the mountains that could also become mountain bike meccas.

Previous articleThe new Casio Pro Trek WSD-F21HR smartwatch
Next articleReview Hanwag Belorado II TubeTec GTX
Since I can remember I have been very active in many different sports: started with baseball, tennis and riding later hockey, football, running and aikido. In addition, since twelve years old I've been into actionports: at first windsurfing, later climbing, inline skating, snowboarding, mountain biking. With the first action cams coming onto the market I've been making action sports videos. Furthermore, I've worked in the sports industry since 1990, sports marketing, media and live TV and until the end of 2016 at the Dutch Olympic Committee. Besides being partner in GearLimits I work as a digital freelancer. Based in the Netherlands, Married with Children (11 and 13 years old)

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.