Muddy Snow Report and Results
WEST DOVER, Vermont (derailedonline.com) - The Gravity East Downhill at Mount Snow followed a familiar script this weekend. Rainy weekend, check. Muddy, sloppy practice runs on Saturday, check. Sun comes out just in time for the start of Sunday’s race runs, check. Dawn Bourque wins the Women’s race, check. Neko Mulally squeaks out a victory by about half a second, check. If it sounds familiar, it probably is. There has been so much rain at Gravity East races this year that there is a story going around that Series Director Dan McDonald sat down with the Farmer’s Almanac last year to find the rainiest weekends before setting up this year’s schedule.
Ben Moody (Rhino Bike Works) was one of the first pros down the mountain and crossed the line with a very good time of 4:24.09. It was good enough to put him on the hot seat; though with temperatures in the low 50’s (approx 10 degrees C) and everybody soaking wet from the weekend rain and resultant mud, no seat this weekend was truly “hot”. As he survived challenger after challenger, others began to believe that Moody, a regular at Mount Snow’s own Kenda Series, would take this one from Neko Mulally. They apparently had not read the script. The Specialized Team America teenager once again eked out a heartstopper by stopping the clock at 4:23.63 to send Moody to the runner-up position. Gavin Vaughn finished third with a time of 4:29.03.
One week after Karen Eagan’s upset at Blue Mountain, the women were also back on track with Ben Moody’s Rhino Bike Works teammate, Dawn Bourque, taking her sixth Gravity East Win of the year. Following the script was Eagan (Samuel Adams Brewery), who has been runner-up behind every one of Bourque’s victories this year.
Not everything at Mount Snow ran according to the script, however, as there were several surprises thrown in just to keep things interesting. The new “Trail 13” has some very technical sections in it. One is called “Rock Highway”, which is just plain rocky with Slabs of Granite. The course was taped so wide at this part of the course that many riders were creative in picking their lines. Another surprise was the run by Michael Gross. The Team DROP Cat 1 Junior was having issues with his shoulder dislocating on Saturday, ending his practice early. On race day, however, Junior points leader Gross was back on the mountain with help from Cat 1 19-29 Racer Willem Cooper of the Voncooper Race team who helped in getting Gross’ shoulder back in place. With a tight wrapping, a shoulder brace and just two practice runs, he just wanted to cross the line and get some points prior to next weekend’s Gravity East Finals at Plattekill in Roxbury NY. Shockingly, Gross down and took the hot seat with a time of 4:45.04, faster than Specialized Team America’s Logan Mulally (Neko’s younger brother) in the process. It seemed like a fairy tale ending, but again a surprise as Canadian rider Dylan Morely, the last rider in the class to start and a first time Gravity East racer, crossed the line with a great time of 4:38.76 to win the Junior Class.
Download the entire results sheet in PDF Format.
This coming weekend, the Gravity East finishes out a very successful season for the double-points Gravity East Finals at New York’s Plattekill Mountain. With attendance at the finals mandatory in order to win a Gravity East Series Championship, an interesting story-line is already in place: can Neko Mulally continue his late-season charge and win the 2009 Gravity East Series Championship?
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Posted on Oct 5, 2009 05:53:35 -0400 by Brady.