Plattekill Gravity Series Finals

The final downhill race of the Plattekill, NY gravity series was held on Oct. 25. Rebecca Bagley posted the fastest women's time of the day. Rebecca also took the Cat. 2-3 series win by a narrow margin over Felicia Kearsley. Kristine Koch won the series for the Pro/Expert women. For more information about the downhill and dual slalom series at Plattekill, visit Plattekill.com.

Cat. 2-3 Women
1. Rebecca Bagley
2. Felicia Kearsley
3. Jennel Ortiz

Gravity East Series Finals

The last race of the 2009 Gravity East Series was held October 10-11 at Plattekill, NY. Dawn Bourque took the win for the pro women. Although I haven't seen any season-long tallies, based on the results history, it looks like Dawn has taken the series title, with Karen Eagan in 2nd. If you've seen the season totals, please let me know! For more information about the series, visit GravityEastSeries.com.

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Dawn Bourque
2. Karen Eagan
3. Stephanie Gubernat
4. Lauren Petersen
5. Lauren Daney

Cat. 1 Women
1. Susan DelPino
2. Kristine Koch
3. Hannah Trimble
4. Katelyn Parhiala

Cat. 2/3 Women
1. Rebecca Bagley
2. Felicia Kearsley
3. Leslie Litton
4. Jennel Ortiz

Junior Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Maddie Crowley
3. Olivia Allison

Gravity East Series Recap

The final race of the Gravity East Series is happening right now. Here are the results from the last three events. For more information, visit GravityEastSeries.com.

October 3-4
Mount Snow, VT
Downhill
Pro Women
1. Dawn Bourque
2. Karen Eagan
3. Lauren Petersen

Cat. 1 Women
1. Susan DelPino
2. Becky Gardner
3. Charlene Smith
4. Kate Parhiala

Cat. 2/3 Women
1. Rebecca Bagley
2. Laura Drenen
3. Miranda Cox
4. Jennifer Tammam
5. Jennel Ortiz

Dual Slalom
Pro/Cat. 1 Women
1. Karen Eagan
2. Kate Parhiala

Cat. 2/3 Women
1. Amy Hermann
2. Jennel Ortiz

September 26-27
Blue Mountain Resort, PA
Downhill
Pro Women
1. Karen Eagan
2. Dawn Bourque
3. Hillary Elgert
4. Stephanie Gubernat

Cat. 1 Women 19-29
1. Kristine Koch
2. Kate Parhiala
3. Hannah Trimble

Cat. 1 Women 30-39
1. Susan DelPino

Cat. 2 Women 19-29
1. Leslie Litton

Cat. 2 Women 30-39
1. Karen Clymer

Cat. 3 Women 19-29
1. Becky Bagley
2. Rachael Baxter
3. Christy Allebach

Cat. 3. Women 30-39
1. Jennel Ortiz

Cat. 3 Women 40+
1. Christine Deihl

Dual Slalom
Pro/Cat. 1 Women
1. Dawn Bourque
2. Kate Parhiala
3. Karen Eagan
4. Hannah Trimble

Cat. 2/3 Women
1. Karen Clymer
2. Rachael Baxter
3. Christy Allebach

August 29-30
Whiteface 5K Dowhill, NY
Downhill
Pro Women
1. Dawn Bourque
2. Karen Eagan
3. Alexandra Lacroix
4. Jennifer Wolf
5. Stephanie Gubernat

Cat. 1 Women
1. Becky Gardner
2. Susan DelPino
3. Stacy Benenke
4. Kristine Koch

Cat. 2/3 Women
1. Candace Ellicott
2. Rebecca Bagley
3. Mel Frazier
4. Anne Minor
5. Jennel Ortiz

Dual Slalom
Pro/Cat. 1 Women
1. Karen Eagan

Cat. 2/3 Women
1. Nicky Frechette

Plattekill Gravity Series Catch-Up

It turns out that we've missed a few results from the Plattekill, NY downhill and dual slalom series. So, here's a catch-up session. For more information, visit Plattekill.com.

September 19-20
Downhill
Open Women
1. Felicia Kearsley
2. Rebecca Bagley
3. Jennel Ortiz

Junior Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Olivia Allison

September 5-6
Downhill
Open Women
1. Rebecca Bagley
2. Felicia Kearsley

Junior Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Olivia Allison

Dual Slalom
Open Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Olivia Allison
3. Brooke Wilson

July 25-26
Downhill
Open Women
1. Becky Gardner
2. Meredith Mansfield
3. Felicia Kearsley
4. Rebecca Bagley

Dual Slalom
Open Women
1. Olivia Allison
2. Taylor Allison

Gravity East Series at Windham Mountain

Last weekend the Gravity East Series continued with a downhill and dual slalom at Windham Resort, NY. Dawn Borque took the downhill win, and Karen Eagan won dual slalom. The next Gravity East Series race will be held July 11-12 at Highland Mountain Bike Park, NH. For more information, visit GravityEastSeries.com.

