With temperatures approaching 90 degrees, the 2016 Spring Classic at Mountain Creek felt more like the Midsummer Classic this past weekend. The second stop of both the Pro GRT and the Vittoria Eastern States Cup Atlantic downhill series saw hundreds of local and national racers gather to battle it out in the heat and dust.
Mountain Creek is located in the bucolic hills of northern New Jersey. The rural mix of farms and small towns surrounding Vernon doesn't feel like what most people think of when you say "Jersey."
The Mountain Creek Bike Park packs a wallop despite its modest vertical. It's notoriously rocky flanks battered bodies and bikes all weekend. Mechanics were scrambling to build wheels, replace shattered derailleurs and change tires from dawn to dusk. This is Dakotah Norton's wheel after an explosive impact low on the course.
The toll on riders was costly this weekend. The Creek's unforgiving terrain kept EMT's busy treating all manner of injury. The mountain's distinctively colored first aid tape was a common sight on arms and legs and hospital visits were unfortunately, numerous as well.
One of the most unfortunate casualties was Neko Mullally who broke his arm during a scary high-speed crash in the track's first rock garden. Healing thoughts for a rapid and full recovery.
Let's take a quick run down the track and look at some of the highlights. Right out of the gate racers faced a loose corner that a number of racers lost their front end on. Pro Oliver Levick kept it fast and rubber side down.
The first real obstacle was a thought-provoking shelf that dropped riders into a pair of lines strewn with sharp rocks. The majority of racers opted for the left side line rather than risk the higher-consequence option on racers' right. Veteran East coast racer Tim White, riding for MadKats Racing, sent the left side on his way to a 22nd-place finish.
Racers then popped out of the woods for a long, fast stretch in the open on the Great Northern ski trail. Local pro Mauricio Estrada, racing his new Intense M16, kept it low exiting the woods.
The ski trail section was a fast, loose and dusty mix of slab and chunder. Point it and pray territory. Pro rider Kiran MacKinnon, racing for Santa Cruz Bicycles, had his prayers answered as he sped to a 4th-place finish.
Alex Melnik kept his head together, literally, when he limboed under the tape at high speed after losing his line at the base of the chute.
Riders then faced the legendary Asylum rock garden. A new entrance curling in from the left was generally regarded as an improvement over last year's more direct approach. Junior-X rider Ian Norris crossed the smooth slab before facing the teeth of the dragon.
The fastest lines pretty much all went straight down the gut of the rock garden.The question was where to take off and where to land to carry maximum speed. The harsh, rocky G-out at the bottom of the slab didn't help matters. Cat 1 19-29 racer Bailey Villalovos took the double drop approach.
Racers who strayed from their line, like Cat 1 junior Ethan Powell, paid the price.
Immediately after surviving Asylum, racers were met with a lippy little double into a set of berms. Colorado pro Brian Yannuzzi kept it aerodynamic off the kicker.
After a short woods section, riders hit warp speed out into the open and launched a huge hip jump. Washington state Cat 1 junior Josh Gibb sent the 30-foot gap with style.
Returning to the woods, racers faced a series of tight berms slaloming through the trees. The bike handling skills of the pro riders were really on display through this fast and technical section. Shawn Neer, riding for Yeti, Enve and Smith, sliced through the trees effortlessly en route to a 5th-place finish.
The Red Bull cabin drop was the next item on the agenda. During track walk riders spent a lot of time discussing how to carry speed but not over cook it and send it past the landing zone.
A small scrub off the lip seemed to do the trick for most. Billy Goat Bikes rider Jimmy Leslie looked smooth and fast all weekend and turned in his best ProGRT result to date with a 10th-place finish.
The corner after the cabin drop was a perplexing puzzle all weekend. Standing at the corner, spectators were witness to a cringe-inducing chorus of rims clanging off python-sized roots. A few brave souls, including Intense Cycles pro Warren Kniss, went for the high-risk full send option that aimed to take the roots out of the equation.
More often than not, the roots came into play. Kiran MacKinnon may have felt this strike in his molars.
Rocketing out of the drop, riders absolutely ripped the dirty heart out of the next set of berms. Utah pro Demetri Triantafillou, riding for Laketown Bicycles and GT Bikes, kept the gas on for an impressive 6th-place result.
After a tricky off-camber section, racers had to thread the needle through a maze of saplings that had many wishing they had cut down their 800mm bars. Cat 1 19-29 rider Tyler Bedick escaped the thicket unscathed.
