Vittoria ESC - Plattekill DH Race Report and Video
The Vittoria Eastern States Cup race season is now in full swing, this weekend's race brings us to Plattekill Mountain in New York's Catskills. Plattekill was one of the original hosts of the Vittoria ESC series in its early days and is still a favorite stop for our DH racers today. Racers made the trip to Roxbury to surf the famed shale littered slopes and check out sections of fresh trail cut specifically for the New York State Championship race.
While it was suggested that Cat 2/3 racers take the easier route down the mountain, this country was founded on freedom of choice. Have it your way at Platty.
The Cat 1 and Pro course took a more direct route down the mountain, leading riders through a series of steep chutes and loose berms, which kept even the most experienced riders on their toes all weekend.
If you live in the Northeast you know there's always a chance for rain, the skies opened up during practice Saturday afternoon which added mud to the already slippery combination of shale and roots, creating tricky conditions for riders to battle.
After the rain, many riders decided to call it a day or take a track walk in preparation for Sunday's race.
Sunday morning riders awoke to a bluebird day in the picturesque Catskills.
All the locals came out to watch the race; after all this would be their only opportunity to catch a Vittoria ESC race at Plattekill this year.
Shoutout to Steve Day and the Getloose Racing team for putting yet another challenging DH track together for us this year. All the racers and the Vittoria ESC crew appreciate your commitment to keeping DH racing alive at Platty.
Pro racer Eric McNeil and his girlfriend Jill tied the knot at Plattekill Friday evening, so naturally Eric sported a tuxedo jersey for his race run Sunday. We love to see the ESC family keep growing, congrats you two!
You can always count on Plattekill to bring a variety of crowd pleasers like this sizeable double toward the bottom of the track, Maxime Beaudry traveled from the Montreal area to check out the classic DH venue.
Although it was the easier of the two, there was no shortage of thrills on the Cat 2/3 course. Andres Gallego handled the tricky terrain with ease and earned himself third place for the Cat 2/3 30-39 men.
Adrien Hayden getting sideways entering the woods on his way to win the Under 14 boys class by more than 20 seconds.
Ernie Reale is no stranger to surfing the Plattekill shale, living nearby and riding here since the first day they opened in the early 90's. He has been on the 50+ men's podium at every ESC race he's entered this year and took top honors Sunday.
It seems the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in the Estrada family. Pro racer Mauricio has definitely taught his daughter, Ivanna, a thing or two about getting your bike down the mountain as fast as possible. Including this weekend, she has won four of the six races she's entered this year and had podium results in all of them.
Eastern States Cup North American Downhill Team member Mazie Hayden was unsure if she would be able to race after a nasty crash in practice Saturday but after being cleared at the hospital the Cat 1 racer finished second in the pro women's category. Way to go Mazie!
After hopping around Europe for the first few World Cup races, David Kahn is back home and riding more confident than ever, taking the top spot for the Cat 1 15-18 boys by a commanding lead of over 13 seconds.
Christopher Ridder sending it off Chainsaw Drop, a tribute to Stevie Smith. #longlivechainsaw
George Ryan got the weekend off from running the show at Mountain Creek Bike Park and made the trip to Roxbury. He's been racing at Plattekill for 20 years now and it seems the experience paid off as he landed in third place for the Pro men.
Isaac Allaire is both a Vittoria ESC Enduro and DH podium regular but his results are on fire as of late, taking his second Pro men's DH win in a row on his Transition trail bike. Can he pull off the three-peat at Sugarbush? No pressure, Isaac.
West Coaster Chelsea Kimball also chose a trail bike as her weapon of choice this weekend and won the Pro women's category. With all the talk recently of 29er DH bikes it's good to see our racers getting results on whatever bike they have available.
This week we check in with Wulfpack Racing's Pro racer Jordan Daigle as he walks us through his DH machine. He ended the weekend in fourth place and it's only a matter of time before he lands on that top step.
Rider height: 6' 2" Weight: 185 lbs.
Frame: Santa Cruz V10 size XL
Fork: Fox 40, 80psi, 6 volume spacers
Rebound: 5 clicks
High speed compression: 8 clicks
Low speed compression: 10 clicks
Rear shock: Fox DHX2, 500lb spring
Compression: HSC 8, LSC 10
Rebound: HSR 8, LSR 6
Brakes: Shimano Zee Rotors: 203mm Front 180mm Rear
Shifter & Derailleur: Shimano Zee
Cassette: SRAM 10 speed
Cranks: Shimano Saint 165mm
Chain Ring: Race Face 36t
Chain Guide: e*thirteen LG1
Wheels: Spank Race 33 27.5" tubeless
Hubs: Spank Spoon 150
Tires: Schwalbe Magic Mary, Front 24psi, Rear 26psi
Saddle: SDG Fly 2.0
Seatpost: Race Face
Bars: Spank Vibrocore 780mm long, 15mm rise
Stem: Renthal 35mm
Grips: ODI AG1
Let's find out who took home the Vittoria ESC and New York State Championship medals along with a boatload of prizes from our sponsors.
Our Fly Speed Zone winners, including our two fastest amateur racers Jeferson Velasquez Martinez and Silvana Paez, taking home the goods from Fly Racing.