Downhill
Pro Women
1. Dawn Borque
2. Karen Eagan
3. Alexis Wruble
4. Lauren Daney
5. Allegra Burch
6. Vicki Koch
7. Susan DelPino
8. Kristine Koch

Cat. 1 Jr. Women
1. Taylor Allison

Cat. 2-3 Women
1. Rebecca Bagley
2. Felicia Kearsley
3. Jennel Ortiz

Dual Slalom
Open Women
1. Karen Eagan
2. Lauren Daney
3. Kate Parhiala

Jr. Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Maddie Crowley
3. Olivia Allison

Ride for Free at Whiteface!

That's right. Ladies' Day is back at Whiteface Mountain Bike Park in Lake Placid, NY. The first Saturday of each month is free for female riders. That means the the 4th of July will give you even more reason to celebrate this year!
Visit DownhillMike.com to get your coupon to ride free at Whiteface!

Plattekill Results (June 13-14)

We have some catching up to do. The second Plattekill, NY downhill race, and first dual slalom race, of the season were held on June 13 and 14. Junior rider Taylor Allison won the dual slalom, and she also posted the fastest women's downhill time by more than 30 seconds. The next race at Plattekill will be held on July 25-26. For more information, visit Plattekill.com.

Downhill
Cat. 2/3 Women
1. Rebecca Bagley
2. Felicia Kearsley

Junior Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Maddie Crowley
3. Olivia Allison

Dual Slalom
Junior Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Maddie Crowley
3. Olivia Allison

Plattekill's Final Downhill Race of 2008

The last race Plattekill's season was held in Roxbury, NY this weekend. The race was also the final race of the New York State Downhill Championship Series. Kristine Koch took her first Pro/Expert win at the double-points race. Vicki Koch held onto her significant points lead to win the overall Pro/Expert Women's series. Click here to view the entire series points and rankings.

Downhill Race
Pro/Expert
1. Kristine Koch
2. Vicki Koch

Junior Beginner
1. Taylor Allison

Gravity East Series Finals

The final downhill race of the Gravity East Series was held last weekend at Plattekill, NY. Dawn Bourque took home the win for the Pro/Expert Women. With her win in this double-points race, Dawn takes the series title for the Pro/Expert Women. Lauren Daney took the win in a tight race for the Sport/Beginner series title, and Taylor Allison won the Junior Beginner series title. The race results are below. Visit GravityEastSeries.com to view the series standings.

Pro/Expert Women
1. Dawn Bourque
2. Karen Eagan
3. Lauren Petersen
4. Susan DelPino
5. Vicki Koch

Sport/Beginner Women
1. Lauren Daney
2. Kristine Koch
3. Elisa DeGolyer
4. Meredith Mansfield
5. Tammy Allison

Junior Beginner Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Olivia Allison

Plattekill Downhill and Dual Slalom #4 Results

A few weeks ago, Plattekill, NY hosted the fourth racing weekend of their series. Susan DelPino represented for the Pro/Expert Women, but it was the juniors who stole the show. The three Junior Beginner Women were the only girls to race both Dual Slalom and Downhill. The next race of the Plattekill series will be held on October 11-12, and doubles as the Gravity East Series finale. Click here to learn more about the racing at Plattekill.

Dual Slalom
Junior Beginner Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Maddie Crowley
3. Olivia Allison

Downhill
Pro/Expert Women
1. Susan DelPino

Sport/Beginner Women
1. Erin Davey

Junior Beginner Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Maddie Crowley
3. Olivia Allison

More from New York: Plattekill Race #3

The third dual slalom and downhill races in the Plattekill Mountain, NY series were held August 23 and 24. The only ladies to compete at the race were Junior Women, and Taylor Allison swept the event with wins in both dual slalom and downhill. The next weekend of racing at Plattekill will be September 20-21. You can find out more about the series at Plattekill.com.

