2013 Pro GRT - Mountain Creek Bike Park, Vernon, NJ

This is Joshua Rogers checking in Vernon, NJ. I’m at Mountain Creek Bike Park for my first Pro GRT race.

 The bike park was amazing, the course was was super fun. The course had everything from big rock sections, fast slopes, and some big jumps. Practice was Thursday through Sunday. My dad drove through the night on Thursday and we pulled into the parking lot at 1:05 am Friday morning just so I could practice. The course was super dry and fast, I was able to push some good speeds all day. My new Specialized Demo 8 gave me the confidence to push harder each run. Have to say the NEMA gear was looking good.Joshua in the big rock garden

Saturday came along and it was still really dry and fast. My dad and I did a course walk in the morning and found a new line threw the main rock sections. It was definitely way faster than the the line I was taking at first. Practice was only two hours on Saturday and near the end it started misting with some rain.

There was a Super D race Saturday afternoon. My decided that I wouldn’t do that race so I could stay focused on DH. It was time for Pro and CAT 1 seeding runs after the Super D. The course had already changed a lot from practice and it was a challenge for the riders to adapt. They had no practice time on the wet course. As the CAT 1 riders came across the big double to the finish line the times were pretty fast. Half way through the Pro riders the fastest time was still held by a CAT1 rider. At the end of the seeding Neko had posted the fastest time.

 Joshua boosting the 35 foot doubleSunday was wet and the mist and rain was still hanging around. The first couple of practice runs were slow. The rocks on the course were very slick and it was muddy. The mud stated getting more tacky after each practice run. The key was not to hit the breaks on the rocks and let go on the wide open sections. The start of my run for the race was really good I was pushing it to my limits if not past my limits. After I got past the real hard parts of the course I came into a conner that had some slick roots in it and my front washed out and I flipped over. When I got up I realized that my breaks had flipped around and I was only able to get on partially fixed. At that point I had to go and  I didn’t care and went for it. I charged hard all the way next conner. I couldn’t slow down and I jumped the berm about 12 feet into the woods. It took me forever to get out of there so I knew there was no way of winning from that point. Overall this weekend was very good I was able to push some really fast speeds. AlI can do now is put the race behind me, train harder and prepare for the next race.  See you at GES #2 at Mountain Creek in two weeks.

Joshua Rogers — CAT2 18 & under — 12th Place — 3:52.36

Check out all the Race Results...click here

2013 ETSU National Qualifier Race Report

Michael Kane here reporting on the ETSU race held on Saturday, May 4th.  Eric and I arrived in Johnson City at our hotel Friday night, so we could have a good night’s rest. The next morning we showed up at ETSU for the Kane rips the DH courseraces. The DH course was fast, dry, sandy, and jumpy. The ETSU staff had made a few changes to the trail including a big step-down out of the second corner. After taking some practice runs, Eric and I took our first of two race runs. In the first run, Eric looked really fast and smooth, while in my run, I made a few mistakes, but nothing major. Eric’s second run was flowy and fast. In my second run, I popped a chain and had to run a section. Eric ended up 1^st in Jr. 17-18 Cat 1 and I ended up 2^nd in Jr. 15-16 Cat 2.

After finishing the downhill race, we headed over to the dual slalom course. The track was extra long this year because it started out on the 4x track and then made a tight flat left hander into the tight berms of the dual slalom course. Vest getting ready to rideAfter practicing for a while, the race staff decided it was time to present the awards for DH, so we took a break.  After that, we were ready to qualify. I qualified first in my class and got a bye, so while I was waiting for my turn to race I played around on their massive pump track and took some time to watch the other racers. Finally, I had my first round and won both races. Then, in the second round, I tied the first race so we had to do a rerun. I lost the next two races and ended up getting second. Eric was amazing on his brand new Specialized p3 and got first place in Jr. Expert.  

It was a great day of racing and since the ETSU race is a USAC Qualifying event, Eric and are I both qualified, for DH and DS, for the Gravity Nationals coming up this summer. 

