2012 Gravity East Series #1 at Mountain Creek Bike Park – Vernon NJ
Mountain Creek Bike Park hosted the first stop of the 2012 Gravity East Series this past weekend. With recent renovations and amenities the location is quite ideal for racing. Two weeks ago, they hosted their first race as the Eastern States Cup / Pro GRT series came through as well that we covered.
Red Tail Lodge - One of the new buildings on the Mountain Creek Property
The lift ride up is quite quick as the detachable lift setup allows them to get riders to the top of the hill in a matter of minutes. The way down is also quite quick as they utilized the Northern Ski slope area in the top section that has riders descending quite a bit of terrain quickly.
The weather turned upside down a little bit towards the end of the weekend and the berms and trail in general were still in great condition albeit a bit wet.
Loren Dejonge hits one of the berms midway down the course
The lower woods section however proved to be a bit greasy for riders when paired with the combination of roots. Phil Ott, Quick Stop Bikes rider / owner, navigates a tight section of trail midway down the trail during practice on Sunday morning before the rain came through.
Phil Ott
Dan Whitehead used to help out with bike park operations at Blue Mountain but now runs things at Vertical Earth Bike Shop in PA.
Dan Whitehead
The Gravity East opened up their classes a bit this year and included a 50+ class. Michael Dart was one such rider and it looked like he was having a great time on course.
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The bike wash at the base of the mountain allowed riders to clean off their bikes after the muddy riding. Not the most amount of pressure when all the lines were running but a nice setup nonetheless that riders utilize a lot.
One of the iconic spots on the trail used was the Asylum rock garden. This proved challenging for some riders. Fast Line Racing’s Jason Scheiding navigates the left line. The right line was opened up for the Gravity East race to give riders an easier way down if they wanted. The slippery conditions caused a few crashes and pileups.
Speed Legion rider Christopher Mari naviaged his way to third place in pro men with a 2:40.77
Christopher Mari
Leland O’ Connor was looking fast all day and he went on to take 2nd place in Pro Men behind Logan Mulally.
Leland O' Connor - 2nd Pro Men
Results:
Pro Men
1 9 Logan MULALLY Odi/Trek Reading PA 2:37.14
2 10 Leland OCONNOR E13 Trek Ithaca NY 2:40.15
3 15 Christopher MARI Speed Legion/MCBP SOMERS NY 2:40.77
4 5 George RYAN Jamis/ProTec/MCBP FRANKLIN NJ 2:41.60
5 11 Alejandro ORTIZ Morpheus Cycles Fresh MeadowNY 2:42.48
Pro Women
1 71 Taylor Allison Fast Line Racing ROXBURY NY 3:50.55
2 73 Hillary ELGERT Flying Dog/ Bike Doc Frederick MD 3:51.66
3 72 Elinor WESNER Fast Line Racing WAPPINGERS FNY 4:11.22
4 80 Becky GARDNER Gardner Racing Telluride CO 4:17.21
full results at gravityeastseries.com
The finish line flags were used in place of the big inflatable GES banner in previous years.
Next stop for the Gravity East Series is Windham Mountain during the world cup weekend on the citizens course. Visit the Gravity East Series Webpage for details.