Downhill
Junior Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Olivia Allison

Dual Slalom
Junior Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Maddie Crowley
3. Olivia Allison

Allie's Whiteface 5K Downhill Extravaganza

Since moving to New York and joining up with the East Coast race scene, I had heard the question asked anxiously, “Are you doing the Whiteface 5K Downhill?” The tone was nearly the same as those that ask about another epic event. Something like, “Are you racing the Downieville All-Mountain? On THAT?”

A 5K downhill? That’s like more than three miles of downhill course. There’s no way that can be right and if it was, it would have to be done someplace out West where there is elevation to support it. I thought to myself, OK, I’m game but it will probably be a gnarly Super D with tons of uphill at best. I’ll just suffer through it and besides, it’s months away.

Hours before I was supposed to leave for Whiteface, I looked at Downhill Mike’s “Everything you need to know about the Whiteface 5K” web page and realized I might be somewhat ill-prepared. This was a big-bike course, all downhill and no one from last year finished in less than 7 minutes. No one. Well, whatever. Suck it up, right? I picked up my friend Heather and off to New York’s Adirondack region we went.

I greeted Saturday morning as a cranky little camper. With very little sleep the week before and virtually none that night, I tried to untie myself from my pretzel-like car sleeping position, addressed my fellow campers with a pre-coffee snarl and stumbled around the campsite looking for something, although it was never determined exactly what.

Our group finally got going and arrived at the venue. I looked up and saw the looming steep walls of Whiteface Mountain. I knew the course was going to be long, I mean, it says so in the name, but c’mon. Just how hard can a 5K downhill course really be? After a 13-minute gondola ride to the top, I was about to find out.

The course started out on the only flat (and slightly uphill, if you ask me) section of the fire road, which twisted and swooped it’s way into a very steep fire road with nomadic, rolling, baby-head-rocks filling all of the turns. If a rider was unfortunate enough to blow a turn and veer from the beaten path, they were sucked into a mess of sharp, dislodged boulders, which made braking a nearly impossible feat.

The wooded sections of the course seemed harmless enough--for a normal-length course, that is. Add four more wooded sections and a few more quad-burning fire roads and you’ve got yourself the Whiteface 5K! By the end of practice on Saturday, berms had formed in the entrances and exits of the woods sections, making it feel like a bobsled track. But pedaling on the straightaway fire road sections was going to hurt on race day.

I took one more run than I should have. My quads and calves were in knots, my arms were Jell-O, my shoulders were tight and I was riding like an idiot. After smashing my pinky against a tree that threw me down in the middle of the trail, I knew that Whiteface was going to have it’s way with me. I retreated to the safety of the parking lot and the promise of a sweet swimming spot and cold beer.

The Flume swimming hole on the AuSable River is reason in itself to come up to Whiteface. Cool water gushes down cuts in the smooth granite walls to make this water-lover’s playground. Although far from crowded, the hidden little alcove was buzzing with people enjoying this natural wonder. There were five different levels of cliffs to jump, guys sliding down the flume and people just chilling in the water after a long, gritty day of playing in the surrounding mountains.

Sunday was the day. The course’s lines had burned in but there were still a few “ninja lines” that weren’t extremely obvious. Practice went well, however my race run was by far the worst race run I had put together all season. Every piece of me was tired and fatigued. After I forced myself to hammer across the finish line, all I wanted to do was throw up and lie down (preferably not at the same time, but the possibility was there). The course was fun, but I had not brought my “A game” or “B game” for that matter. In that box of Alphabits I had pulled out maybe a “Q”.

The fun didn’t end when I crossed the finish line. Oh no, there was still one more race to go. On a whim I had signed up for the Chainless Open race. Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Riders line up at the start sans-chain and do one big long coaster race down the course. Upon further investigation, I was the only female who thought this might be a hoot--the Open class consisted of me and forty-or-so guys. This race really had no degree of seriousness. Many of the guys were wearing spandex, helmet visors were flipped upside down in Egyptian Pharaoh fashion, one guy was in a skin suit and a few stuffed socks down the front of their shorts. (Yes hot stuff, we know that was only a pair of socks)

The fellas and I mobbed the start, as there was no real start list and took turns in thirty-second increments showcasing our running cyclocross-style flying mount and best aero-tuck down the first straightaway. It’s a funny feeling not being able to pedal and knowing you have to somehow make the corners without scrubbing too much speed. The odd thing is that in the woods, I learned some lessons just coasting. I took better lines, stayed higher and was able to keep momentum in places I blew out during the race run. Hmmm…maybe this is a new practice tactic?

The chainless race burned my legs even more and when I crept across the finish line I was done for the day. Whiteface had done me in and I had learned a few things for next year. Mainly, to train for this event!

