Gravity MTB Team storms NJ

Now that school has officially started, the inaugural Killington Mountain School Gravity Mountain Bike team kicked off the first weekend of fall racing and headed to MT Creek bike park in Vernon N.J. for the 7th of 8 rounds in the Maxxis Eastern State Cup DH series.

Seven athletes made the trip south ready to take the track by storm. Beautiful weather mixed with fall foliage gave the team a spectacular backdrop on a fast, technical and fun track. The top of the course started on Twist, a mellow blue that flowed through the trees of the upper mountain. The track then led to Slayer, a double black diamond that sent it straight down the fall line and was filled with brutal rock gardens, large roots, and deep powder catch berms. Slayer spits the racers out onto an off-camber ski trail before twisting, turning and jumping through trees, rock gardens, and the high speed asphalt walkways of the waterpark.

The KMS gravity team made their presence known charging through Saturday practice runs with confidence and speed. Team comradery was high on race day with everyone donning matching KMS jerseys and lapping pre-race runs as a team.

Gabe Johnson showed his usual blistering speed and finished first and is poised for the overall title in the U12 division. Gabe is five for five wins this season. Max DiDomenico battled through several crashes and finished on the podium in the U12’s with a 5th place. Max sits in 6th overall only a few points out of 5th with one race left in the series. Jamie Arquit slayed the difficult track and finished third in the stacked U15 class. Way to go Jamie! Owen Crossmon rode with his usual speed, balance and consistency finishing just a breath off the podium. Owen sits in 4th overall in the U15 division. Jamie Hamlin showed incredible speed and mastery of the most technical sections before a mistake led to a hard crash. Jamie got back on his bike and finished like a true warrior. Mattew Krimmel was charging hard all weekend. Mathew showed his strength and speed plowing down Slayer before a tree got in his way and broke his front brake. Despite a broken front brake and another crash Mathew finished his race run with a great attitude and is looking forward to series finals at Plattekill N.Y. Trent Miller joined us this weekend and finished 11th overall in his first-ever DH race. Trent also had the fastest speed at the bottom of the course in the Fly racing speed zone. With only one race left at Plattekill N.Y. Owen, Jamie Arquit and Matthew all sit top ten in points for the series.

Thanks to Alice Seals for making the trip to N.J. and supporting the team. Alice spent Sunday talking to parents and kids about our developing gravity cycling program. She and her husband Jay also did some laps on Saturday and were all smiles.