Plattekill, going out in style

ROXBURY, N.Y. (derailedonline.com) - October 12-14, 2007 will mark a huge weekend in gravity mountain bike racing as Plattekill Mountain in Roxbury, NY hosts the first ever 'Gravity East Finals" in conjunction with an NCCA Collegiate Eastern Championship event. The' Gravity East' series newly formed this year, was conceived in an effort to make a true "East Coast" series that would allow racers to compete for points across 9-venues. Stops on the circuit spanned the Atlantic Coast from Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid NY to Massanutten in VA. Unfortunately, mid-season the series "almost" fell apart with lack of support for the series diminishing by the original organizers. However, thanks to Dieter Ward of Team Plattekill and Brady Owens of Derailedonline.com, the two together worked out a strategy to save the series by coming up with a points system to manage the race results across the series and keep the riders informed. Massanutten, Plattekill, Wisp, Whitface and Mount Snow all agreed that the series was too important to drop and that it was evident by racer turnouts and feedback, that the riders wanted the series to go on. So these 5 venues teamed together and will be offering a $2000 cash purse to the 2007 Gravity East Series Winners at the Plattekill finale events in a few weeks.

In addition, Plattekill Mountain has increased the stakes for the Gravity East Finals by offering a $5000 cash purse for the Downhill event and a $1000 cash purse for the Dual Slalom event in addition to the series cash prizes and product support thanks to Plattekill Mountain's series sponsors. According to spokesperson Dieter Ward, Plattekill Mountains Cycling Manager, "we wanted to make this a major event by offering a significant cash purse to attract some of the Country's top mountain bike athletes and get them to Plattekill to experience some of the best downhill terrain on the East Coast". The event is expected to attract over 400 competitors and over 100 collegiate racers for the event. Billy Allison, Plattekill's Cycling Director added, "we've planned a festival-type weekend for both racers and spectators and encourage everyone to come on up to the mountain for an exciting weekend as they will find more than just great racing action during the 3-day event." Industry vendors and sponsors have been invited to showcase their new 2008 bike lines (Sinister Bikes will be on hand for a demo) and the mountain will be featuring a DJ, huge barbeque by Longhorn BBQ, and showing of the World Premier New World Disorder 8
- "Smack Down". The Mountain will be open from 10am-5pm Friday for freeriding and race course practice. Friday ift tickets are just $10 with any race registration. The Dual Slalom event will take place Saturday at 3pm and the Dowhhill race event will be Sunday at 11am. Add to that, Shaums March Pro Training Camps will be featuring pre-race training camps on Friday and Saturday with ½-day sessions to hone your race skills, just $99. For more info visit Plattekill's website www.plattekill.com. The trail crew at Plattekill is cooking up something special for the Gravity East race courses, and have been hard at work finishing up the soon to be infamous "camper" jump - a.k.a. the "Plattekill Townhouse Jump" to debut for the Gravity DH Finals Course. Pictures can be seen on derailedonline.com. Plattekill Mountain is located in the Northern Catskill Mountains of NY, approximately 2-1/2 hours from NYC and 1 hour from Albany, NY and operates the longest continuously operating lift-served mountain biking center in the East.
Plattekill has been operating from late April until early November since 1994. For more info or to pre-register for any of the weekends events visit www.plattekill.com or call (607) 326-3500.

2007 Plattekill Gravity East Sponsors: Maxxis, Fox Racing Shox, Sponsorhouse.com,
Racers Edge Bike Shop, Magura, Monster Energy Drinks, Turner Bikes, Overlook Bike Shop, NYC Freeride, Slikfit, Gamut, T-Bar Restaurant, Roxbury NY, SVB Racing, Derailedonline.com and Shaums March Mad March Racing Camps.