PLATTEKILL MOUNTAIN TO HOST MAJOR GRAVITY MOUNTAIN BIKING EVENT WEEKEND
October 12-14, 2007 will mark a huge weekend in gravity mountain bike racing
as Plattekill Mountain in Roxbury, NY hosts the first ever ‘Gravity
East Finals' in conjunction with an NCCA Collegiate Eastern Championship
event.
The’ Gravity East’ series newly formed this year, was conceived
in an effort to make a true “East Coast” series that would allow
racers to compete for points across 9-venues. Stops on the circuit spanned
the Atlantic Coast from Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid NY to Massanutten
in VA. Unfortunately, mid-season the series “almost” fell apart
with lack of support for the series diminishing by the original organizers.
However, thanks to Dieter Ward of Team Plattekill and Brady Owens of derailedonline.com,
the two together worked out a strategy to save the series by coming up with
a points system to manage the race results across the series and keep the
riders informed. Massanutten, Plattekill, Wisp, Whitface and Mount Snow all
agreed that the series was too important to drop and that it was evident
by racer turnouts and feedback, that the riders wanted the series to go on.
So these 5 venues teamed together and will be offering a $2000 cash purse
to the 2007 Gravity East Series Winners at the Plattekill finale events in
a few weeks.
In addition, Plattekill Mountain has increased the stakes for the Gravity
East Finals by offering a $5000 cash purse for the Downhill event and a $1000
cash purse for the Dual Slalom event in addition to the series cash prizes
and product support thanks to Plattekill Mountain’s series sponsors.
According to spokesperson Dieter Ward, Plattekill Mountains Cycling Manager, “we
wanted to make this a major event by offering a significant cash purse to
attract some of the Country’s top mountain bike athletes and get them
to Plattekill to experience some of the best downhill terrain on the East
Coast”. The event is expected to attract over 400 competitors and over
100 collegiate racers for the event. Billy Allison, Plattekill’s Cycling
Director added, “we’ve planned a festival-type weekend for both
racers and spectators and encourage everyone to come on up to the mountain
for an exciting weekend as they will find more than just great racing action
during the 3-day event.” Industry vendors and sponsors have been invited
to showcase their new 2008 bike lines (Sinister Bikes will be on hand for
a demo) and the mountain will be featuring a DJ, huge barbeque by Longhorn
BBQ, and showing of the World Premier New World Disorder 8 – “Smack
Down”.
The Mountain will be open from 10am-5pm Friday for freeriding and race course
practice. Friday ift tickets are just $10 with any race registration. The
Dual Slalom event will take place Saturday at 3pm and the Dowhhill race event
will be Sunday at 11am. Add to that, Shaums March Pro Training Camps will
be featuring pre-race training camps on Friday and Saturday with ½-day
sessions to hone your race skills, just $99. For more info visit Plattekill’s
website www.plattekill.com.
The trail crew at Plattekill is cooking up something special for the Gravity
East race courses, and have been hard at work finishing up the soon to be
infamous “camper" jump - a.k.a. the “Plattekill Townhouse
Jump” to debut for the Gravity DH Finals Course. Pictures can be seen
on derailedonline.com.
Plattekill Mountain is located in the Northern Catskill Mountains of NY,
approximately 2-1/2 hours from NYC and 1 hour from Albany, NY and operates
the longest continuously operating lift-served mountain biking center in
the East. Plattekill has been operating from late April until early November
since 1994.
For more info or to pre-register for any of the weekends events visit www.plattekill.com or call (607) 326-3500.
2007 Plattekill Gravity East Sponsors: Maxxis, Fox Racing Shox, Sponsorhouse.com,
Racers Edge Bike Shop, Magura, Monster Energy Drinks, Turner Bikes, Overlook
Bike Shop, NYC Freeride, Slikfit, Gamut, T-Bar Restaurant, Roxbury NY, SVB
Racing, cerailedonline.com and Shaums March Mad March Racing Camps.