Eric Vest — CAT1 17-18 — 1st Place — DH
Eric Vest — Jr Expert — 1st Place — DS

Michael Kane — CAT2 15-16 — 2nd Place — DH
Michael Kane — CAT2 Jr — 2nd Place — DS

Check out all the Race results...click here

2013 Gravity East Series Race #1 - Duryea, PA

Its me Josh... just here to tell you about Duryea downhill event in Reading PA this weekend 5-5/6. The race course was super fun !! I enjoyed it a lot. The course was super rocky and very peddly (lots of peddling). It's one of the most rocky courses that I ever rode. Most of the course was about staying light over the rocks so you didn't get a flat. Saturday practice was good.  I found all my lines and got them down pat!  I was ready for tomorrow's race.  Sunday we got there at 8:00 and found that my brakes where fading. My Dad and I debated on bleeding the brakes or just switching them out with new ones.. We decided to switch the whole back brakeout with our spare XO trails.  We ran into some problems and had to take apart the whole back of the bike to get the new brakes on there and that took us about an hour. I knew I could count on my Dad!  When we finally got those on it was practice time.  Practice was great but they were running behind so the races were backed up by about an hour. There were also a few downed riders that required medical attention which made some other riders have to start over.  My race run started good.  I was peddling super fast then I hit a rock and flipped totally over!! After watching it on my GoPro replay, it added about 11-15 seconds to my race run. I ended up 5th place.  There were 13 racers in my class and I beat over half of them with a crash so that is giving me some confidence racing in Cat 2-18 and under this year. But in the end this weekend was fun and a good learning experience.  Can't wait to do it all over again in another city somewhere soon---without the crash of course!!Scrub over the road gap table 

Joshua Rogers — CAT2 18 & under — 5th Place — 3:38.82

Check out all the Race Results...click here

Snowshoe Race #3 and Series Finale

The scrub in the off camber section - rock drop set upThis is David Dressler filing a GROM Racing report for Snowshoe number 3.  GROM enjoyed a great weekend of riding September 21^st-23^rd at the series finale for Snowshoe 2012.  Jay and I arrived Friday morning and Eric arrived Friday night to begin practice for the Saturday afternoon race.  The course was very fast and smooth featuring the traditional Cup Cake road gap, two rock drops near the top followed by lots of fast flowing berms into the lower Pro Downhill.  Rather than dropping down to the Lincoln Log and Flat Rock drop the course cut back across the slope to the Daytona Berm with a nice step-down jump on the way in and another fun jump out of Daytona.   We finished over the regular step-down onto the slope for the super fast run to the finish line. 

The weather was great with the dry course conditions for the entire weekend which meant we were running Specialized Butchers all weekend long.   Our Specialized bikes were working well on the ultra fast course and we used the Friday and Saturday practice to iron out our lines and work on corner speed as it would be essential on this course.  The race went well with Jay Fesperman continuing his streak of strong results with a win in Elite (Pro).  Eric Vest had a small fall which cost him time on his race run.  I made a mistake on my race run by starting to do the top rock drop, which I had not practiced, and backing out at the last second which cost several seconds so I ended up second in Weekend Warrior (Cat 2) 17 and under.Eric Sky-Vest getting some air

Snowshoe put together a great awards ceremony Saturday evening at the Shaver Center (no wind & warmer than the village) where the race podiums were recognized and also the series podiums were recognized.  They gave away tons of gear and cash including some very cool hand-crafted Lincoln Log scene trophies for each series winner.  Even the amateur classes’ series champs received very generous payouts.  Jay won the Elite series with two wins and a second while I took third in the Weekend Warrior 17 and under series.  Missing one round really hurt my series results.  Hats off to Snowshoe for the very generous awards and payouts.  They really know how to treat the riders. 