Cat 2/3 women: 2nd-Silvana Paez, 1st-Ivanna Estrada
50+ men: 2nd-John Pallotto, 1st-Ernie Reale, 3rd-George Ulmer
0-14 boys: 4th-Vincent Dosio Jr. (not pictured), 2nd-Michael Maldonado, 1st-Adrian Hayden, 3rd-Logan Tiger, 5th-Cristian Suarez
Cat 2/3 40+ men: 4th-David Richard, 2nd-Vincent Dosio Sr., 1st-Damian Sanchez, 3rd-Luis Gonzalez
Cat 2/3 30-39 men: 4th-Jason Tuccio, 2nd-Maxime Beaudry, 1st-Mark Marrongelli, 3rd-Andres Gallego, 5th-Salvatore Martelli (not pictured)
Cat 2/3 19-29 men: 4th-Jeferson Velasquez Martinez, 2nd-Chris Sinclair, 1st-Sebastian Halpern-Reiss (not pictured), 3rd-Kevin Wilson, 5th-Jared Wood
Cat 2/3 15-18 boys: 4th-Stephen Tully, 2nd-Charlie Emanuel, 1st-Cooper Pleva, 3rd-Dylan Dadd, 5th-Brandon Schoenborn
Cat 1 40+ men: 4th-Mark Schnepel, 2nd-Paulo Henrique Ferreira Martins, 1st-Jeremy Geiger, 3rd-Marcos Antonio Lira (not pictured)
Cat 1 30-39 men: 4th-Romeu Alcaide, 2nd-Justin Toye, 1st-Jack Williams, 3rd-Jeffrey L'Heureux, 5th-Joshua Miller
Cat 1 19-29 men: 4th-Beilor Jean Pau Pinzon, 2nd-Vladislav Sherryuble, 1st-Piotr Sedrowski, 3rd-Garrett Schwippert, 5th-Jared Martz
Cat 1 15-18 boys: 2nd-Colin McBride, 1st-David Kahn, 3rd-Kevin Owens
Pro women's podium: 4th-Ming Goetz, 2nd-Mazie Hayden, 1st-Chelsea Kimball, 3rd-Riley Weidman, 5th-Clair Sick
Pro men's podium: 4th-Jordan Daigle, 2nd-Mauricio Estrada, 1st-Isaac Allaire, 3rd-George Ryan, 5th-Steve Estabrook
That's a wrap from Roxbury, New York! We'll see you next weekend in Warren, Vermont for our third Box Components Showdown weekend of the season at Sugarbush. Enduro and DH racing, New England's best swimming holes and local beer, let's go!
Words and photos: Andrew Santoro
Video: Jason Scheiding
VIEW FULL RESULTS
Vittoria ESC Enduro Schedule
Eight events count best six
April 23, Vittoria ESC Enduro – Glen Park, Stroudsburg PA
May 21, Vittoria ESC – Victory Hill, Victory VT
June 3, Vittoria ESC – Thunder Mountain, Charlemont MA – Box Showdown (State Championship)
June 25, Vittoria ESC – Blue Mountain, Palmerton PA – Box Showdown (State Championship)
July 16, Vittoria ESC –Sugarbush, Warren VT – Box Showdown (State Championship)
Aug. 20, Vittoria ESC – Attitash, Bartlett NH – Box Showdown (State Championship)
Sept. 3, Vittoria ESC – Blue Mountain, Palmerton PA – Box Showdown
Sept. 24, Vittoria ESC – Killington, Killington VT – Series Finals
Vittoria ESC DH Schedule
Nine events count best six
June 4, Vittoria ESC Downhill – Thunder Mountain, Charlemont MA – Box Showdown (State Championship)
June 11, Vittoria ESC Downhill– Pats Peak, Henniker NH – State Championship
June 25, Vittoria ESC Downhill – Blue Mountain, Palmerton PA – Box Showdown (State Championship)
July 9, Vittoria ESC Downhill – Plattekill Mountain, Roxbury NY – State Championship
July 16, Vittoria ESC Downhill –Sugarbush, Warren VT Box Showdown (State Championship)
Aug. 20, Vittoria ESC Downhill – Attitash, Bartlett NH – Box Showdown
Sept. 3, Vittoria ESC Downhill – Blue Mountain, Palmerton PA – Box Showdown
Sept. 17, Vittoria ESC Downhill – Windham Mountain, Windham NY
Oct. 15, Vittoria ESC Downhill – Mount Snow, West Dover VT – Finals
Clif Enduro East
July 1–2 Killington
Aug. 5–6 Burke/Victory Hill
Sept. 9–10 Thunder Mountain
Author Info:
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One of the gnarliest and most fun places on the East Coast, the mountain the kept the race torch burning in the east when everyone else bailed.
Also, seeing everyone bitch about "bike park WC races" yet they choose to hit the same bike park trails that they scoff at racers riding?
I'm old and cranky I think.
I agree that I loved riding there but some trails have 12" of leaf coverage, man-made wood features that are rotted and may fail if you attempt to hit it, the trail signs are non-existent. It's a catch 22: They don't have money to put into the trails but people don't go cause they don't have money to put into the trails?
Also, bike rentals at Platty are something like $2,000 refundable deposit. People don't have $2k that can go towards a shitty KHS rental. I get they want to protect themselves but...