Returning to the open slopes at the bottom of the mountain, only a few fast grassy corners and the Fly finish drop remained. Defiant Racing's Joe Palmer sent it to a top-ten finish in Cat 1 30-39 race.
After a long, hot day on the mountain, a cooling swim in the pool at The Appalachian was just what the doctor ordered. Mountain Creek's slope side accommodations are some of the best bike digs this side of Whistler Village.
Before we get to race day, let's run through a bike check with local ripper George Ryan who has numerous pro wins under his belt and is a big reason that The Creek is such a great place to ride. Pretty sure you won't see this exact build elsewhere:
Frame: Evil Undead carbon 26" (with his wife's homemade die cut sticker)
Fork: SR Suntour RUX
Shock: DVO Jade
Wheels: 27.5" eThirteen trs race in front
26" eThirteen lg1 race in back, both with eThirteen hubs
Tires: Maxis Minion DHF 2.5 front and back (perfect for Mountain Creek says Ryan)
Brakes: Saint
Derailleur: Saint
Shifter: Saint
Cassette: Shimano Ultegra with easiest gear restricted out
Post: SDG I Beam
Saddle: SDG I-Fly 2.0
Bars: Pro Tharsis 9.8 aluminum, 780mm
Stem: Pro Tharsis, 50mm
Grips: ODI Elite
After two long days of practice, Sunday finally arrived. Thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon had mitigated the humidity a bit and race day dawned clear and calm.
Mountain Creek is famous for its black bear population. The closest I got to a wildlife sighting was a pile of fresh bear poop on Greenhorn and this not very vicious bunny.
Bike wrench Blake Jenssen put the final tweaks to Charlie Harrison's Trek on race morning.
Big crowds of supporters and hecklers lined the course, mostly at Asylum, the hip and the cabin drop.
Local legend and super spectator Edgar Coy was his usual low-key self.
Many of the top juniors in the country were in attendance, with an especially impressive turnout of West coast riders. Californian Sean Bell, riding for Santa Cruz Bicycles, took the win by a convincing 2.44-second margin.
The Junior expert podium from left: Steven Walton-4th, Joshua Rogers-2nd, Sean Bell-1st, Jason Eiswald-3rd, Devin Kjaer-5th.
The pro women’s race was mostly a race for second as U.S. National Champion Jill Kintner crushed the field by a whopping 15-second margin. Kintner won last year’s event by a nearly identical margin and is two for two in ProGRTs this season. "This is one of my favorite places to come and ride bikes. I've been coming here since 2011 when they had the US Open. The course isn't super long but it's packed with features and excitement. I like riding here and I like the whole set up with the lodge, and the bike shop and the food venue and the pits. They do it right." Kinter says Crankworx is her main target this season with a couple national rounds in the mix as well.
In a case of deja vu, Lauren Daney was on the short end of the 15-second margin for a second straight year. Daney has raced a limited schedule the past couple of years but continues to churn out top results whenever she does get between the tape. Said Daney, "I started off this weekend cold turkey, new bike and not riding for almost a year. This track always puts a smile on my face. Its fast, it's chattery and technical in some spots. Has great flow and tight turns as well. It's one of those tracks where you can really choose to hold it wide open but it gets scary, haha." Daney plans to race the East coast ProGRT's and any local ones she has the time to hit.
In the third spot was Angelina Palermo, just three seconds off Daney’s time. Palermo, who just finished her sophomore year at Marian University where she was recruited to be a cross-country racer, has decided to commit herself fully to downhill. This race marked only her one year anniversary of downhill racing outside the collegiate circuit, and she's already making waves on the national scene. "Being from Pennsylvania, I am used to east coast rocks. Mountain Creek definitely has some rocks to play around on. This is probably one of my favorite tracks because it really has a variation of everything. There are fast grass sections, big jumps, tight twisty turns, technical woods sections, and don't forget rocks." Palermo plans to race the ProGRT series, Nationals and perhaps the Mont-Sainte Anne World Cup. She is clearly one to watch in the future.
The women's pro podium from left: Amy Temarantz-4th, Lauren Daney-2nd, Jill Kintner-1st, Angelina Palermo-3rd, Samantha Kingshill-5th
For the pro men, two-time defending champion Aaron Gwin, riding for the YT Mob, was able to hold off his closest rivals for his third straight Spring Classic win on the Mountain Creek track. Currently second in the World Cup rankings, Gwin looked comfortable all weekend.
