Episode
Mind the Braap | Virginia City Grand Prix | E85
- Podcast
- Mind the Track
- Published
- May 4, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 6792
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
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 b…