DOUBLE DOWN Maxxis ESC Thule Showdown Finals – Thunder Mountain, Massachusetts

We’re back in the Berkshires for our fifth and final Thule Showdown double header of the season. Those who have been battling it out in both disciplines all year were rewarded with a boatload of prizes from our friends at Thule, all while the overall points battles heat up for both series finals in just a few short weeks. Thunder Mountain’s trail crew freshened things up for us on the tried and true Schist DH course, they also laid out a sampling of five stages split between the bike park and Warfield Trails for our Stan’s Enduro racers. As if fall in New England could get any better, add some beautifully dusty trails, tight racing and party laps with friends.

Stan’s Enduro

Sunday’s morning riders meeting brought chilly temps in the 40’s but things would warm up quickly and reach the high 60’s come mid afternoon.

Last lift service race of the year for Stan’s Enduro racers, enjoy it while you can guys!

We’d start the day off by stringing together Back of the Shack, Thunder Cliffs and Trillium for Stage 1. Jax Schmitz smoked the Cannondale Ebike class by over three minutes to take his first win along with second place in the Thule Showdown male overall.

After a warm up stage at the bike park, racers would make the two mile pedal to the Warfield Trails for two more loamy stages. It’s a long day in the saddle, but at least it’s scenic.

Even the 12U Kate’s Kids class made the trek to Warfield. Wyatt Hilton manages the final couple tight turns on Cotton Candy, earning his second win of the season.

Jac Dahrouge was flat at the bottom of Red Zone, finishing fourth in the Pro men’s class.

The Warfield isn’t the most ideal place to have tire issues but thankfully racers are always willing to help eachother out.

Avery Ellis is always a podium threat, fourth place this weekend among some fast women in the Pro class.

Riders would head back to Thunder Mountain for the final two stages on Hawks Brook and Wine Tree. Owen Wilson picks up speed on the well packed bike park trails, riding to third place in 20U.

Just two years ago Avery McConnell was racing 12U and now she’s on the Pro women’s class podium, P3 this weekend and her best to date.

Double duty race weekends have become the norm for Tillie Lange, she showed up and completed every Thule Showdown we hosted this season. She would take second place in the Stan’s Enduro then followed it up with fourth in the Intense DH to secure the 2024 Thule Showdown overall for the ladies.

Rachel Pageau was on a heater out there this weekend, winning all five stages and besting the Pro Women by a minute flat.

Stan’s Enduro Pro Women: 4th – Avery Ellis, 2nd – Tillie Lange, 1st – Rachel Pageau, 3rd – Avery McConnell, 5th – Kai Waldman

Despite a sizeable crash on the Warfield side, Tucker Shearer was able to manage a pair of stage wins and third place for the Pro Men.

Long time Pro racer Alex McAndrew had a solid day on the tools, no stage wins but the consistency was there as he went P2 for his best result of the year.

Somewhere out there Isaac Allaire found 38 seconds to put between himself and the rest of the Pro Men. After 21:04 of racing, he took his sixth win of the year with three stage wins to boot.

Stan’s Enduro Pro Men: 4th – Jac Darouge, 2nd – Alex McAndrew, 1st – Isaac Allaire, 3rd – Tucker Shearer, 5th – Luca Cometti

Intense DH

Properly steep and dusty as ever, The Schist was running great all weekend. Andrew Gilbert lead the Amateur 30-39 class through all three splits and won the race by a monster margin of 25 seconds.

Earlier this summer the Thunder trail crew rerouted the top of the course to give a fresh feel, this time they surprised us with a revamped finish section that brought back the original jump to berm line that we raced before the installation of their new high speed quad lift. Cooper Pleva recons it goes well, he would finish in fifth place for his second Pro podium in a row.

We could get used to these dusty conditions we’ve been enjoying lately.

Close racing all around this weekend but especially in the Amateur 16U class with Ashe Morrisette barely squeaking out his first win by 0.52s.

Karlynne Siverling rolled into her third Amateur women’s class win of the season by a solid margin of 14.3s.

