Plattekill Bike Park, one of the spiritual homes of East Coast gravity racing, hosted the first stop of the Vittoria Eastern States Cup Enduro Series on May 10th. Snowfall in May is not unheard of in the Catskill Mountains, so the weekend's beautiful spring weather was a blessing for riders. Plattekill has been offering lift-serviced mountain biking for twenty years and its spicy 1,100 foot vertical is riddled with technical challenges.
On Sunday, 110 racers grappled with five stages loaded with steep chutes, chunky rock gardens, wide-open speed sections and of course Plattekill's signature shale surfing.
High speeds and precise bike handling ruled the day as dry conditions allowed racers, including defending ESC Atlantic Cup downhill champion Mauricio Estrada, to really put on the gas. Stage 4 proved the most challenging, following much of the Pro GRT downhill track from 2014.
Transfers were no walk in the park. The first stage was accessed by a climb to the top of the triple chair and the transfer climb between Stages 2 and 3 was a real fitness gut check for riders.
The men's pro field put on quite a show. Almost 30 pros were entered and among them were some heavy hitters on the enduro scene. It was looking like an all-Yeti Cycles day for a while, with team members Chris Heath and Jason Memmelaar trading stage wins until a fourth-stage flat tire took Memmelaar out of the running. Denver-based Heath, a regular on the Big Mountain Enduro Series out West, was the picture of consistency all day, finishing first or second in every stage except for Stage 5 when he overshot the finish and had to run back up the trail to stop his time. The East Coast seems to agree with Heath. In addition to his win at Plattekill, his only other appearance in our neck of the woods resulted in a second place at last year's King of the Mountain enduro at Mountain Creek.
![2015 Vittoria ESC Enduro at Plattekill Mountain]()
Hot on the heals of Heath was Giant Factory Off Road rider Seamus Powell, winner of three ESC enduros last year. The racing couldn't have been much tighter between Heath and Powell, with their stage times separated by two seconds or less on four out of the five stages. Powell's only slip came on Stage Two where he lost seven seconds to Heath and finished with a six-second deficit for the day. Fast Line Racing's Leland O'Connor, winner of last season's ESC Plattekill enduro, rounded out the top three.
On the women's side, Lauren Petersen continued where she left off last season when she won three ESC enduros. Petersen took all five stages and finished with a 97-second cushion. The battle for second was a tight one between Mansfield Cycles' Susan Clifford (pictured) and Whistler local and Pinkbike employee Rachelle Frazer. The pair traded stage wins until the decisive fifth stage when Clifford opened up a 30-second margin to earn the runner-up spot.
Last year's junior enduro champion Nate Robson looked faster than ever, putting almost 2 and a half minutes on the rest of the 18-and-under field.
In his best career effort to date, Lenny Ancuta of Killington topped nearly a dozen racers in the Men's 19-29 Open division.
In only his fourth ESC start, Duane Goodermote topped a strong 30-39 mens field by more than 30 seconds.
Duane Call, who has finished first or second in every race he has entered in the past two years, won the Men's 40-49 division by a 37-second margin. Veteran competitors Jonathan Salinger and George Ulmer dueled it out all day until Salinger was able to pull away for the win on Stage 5 in the 50+ mens open.
Alison Crocker with JRA Cycles put 42 seconds on the women's amateur field for her second career ESC Enduro victory.
The Vittoria ESC Enduro Series is offering numerous "race within a race" options this season. The KMC King of the Mountain rewards the fastest rider in each category on one designated stage with a new KMC chain. At Plattekill, burly Stage 4 was the venue for the King of the Mountain comp. The DynaPlug Fastest Finisher Challenge rewards the racers in each class who complete the entire enduro course in the fastest time. These racers win a DynaPlug Micro Pro-Tubeless Bicycle Tire Repair Kit. And finally, the Fox DOSS Seat post Challenge returns this season with a major tweak: the designated timed uphill transfer will have independent timing boxes that track your climb but don't affect your overall race time.
![2015 Vittoria ESC Enduro at Plattekill Mountain]()
When the dust had settled, smiles ruled the day. As mens pro winner Chris Heath put it: "It was a great weekend of racing with some old friends at legendary Plattekill on some great tracks with a top notch organization." The next Vittoria ESC Enduro will be the first weekend in June at Blue Mountain, Pennsylvania. Bring your friends!
FULL RESULTS HERE2015 VITTORIA ESC Schedule
Atlantic Downhill May 3 Duryea Urban Downhill – Reading, PA
May 24 Plattekill Gravity Open – Roxbury, NY
May 31 Mountain Creek UCI ProGRT – Vernon, NJ - USAC State Championship
June 21 Plattekill Mountain – Roxbury, NY - USAC State Championship
July 19 Windham Mountain World Cup Track Test Race – Windham, NY
Aug 9 Windham Race the World– Windham, NY – World Cup Weekend
Sept 13 Blue Mountain – Palmerton, PA- USAC State Championship
Oct 11 Plattekill– Roxbury, NY - New England and Atlantic DH Finals
New England DownhillJune 14 Pats Peak MTB Bike Festival – Henniker, NH
July 5 Killington East Coast Showdown #1– Killington, VT- USAC State Championship
July 12 Jiminy Peak – Hancock, MA
Aug 1 Mount Snow East Coast Showdown
#2 - Dover VT
Aug 23 Sugarbush East Coast Showdown
#3 – Warren, VT
Aug 30 Attitash Mountain - Bartlett, NH- USAC State Championship
Sept 27 Thunder Mountain– Charlemont, MA- USAC State Championship
Oct 11 Plattekill– Roxbury, NY - New England and Atlantic DH Finals
East Coast Super DH ChampionshipsOct 18 Mountain Creek – Vernon NJ
EnduroMay 10 Plattekill Mountain – Roxbury, NY - USAC State Championship
June 7 Blue Mountain – Palmerton, PA - USAC State Championship
June 28 Attitash Mountain - Bartlett, NH - USAC State Championship
July 4 Killington East Coast Showdown #1– Killington, VT - USAC State Championship
Aug 2 Mount Snow East Coast Showdown
#2 - Dover VT
Aug 22 Sugarbush East Coast Showdown
#3 – Warren, VT
Sept 6 Killington Enduro Finals – Killington, VT
Super DMay 30 Mountain Creek Super D – Vernon, NJ - USAC State Championship
TriathlonMay 2 Killington Triathlon – Killington, VT
BOX Components East Coast Showdown SeriesJuly 5 Killington East Coast Showdown #1– Killington, VT- USAC State Championship
Aug 1 Mount Snow East Coast Showdown
#2 - Dover VT
Aug 23 Sugarbush East Coast Showdown
#3 – Warren, VT
edit: heal up bud!
It was tough as hell on riders and bikes (I had a flat tire, bent spoke, brake pads trashed) but I would do it all over again next weekend!
This is just what i heard...
But yeah that climb section was f*cking insane. I went for it up until the scree hairpin turn up to the right. That was pretty impossible for me.
they literally picked the hardest section of climbing of the entire day.
That is very cool of you guys to do. Thanks for clearing that up.
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