The final results came in and awards went smoothly at the end of the day. For the Pro Women, Dawn Bourque and Karen Eagen were on it and deserved every bit of their respective first and second places. Karen had won the year prior, but Dawn dethroned her by about eighteen seconds. With over $1,200 on the line for first, $500 for second, and $250 for third, who can blame her?

Karen confirmed herself as one of the East Coast’s riders to be reckoned with by claiming second place by a solid ten seconds. Eeking into third, but closely trailed by fourth by about two seconds, I rounded out the podium where we received checks and black T-shirts that were just perfect for creating the “T-Shirt Ninja!"

There were six Pro Women total, who made for a competitive field, but there really should be more presence for a fun well-paying event like this one.

The Whiteface 5K has all the makings of an epic event: fantastic terrain, nearly-unheard of equal Pro payouts for men and women, challenging race courses, non-race freeriding options, fabulous après riding swimming holes and cliff jumping, amazing scenery, and a promoter with a sense of humor.

Other incentives to visit Whiteface are the Whiteface Women's Days where on specified days, ladies ride for free, and riding camps and clinics. Beginners and intermediate riders can be eased into Whiteface’s terrain, while advanced riders can improve on their technical ledge-next-to-waterfall riding skills. Plus, there are some of the most picturesque mountaintop trails you can imagine. I didn’t believe it either, but these views rival Mammoth, Tahoe and Whistler. From the observatory it’s possible to see all the way across Vermont into New Hampshire’s White Mountains. The nearby lodging is inexpensive, but make sure to book early if you’re coming in on a holiday weekend.

Although it’s been three days since the race and my legs and arms still hurt, I cannot say enough good things about this race. I will definitely be back next year with and without a chain and better prepared for what this course can dole out. Hopefully I’ll see you there next year!

Photo Credit: www.golden-arrow.com

Thanks to Kathi Kraus for taking and providing event photographs.

Whiteface 5K Downhill Results

Allie's written a sweet summary of her race experience at this New York quad burner. I'll let her tell the story, but first, here are the results!

Pro Women
1. Dawn Bourque
2. Karen Eagan
3. Allie Burch
4. Marie-Eve Marcotte
5. Candace Ellicott
6. Alicia Hamilton

Expert Women
1. Susan Del Pino
2. Vicki Koch
3. Bonnie Chapman

Beginner/Sport Women
1. Kristine Koch
2. Meredity Mansfield
3. Alana Meserve
4. Amy Nappi

Gravity East Series Race #4 Results

Plattekill Mountain, NY hosted the fourth downhill race in the Gravity East Series on Sunday. Dawn Bourque took her second GES Pro downhill win of the season. The second race of New York's Dual Slalom State Championship Series was held on Saturday, and Isabel Georgian took the Pro win.

Downhill
Pro/Expert Women
1. Dawn Bourque
2. Allegra Burch A
3. Isabel Georgian
4. Alicia Hamilton
5. Karen Eagan
6. Vicki Koch

Sport/Beginner Women
1. Lauren Daney
2. Kristine Koch
3. Marielle Lueker
4. Amy Somers

Junior Beginner Women
1. Taylor Allison
2. Greer Sargeant

Dual Slalom
Pro/Expert Women
1. Isabelle Georgian
2. Karen Eagan
3. Vicki Koch

Beginner/Sport Women
1. Kristine Koch
2. Amy Somers

Junior Women
1 Maddie Crowley
2 Taylor Allison
3 Olivia Allison

Free Lift Tickets at Whiteface This Weekend!

Wooohoo! I just stopped by DeclineMagazine.com and was stoked to see an article about Ladies Day at Whiteface Mountain Bike Park this weekend. Whiteface is located in Lake Placid, NY. On Saturday, July 5, all women get a free lift ticket that's good for gondola and bus rides all day. There will be three more Ladies Days throughout the summer on the first Saturday of each month. Get your girls together and go ride for free!

Plattekill Mountain Downhill #1 Results

In addition to being a junior guys' World Championships qualifier, the Plattekill Mountain downhill race on May 4, 2008 was also the first in a series of races at the Roxbury, NY resort. East Coast ripper Vicki Koch was the lone Pro/Expert woman to race, and there was a solid Sport women's showing. The next race at Plattekill will be a dual slalom on June 14.

Pro/Expert Women
1. Vicki Koch

Sport Women
1. Amanda Doughty
2. Tammy Allison
3. Gaelle Hudson
4. Stephanie Eannetta

Beginner Women
1. Taylor Allison