PRESS RELEASE: Maxxis Eastern States Cup presented by CLIF Enduro East
It’s cold. The days are short. The ground is covered in some treacherous, icy substance. Your racing juices may feel like a frozen margarita in your veins but here’s something that will get your competitive blood flowing again: the Maxxis Eastern States Cup presented by CLIF Enduro East enduro and downhill schedules are ready for prime time! The thought of ripping around the Northeast’s finest bike venues on warm summer days should bring even the most light-starved psyche out off winter hibernation. Let’s dive into what’s new for this coming season.
The folks at the Maxxis Eastern States Cup are always looking to provide the best experience for racers. With that in mind, here are some of this upcoming season’s highlights: As you probably noticed Maxxis Tires has stepped up as the new title sponsor for the MAXXIS ESC series. Maxxis has been making some of the most celebrated and successful tires on the planet for years. Racers can expect plenty of their renowned rubber to be passed out on the podium this season. “Maxxis Tires is proud to partner with the Eastern States Cup to bring quality racing to the US and help foster its growth.” – Andrew Bartek, Maxxis Tires
Joining Maxxis, CLIF returns as our presenting title sponsor, which is especially great news for our youngest racers (more on that in a moment). “Clif Bar and Co is extremely proud to continue our partnership and support of the MAXXIS Eastern States Cup DH and Enduro series. These events have proven to provide the best racing experience you can find anywhere and provide a competitive challenge as well as a great time. We can’t wait to kick things off with George and his team in 2018!” – Will Yandell, CLIF Northeast Regional Marketing Manager
The BOX Showdown events will be returning for another six weekends of gorging on a race buffet where both enduro and downhill are on tap the same day. Once again, the iron men and women with the best combined results take home some killer components from BOX. “Over the past few years, George and his entire crew have done an excellent job promoting the Northeast racing scene. As a Southern California based brand, we knew we lacked a presence on the opposite coast. So when the opportunity came along to team up with an East-coast series, we jumped on it. Our involvement has broadened into a comprehensive partnership that now includes the supply of our racing components. We look forward to a fruitful 2018 and many more years to come.” – Toby Henderson, President, BOX Components
At enduro events, the race within a race battles of the Alex Rims Super Stage and Fox Transfer Climbers Challenge events will be back by popular demand with some amazing rims and dropper posts on the line.
“We are excited to continue working with the Eastern States Cup for the eighth straight year. Their tracks are a blast and the events are dialed. It’s always a good time at an ESC event.” – Mark Jordan, FOX Marketing Manager.
“We are very proud to support the Eastern States Cup as they continue to grow and support the mountain bike racing scene. Knowing that they are trying to produce quality riders and racers really ensures our decision to be a part of their support system.” – Evan Kinzey, Alex Rims U.S. Marketing
Motorex, makers of fine bike wash and lubricants, will be providing prizing for fourth and fifth place finishers this year and TJ Blackman from Euroline / Motorex USA had this to say: “Working with George and the rest of the ESC crew has given us the opportunity to put a great deal of Motorex products into racers hands. At some of the events, we are able to offer our support and showcase our product line. The team is very professional, and their social media following has helped us gain exposure. We are really looking forward to another year! “
Perhaps the biggest news for this season concerns our youngest racers. Due to changes in UCI rules, the ESC North American Downhill Team was discontinued after two successful seasons sending our Junior Expert racers to World Cup events around the globe. Despite this setback, series owner George Ulmer remains committed to growing the sport and helping youngsters get into racing. To that end, the MAXXIS ESC and CLIF will be paying the entry fees for all downhill and enduro racers in the CLIF Kids U12 classes. Yup, CLIF Kids will be racing for free at all enduro and downhill events this season.
Another big news item is the MAXXIS ESC Downhill Series has split from USA Cycling which means no licenses are needed to race, meaning big savings for everyone. Former Pro and Cat 1 racers no longer must race in lower classes when entering a MAXXIS ESC DH. The series will still have licensed Race Directors and Officials onsite to make the right decisions. To save racers some money all MAXXIS ESC events registrations will be for race day with the option of a discounted lift pass for Saturday practice. This will please racers on a budget and those with season passes at the race venues. The series will offer “season passes” to the hardy racers that want to attend a lot of events and save. Race entry will be quicker and easier with a new streamlined, unified pre-registration process all handled by the MAXXIS ESC Crew.
