Rain and rocks and roots, oh my. The third leg of the Vittoria Eastern States Cup Enduro Series at Attitash Mountain had it all, and then some. The event had speed, technicality, steeps, rocks, loam, chunder, mud, climbing. And that was just on the first leg of the five-leg Enduro course.
Saturday started out innocently enough. Sunny skies, a light breeze and temps in the 70s.
It was a perfect day for mountain biking. Or alpine sliding, mountain coasting, slack lining, water sliding, bag jumping, zip lining or doing any of the other options at this summer playground in the White Mountains.
The first stage of the Enduro course started with a bang. Definitely one of the more terrifying starts on the tour. Straight down a steep work road full of loose rock chunder waiting to eat you alive.
After dipping in and out of the woods on its top half, the track abruptly turned uphill, forcing racers to climb steeply for a short stretch. Valuable seconds could be gained or lost on this steep pitch.
Returning to the woods, racers faced perhaps the most technical rock garden of the day with multiple lines through chunky terrain. Alex McAndrew, pictured here, spent a good deal of time on practice day puzzling out the fastest sequence.
Towards the bottom of the first leg, the trees tightened up and the rocks got bigger. Most riders kept their tires on the ground through this section, but a few, like pro Tom Davidson, took the airborne option.
The next three stages took place on Bear Peak, which is adjacent to Attitash's main mountain, and offered no lift access. Racers had a long, exhausting push (or occasional pedal) to the top of the tracks.
Stage Two was the shortest of the day and featured lots of fresh cut lines and loam through open woods. Many of the fresh berms and traverses, like this section ridden by Mansfield Cycles' junior racer Aidan Casner on practice day, would become soft, rutted mud holes on race day.
A couple steep drops, like this one hit by Fast Line Racing pro Paul Dotsenko, spiced things up, but generally Stage Two was the easiest leg of the day.
Stage Three was a real crowd pleaser and was considered by many to be the funnest segment. The track was quite a bit longer than Stage Two and featured lots of loamy lines through open woods. The terrain was a bit steeper as well resulting in higher speeds, like these hit by pro Gregory Disanto.
Carefully chosen lines on practice day, like this one hit by Madkats Racing pro Alex McAndrew, became much dicier on race day with wet roots everywhere.
The woods on Stages Two and Three were so wide open that some "creative course interpretations" were beginning to show on practice day. Race organizers busted out the rolls of tape late on Saturday to keep the corner cutting to a minimum.
The moss and loam gave Stage Three a decidedly British Columbia feel.
Stage Four connected the Bear Peak tracks back to the main mountain. The top half of the stage was very tricky with lots of off-camber roots, tight turns, short pedals and mud.
On race day, these slippery damp suckers messed with many racers.
This muddy off camber turn, hit by Madkats Racing pro Mauricio Estrada, led to a stream crossing and short steep climb that unseated a lot of racers on Stage Four.
Riders then took the Flying Yankee Quad back to the top of the mountain for Stage Five. After speeding down a rocky open section that burst a lot of tubes over the weekend, racers dove into the expert Swiss Miss trail. This portion was classic Attitash, steep and rough. The final chute was super steep and had many riders, including Paradise Racing pro Michael Bateman teetering on the edge of disaster.
The chute brought down many racers, probably none harder than tough junior rider Michael Maldonando, who thankfully limped away from his scary crash.
Stage Five was the longest track on the day and used a lot of the mountain's terrain. This wooden jump on the Jett trail forced racers to make a tough line choice. The go-around was safer but cost a lot of time.
The jump was quicker but, on race day in particular, was very hard to get enough speed for, resulting in a very rough, suspension-testing uphill landing on roots.
After practicing in the sun on Saturday, racers may have felt they had been transported to the North Shore of B.C., for race day. Steady rain fell all night and for much of the day on Sunday and mist clung to the dark mountainsides.
All manner of rain protection was on display Sunday, with the garbage bag approach favored by many riders. The biggest obstacle proved to be visibility. Fogged, splattered and smeared goggles were a constant problem throughout the day.
The fast and firm tracks had turned to slop in many places.
Foot dabs were everywhere. Racers riding flats were no doubt pleased with their choice, clipping in mud-caked cleats after a dab proved trouble for others.
This was also a familiar sight on race day. The Attitash chunder takes no prisoners.
Almost three dozen racers turned out to do battle in the men's pro field. Fast Line Racing's Leland O'Connor completed his march up the Enduro podium this season. After a third in the first enduro at Plattekill, and a second at Blue Mountain, O'Connor topped the field by a healthy 13-second margin, winning all three stages on the Bear Peak side. Of his victory O'Connor said: "I was really stoked to finally get a wet race this year. The course was a bit sloppy but not bad for the amount of rain we had. I had no idea what the results would look like because everyone was fighting hard. Thanks to Fastline Racing, E.13, and WTB for their support."
