This weekend's track was probably one of the gnarliest tracks that Plattekill Mountain has ever put together. That's saying a lot as they're always pretty gnarly. As usual the weather wasn't entirely cooperative for the annual Pro GRT stop at Platty, but at least it didn't snow like last year.
The fog rolled in for Friday and Saturday practice after a cloudy day on Thursday.
Platty is littered with shale which makes traction hit or miss. The sound that it makes behind a rider is unlike anything else. Most of the shale gets cleared out by Sunday though.
The sun showed up for about 20 minutes on Thursday before the rain showed up on Friday. Michael Daniels makes the most of it.
The big drop on the track. Full head smack when you reach the bottom. Ray Syron takes a gander.
Mauricio Estrada off the big drop. It was foggy and drizzling all the way through seeding.
Neko Mullaly in his seeding run. Neko seeded first, a little over one tenth quicker than Brook MacDonald.
Shane Leslie seeded first in Jr.X, one second quicker than Luca Shaw.
Shane charging into the flat pedally section on Sunday. The nasty weather earlier on in the weekend subsided to blue skies on Sunday and managed to dry the track out quite a bit before racing started.
Luca Shaw ended up being fastest on Sunday though, putting about four seconds into Shane.
Brook tearing through the bottom wooded section. Brook came in 6th on the day.
The long sprint down the fire road. Wiley Kaupas puts the power down.
The entrance into the steep chute. Speeds upwards of 30mph once you reach the bottom.
Alex McAndrew sliding down the chute.
John Keep in the bottom section. John had some bad luck in his race run dropping a chain right out of the gate.
Logan Binggeli rounded out the podium in 5th place.
Alex Willie in the chunder after the fire road sprint.
Alison Zimmer ripping through a corner in the fog. Allison came across the line second on Sunday.
Women's Pro Podium: Kristen Courtney 1st, Alison Zimmer 2nd, Taylor Allison 3rd, Jean Leblanc 4th, Elinor Wesner 5th.
George Brannigan took 2nd place over Neko by about one second.
Aaron Gwin took his second win in a row after seeding 3rd behind Neko and Brook. Gwin put a considerable gap between him and the rest of the field, almost 3 seconds on Brannigan.
3,2,1
Men's Pro Podium: 1st Aaron Gwin, 2nd George Brannigan, 3rd Neko Mullaly, 4th Kevin Aiello, 5th Logan Binggeli.
Blood on your brow, dirt on your face, Platty takes no prisoners.
Next stop of the Pro GRT is at Snowshoe, West Virginia on July 12-13.
Here is the video
www.pinkbike.com/video/364442