Whiteface 5 K DH registration is open

Whiteface 5 K DH Official Results

Contact: Downhill Mike
(518) 946-2223 x 7

NEWS RELEASE
Whiteface 5 K Downhill is on August 29 & 30
Click HERE for race course video, pictures, press release and more

* $5,000.00 pro dh purse
* $2,000.00 for 1st place in the dh competition
* 8 minute downhill course
* e-Thirteen Dual Slalom race on Saturday (with over $1,000.00 in cash and prizes)
* Open Chainless Downhill after the main event on Sunday
* Pump Track Challenge on Monday


See ya at The Race

 

5 K Downhill Official results

Neko Mulally wins the Whiteface 5 K DH with a blistering time of 7.48.15.

Only 3 others broke the minute mark. Geritt Beytagh 2nd at 7.50.85, Jurgen Beneke 3rd with a 7.52.10 and Jason Memmelaar with a time of 7.58.28. Local Heikki Hall takes 5th place with 8.03.41 and Chris Heath came in just behind Heikki with a 6th place finish for the 5 K DH, and wins the U.S.A.Cycling's Innagaural Pro Gravity Tour.


On the Pro Womens side Dawn Bourque once again won the 5 K DH with a very fast time of 9.41.29. Karen Eagan came in 2nd with a time of 10.05.50, Alexandra Lacroix 3rd at 12.35.50, Jennifer Wolf from Mammoth Lakes, Ca. at 12.36.25 and Stephanie Gobernat 5th eith a time of 12.36.53.

Richie Rude at only 14 years old had the fastest amateur time of the day and won $200.00 courtesy of Giant Bicycles with the time of 8.17.80.

Official results for the 5 k dh can be found HERE

Podium, hot seat and race village photos being uploaded now in the 4th Annual 5 K DH photo album on www.downhillmike.com









We want to thank all that came to our race this year. We had more racers than ever before, local hotels and restaurants were packed with downhillers, and we had by far the busiest week ever at the Whiteface Mountain Bike Park.

We have some very big plans for the future of the bike park and our baby steps have just gotten a bit bigger. All this will make sure Whiteface is here to stay and be able to put on some very big events in the future. Look out gravity world as this is just the beginning!

From our entire crew THANK YOU ALL!

 

Race video courtesy of Team Voncooper. Thanks guys!
Click HERE and it's the 1st video on the page.

 

The link above may not be taking you to the 5 k dh video. If that's the case please use this link:
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/96438/

 

Full race report can be found here:
http://downhillmike1.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/whiteface-5-k-dh-race-report/

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

September 1, 2009; Conshohocken, PA, USA: New York’s Whiteface Mountain lived up to its billing as a wild ride this past weekend. The Whiteface 5K featured a lot of rocks and even more roll as 202 competitors in 19 classes attempted to become one of the few to crack the 8 minute barrier down this massive mountain. With the downhill portion of the Gravity East weekend also counted as the final event of USA Cycling’s new Pro Gravity Tour national series, an east vs. the nation was expected but never materialized as the home field advantage saw Gravity East regulars on top of the podium.

The weekend began with the Gravity East e.thirteen Dual Slalom and the Lars Tribus “How (not) to Snap the Start” clinic. The dual slalom track at Whiteface is out of character for the venue as it’s about the only part of the mountain that can be described as smaller than average, making the start even more critical. In his second heat, Tribus (Chumba/Rockshox) anticipated the start – but guessed wrong. Snapping into the still-closed start gate, he went over his handlebars right at the gate. Tribus was able to come back and, having already demonstrated how to take out the front end of one’s bike on the start, showed how to take out the back end in the final for third and fourth against Kyle Sangers (J & J). As the gate dropped, Tribus snapped so hard that he snapped his cog into pieces, costing him the race but putting him in serious contention for the unofficial “Hulk-Out” of the year. In the pro final, Pennsylvania’s Neko Mulally (Specialized Team America) bested Pro GRT competitor Logan James (Pedal the Peak-e.thirteen) from Utah.

On Sunday, things got more serious as both the speed and the consequences for failure increased significantly. Whiteface served as the eighth round of the 11-race Gravity East Series. It’s also the longest downhill course in the East, and one of the longest and fastest in North America. With the inaugural Pro Gravity Tour title also on the line, it was ‘game on’ from the start of the day. The Pro seeding runs saw NY veteran World Legend Jurgen Beneke (unattached) run an 8:18 to take the first seed ahead of Dave Trumpore (Evil Bikes) and Neko Mulally (Specialized Team America).