I’d like to offer thanks on behalf of the team for all the support from all our sponsors including Specialized, Snowshoe Bike Park, Hawley Service Center, The CyclePath Bike Shop,  Cane Creek, SRAM, Nema, Industry Nine, Smith Optics and Gamut.  All the support help make the season a great success for GROM Racing. 

Men's Elite Series Championship Podium

Beech Mountain Race #3 & 2012 Series Wrap-up

GROM Racing joined mountain bikers from all over the southeast this past weekend for the third and final race in the 2012 Beech Mountain series. Saturday brought absolutely perfect weather for riding and near perfect course conditions. The crew from Progressive Ventures had reworked the race course to allow racers of all levels to race the top of the Pro course by smoothing some of the rocky sections then rerouted racers down the newly created flow line (termed the beginner course for its slight elevation change and tame features). 

Saturday was open ride day; purchasing a race entry wasn't a requirement for riding. Beech Mountain Resort did a great service to the cycling community by opening lift assisted riding to anyone wanting to ride. Numerous families and first-time riders took advantage of the opportunity experience gravity riding along with many XC riders eager to make lots of downhill runs without having to suffer the long climbs back to the top. 

GROMs took full advantage the great weather and conditions by making lots of practice runs. Ben, Eric and Jay rode together all day sharing lines and helping each other perfect their runs. Click Here to see Eric's GoOPro video of Ben cruising down the course. 

Sunday brought cooler weather, the threat of rain, and RACING! Practice began at 9:00 and racing started just before noon. Clouds set in just before the juniors hit the course. Fortunately, the rain held off until just after Jay finished his run. The shower was short and the course was in near perfect condition when GROM Racing's Pro racer dropped into the course. The GROMs finished the course in style on their Specialized downhill bikes and Nema custom kits.

Beech Race #3 Results

Cat. 1 18 7 Under
1st - Jay Fesperman 2:32.41 (3rd fastest time of the day)
3rd - Eric Vest 2:46.69

 Men - Pro (10 Racers)     
6th -  Ben Calhoun 2:41.79

Click Here for race results

Beech Mountain surprised all the riders by awarding series titles as well. GROMs finished well again:
Cat. 1 18 7 Under
1st - Jay Fesperman 
2nd - Eric Vest 
Click Here to see photos

Beech Mountain put on a great series and introduced so many riders in the southeast to Downhill. Many thanks to the Beech crew and to Progressive Ventures for creating a new downhill and slalom venue. Loading up the GROM caravan tomorrow night to head to Snowshoe Resort for the series final. Wish us luck (dry conditions) and clean runs (no crashes or injuries)!
 

Beech Mountain Race 2 & Snowshoe's Chomolunga Challenge

GROM Racing hasn't slowed down a bit since the US National Champs; two races have been completed recently with some nice wins at Beech Mountain and Snowshoe. Plus, one GROM racer has started college, others have started back to middle and high school, and one GROM is over in Austria assisting the US team at World Championships. 

Beech Mountain - August 17 & 18

Both dual slalom and downhill racing was on the schedule again for the August weekend at Beech Mountain. Four GROM racers were on the mountain to practice early Saturday morning with downhill practice starting at 9:00 AM. The Beech downhill course can get slick and muddy most anytime. While Saturday's course had some slight slickness from rains earlier in the week, the course was in near perfect condition. This was great for several reasons; 1 - it's more fun when it's dry, 2 - Saturday was open ride day for racers and others that just wanted to try out the course. Beech Mountain and course builder Christopher Herndon had "tweaked" the courses (beginner, Amatuer, and Pro) to help them be more ridable for all those on the mountain. It was a great day of riding with well over 150 riders on the mountain.

