Eagan breaks runner-up streak to take victory in women's race
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Neko Mulally (Specialized Team America) went two-for-two while Karen Eagan (Sam Adams Brewery) scored a major upset at the first major gravity race at the new Vertical Earth Mountain Bike Park at Eastern Pennsylvania's Blue Mountain. A freshly cut track combined with overnight rain meant a lot of mud. But, like the dual slalom course the day before, riders praised the course. And promoter Dan Whitehead and his Vertical Earth Crew, with plenty of support from the resort staff, pulled off his first major race without a hitch, no mean feat when it continued to rain throughout the day.
Coming into the race, Dawn Bourque (Rhino Bike Works) was undefeated in Gravity East racing this year and, after winning the dual slalom on Saturday night, was the prohibitive favorite. But Eagan, working to improve on her streak of five straight runner-up finishes broke through to win her first Gravity East Downhill with a time of 4:13.84, just 0.02 seconds shy of one full second in front of second place Bourque. The victory was especially sweet for Eagan, who came to the race specifically to race, "someplace I've never ridden before." The combination of freshly-cut trails (the first tree on the park was only cut in April), and Pennsylvania decomposed granite soil with lots of small, sharp rocks at first confused Eagan. But she quickly adapted and showed a knack for reading new terrain.
For Mulally, however, Blue Mountain is like a second home. The mountain is only about 35 miles northeast of his home in Reading, and he has been spending many evenings helping the Vertical Earth Crew fine-tune their trails and the dual slalom course. Chris Higgerson, for one, probably wishes Mulally would focus a bit more on his homework and chasing girls like other 16 year olds. The Von Cooper Productions rider lost out to Mulally by just 0.58 seconds, giving Mulally his second win of the weekend after he triple-jumped his way to the dual slalom the day before. On the open-faced section of the mostly tree-lined course, Mulally took an outside line that was visibly faster, even from the bottom of the hill; some observers said he looked like he was riding a motorcycle. Then, at the bottom of the course, he put on a show by launching off the drop and roller combination.
In other noteworthy news, 11-year-old Ben Bodycoat may have finished second to Kory Koehler in the Cat. 3 Junior race, but he probably didn't care after posting a faster time than his father George did in winning the Cat. 2 40+ division. The Bodycoats have attended every Gravity East race this year, and it was the first time Kory beat his dad.
Altogether, 200 racers participated in the weekend's dual slalom and downhill with another 40 in the Saturday morning Super D.
This coming weekend, October 3-4, the Gravity East returns to New England as downhill racers tackle the new "Trail 13" at Mount Snow, as well as a a dual slalom and non-points Super D.
Results
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Elite men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Neko Mulally (Specialized Team America)
0:03:26.140
2
Chris Higgerson (Voncooper)
0:00:00.580
3
Adam Morse (Real Mean Wear Pink)
0:00:01.990
4
Jason Memmelaar (Hayes/5 ten/Manitu/Smith)
0:00:02.350
5
Lars Tribus (Chumba Racing)
0:00:04.270
6
Kyle Sangers (J & J Cyles)
0:00:07.370
7
Alejandro Ortiz (Morpheus Cycle)
0:00:07.750
8
Luke Snyder (Voncooper)
0:00:13.730
9
Jeff Cayley (Team Dan)
0:00:15.960
10
Chris Talotta (Ride-This)
0:00:18.320
11
Marvin Scanland
0:00:19.640
12
Jason Beckley (MMR/Marin/Kanda/NEMA/Fox Shox)
0:00:23.480
13
BJ Treglia (Kenda/661/Fox Shox/Sunline/Turner)
0:00:27.200
14
Justin Gregory
0:00:30.420
15
Erik Gosselin (Team Drop)
0:00:56.250
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Elite women
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Karen Eagan (Sam Adams)
0:04:13.840
2
Dawn Bouque (Rhino Bike Works)
0:00:00.980
3
Hillary Elgert (RacersEdge)
0:00:18.380
4
Stephanie Gubernat (Cutters Bike Shop/VerticalEarth)
0:00:46.370
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Junior men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Richie Rude (Allride Academy)
0:03:34.490
2
Max Syron (Sinister/Freeride)
0:00:06.370
3
Logan Mulally (Specialized Team America)
0:00:17.360
4
Mike Gross (Team Drop)
0:00:17.830
5
Sam Pensler
0:00:27.510
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Cat. 1 Men 19-29
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Adam Plumey (Dream Team)
0:03:45.290
2
Peter Mihalick (2wheelfreaks.com)
0:00:09.760
3
Geoff Ayr (Make Snow not War)
0:00:12.720
4
Mike Gruhler (Girth Bikes Clothing)
0:00:18.320
5
Stephen Solt (South Mountain Cycle, Lees-McCrae College)
0:00:20.290
6
Will Marks (Harley Davidson)
0:00:21.310
7
Eric Allocco
0:00:22.780
8
Nicholas White (Marty's)
0:00:29.010
9
Kyle Kimble
0:00:30.770
10
Alex Moschitti (Morpheus Cycle)
0:00:38.200
DNS
John Normand (Team Low Riders)
Row 10 - Cell 2
DNS
Stephen Flood (Last Chapter)