![2015 Eastern States Cup Enduro]()
Nipping at O'Connor's heels all day was Giant Factory Off Road rider Seamus Powell, who absolutely crushed the final stage. Though he is yet to top the podium this season, it seems only a matter of time. "The mud was deep and so was the competition. A few inches of rain always shakes things up. Bridesmaid on another weekend, one of these weekends surely I'll get it right again. Just going to keep working on the basics. But pretty pumped on my Stage Five result," said Powell.
Coming in third, with an identical time to Powell (the 5th stage time is the tie breaker) was POC Skida pro Adam Morse. A familiar face on the downhill tour for years, Morse has embraced both disciplines in the past couple years. This was his first enduro of the year and he came out of the gate absolutely on fire, lighting up the first stage with the fastest time of the day.
On the women's pro side, Paradise Racing's Lauren Petersen continued her consistent dominance, crushing the rest of the field by more than a two-minute margin. Petersen seems to always be on her game and has not missed an enduro podium in the past two years. "The conditions weren't too bad today," said Petersen, "though there was a berm on Stage Two where it felt like I sunk into my axle."
In the runner-up spot was POC Skida (she's founder of the successful headwear company) rider Corinne Prevot. In only her third career race, Prevot looked fearless all weekend and is surely one to watch as she gets more race time on her bike.
Another relative newcomer, Ella Skalwold, took home the third spot, just 15-seconds off the time of Prevot. Skalwold, racing for Transition Bikes and Five Ten, recently moved to Vermont from California and is a great addition to East Coast race scene.
In the 18-and-under category, newcomer Quinn Campbell, racing for the recently-formed IdeRide Race Team, had a huge day, winning his category, beating more than half of the mens pro field and winning the Fox DOSS Seatpost Climber's Challenge.
Kevin Green, racing for the Wet Bandits, put more than half a minute on the rest of the field to win the 19-29 Open class. Green doesn't get to a ton of races and this was his first win since a Cat 2 victory three years ago.
Steven Boisvert from AllSpeed out-dueled Ryan St. Lawrence to take the win in the 30-39 category. Boisvert won the Attitash Enduro last year as well, so clearly this mountain suits him.
State 9 Vittoria Racing's Duane Call won four of five stages to pull out a 14-second victory over Tommy Pierce, the tightest amateur race of the day. Call is an absolute enduro machine, finishing first or second in his last dozen race starts.
Claire Sick from Mountain Moxie and Emma Schultz from Dave's World Rose Bike Racing battled all day until a convincing win on Stage Five put Sick on top of the podium in the Women's Amateur class. (Photo by Jamie Lee)
The mud and rain and chill kept most regular folks inside all day on Sunday. Mountain bikers aren't regular folks though.
Mountain bikers just love this stuff.
The Womens Pro podium from left: Kelly Dolan-5th, Ella Skalwold-3rd, Lauren Petersen-1st, Corinne Prevot-2nd, Clarissa Finks-4th
The Mens Pro podium from left: Alex McAndrew-5th, Adam Morse-3rd, Leland O'Connor-1st, Seamus Powell-2nd, Franck Kirscher-4th.
The winners of the Fox DOSS Seatpost Climber's Challenge for each category, The winners were the fastest on the climbing transfer between Stages One and Two. Overall winner (Quinn Campbell) won a new seatpost and the other top climbers won Fox hats.
The winners of the DynaPlug Fastest Finisher Challenge for the fastest overall time for the complete race from start to finish including transfers. Winners received a DynaPlug Micro Pro-Tubeless Bicycle Tire Repair Kit.
Winners of the KMC King of the Mountain Challenge for the fastest time on Stage Five. Winners received a new high performance KMC chain.
This coming weekend the action shifts to Killington in Vermont for Round One of the BOX Components East Coast Showdown. Both the ESC Downhill and ESC Enduro tours will doing battle at the Beast of the East. This is the biggest two-wheel party out there over the 4th of July Weekend and enduro registration slots are going fast. Don't miss this one.
For info on the showdown format:
Visit our Pinkbike Box Components East Coast Showdown pagelPics and words by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur
www.easternstatescup.comwww.facebook.com/easternstatescup2015 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 Downhill
June 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 Championships
Oct 18 Mountain Creek – Vernon NJ
Enduro
May 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 D
May 30 Mountain Creek Super D – Vernon, NJ - USAC State Championship
Triathlon
May 2 Killington Triathlon – Killington, VT
BOX Components East Coast Showdown Series
July 5 Killington East Coast Showdown #1– Killington, VT
Aug 1 Mount Snow East Coast Showdown
#2 - Dover VT
Aug 23 Sugarbush East Coast Showdown
#3 – Warren, VT
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