Quantcast

2010 Gravity East tentative schedule just released

RUFUS

e-douche of the year
Dec 1, 2006
3,480
1
Denver, CO
Sorry Dan, gonna beat you to it as I am way too excited.

2010 Gravity East Tentative Schedule!!

1. April31 - May 1st - Massanuten, VA

2. June 12 - 13th – 7 Springs, PA

3. July 3th-4th – Plattekill, NY

4. July 10th – 11th - Highland, NH

5. July 31st - August 1st – Sugarbush, VT

6. August 13-14th – Killington, VT

7. Sept 11th 12th – Whiteface, NY

8. Oct 2nd -3rd - Blue/Vertical Earth,... PA - Finals


More Info Visit www.gravityeastseries.com
 

bansheefr

Monkey
Dec 27, 2004
337
0
Why is Massanuten always on a Saturday? I can afford to travel, but can't afford to take the day off of work. So that gives me a dropped race right off the bat, plus a wedding in August... So I'm pretty much out. I've wanted to follow this series for a couple of years now but its so damn difficult.

I'll be at most of the races anyways... Can't wait for the season to start!
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,928
24
Over your shoulder whispering
Why is Massanuten always on a Saturday? I can afford to travel, but can't afford to take the day off of work. So that gives me a dropped race right off the bat, plus a wedding in August... So I'm pretty much out. I've wanted to follow this series for a couple of years now but its so damn difficult.

I'll be at most of the races anyways... Can't wait for the season to start!
Looks like you'll have to upgrade to pro and make it full time job then.
 

bansheefr

Monkey
Dec 27, 2004
337
0
Looks like you'll have to upgrade to pro and make it full time job then.
I suppose... But for now I'm ok with getting paid more than I'm worth and browsing the internet 75% of the day.

edit: Seriously though... Why is Massanuten always on Saturday? Don't roll on sabbath?
 
Last edited:

John P.

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,170
0
Golden, CO
I can afford to travel, but can't afford to take the day off of work. So that gives me a dropped race right off the bat, plus a wedding in August... So I'm pretty much out. I've wanted to follow this series for a couple of years now but its so damn difficult.

I'll be at most of the races anyways... Can't wait for the season to start!
You can still contend for the overall, you'll just have to kick ass at the races you do attend.

The rules state that you only have to be at 5 of 8 races to be in overall points contention, and the final is worth double points. Last year, my good buddy Robin Klinkert only raced in 7 of the 10 events, but he still finished 2nd overall for the series (cat 1 30-39) because he won so many races he entered (*cough* sandbagger *cough*) :).

See y'all at the races,

--JP
 

nh dude

Monkey
May 30, 2003
571
16
Vt
way to go Dan The Man McDonald!
It is awesome to see that Killington is back in the mix. I wonder what they will use for a track? Beauty and the Beast or something new...
The whole squad over here is looking forward to 2010
 
Nov 29, 2005
83
0
South Boston kid guy
Hell yea dan! good work, been waiting to see what my summer is going to look like.

As far as the first race in Va, does this mean practice is Friday with racing Saturday? (wasnt there last year). Guess this looks like I m going to have to actually travel outside New England/NY to race..

Loving that you got Killington on the schedule, used to love racing there.
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,155
355
Roanoke, VA
I volunteer to build an absolutely nasty grass slalom track at Killington. I'll even provide the timing system. I bet Pip3r will help. I think it's the only pro race he's ever won.

Lewis- I'm calling you out!
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,030
5,918
borcester rhymes
to answer your first two questions about Killington

1. No
2. Yes

Lots of plans to make the Plattekill GES one of the best events of the season
wat? :confused:

looks like a cool schedule. Do my best to get out to a couple of them, looks like a slightly better "east coast" schedule than last year, when there were like three races in western PA/MD..ie too far to drive.
 

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,750
439
MA
wat? :confused:

looks like a cool schedule. Do my best to get out to a couple of them, looks like a slightly better "east coast" schedule than last year, when there were like three races in western PA/MD..ie too far to drive.
Back during the Trail 66/Beauty and the Beast days, it was well known that every year racers would see the same downhill race course and slalom course.

