Gravity East Series to Debut the New World Cup Gravity Courses Next Week
Rick “Hodgie” Hodge, Special Events Director for New York’s Windham Mountain, announced this afternoon that the UCI has officially designated New York’s Windham Mountain as the host of 2010 UCI Downhill, 4cross and Cross Country World Cup Finals on August 28-29. Gravity racers won’t have to wait long to get a preview, as the newly completed World Cup downhill and 4cross courses will officially debut for competition next weekend June 27-28 during the Gravity East at Windham Mountain.
Gravity East is the largest gravity racing series in North America. With the addition of Windham Mountain to next year’s World Cup, three of Gravity East’s first four 2009 events have been, or will be, host to UCI World Cup Downhills. The Gravity East at Windham Mountain will utilize both new UCI courses next weekend. The new Downhill course is roughly 3:20 long and based on the very popular course first used at last year’s hugely successful “East Coast Nationals”. There have been additions to both the beginning and end of the course, notably the “Black Bear Slide”, a feature so technical that it will be used only for the Expert and Professional divisions. The weekend will also see the debut of Windham’s brand new 4cross World Cup course when it is used for the second race of Gravity East’s e.thirteen Dual Slalom series. The monstrous course is expected to be nearly one minute long.
Windham Mountain is a well-known skiing mountain and has developed several pro/international ski racers and snowboarders. But Windham’s mountain bike program is very new, with the very first tree having been cut only in April of 2008. But the facilities have already received rave reviews from Olympic team members Georgia Gould and Adam Craig following last year’s “East Coast Nationals”. "You could see how much expertise and hard work went into the making of the course,” said Gould following last year’s debut mountain bike weekend. Adam Craig was even more effusive in his blog, “Every inch of each and every course, Super D, Slalom, Downhilll, Cross Country was manicured in some way or another. Beautifully benched in rolling grade singletrack with problem solving ladder bridges and hand placed rocks to link sections that would be unridable was the norm on the XC track. The gravity courses weren’t the usual fall line skid, they had great flow and were built with an eye toward sustainability. Good stuff overall, thanks, people who live and ride in the Catskills.” Thus far, Hodge and the Windham Mountain staff has been intent on establishing the resort as a first-class competition venue, but their plans call for a full network of lift-assisted and cross country trails to be open for recreational riding by next spring.
Lodging for the Gravity East Races on June 27 and 28 is available at Windham Resort’s own Winwood Inn located in town and surrounded by 17 restaurants. Tent camping available for just $10 per site (per night) and RV parking with hookups is available just 5 miles from the race. More information on lodging and dining options is available at www.WindhamMountain.com.
On-line registration for the Gravity East at Windham Mountain is now open at SportsBase Online. For more information on the Gravity East Series, including a direct link to Windham Mountain, see www.GravityEastSeries.com.
Windham Mountain is a well-known skiing mountain and has developed several pro/international ski racers and snowboarders. But Windham’s mountain bike program is very new, with the very first tree having been cut only in April of 2008. But the facilities have already received rave reviews from Olympic team members Georgia Gould and Adam Craig following last year’s “East Coast Nationals”. "You could see how much expertise and hard work went into the making of the course,” said Gould following last year’s debut mountain bike weekend. Adam Craig was even more effusive in his blog, “Every inch of each and every course, Super D, Slalom, Downhilll, Cross Country was manicured in some way or another. Beautifully benched in rolling grade singletrack with problem solving ladder bridges and hand placed rocks to link sections that would be unridable was the norm on the XC track. The gravity courses weren’t the usual fall line skid, they had great flow and were built with an eye toward sustainability. Good stuff overall, thanks, people who live and ride in the Catskills.” Thus far, Hodge and the Windham Mountain staff has been intent on establishing the resort as a first-class competition venue, but their plans call for a full network of lift-assisted and cross country trails to be open for recreational riding by next spring.
Lodging for the Gravity East Races on June 27 and 28 is available at Windham Resort’s own Winwood Inn located in town and surrounded by 17 restaurants. Tent camping available for just $10 per site (per night) and RV parking with hookups is available just 5 miles from the race. More information on lodging and dining options is available at www.WindhamMountain.com.
On-line registration for the Gravity East at Windham Mountain is now open at SportsBase Online. For more information on the Gravity East Series, including a direct link to Windham Mountain, see www.GravityEastSeries.com.
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