2012 US Gravity National Championships Day 1 By Dirt Passion

July 19, 2012 – Dirt Passion Press Release Day One of the Best in the U.S. – US Gravity National Championships Well, it’s finally here… the battle for the best in the US started today for the second and final round to be Beech in the Southeast for the first time in more than 10 years. Arguably, the biggest thing on the minds of most was the stars and stripes decorated that coveted annual sleeve. What would we see this year? Who has what to prove to who? Maybe nothing, either way I think it’s safe to assume it will be interesting.

The morning started early, with USAC trailers, Gear Vendors, Food Vendors and each of the team with their madscramble to get set up before the mountain flipped that switch for the lift at high noon. Trailers here, trailers over there, bikes, bike parts, tents, buckets full of gravel, rope, stakes, work-stands, bike racks, you name it was there…. Looked like a mound of workers ants.

With all of the moisture that has been plaguing the SE region on the past month, and it’s typically a reoccurring question in the “High Country”, how would the weather cooperate? Search the weather, all you see is those little clouds with droplets of precip and the word on the mountain is spikes, spikes, spikes……. Fast Forward 6 hours after the start of practice and would you believe, a little humid, but nothing but sun, sun, sun.

Overnight that did change with thunder-boomers in the distance which brought about 2 hours of rain. From Dirt Passion’s perspective based on what all the talk was on the Pro course, BRING THE RAIN!...... pointed toward,please wash those greasy rocks off.

Day two is the day for the Amateur’s to show what skills they got in store for us. First rider down in the race run forCat2/3 is at 9:15a.m. Yeah, they are Amateurs, but Grassroots is where it’s at. We’ve all been there! Rip it Guys

2012 VP Components Dirt Club Enduro

The VP DIRT CLUB ENDURO was  a fun ride with friends- going easy on the hills but pinned on fast, fun, descents, with timing and prizes.  Who could ask for anything more?  Watch the video- it tells the story!

We are also in the planning stages of a November event because the riders were so stoked on this event, and of course we are planning for a bigger 2013 event that keeps the successful smooth and mellow vibe of our first event.

Thanks to all of our sponsors: VP Components, Body Armor, X Fusion Shocks, Light and Motion, KHS Bicycles, TRP Brakes, Cane Creek, Kore, T.H.E. Industries, Kenda, Nema Brand Clothing, Decline Magazine, Mountain Khakis, Gamut, SDG, TIME, MRP, Adidas Eyewear, Lazer, SR Suntour, Novatec, Osprey, Clean Bottle, WTB.  Thanks also to Volunteers, Staff, and the Riders.

OPEN MEN RACE RUN DOWN:  

Session 1 was composed of 6 timed runs and saw runs averaging 2:30 with saddle time around 2 hours for 2000 feet of climbing (and descending).  The overall DH flavor made mistakes costly, but there was a big incentive to ride the hardest lines as they could be worth as much as a full minute at the end of the day.  Anthony Medaglia posted the fast time in the opening session of 11:59.2 combined for all 6 runs.  Craig Harvey trailed him by only 4 seconds with former BMX pro Jared Kolich down by only 12 seconds.  

Session 2 was held after a big break of hanging out, live blues, beer, and tri-tip sandwiches.  Once the sun went down, the lights came on and the riders rolled out to tackle two timed sessions.  A big thanks to Light and Motion in the night session who supported the event with free demo lights to anyone who didn’t have lights of their own.  Anthony Medaglia again put the hammer down and did his two runs in 6:30.7 thanks in part to some aggressive line selection in the dark.  Jordan Lopez was second best 13 seconds later with Craig Harvey 18 seconds back.

Session 3 featured the most pedaling with a slight climb that a fit rider could blast over, and also included a few floaters, doubles, a 25 footer, and a long high speed off-camber section of trail.  There were 4 timed stages on the final day and Jordan Lopez got the most power to the rear wheel, hit the jumps, stayed off the brakes, and posted the fastest time in 11:31.3 followed by Medaglia in 11:33.8.  Third position went to John Hauer, 18 seconds in arrears.

