Race Recap and Video: Maxxis Gravity East - Wisp DH and DS

Photography by: Mike Render
Words by: Mike Karfakis



GES DOWNHILL RACE

Deep Creek Lake. It's no wonder why Marylander's flock to this place all season long. Many in-state residents summer here and most ski here as well. The area is well-known for its miles and miles of snowmobile trail, massive lake, and the beautiful outdoors surrounding the Wisp Ski Resort, where Gravity East Series finals took place. This stop on the GES circuit was also to stop number two in the MAC Dual Slalom series. In what's become typical fashion for the Gravity East Series, two more Fox 40's were raffled, along with a snowboard, Milwaukee power tools, and a gas-powered Monster Energy RC car.

Two runs, combined times. The race course was running fast for GES finals at Wisp this year. Times were falling between 2:15-2:30 on average. So the GES had riders doing two runs for finals. Both runs mattered, as your combined time would determine your final position. It was interesting to see who improved, and who stumbled while trying to keep it consistent or risk it all on that second run for the win.

Dirt jumps? The course started off with a set of tiny dirt jumps about 50 yards out of the gate. Riders weren't able to get enough speed to hit these fast. You really had to pump to keep speed through this section. This section was a challenge for every skill set, as finding and keeping speed here was not easy.

Line choices galore. What the course lacked in length, it made up for it in line choice. The first two-thirds of the course had a multiple directions to choose from. Several switch backs forced riders to figure out clever ways to keep speed. By the end of the practice, there were lots of new lines ready for race day.

Dropping! This rock drop was preceded by a narrow ladder bridge that riders had to carefully mount to avoid gaping the top of the rock.

Rocks and roots. There were two rock gardens on this course. Pictured here is the second. A sniper line to the rider's far left enabled a clean line around most of the chatter.

MAC DUAL SLALOM RACE

Clean sweep. Pro rider Amy Leishear in attack position on the slalom course. Amy would go on to win the Pro Women's category in both slalom and downhill.

Random start! The ladies from Standard Northeast Factory team are ready to go head to head.

Plenty of heats. There was a ton of slalom racing on Saturday. Lots of heats and lots of hiking back up the hill. Plenty of time to rest and check that social media in between runs.

PEDAL! A leg up on the first corner!

Good in the gate. It's all about how strong your gate starts are.

Build it and they will come. A sizable crowd of racers and onlookers set up temporary camp in the shade alongside the slalom course.

GES DOWNHILL PODIUMS & RAFFLES

Pro Men & Women DH - Dakotah Norton with the top step for the men and Amy Leishear with the win for the ladies.

50+ Open. Category winner Bob Dunlap with an impressive sub-five minute combined time, improving his second run over his first by over 4 seconds. And Dieter Ward, back on course and in third place. Dieter is an original founder of the GES and we were pumped to see him back on a bike!

Cat 1, 15-18 Boys.

Cat 1, 19-29 Men

Cat 1, 30-39.

Cat 1, 40+.

Cat 2, Women

Cat 2, 0-18 Boys.

Cat 2, 19-29 Men

Cat 2, 30-39.

Cat 2/3, 40+.

Cat 3, 0-18 Boys

Cat 3, 19-29.

Cat 3, 30-39

Men's Open.

Women's Open.

Groms.

Race director Mike Hartlove about to give away Milwaukee Tools, a Fox 40, and a Monster Energy gas-powered RC car.

MAC DS PODIUMS & RAFFLES

Women's Pro DS Podium.

Men DS Podium.

DS raffle winner #1 - Fox 40 - Lucky gal!

DS raffle winner #1 - Snowboard - Another luck gal!

Women's Open DS Podium.

DS Groms Podium.

Posted In:
Stories Maxxis Reader Stories