Row 11 - Cell 2
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Cat. 1 Men 30-39
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Robin Klinkert (My Right Pocket)
0:03:42.690
2
Mark Rutan (Last Chapter/VerticalEarth)
0:00:12.720
3
Donnie Roberts (Voncooper/Azonic DHD)
0:00:13.330
4
Kyle Kutzler (Team Marty's)
0:00:13.710
5
Tim Pierce (CycleCraft)
0:00:17.880
6
Jeremy Hartman
0:00:57.530
7
Neal DeMaio (Cycles Xprezo)
0:00:58.310
DNS
Thomas Schueler (RacersEdge/Chumba)
Row 7 - Cell 2
DNS
Matt Slater
Row 8 - Cell 2
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Cat. 1 Men 40+
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Dennis LaClair (Wachucett Brewing Company)
0:03:59.880
2
Phil Cook (RacersEdge)
0:00:18.190
3
Stefan Daney (Inspired Athletes)
0:00:21.390
4
Reid Kiniry (Michelin)
0:00:34.630
5
Rich Rude (Cycle Center)
0:00:38.810
6
Nick Fortune (PMBA)
0:01:22.260
7
Michael Rothenbeck (Azonic/Sheridan Printing)
0:01:44.700
DNS
Steve Cihylik
Row 7 - Cell 2
DNS
Jay Dallegro (Sinical Racing/Keswick Cycle)
Row 8 - Cell 2
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Cat. 1 Women 19-29
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Kristine Koch (Dad/GGI/Fluid/Spy)
0:04:46.590
2
Kate Parhiaia (Wachusett Brew)
0:00:17.800
3
Hannah Trimble (Team Self)
0:03:11.490
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Cat. 1 Women 30-39
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Susan del Pino (iRide/Oakley/Loeka)
0:04:50.220
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Cat. 2 Junior men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Nikolas Dudukovich
0:04:12.870
2
Anthony Viselli
0:00:16.090
3
Michael Barron (Gretna Bikes)
0:00:18.830
4
Brad Ritter (Low Riders)
0:00:27.360
5
Evan Biner
0:00:49.100
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Cat. 2 Men 19-29
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Dan Waskiewicz (tractionmag.com)
0:04:14.860
2
Richard Patty (Wayfarer)
0:00:12.050
3
Kevin Cockerham (Sinical Racing)
0:00:13.320
4
Michael Gavagan (Brandywine Cyclery)
0:00:16.060
5
Andrew Clemison
0:00:21.450
6
Chris Chiemelski (Wayfarer)
0:00:24.310
7
Daniel Siegfried (Team Self)
0:00:26.710
8
Steve Czaplicki
0:00:31.050
9
Alan Tarwater (Team Fat Kids)
0:00:31.120
10
Jason Hartman
0:00:40.510
11
Somroy Bunty (Team Self)
0:01:03.310
DNS
Anthony Coluccio
Row 11 - Cell 2
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Cat. 2 Men 30-39
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Jeff Stofanak (Cutters Bike Shop)
0:04:09.660
2
James Boyer (Bike Stop/NEMA)
0:00:04.130
3
Colby Barth
0:00:12.760
4
Luke Wenschhof
0:00:13.550
5
Casey Coull (Team Low Riders)
0:00:14.460
6
Lane Boertman (Beachwood Bikes)
0:00:16.220
7
Ben Weaver (Allied Milk)
0:00:54.900
DNS
Jason Washer (Last Chapter)
Row 7 - Cell 2
DNS
Lou Harris (PMBA)
Row 8 - Cell 2
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Cat. 2 Men 40+
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
George Bodycoat
0:05:11.360
2
Leo Dumont
0:00:44.320
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Cat. 2 Women 19-29
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Leslie Litton (Gretna Bikes)
0:05:25.870
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Cat. 2 Women 30-39
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Karen Clymer (my honey b)
0:06:04.740
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Cat. 3 Junior men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Kory Koehler
0:04:35.650
2
Ben Bodycoat
0:00:31.310
3
Brian Anthony
0:00:59.110
4
Taylor Pierce (Trails End Cycling)
0:02:05.980
DNS
Forrest Canning
Row 4 - Cell 2
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Cat. 3 Men 19-29
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Korey Szapacs
0:04:42.180
2
Ryan Mauser
0:00:12.860
3
Todd Colligan
0:00:15.470
4
Jon O'Brien
0:00:22.810
5
Michael Chies
0:00:23.650
6
Evan Strunk
0:03:41.230
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Cat. 3 Men 30-39
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Mike Ireton (Cutters Bike Shop)
0:04:42.000
2
David Gray
0:00:58.370
3
Joaquin Canizales (Team Marty's)
0:01:22.170
4
Todd Boucher (Bennett Bicycles/MMR)
0:01:49.760
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Cat. 3 Men 40+
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Alan Daum (nittanymba.org)
0:05:11.340
2
Ed McDaniel (Bike Line)
0:00:30.380
3
Bryan Martin (Beachwood Bikes)
0:00:42.660
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Cat. 3 Women 19-29
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Becky Bagley (Voncooper/Mongoose/NEMA/DHD)
0:05:48.540
2
Rachael Baxter
0:00:18.930
3
Christy Allebach (Mt. Perk)
0:00:38.510
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Cat. 3 Women 30-39
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Jennel Ortiz (Team Marty's)
0:07:58.400
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Cat. 3 Women 40+
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Christine Deihl
0:09:51.470
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