The mid-afternoon brought slalom racing for the GROMs. The course was in great shape after nationals and there was a pretty good turnout for racing even though the lifts were still running for downhill runs. The team didn't do much practicing on the course but quickly got familiar with berms and jumps. All the GROMs continued to race right up to last few heats. In Cat. 1, it came down to a head-to-head dual with Jay Fesperman and Coach Christopher Herndon. Coach bested Jay on the first run by fractions of a second. Then in the second heat, Jay was right at his coaches side when when Jay's front wheel washed out in a turn and down he went. Coach Christopher remained the slalom champ. When all the runs were finished GROMs took: Cat. 2 David Dressler - 2nd overall (Cat. 2 Juniors 10-14 David took 1st),
Cat. 1 Jay Fesperman 2nd overall (Cat. 1 Juniors - Jay 1st & teammate Eric Vest 2nd).
USA Cycling Results 

Saturday night brought heavy rain to the high country. Sunday morning practice started with racers hitting the course in the clouds and running Specialized Storms. Spikes were the tires of the day for most and those without them really struggled in the early hours of practice. By mid-day, the clouds were clearing the sun was coming out and race runs were ready to begin. The lifts continued to run into Cat. 3 and Cat. 2 race runs allowing the Cat. 1 GROMs to get some lunch and rest in the pits before their runs. In addition, the faster Specialized Butchers replaced the Storms for the last runs of the day. Practice and great tires paid off for the GROMs. Downhill finishes:
Cat. 2, 10-14 Year Olds - David Dressler 3rd
Cat. 1, 10-18 Year Olds - Eric Vest 2nd
Cat. 1, 10-18 Year Olds - Jay Fesperman 1st (fastest time of the day by any rider: 02:19.49)
Click Here USA Cycling Results   -  Click Here for weekend photos

GROM Ben Calhoun had a good solid run in Pro. Ben spent his first weekend as a freshman at Appalachian State University racing downhill. Seems like a perfect way to start what will be many more weekends in the NC high country.

Snowshoe Mountain Resort - August 25

It's the Chomolunga Challenge; a downhill endurance race with descents equal to the elevation of Mount Everest. Solo riders, two-person and four-person teams complete 20 runs down select trails on Snowshoe's western territory. Plus, it's a Lemans start in the Snowshoe village with an all-out sprint to the downhill trails. This was the first year for this event at Showshoe but hopefully it won't be the last. The event was incredibly well attended and provided great entertainment for racers and spectators alike. Due to school schedules, only one GROM was able to make the weekend. However, it proved successful and exciting for Jay Fesperman. Joining with Cane Creek's Brandon Blakely, the two-person team of Shake 'n Bake took first place in the two-person team category. Tough competition existed in all classes with lead changes possible during each run. Take a look at Snowshoe's video from the weekend and look out for next year's race...it's a great day of racing.

On August 26th, GROM racer Jay Fesperman left for Leogang, Austria to observe the UCI World Championships and to assist the US team during the week. While not old enough to ride, this experience will help him as he prepares for next season with a goal to qualify to race as a member of the 2013 Junior USA team. At it's inception, one goal of GROM racing was to prepare east coast riders to become world cup level junior riders. As GROM prepares for 2013, the team looks forward to another race year with podium finishes. But most importantly, it looks forward to helping young riders develop skills that build self esteem, character and a love for mountain biking that is contagious.

Snowshoe Race 2

This is David Dressler checking in with a GROM Racing report from Snowshoe Race 2.  Saturday morning we woke up to nice weather but the DH course was still quite muddy from rain earlier in the week.  With all the rock and not much grass we chose to run Specialized Butcher tires.  As the course dried out during the afternoon the Butchers were working really well.  Me railing a berm under the lift

Our team for this weekend was Eric Vest, Jay Fesperman and me.  Jimmy Leslie came down for the weekend to spend some time with the team as he continues to recover from a knee injury suffered during the ski season.  Ben Calhoun was home sick this weekend.  We hope to have him back for the next race at Beech Mountain in mid August. 

Saturday afternoon brought an old school grass slalom race in which Eric and I raced.  Some rain came in right before the final round to help make things interesting.  The wet grass was very tricky.  Eric raced Elite/Pro and took first place and I raced Junior and took 1^st place.  