MAXXIS ESC Season Passes are available HERE
Always investing in a better experience, the ESC crew will roll out a new state of the art timing system for downhill races. This new system will allow for splits times on the course so racers can see where they are gaining and losing time. A taste of the World Cup downhill circuit has arrived.
But wait, there’s more! New venues! The MAXXIS ESC crew likes keeping things fresh and have added some new networks into the race mix. The third enduro of the year will be at the Aqua-Terra Wilderness Park near Binghamton, New York on a network we’ve never raced before but have been hearing fantastic things about from some of our pro racers. Another new venue will be on the Barkeater Trails Alliance network in Wilmington, New York near Lake Placid. This network has been growing rapidly and getting a lot of positive reviews. If you’ve never visited this part of the Adirondack mountains, mark your calendars, the scenery alone will blow you away. And lastly, though not a new venue, the MAXXIS ESC will be returning to Mountain Creek in Vernon, New Jersey for a BOX Components Showdown in late August, and everyone knows “The Creek” rules. Though the bulk of the MAXXIS ESC schedule takes place at the region’s best bike parks, four of our enduro events will be held on trail systems with no lift-assisted transfers. Pedaling to each stage should keep the enduro purists happy and those events have a unique vibe with the shared suffering creating a real sense of camaraderie among racers.
The MAXXIS ESC remains firm in its commitment to equal payouts for male and female racers. This year those payouts will increase to $2,000 per race for all enduro and downhill races. The Enduro and DH series will offer $10,000 in combined series purses.
After seven months of racing, overall championships often are decided by whisker-thin margins at the double-point season finals in October. Overall championships for enduro will be calculated by combining a racer’s top 7 finishes out of an 11 race season. For the downhillers, a racer’s top 5 results from the 7 race season will be tallied. The downhill series finals will return to Mount Snow in Vermont and the enduro finals will move to Thunder Mountain in Massachusetts. The overall series purse is a whopping $5,000 for each series.
Though not an official MAXXIS ESC event this year, The Downhill Thrill at the Pats Peak Mountain Bike Festival is still happening on June 10th and will be supported by the MAXXIS ESC crew. The crew wanted to provide an event to qualify racers for the USAC National Championships as the race will be a USAC National Champs qualifier and will feature the same two run race format as previous years.
Okay, lets get to what you’ve all been looking for as you scrolled through this report, THE SCHEDULE!
MAXXIS ESC ENDURO
April 22 Glen Park, PA
May 6 Plattekill, NY
May 20 Binghamton, NY
June 3 Thunder Mountain, MA
June 17 Blue Mountain, PA
July 15 Sugarbush, VT
Aug 12 Victory Hill, VT
Aug 26 Mountain Creek
Sept 23 Killington, VT
Sept 30 Wilmington, NY
Oct 21 Thunder Mountain, MA Finals
MAXXIS ESC DOWNHILL
May 6 Plattekill, NY
June 3 Thunder Mountain, MA
June 17 Blue Mountain, PA
July 15 Sugarbush, VT
Aug 25 Mountain Creek
Sept 23 Killington, VT
Oct 14 Mount Snow, VT Finals
BOX SHOWDOWNS
May 6 Plattekill, NY
June 3 Thunder Mountain, MA
June 17 Blue Mountain, PA
July 15 Sugarbush, VT
Aug 26 Mountain Creek
Sept 23 Killington, VT
MAXXIS ESC Season Passes are available HERE
ALSO BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MAXXIS ESC CREW
CLIF ENDURO EAST
June 30 – July 1 Mountain Creek, NJ – EWS Qualifier
July 28 – 29 Thunder Mountain, MA – EWS Qualifier
Sept 15 – 16 Victory Hill / Burke Mountain – EWS North American Championship Series Finals
2018 CLIF ENDURO LITE
July 8 Burke Mountain
The first race of the season is just over two months away! Bust out the stationary bike, join a spinning class, go fat biking. Or just show up out of shape with an untuned bike still sporting mud from riding last fall, like half the field will. Either way, mark your calendars, call your friends and we’ll see you in no time.