Trail crew even freshened up the berms for us, thanks guys! Anthony Lapedota snuck the Expert 19-29 win away from Declan Murphy by 1.72s.

Martin Kulhanek has entered eleven of our races this year and a slew of podium results later, he’s our 2024 male Thule Showdown winner. He was able to the Amateur 40+ DH win along with second place in the Enduro this weekend.

Kallie Stewart drops into the final turn toward the finish line, P3 and just 2.42s off the win. Incredibly tight racing from the Pro Women.

Rachel Pageau took the momentum from her Stan’s Enduro win right to The Schist and ended the day with second place in the Intense DH.

2:36 on the clock for Kale Cushman as she takes her fourth Intense DH win of the year, all while racing a full World Cup season.

Intense DH Pro Women: 4th – Tillie Lange, 2nd – Rachel Pageau, 1st – Kale Cushman, 3rd – Kallie Stewart, 5th – Emma Jarl

This is Dan O’Connor’s twelfth year racing Maxxis ESC events and he’s still going for it, third place this weekend among some of the fastest in the Northeast.

Kory Nagy battled through the dust for another close second place, just 1.66s off the win this time.

Dylan Conte has been right up there with several podium results but hadn’t seen a win since May. He broke the streak this weekend with a 2:09, he also leads the Pro men’s overall heading into Finals.

Intense DH Pro Men: 4th – Andrew Driscoll, 2nd – Kory Nagy, 1st – Dylan Conte, 3rd – Dan O’Connor, 5th – Cooper Pleva

Thule Showdown Final Race: 2nd – Tillie Lange & Mark Tobias, 1st – Martin Kulhanek, 3rd – Michelle Guy

Thule Showdown Series Overall: 2nd – Michelle Guy & Jax Schmitz, 1st – Martin Kulhanek & Tillie Lange, 3rd – Kale Cushman & Nik Orlando

Signing off from the Berkshires! You’ve only got a couple more chances to get between the tape this fall, join us October 5th to race a brand new Stan’s Enduro venue at the former Monteau Ski Area in New Hampshire. After that we’ll be back at Jiminy Peak for Intense DH Finals October 13th and finally Arrowhead Recreation Area October 20th for Stan’s Enduro Finals. See you there!

Words and photos: Andrew Santoro
Video: Seth Merritt

Stan’s No Tubes Enduro Results
Intense Cycles Downhill Results
Easternstatescup.com

2024 MAXXIS ESC PRESENTED BY KATE’S REAL FOOD SCHEDULE

INTENSE CYCLES DOWNHILL SERIES
May 19 Powder Ridge, CT
June 23 Jiminy Peak, MA
June 30 Killington, VT
July 21 Thunder Mountain, MA
Aug 11 Mount Snow, VT
Aug 18 Sugarloaf, ME
Aug 25 Powder Ridge, CT
Sept 15 Blue Mountain, PA
Sept 22 Thunder Mountain, MA
Oct 13 Jiminy Peak, MA Finals

STAN’S NO TUBES ENDURO SERIES
May 5 Powder Ridge, CT
June 9 Glen Park, PA
June 23 Jiminy Peak, MA
June 30 Killington, VT
July 14 Arrowhead, NH
July 21 Thunder Mountain, MA
July 28 Burke Mountain, VT
Aug 18 Sugarloaf, ME
Sept 8 Woodstock, VT
Sept 22 Thunder Mountain, MA
Oct 5 Monteau, NH
Oct 20 Arrowhead NH

THULE SHOWDOWN SERIES
June 23 Jiminy Peak, MA
June 30 Killington, VT
July 21 Thunder Mountain, MA
Aug 18 Sugarloaf, ME
Sept 22 Thunder Mountain, MA

CANNONDALE EBIKE SERIES
May 5 Powder Ridge, CT
June 9 Glen Park, PA
July 14 Arrowhead, NH
July 21 Thunder Mountain, MA
Aug 18 Sugarloaf, ME
Sept 8 Woodstock, VT
Sept 22 Thunder Mountain, MA
Oct 5 Monteau, NH
Oct 20 Arrowhead NH