Video and Report: POC ESC Enduro Cup #4 at Plattekill Mountain

In theory, the weekend that was at Plattekill Mountain could read as such: Plattekill is hard on bikes and even harder on bodies. Some riders experienced difficulties and those who avoided them finished with faster times than those who couldn't. Many who experienced problems were still left smiling at the end of the day. That's riding bikes at Plattekill. But of course we would be doing you a disservice as the POC Eastern States Cup Super-D and Enduro Cups made their 5th and 4th respective stops of the season at the legendary Catskill resort. Plattekill, well known for simultaneously lifting and breaking spirits, lived up to its reputation impressively over the weekend. The dirt was prime, the temps were cool and the sun even made an appearance at Plattekill. As the lifts began turning on Saturday for practice runs, many of the 100+ riders racing were ready to get rowdy and begin exploring what will likely go down as the gnarliest enduro course of the 2014 ESC season. Already well known for bringing "World Class" offerings to the east coast, the POC ESC Super D and POC ESC Enduro races featured trails and terrain that compelled several riders to utilize their dual crowned rigs; with numerous huck-to-flats, steep chutes and loose corners found on all 5 of the timed sections seen throughout the weekend.



On Saturday, riders were given almost 5 hours to check out the mountain and the timed race sections for the weekend before the Super-D start mid afternoon. After the Super D race on Saturday, many would take additional runs down some of the enduro tracks to reinforce their memories of the course as there would be no practicing before things began on Sunday morning for the enduro portion of the weekend.


Plattekill Mountain is one of the steepest of most naturally technical bike parks you will find anywhere. Many of the lift rides were filled with discussions on line preferences, near misses and people questioning the capabilities of their suspension setup. This place is rad.


The Super-D course took riders down what would be the 3rd run of the enduro course plus the tail end of the 4th. This was a truly top-to-bottom run that featured several very high speed traverses across ski trails before dropping riders onto steep and technical singletrack sections and chutes.


July can be a monster of a weather month in the northeast, but last weekend saw cool temps and virtually no weather to speak of at Plattekill and as a result left riders with one less thing to contend with. The near perfect conditions made for some aggressive riding and fast speeds.


Evan Kinzey brought his big bike to the party for both races. Evan would end up taking 2nd in his age group for both races over the weekend.


Mauricio Estrada would end up taking 2nd place at the Super-D along side two others: Anthony Coneski and Jason Scheiding. While all three would finish with the exact same time on Saturday, it would be Mauricio standing alone in 2nd come Sunday after the enduro competition.


The pro men's podium for the Super-D got a little tight on the 2nd place step. Rafael Gutierrez would take the top spot for the day ahead of Anthony Coneski, Mauricio Estrada and Jason Scheiding, all of whom were tied for 2nd with Mat Sebas taking 5th. It's worth noting that Eva Wilson would take the win for the pro women but was unavailable for podiums on Sunday.


After Saturday's bout with the mountain, many tweaks, repairs and replacements were in order before things kicked off Sunday morning.


Yes Plattekill has some big rocks and big drops. That is well known and has been well documented over the years. What surprises many is the quality of the dirt there. This is a place where slapping your wheels into corners has become a by-law.


Sandra Bartsch would sit at the top of the amateur women's podium after the enduro on Sunday, with the rest of the top 4 all within :30 seconds of her time!


Pro rider Reeves Hankins made the trip up from the D.C. area and looked strong all weekend long. He was happy to help himself to some of that delicious loam found in most of the weekend's corners.


The climb found at the finish of stage 3 hurt. Ryan Lee had some choice words for it but he handled the hurt well and as a result found himself inside of the top 10 by the day's end.


Anthony Coneski is one of the east coast's strongest and fastest and was at home on the big terrain here at Plattekill. The Beacon native and long time pro handled everything Platty could throw at him and followed up Saturday's 2nd place pro finish with a 4th on Sunday, a mere 16 seconds off of the winning time set by Leland O'Connor.


Something is in the water in Beacon, because another Beacon native, Jason Scheiding, finished one spot ahead of Coneski in Sunday's enduro!


Drops and shale, drops and shale; Matt Sebas has gotta have his drops and shale. You know the tune! Sebas is on a tear this season and has shown steady improvement all year long as he's making his way onto the top-tier of east coast pros. Matt would finish 6th on Sunday after his 3rd place the day prior.


Beer never tastes better than it does after a day riding a place like Platty. Water and Gatorade finish a distant 2nd and 3rd.


In addition to the racing and the camaraderie, it's nice to see some awesome prizing at the races and the POC Eastern States Cup certainly doesn't short change racers when it comes to this!


Leland O'Connor would stand atop the pro men's podium once the dust settled on Sunday. The Ithaca, NY native followed a 2nd place finish at Killington a few weeks prior with a strong performance at Plattekill; taking 1st place on 3 of the 5 stages. His would be the top spot on a podium full of genuinely nice guys and super talented riders.


With more and more women showing up to give gravity racing a shot, it's nice to see some familiar faces on the podium and on Sunday we were treated to a trio of them. By the day's end, it was Lauren Petersen sitting in 1st place with Susan Clifford and Kathy Golebiowski in 2nd and 3rd respectively.


The long and hot slog up from the end of stage 3 to the start of stage 4 saw most people walking their bikes up for close to 30 minutes. Not Joe Saperstein. He hammered up the access road and was rewarded for his efforts (and questionable judgement) with a Fox D.O.S. dropper post!


The beautiful thing about racing bikes can be easily seen in the parking lot. The opportunity to spend time with friends that you might not have throughout much of the year is a huge part of the draw of the POC Eastern States Cup. What good are stories if you have no one to share them with?


On a weekend full of high profile racing on the east coast, it's telling that a mountain in the middle of nowhere can still draw a crowd like this. Plattekill is unapologetic with its terrain. This place simply isn't for everyone; it's just too hard on bikes and bodies. But for those of us who have gone up for a taste only to have a bite taken out of us, we get it. This is where riders go to get better and come away with war stories. If you have any doubt as to its allure and reputation, just take a look at the lower lots on race weekend and you'll find your answer.


For a full list of pro and amateur Super-D results, please click here.

For a full list of pro and amateur Enduro results, please click here.

For more information on the POC Eastern States Cup, please click here.

For more information on Plattekill Mountain Resort, please click here.

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