2009 Gravity East #1 - Massanutten Yee Ha! Downhill

Pro Men 1st - Sean McClendon

Last weekend marked the start of the Gravity East downhill race series at Massanutten Resort, VA. Check inside to see helmet cam and race footage as well as a full race report and results.

Words by Dan McDonald

[RACE RESULTS]

May 11, 2009; Conshohocken, PA, USA: Riders from five states stood on the Pro podiums at the Gravity East YEE-HA! Downhill at Virginia’s Massanutten Resort on Saturday. On the Pro Men’s side, Californian Pro Sean McClendon took first place ahead of Pennsylvania’s Neko Mulally Ben Huse of North Carolina. In the Pro Women’s division, Allegra Burch drove down from New York to take the win. Pennsylvania’s Stephanie Gubernat and Lauren Peterson (Drummer Racing) from Massachusetts rounded out the podium.

Helmet Camera of the Race Course (Rider: Dennis Yuroshek | 2wheelfreaks.com)

Sean McClendon - 1st Pro Men - click to view event galleries

Gravity East Series’ first race of 2009 was a huge success, with 244 riders from 23 States being represented. Racers came to Virginia from as far away as California and Canada to race on the famed Massunutten 1997 World Cup Course. Even after days of rain days of rain prior to an overcast practice day on Friday, the track drained very well. Saturday’s race day weather turned out to be a perfect sunny and warm day. This was a great course to race, with all elements of East Coast Gravity terrain, Rock gardens, drops mud and roots, a great challenge for all Racers of every level.

Allegra Burch - 1st Pro Women - click to view event galleries

Racers comments were fun, fast, challenging the race and event was GREAT! Everything went extremely well with a smooth registration process, and a fantastic resort and staff. Third place Pro Woman racer Lauren Peterson commented “What a great race!”

Luciano Worl - best Cat 1 time - click to view event galleries

Daniel McDonald Gravity East Director was on site for the event and said “The fantastic staff at the Mountain made it all go very well, only minor glitch was a g-out that got larger during Practice, and became a mud bog, Mountain Manager Kenny Hess, along with 2 staffers and myself, repaired the section during practice by moving soil and diverting water from the course. This created a fast, safe small 12 inch drop element and gave the racers the flow required at speed. All classes finished the race by 2:40pm which was due to fantastic timing by ALL SPORTS EVENTS timing.

Ryan Gregory - fastest Cat 2 time - click to view event galleries

Mario Hernandez - fastest Cat3 time - click to view event galleries

Stay tuned to SickLines.com for more race coverage of select GES races and more this summer! Be sure to check out our calendar for races coming up.

Looking for more pictures from the race?  Check out our smugmug gallery.

2009 Massanutten DH Video