Anthony Medaglia turned out to be the best of the bunch with Jordan Lopez and Craig Harvey rounding out the podium in second and third respectively.  Jarrett Kolich and Tom Obrien occupied the spots just off the steps in fourth and fifth.

Results

Place	Name	Team	Class	Bib	Saturday AM	Saturday PM	Sunday	Total
1	Anthony Medaglia	SRAM Factory	Open / Expert Men	6	0:11:59.2	0:06:30.7	0:11:33.8	0:30:03.7
2	Jordan Lopez	SPECIALIZED / Victory Velo Racing	Open / Expert Men	7	0:12:19.7	0:06:43.9	0:11:31.3	0:30:34.9
3	Craig Harvey	Harvey Custom Homes	Open / Expert Men	1	0:12:04.5	0:06:49.2	0:11:58.3	0:30:52.0
4	Jarrett Kolich		Open / Expert Men	4	0:12:11.1	0:07:13.4	0:11:54.9	0:31:19.4
5	Tom O’Brien		Open / Expert Men	8	0:12:25.8	0:07:10.5	0:12:06.9	0:31:43.2
6	John Hauer	X-Fusion	Open / Expert Men	2	0:13:52.4	0:06:39.6	0:11:49.7	0:32:21.7
7	Michael Cody	Best Friends Bike Club	Open / Expert Men	5	0:13:07.8	0:07:12.3	0:12:44.2	0:33:04.3
8	Cedar Kyes	Devinci / X-Fusion	Open / Expert Men	3	0:12:46.4	0:07:28.3	0:13:42.8	0:33:57.5
1	Mary Moncorge	Santa Cruz Bikes / Endura / Kali	Open / Expert Women	30	0:14:10.1	0:07:58.4	0:14:26.2	0:36:34.7
2	Olivia Harkness		Open / Expert Women	31	0:16:37.6	0:20:40.7	0:15:52.9	0:53:11.2
1	Nathan Loyal	Team Helen’s	Expert Men 35+	46	0:14:26.3	0:07:33.8	0:13:57.3	0:35:57.4
1	Christopher Muntz		Sport Men 19-34	43	0:13:36.1	0:07:55.2	0:13:08.3	0:34:39.6
2	Aaron Guerrero		Sport Men 19-34	42	0:14:49.9	0:08:08.2	0:14:14.1	0:37:12.2
3	Patrick Green		Sport Men 19-34	53	0:14:39.7	DNS	0:13:40.0
1	Ted McToldridge		Sport Men 35+	47	0:12:57.3	0:06:53.8	0:12:14.4	0:32:05.5
2	Blake Garnand		Sport Men 35+	54	0:13:02.0	0:07:15.1	0:13:13.9	0:33:31.0
3	Luke Jones	Dirt Club	Sport Men 35+	48	0:15:40.1	0:08:42.0	0:15:27.0	0:39:49.1
4	Gary Lucia	NEMA	Sport Men 35+	45	0:21:35.7	0:09:23.6	0:17:53.3	0:48:52.6
5	Andy Somerville	Team Duke	Sport Men 35+	52	0:17:02.6	DNS	0:15:18.2
6	Mike Tjaden		Sport Men 35+	41	0:15:52.0	DNS	DNS	DNF
1	Joshua LaForge		Beginner Men 19-34	40	0:17:58.0	0:09:25.3	0:16:55.2	0:44:18.5
2	Demar Morris		Beginner Men 19-34	44	0:23:37.5	0:10:23.9	0:20:06.8	0:54:08.2
1	Damion Dasaro	Ten Four Graphics	Beginner Men 35+	49	0:16:59.7	0:08:58.6	0:15:54.6	0:41:52.9
1	Thomas Phelan		Junior Men	50	0:07:21.3	0:08:46.6	0:15:56.2	0:32:04.1
2	Gus Phelan		Junior Men	51	0:07:48.3	0:09:14.4	0:17:44.5	0:34:47.2