 The DH course was great. I give Trevyn Newpher props for putting together a great course.  On Sunday, I practiced from 9-10 while my Elite/Pro teammates had the course  from 10-11.  The race started around 11.  I was first out of the gate for the team and managed to place third in Weekend Warrior (Cat 2) 17 & Under, even though I crashed a few times and was not happy with my run.  Eric and Jay raced Elite/Pro in DH so they were the last group to come down the mountain.  Eric had a solid run with a 5:10, even with a crash. Jay took second place with a 4:32, just 1.2 seconds off the win.  

Jay scrubbin' over a table in the woods

Everyone had a solid, safe and fun weekend.  We’re all looking forward to getting back together for our next race at Beech mountain in a couple of weeks.  May thanks to our sponsors for helping GROM Racing have another great weekend of racing.  

Click here to see Snowshoe Mountain's highlight video from Race 2 of their series.

2012 USA Cycling National Championships

race report by GROM Jay Fesperman

Jay with an early morning drop in on the courseThis past Wednesday GROM Racing headed up to Beech Mountain, North Carolina for the weekend of the U.S. Gravity National Championships. Thursday brought downhill and dual slalom practice all day. The practices both started at 11:30 and ended at 6:00 so riders had the opportunity to choose what and when they practiced. The courses were nice and dry on Thursday, with the woods being nice and tacky, and the slopes dusty and dry. The Specialized Butchers that the GROMS were running were hooking up extremely well in the dry conditions, and providing great traction. The GROMS chose to practice a few runs on slalom first, and then head over to the downhill track for some DH practice.  Thursday practice went well with all the GROMs getting comfortable on the track and finding their lines. After a nice dinner on Thursday evening the team hiked up the Pro downhill track to check out the lines we rode in practice and look for any other good lines. Thursday night brought a steady rain all evening, so we all threw on our Specialized Storm mud spikes for downhill practice Friday morning. Friday morning’s downhill practice was sloppy and slippery, making it hard to stay upright in the rocky, rooty sections of the track. After downhill practice we headed over to the dual slalom track for practice and qualifying. The rain the previous night really helped the slalom track tack up and it made the corners really grippy. Everyone was riding smooth in practice and was ready to dish out some clean, fast runs for qualifying. The officials ran through qualies very efficiently and all the GROMs threw down solid runs.

Saturday morning started early, with downhill practice for the juniors at 8:00. The track was slippery and wet, just like Friday, and all the GROMs were getting up to speed during the early morning practice. Pro practice started right after Cat. 1 practice and Ben cranked out some downhill runs while the juniors hung out and rested before slalom finals. It rained in between slalom practice and slalom finals, making the track loose and slippery. The brackets ran through quickly and the racing was intense. Jay ended up finishing 3^rd in the 15-18 age class and David 2^nd in the 13-14 age class.

Sunday morning was here before we knew it, and the nerves were ever present. Sunday started early at 8:00 with an hour of practice before the downhill finals. The Storm mud spikes were still on Sunday, and we all knew it was going to have to be a balance between going all out and staying upright in our race runs. David was the first GROM off the starting line at around 10:30, and came down with a solid time putting him in 2^nd in the 13-14 age class. Eric and Jay didn’t go off until 12:20, so they had some relaxing time before their final runs. Jay and Eric got some food in them and headed up to the top of the mountain for their race runs. They did their warm-up routines and hopped in the start gate. Jay’s run was smooth and fast, with no major mistakes. He flew through the finish line on the gas, finishing with a time of 2:23.1. After this run he was sitting in the hotseat, with about 6 riders to go. Eric was on the way to a clean run, until he crashed in the rocks hurting his wrist, but he toughed it out and finished his run. After a couple more riders it was confirmed that Jay was the 2012 U.S. Junior 15-16 National Champion! Everyone was very complementary, and Jay was super pumped on his finish. His time would have put him in 1^st in the 17-18 Junior expert class, and 13^th in Pro.             

David on the podium

After podiums the GROMS went up with Ben to bring him the XC bike for his warm up. Ben had a smooth, clean run, which he was happy about. Overall it was a great weekend for the GROMs, with a National Championship title earned, and several medals won (four podium appearances).