I can only assume that's what Voodoo was alluding to.
 

stumpjump

Monkey
Sep 14, 2007
673
0
DC
I know Mike was having a ton of trouble with Wisp money wise and you also have to face that it wasn't really worth the travel for most of us either. My back yard is steeper than Wisp. I mean it sucks that it is gone and all but there will be better places to race.
 

theBigHeezy

Chimp
Oct 23, 2006
75
0
Salt Lake $hitty, UT
that's a shame, that mountain has such potential.
personally i saw nothing wrong with that old course, it was my favorite race each year. it was wide open and balls out fast the entire way, kinda suits my style. and just the fact that so many people, myself included, are stoked to have it back says something. yea, every mountain has potential for countless race courses, but i dont think anyone will be disappointed with the old killy course, should they chose to use it.

however, with all the trail work they have done in the last few years since not having a race, i would not be surprised if we saw something new. anyone who has not been there in a few years is in for a treat, same old trails a little rougher now, and some new gems. no jumps, all natural, old school, real downhill.
 

Eastern States Cup

Turbo Monkey
Feb 29, 2008
2,465
2
East Coast
I heard the old course was completly blown out from riders poaching it all the time. I also loved that course except that fast left hand turn that put you about a half inch from all those snow guns. It was cool to check times against prior years results. I raced that course as a beginner, sport and expert.

Anyway I know where I'll be camping !!
 

schwaaa31

Turbo Monkey
Jul 30, 2002
1,431
1,018
Clinton Massachusetts
personally i saw nothing wrong with that old course, it was my favorite race each year. it was wide open and balls out fast the entire way, kinda suits my style. and just the fact that so many people, myself included, are stoked to have it back says something.
I agree. I loved that course and would be pumped to race it again. Its great to see Killington in the race scene again.
 

Pip3r

Turbo Monkey
Nov 20, 2001
1,112
0
Foxboro MA
I volunteer to build an absolutely nasty grass slalom track at Killington. I'll even provide the timing system. I bet Pip3r will help. I think it's the only pro race he's ever won.

Lewis- I'm calling you out!

Hey now! I pulled off a win at Mt Snow once somehow too.

I am pumped to see Killington back on there and as far as I'm concerned its a win-win situation for the course. Surely there could be an epic one from the top, but everyone would be pumped to ride the old one again too!

Unfortunately I have heard - but i'm sure this isn't certain yet - that there is not going to be slalom this year in the series. I hope some venues take it upon themselves to just do it anyways!
 

Hulkamaniac

Monkey
Oct 10, 2001
501
0
Germantown, MD
I know Mike was having a ton of trouble with Wisp money wise and you also have to face that it wasn't really worth the travel for most of us either. My back yard is steeper than Wisp. I mean it sucks that it is gone and all but there will be better places to race.
Hmm, that's news to me and something I haven't heard in talking with both parties over the past two years. I was under the impression that Hartlove was more into BMX racing now-a-days, especially since his two kids and wife were into racing racing as a family.
 

nh dude

Monkey
May 30, 2003
571
16
Vt
I heard the old course was completly blown out from riders poaching it all the time. I also loved that course except that fast left hand turn that put you about a half inch from all those snow guns. It was cool to check times against prior years results. I raced that course as a beginner, sport and expert.

Anyway I know where I'll be camping !!
its really over grown and eroded. it doesn't get to much action due to the hike up to the top of seven. we rode it once or twice last year and it was full of downed limbs and some washouts. it wouldn't take much to get it back again. the braking bumps on the straight down waterbar booter section into the right hander onto the fire road then left into the woods are huge and eroded it would be dope.
on the other hand
it would be hard to run a top to bottom race @killington without having a lot of faster and flatish fire roads (think sugarbush) and some flattish woods like lower whiteface . it would be a dope race and long like the 5k but opposite of what the beauty and the beast course was.
it would be awesome to have 2 endurance races on the GES schedule. what's the endurance dh race quali length like 6min+?
an awesome place to ride for sure.
 
Last edited:

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
I just had a flashback of racing at Killington: sprinting through a grass field and hitting those big ass waterbars at full speed. That was a really fun course from what I remember.
 

VADHPROMO

Monkey
Dec 1, 2004
133
0
A, A
edit: Seriously though... Why is Massanuten always on Saturday?

Greetings


George here from Massanutten.
We roll on Saturdays for the simple reason the chairlift operates on Friday during the summer for Scenic Chairlift rides. Fixed Cost & Labor in Place.

We are lucky to have 6 hours of practice on Friday at no extra charge. The couple of hours of practice on SAT morning goes quick.
We send the Ladies at 11:15 sharp
We run awards and go home around 3-4 pm

Thanks for asking, I remember when we did not offer Friday practice at all.
It is a labor & expense issue and helps us continue to run DH events year after year.