2013 UCI World Cup Schedule

• June 8-9 Fort William, UK
• June 15-16 Willingen, Germany 
• July 27-28 Val Di Sole, Italy
• August 3-4 Vallnord, Andorra
• August 10-11 Mont Sainte Anne, Canada
• September 14-15 Hafjell, Norway
• September 21-22 Leogang, Austria

World Championships

• Aug 26 - Sep 1 PIETERMARITZBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

2012 China Peak Race July 21-22

The first annual China Peak Downhill Mountain Bike Race is just around the corner, 7/21-22! This race, part of the Shimano Trifecta Series, will test your skills and fitness in three unique stages of downhill racing. The brand new event is brought to you by the crew at Southridge USA and is bound to be exciting. Visit southridgeusa.com to register.

2012 POC Eastern States Cup 6 On The Windham World Cup Course Race

The POC Eastern States Cup continues to deliver the best racing in the country on the best tracks anywhere. July 14-15, two weeks after Aaron Gwin won his fourth UCI World Cup of the season on the Windham Downhill Race Track, the POC ESC will hold the sixth race of the POC ESC season on the same great course. Racers will be contesting their own battles on the “big boy’s track”. The fast racers will be able to hit all the same features as the World Cup stars did, there will be a few go-arounds offered for those not ready for the big features.

The top chute drop, the road gap and Peaty’s Plunge will all be open to ride and race. The container drop will be reconfigured to a step down but the rest of the big jumps will be open for all classes.  The Citizen’s course will also be open to have some fun chill runs on. You guys asked for this and the POC ESC delivered, now we need everyone to continue to show Windham the great support that was delivered at UCI World Cup.

Windham Mountain offers their Adventure Park for summer thrills. Race your friends down dual zip lines that are 40 ft above the ground.. New York's first Big Air Bag will keep everyone entertained while jumping down 30 feet. The Adventure Park is open Saturdays & Sundays 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. from June 23, 2012 thru October 8, 2012.

The POC Team Challenge is heating up with 14 teams battling it out for the $1000 cash purse. It’s not too late to form a POC ESC team and register one for the POC Team Challenge cash. The ESC pro racers are competing for a maximum $1600 cash purse at this and every race. The ESC continues it’s tradition of bringing the Northeast Downhill racers an affordable, competitive and fun events.

Twenty-three women racers are in the running for the Loeka Women’s Challenge. The top 4 women will split $1000 at the finals in October. There are still a lot of races left to score points. Please check out al the details and standings at www.easternstatescup.com.

Race Entry

Pro Men & Women $ 75.00

Categories 1,2 & 3  $ 65.00

Includes Lift Tickets for Both Saturday and Sunday.

Location: From Exit 21 on I-87/New York State Thruway is just 23 miles on a state highway Route23 making it easy to get to.

Schedule July 14 and 15

Registration: Saturday 8am-2pm and Sunday 8am-10am Practice Saturday: 9am-3pm open.   3pm-4pm Pro and Cat 1 Only Practice Sunday 9am-11pm open.    11am-12pm Pro and Cat 1 OnlyRace Sunday 12:30 pm

2012 EASTERN STATES CUP SCHEDULE May 20 Mountain Creek, NJ.

• May 27 Plattekill, NY            
• June 3 Attitash, NH
• June 10 Pat’s Peak, NH
• June 24 Mount Snow, VT
• July 15 Windham, NY
• July 29, Killington, VT
• August 5 Mount Snow, VT
• August 12, Plattekill, NY
• August 19 Killington, VT 
• Sept 2 Plattekill, NY        
• Sept 16 Attitash, NH       
• Sept 23 Jiminy Peak MA
• Oct 7 Plattekill, NY