A huge thanks to all of the sponsors who were out at National Champs providing support to the riders and helping keep bikes race ready throughout the weekend. A special thanks goes out to John Dawson and the  SRAM crew, Industry Nine, and Tony Stone from SRAM/Hawley Service Center for their assistance to GROM racers throughout the weekend.

2012 GES Race at Windham, NY

race report by GROM Racer Jay Fesperman

Good to see signs for NY - lots of miles from NCThis past weekend my Mom and I made the trip up to Windham, NY for the Gravity East race and the UCI World Cup race with my teammate Ben Calhoun. Ben rolled into my hometown of Davidson, NC on Tuesday so we could get our stuff organized and packed in the Pontiac “Man Van” for our departure early Wednesday morning. While my mom was finishing up at work on Tuesday, Ben and I and our buddy Graham Kiley went for a nice swim in beautiful Lake Norman, tripped to Walmart for some last minute grocery shopping and purchasing our patriotic apparel to show our support for team America  at the World Cup. We had a nice goodbye dinner with Graham, as Ben and I wouldn’t see him until National Champs. We hit he sack early Tuesday night so we would be energized for our 10 hour drive on Wednesday.  

We left Davidson around 9 AM on Wednesday morning and headed up I-77 towards Pennsylvania. The drive went smoothly with no accidents or heavy traffic. We rolled into Hazelton, PA around 7 PM and ate our dinner while we got a good dose of laughter watching The Hangover 2. Our practice on Thursday started at 4:30, so we left Hazelton around 11 AM so we could get to Windham in time to get ready for practice at 4:30. We rolled into Windham around 3:30, which gave us a perfect amount of time to get registered, dial in our bikes, and get suited up for our first practice. Ben and I took our first day of practice relaxed, and just cruised over our lines to get the feel of the track. The track was dusty, fast, and rocky. We ate a nice dinner in our hotel room at the Winwood Inn (we saw Specialized riders Brad Benedict and Curtis Keene in the restarant along with many other Specialized cross country riders at the Inn), while we bled our brakes and tweaked our bikes for practice on Friday. 

On Friday morning Ben and I drove over to the resort to meet up with Team Billy Goat Bikes to set up the pit, as they generously let us pit with them for the weekend. Thanks BGBMK! Ben and I rode in the first practice taking 3 practice runs. We stopped and checked out some lines, and worked on getting up to speed. After the first practice we rode up the lift and did a course walk to check out the lines we had been riding, and to find some new, faster lines. Our course walk was very helpful and we had some new things to try out during the second practice at 4:00. The second practice was where we dialed in our lines and got pinned. The roost started flying and we were making some quick runs. The lift lines were very long and there were a lot of riders on the track so it was hard to make practice runs on the fast course. We felt good after our second practice of the day and we were ready for race day on Saturday. 

Practice on Saturday didn’t start until noon so we got time to sleep in and have a big breakfast before we headed out for the day. The weather clear and sunny for the whole weekend and the track was covered with moondust. I took two solo practice runs before my finals to get the flow going and to know how hard to push in my race run. My start time was at 6:00 so Ben and I headed back to the hotel for a swim in the pool and some relaxation before we had to get focused.  My awesome Mom brought my trail bike up to the top of the lift soHelmet after a blood spitting run ben and I could warm up on it and get our muscles flowing before we raced. My race run was going great and I was flowing through the track and railing the loose, rocky corners. I was riding really well half until half way down the track.  I exited a woods section at a super high speed and blew through the tape. I kept going and got back on the track, but the tape was wrapped around my handlebar. I was riding fine with the tape flowing behind me, looking like a total goon, but I kept giving it everything I had and payed no attention to the tape wrapped around my bars. I was bombing through one of the last long rockgardens and my front end washed out and I went face first into a tree. I hopped up and got back on the bike with the blood pouring out of my nose. Thankfully my Smith goggles protected my eyes and my nose when I hit the tree. Even though I was hurting pretty bad and the blood was running down my face I gave it everything I had on the rest of the track and rode strong through the finish. It was one of the toughest race runs of my life, and I made a lot of mistakes, but I definitely learned a lot from it. I ended up finishing 5^th in Junior Expert, which was not where I wanted to be, but I was happy with my finish for how my run had gone. 