Hope you can make in 2010.
23 states & Canada for the past 2 years.

Congrats to Dan McDonald for all of his hard work and Time.
Thanks Dan & all the riders that Support GES
 
Last edited:

bansheefr

Monkey
Dec 27, 2004
337
0
edit: Seriously though... Why is Massanuten always on Saturday?

Greetings


George here from Massanutten.
We roll on Saturdays for the simple reason the chairlift operates on Friday during the summer for Scenic Chairlift rides. Fixed Cost & Labor in Place.

We are lucky to have 6 hours of practice on Friday at no extra charge. The couple of hours of practice on SAT morning goes quick.
We send the Ladies at 11:15 sharp
We run awards and go home around 3-4 pm

Thanks for asking, I remember when we did not offer Friday practice at all.
It is a labor & expense issue and helps us continue to run DH events year after year.

Hope you can make in 2010.
23 states & Canada for the past 2 years.

Congrats to Dan McDonald for all of his hard work and Time.
Thanks Dan & all the riders that Support GES
Makes sense... Thanks for the info.

If Friday is free, what is the cost of the event?
 

yopaulie

Monkey
Jun 4, 2009
165
7
NH
I say start us at the godola and fire road all the way to the "snow guns" turn. That would be fast, drifty, and long! I would venture to say that 90% of the people who raced that course loved it, myself included!
 

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,750
439
MA
As much as I loved that course, I would love to see something new. Aside from the 5K course, race courses in the Northeast have made 0 progression in the last 10+ years.
 
May 31, 2007
136
0
Manchester, NH
its really over grown and eroded. it doesn't get to much action due to the hike up to the top of seven. we rode it once or twice last year and it was full of downed limbs and some washouts. it wouldn't take much to get it back again. the braking bumps on the straight down waterbar booter section into the right hander onto the fire road then left into the woods are huge and eroded it would be dope.
on the other hand
it would be hard to run a top to bottom race @killington without having a lot of faster and flatish fire roads (think sugarbush) and some flattish woods like lower whiteface . it would be a dope race and long like the 5k but opposite of what the beauty and the beast course was.
it would be awesome to have 2 endurance races on the GES schedule. what's the endurance dh race quali length like 6min+?
an awesome place to ride for sure.

Just a quick FYI Killington and the GES crew will be laying out a course pretty much from the top (still working on the Hikers issue) but it will be a NEW course, remeber you can always send your questions to the GES staff here: http://www.gravityeastseries.com/contact.html we respond within 24 hours or less. We can't surf here everyday.... and responses may be slow
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,155
355
Roanoke, VA
The old Killington course used to bring out people who never raced any more, in pretty good numbers. That track is far from easy- it just tested a much different skillset than most of the other races. Part ski-racing, and part outdoor motocross, the Killington track was one of the more complex and technical tracks to race as fast as possible. You aren't going to see a different results sheet as any other race, but what you will see is a lot more variability further down the ranks, a very high average speed, and a large emphasis on tire selection, damping and aerodynamics. The latest generation of DH bikes would make that course a wonderland of ruts and chunder. That's rad.
It has to be the last time I saw DW racing too...
 

John P.

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,170
0
Golden, CO
It has to be the last time I saw DW racing too...
Dave did a few more races after that, but maybe never with the same gusto. I'd KILL for a copy of that photo sequence of him going OTB after launching one of those waterbars up top. That was a gnarly wipeout - there was one pic in the sequence where he was actually kneeing himself in the face. Man, that was a long afternoon in the E.R.!
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,928
24
Over your shoulder whispering
edit: Seriously though... Why is Massanuten always on Saturday?

Greetings


George here from Massanutten.
We roll on Saturdays for the simple reason the chairlift operates on Friday during the summer for Scenic Chairlift rides. Fixed Cost & Labor in Place.

We are lucky to have 6 hours of practice on Friday at no extra charge. The couple of hours of practice on SAT morning goes quick.
We send the Ladies at 11:15 sharp
We run awards and go home around 3-4 pm

Thanks for asking, I remember when we did not offer Friday practice at all.
It is a labor & expense issue and helps us continue to run DH events year after year.

Hope you can make in 2010.
23 states & Canada for the past 2 years.

Congrats to Dan McDonald for all of his hard work and Time.
Thanks Dan & all the riders that Support GES
I heard Butch will be at this race. That would be epic.....