Gwin’s closest rival in both the seeding run and the finals was North Carolina native Luca Shaw, riding for SRAM and Troy Lee Designs. Shaw was second to Gwin last year as well but was able to close the gap from over three seconds in 2015 to under a second this year. Shaw is clearly on his game with consecutive top-25 results at World Cups this season. After the race, Shaw had this to say: "It was a super fun weekend. I really like the Mountain Creek track, it's pretty short which makes it fun to race. You have to be flat out the whole time if you want to do well. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season. I had a pretty solid start to the World Cup season and I'm going to try and improve each round and hopefully crack the top ten a few times."
In third place was Mitch Ropelato, who also took third in 2014 at the Mountain Creek ProGRT. Riding for SRAM, Troy Lee and Santa Cruz, Ropelato is off to a hot start on the national circuit this season after nabbing the runner-up spot at Port Angeles a few weeks ago. Ropelato played it conservative in his qualifying run but turned on the gas in the finals, trimming over seven seconds off his seeding time. "I love it here. It's a fun course but it's rough.There are these little sharp rocks everywhere that just want to sniper your tires every time you come down the hill." Ropelato has plans to hit the Crankworx stops in Whistler and Les Gets this summer as well as some World Cups. "I figured if I'm going over for Les Gets I might as well go over for Fort William and Leogang at the same time."
The men's pro podium from left: Kiran Mackinnon-4th, Luca Shaw-2nd, Aaron Gwin-1st, Mitch Ropelato-3rd, Shawn Neer-5th
It was a Memorial Day weekend to remember for the East Coast race scene. The Vittoria Eastern States Cup tour moves to Blue Mountain, Pennsylvania this coming weekend for the first BOX Components East Coast Showdown combined downhill and enduro event. The ProGRT series returns west as Angel Fire in New Mexico hosts the Chile Challenge in late June.
Pics and words by Jeb Wallace-BrodeurResults:
Roots and Rain.
www.easternstatescup.comwww.facebook.com/easternstatescupAtlantic Downhill]May 22 Plattekill Gravity Open – Roxbury, NY
May 29 Mountain Creek UCI ProGRT – Vernon, NJ – USAC State Championship
June 5 Blue Mountain East Coast Showdown #1– Palmerton, PA
June 26 Plattekill– Roxbury, NY – USAC State Championship
Aug 14 Windham ProGRT – Windham, NY
Aug 28 Blue Mountain East Coast Showdown #6- USAC State Championship, Palmerton, PA
Oct 9 Plattekill– Roxbury, NY – New England and Atlantic DH Finals
New England DownhillJune 12 Pats Peak MTB Bike Festival- USAC State Championship – Henniker, NH
June 19 Thunder Mountain– Charlemont, MA
July 2 Killington East Coast Showdown #2– Killington, VT
July 10 Mount Snow – USAC State Championship, Dover, VT
July 24 Attitash Mountain East Coast Showdown #3- Bartlett, NH
July 31 Killington ProGRT– Killington, VT
Aug 7 Thunder Mountain East Coast Showdown #4- USAC State Championship, Claremont, MA
Aug 21 Sugarbush East Coast Showdown
#5 – Warren, VT
Oct 9 Plattekill– Roxbury, NY – New England and Atlantic DH Finals
EnduroApril 17 Diamond Hill Enduro – State Championship, Cumberland RI
May 15 Victory Hill at Kingdom Trails – State Championship, Victory VT
June 5 Blue Mountain East Coast Showdown #1– Palmerton, PA
July 3 Killington East Coast Showdown #2– Killington, VT
July 17 Plattekill – State Championship, Roxbury, NY
July 23 Attitash Mountain East Coast Showdown #3- State Championship, Bartlett, NH
Aug 7 Thunder Mountain East Coast Showdown #4– – State Championship, Charlemont,MA
Aug 20 Sugarbush East Coast Showdown
#5 – Warren, VT
Aug 28 Blue Mountain East Coast Showdown #6- State Championship, Palmerton, PA
Sept 11 Killington Enduro Finals – Killington, VT
BOX East Coast Showdown SeriesJune 5 Blue Mountain East Coast Showdown #1– Palmerton, PA
July 3 Killington East Coast Showdown #2– Killington, VT
July 24 Attitash Mountain East Coast Showdown #3- Bartlett, NH
Aug 7 Thunder Mountain East Coast Showdown #4– Claremont, MA
Aug 21 Sugarbush East Coast Showdown
#5 – Warren, VT
Aug 28 Blue Mountain East Coast Showdown #6– Palmerton, PA
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