We stayed over Saturday night so we could watch the UCI World Cup finals on Sunday afternoon and be a part of the cool event. Ben and I caught up with our buddies Noah Fairburn and Shane Leslie to walk the World Cup track and watch the racing. It was super cool to see all the World Cup guys and see their crazy lines and speed. It was definitely motivating and made me want to work hard so I could be racing the World Cups next year when I’m old enough.  Before we knew it the top ten guys were ready to drop in and the crowd was getting stoked.  We wanted to be at the bottom to see the guys come across the line, see their times stack up, and we could watch their runs on the big screen. The crowd was sick and everyone was getting super loud and rowdyAaron Gwin celebrating with the crowd making it fun for everyone to feel a part of the racing. The suspense was insane as the top ten guys crossed the line and before we knew it the legendary American Aaron Gwin was in the start gate.  When he dropped in everyone was cheering, clapping, banging their cowbells, and going crazy for Gwinny. When he crossed the first split with one second on Steve Smith everyone went crazy. Aaron came through the last jumps and crossed the line in first place with .9 on Steve. It was probably the rowdiest thing I’ve ever been in. Everyone was screaming, jumping and chanting “USA USA USA.” It was really cool to see. Gwin was really happy and he walked around the fence and gave all the crowd high fives. It was definitely a race event to remember. Even though our race runs didn’t go as well as we would have liked, Ben and I had a great time in Windham and we’re looking forward to National Championships in Beech Mountain, NC in a few weeks!

Check out some pics of me and Ben on the mountain in the photos section of GROMracing.com. 

2012 Beech Mountain Race 1 - Slalom & Downhill

GROM David Dressler on the PodiumThis is Specialized GROM racer David Dressler checking in with a race report from Beech Mountain, NC.  The GROM team had a very successful and fun Father’s Day 2012 weekend at the Nationals qualifier event at Beech Mountain Resort where more than 80 racers challenged the Dual Slalom course and 180 racers attacked the DH course. 

Me, Ben Calhoun, Jay Fesperman and Eric Vest all were in attendance while fellow teammate Jimmy Leslie is still recovering from a knee injury suffered snow skiing.   We raced both dual slalom and downhill with course conditions were very dry for slalom and perfectly tacky for downhill.  Many thanks to Christopher Herndon and volunteers for the awesome course layout and prep.  I personally enjoyed the DH course because of the variety of rocks, roots, drops and jumps along with the sculpted fast berms.  The slalom was reworked by changing four rollers into two nice double jumps. 

All the GROM racers had a safe weekend with a couple falls leaving a few scrapes, bumps and bruises, but no major issues.  Race results were very strong for the team.  Jay took a solid second place in Cat. 1 and ruled the DH with a win in Cat.1 Junior 15-18.  His time was the fastest of all classes.  I placed 2^nd in 13-14 slalom and was super excited to take the win in Cat. 3 DH 10-14.  Teammate Ben Calhoun finished 6th in Pro and Eric Vest finished 9^th in Cat.1 Junior 15-18. Click on the links below to review all the results:

Saturday's Dual Slalom
Sunday's Downhill Race

Jay on the DS course

Many thanks to the GROM Dads and all the other Dads who made the Father’s Day race weekend possible for the junior racers.  Many thanks to all the team sponsors who help GROM racers ride some of the best equipment on the mountain.   Next up on the schedule are the Gravity National Champs July 20-22^nd returning the Beech Mountain.  Hope to see you there. 

To see photos from the weekend click here. Many thanks to Jay Schultz for taking such great photos. Plus,