Twenty miles east of Lake Tahoe, high up in the Virginia Range at 6,500 feet elevation is one of the best preserved Old West towns in America, Virginia City. Known to locals as VC, in the 1860s, it was once the richest city in the world, home to the Comstock Lode, one of the largest silver strikes in history. In fact, the gold and silver from VC in the 1860s built all of San Francisco. Today, VC still has wooden boardwalks on C Street, ornate Victorian-era homes, two dozen saloons, a cemetery almost as large as the town itself and an Old West vibe that’s admittedly a bit touristy, but undeniably genuine. VC also has the Grand Prix, a 55-year long tradition of dirt bike racing, as wild and rugged as the town itself. Episode 85 documents this year’s Grand Prix, in the field on race day, talking with event volunteers and racers with different experience levels to really understand what this race is all about and how compares it to another legendary race on two wheels in a Gold Rush town, the Downieville Classic.

3:00 – Introducing the Virginia City Grand Prix.

9:05 – Larry Sussman – getting peer pressured into racing dirt bikes.

10:40 – How does the Downieville Classic differ from the VCGP?

12:30 – What’s more intense, the chaos of a mountain bike race or a moto race?

14:20 – Thomas Lay – growing up in Virginia City, getting into dirt bikes and organizing the event.

16:50 – How long has the Virginia City Grand Prix been happening?

19:00 – How many people race in the VCGP and where do they come from?

23:00 – Who owns the land the event is on?

27:30 – How long is the race and how are people staged at the start line?

30:20 – Talking with Darcy about course design.

31:20 – What’s the hardest part of this year’s course?

32:55 – Moving from Truckee to Virginia City and becoming a Nevadan.

34:40 – What got Darcy into riding dirt bikes?

38:30 – What’s the secret to surviving the VCGP?

39:31 – Talking with the local legend Josh Wilson about the moto community.

44:30 – Talking with Ryan Downing about the racer who passed away on course.

46:10 – What’s the secret to surviving VCGP?

48:04 – How does mountain biking compare to dirt biking?

49:30 – How do they stage racers at the start?

52:00 – Catching up with Pow Bot and talking about the start of the race.

56:10 – Reporting from Chaos Hill on course in the middle of the race.

1:01:00 – Would Trail Whisperer ever do the VCGP?

1:03:30 – Seth Johnson goes from last to 9th place, passing 400 racers.

1:05:15 – Missing the race by a month on Seth’s first attempt.

1:08:50 – Catching up with Thomas after Day 1.

1:13:30 – Beginner riders biting off more than can chew attempting the VCGP.

1:17:40 – How did the electric dirt bikes – a Stark Varg – do in the race?

1:20:45 – Running into Tobin Ortenblad after the race.

1:22:15 – How was the race course and how does it compare to bicycle racing?

1:25:55 – What was the start of the race like?

1:28:50 – Garmin stats: 20,000 feet of climbing!

1:30:00 – How do the Downieville Classic and VCGP compare and differ?

1:36:00 – Is there anything the bike community can learn from the moto community?

1:44:20 – Is Tobin doing the Lost and Found Gravel Festival?

Mind the Braap | Virginia City Grand Prix | E85