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day with sunshine and cool, autumn-like, temperatures. Throughout open practice, it was clear that the track was getting consistently better, and faster. Giant Bicycles had planned to give a bonus to fastest rider through Whiteface’s infamous speed trap. Unfortunately, the speed gun broke down, causing officials to change plans and award the $200 to the best amateur time -- and make just about everybody ask the question, “Why don’t speed guns ever break down when they’re pointed at my car?” Compounding the ignominy was that the bonus was won by a rider who isn’t even close to being old enough to get a speeding ticket. 14 year old Gravity East regular Richard Rude Jr. (Santa Cruz Allride) had people shaking their heads in disbelief when he came down the mountain with a time of 8.17.80, two-tenths quicker than Jurgen Beneke’s pole-winning pro seeding run. When the dust had settled at the end of the day, it was realized that Rude’s time would have placed Richard in 10th in the men's pro field and was quick enough to win his class by over forty-eight seconds.

It was obvious now that the build up to the Pro runs were going to be insane. First in the Hot seat was none other than the consummate Pro Gavin Vaughan (Sinister Snowfire) with a time of 8:19. Vaughn sat in the hot seat awhile before some astounding times sent him back to the pits. First to break the 8 minute mark was Jason Memmelaar (Hayes/Manitou/SunRig) with a 7:58. Memmelaar’s time was quickly smashed by Jurgen Beneke's 7:52. Then Gerrit Beytagh (Morewood Bikes) clocked an amazing time of 7:50. Finally, as all eyes watched the mountain, Neko Mulally came in with a record time of 7:48.15 to win the $2,000 dollar first-place portion of the Men's Pro Purse. Fastest of the visiting ProGRT riders was series leader Chris Heath(Manitou/Hayes) from Colorado who grabbed 6th to clinch the Overall for the Men's ProGRT champion’s Jersey from USA Cycling and the Helmet Trophy from Dylan Dean.

In the Pro Women’s race, the first to sit in the hot-seat was Massachusetts native and well-known northeast pro Karen Eagan (Sam Adams Brewery). Eagan held on to the hot-seat as rider after rider was unable to eclipse her time of 10:05.50. Eagan stayed in the hot seat until top seed Dawn Bourque (Rhino BikeWorks) of New Hampshire blew away the competition with a 9:41.29 to capture the Win and the $500 Women's first prize. Jennifer Wolf (Vixen Racing) was the only Pro GRT series regular to show for the women’s race. Unofficially, Wolf scored enough points to take over the runner-up position in the final ProGRT standings as Darian Harvey had already clinched the season title following her win at Windham Mountain. Final points are still being calculated for the Pro GRT women's series.

Following the official race, 39 riders got “pumped” and went back to the top for the chainless race. Some took the race more seriously than others; Richie Rude showed up at the start with two none-drive side crankarms, eliminating his chainring and bashguard. For the second year in a row, the win was grabbed by none other than Moorewood Bikes own Gerrit Beytagh. Beytagh grabbed the win with a time of 8:03.73, smashing 2nd place finisher Jurgen Beneke’s time of 8:24.72. Rounding out the top three was Heikki Hall with an 8:30.03.

The next Gravity East weekend takes place at Blue Mountain Resort in Danielsville, Pennsylvania on September 26 and 27. The double-header weekend will feature not only the Gravity East Downhill, but also a round of the Gravity East e.thirteen Dual Slalom series on the Neko Mulally-designed slalom course at Blue Mountain. For more information, see http://www.GravityEastSeries.com.

 

5 K DH pictures from Matthew Delorme

Matt Delorme from Decline Magazine sent us a few pictures he took at the 5 K DH race.
A new photo album was just added to our web site that includes Matt's pictures only. Thanks Matt!

Here's one of Logan Bingelli (11th place 8.22.60) from KHS Bicycles:


Mike Gross Team Drop:


Damon Morin Team Drop:



Peter Mcnulty Team Drop:


Thanks Team Drop!

More 5 K DH pictures from Matt can be found HERE

More pictures will be added to this album shortly. As other photographers send in their pictures more 5 K DH albums will be added.

 

Here's a few more pictures form the 5 k dh from friend and professional photographer Bear Cieri.
Tim Howland # 18:


Dominic Picotte # 137:

 

More 5 K DH pictures HERE