2012 POC Eastern States Cup NH Stop Updates

The POC Eastern States Cup visited New Hampshire for series races #3 at Attitash, and #4 Pats Peak on the past two weekends. In typical New England fashion, the weather was at two extremes. It was cold, rainy and windy at Attitash, while Pats Peak’s weekend was sunny, hot and dry. Great turnouts at both events prove the hardiness of East Coast racers.

The Course at Attitash was challenging in the wet conditions. Mud, slippery roots and rocks on the steep, tight trails made the descent difficult to get an error free race run in. The racers that made the least mistakes and kept their momentum were on the podium. Congratulations are in order for all racers for battling the elements and making it to the finish line.

Voncooper Racing dominated the men’s pro field at Attitash taking the top two positions. Phil Kmetz and Gavin Vaugn ended up less than a second apart with a 2:56.31 and a 2:56.53 respectively. Australian Matthew Dodd was 6 seconds back with a 3:03.27.Katelyn Parhiala took the women’s pro win in some very difficult conditions.

While Pats peak is not the tallest mountain on the POC ESC calendar, it has a terrific track. It’s plenty steep, and makes the most of the terrain that is available. The track was a solid mix of open slope and technical woods sections. It was full of rock gardens and roots with a few good drops to boot. The weekend weather was exceptionally good. Pats Peak POC ESC stop featured a best of two run format, giving racers a safe, solid run, and an all out run as well.

Track conditions were dry and dusty, amazing considering the deluge that dumped some 7 to 8 inches of rain on New England last week. The course was incredibly physical, having three rock gardens and two moderate drops.  Despite it being relatively short, it did a good job zapping energy out of the racers, and was very well received.

Our visitors from Australia had the strongest showing for the weekend, with Matthew Dodd taking the win for the Pro Men with an astonishing 1:57 on his second run, besting his first run by two seconds. Matthew was the only racer to break the 2 minute mark, twice. Ben Moody did some incredible riding this weekend and ended the day with second place with a 2:00 on his second run and 2:04 on his first run. Aussie Jesse Beare took third with a 2:05 on his first run and a 2:00 on his second Run. It was a big weekend for Stephanie Levasque Sowles as she took he first Pro Women win with a 2:42 in both runs.

Another great weekend of POC ESC racing, the event had great atmosphere with the MTB festival. Thanks Pats Peak for all the hard work and fantastic course.

After four straight weekends of racing the series takes this weekend off before ESC #5 Mount Snow. Mount Snow is a racers favorite and the course for this race will be new. For more details on The POC ESC and the Mount Snow race, please visit www.easternstatescup.com