This rider is nearly a blur.(Image credit: Joe Salva)
Neko Mulally won the downhill and the overall series.(Image credit: Joe Salva)
This rider appears to do a nose wheelie.(Image credit: Joe Salva)
A rider races the downhill.(Image credit: Joe Salva)
This rider catches some air.(Image credit: Joe Salva)
This rider comes off a jump.(Image credit: Joe Salva)
A rider catches air in Plattekill, New York.(Image credit: Joe Salva)
A rider pulls a move off a jump.(Image credit: Joe Salva)
Plenty of air time for this downhiller.(Image credit: Joe Salva)
A downhill racer in the Gravity East Series.(Image credit: Joe Salva)
A camo-type top might make this rider blend into the wooded background.(Image credit: Joe Salva)
This rider keeps his weight far back for the landing.(Image credit: Joe Salva)
A downhiller(Image credit: Joe Salva)
A Gravity East Series downhiller in Plattekill, New York(Image credit: Joe Salva)
Neko Mulally rides to a win in the Gravity East Series.(Image credit: Matt DeLorme)
The leaves were beautiful yellow along this section of the course.(Image credit: Matt DeLorme)
Two riders in the dual slalom.(Image credit: Matt DeLorme)
A rider at the Gravity East finals.(Image credit: Matt DeLorme)
Plenty of roots challenged the downhillers.(Image credit: Matt DeLorme)
The fall colors were splendid.(Image credit: Tom Olesnevich / www.tso-photo.com)
A racer says goodbye to the 2009 Gravity East Series at the finale in Plattekill, New York.(Image credit: Tom Olesnevich / www.tso-photo.com)
Neko Mulally during his winning run.(Image credit: Tom Olesnevich / www.tso-photo.com)
Dawn Bourque on her winning run.(Image credit: Tom Olesnevich / www.tso-photo.com)
Neko Mulally, Specialized Team America's 16-year old phenom, is the 2009 Gravity East Series pro men's champion in both the downhill and the dual slalom divisions following this past weekend's Gravity East Finals at Plattekill Mountain New York.
"We have seen the future, and it's scary fast," said Gravity East publicist Ken Getchell of Mulally. "He's fast and smooth and picks uncanny lines. Just think what's he's going to be like as his body physically matures over the next couple of years."
Jason Memmelaar (Hayes/5 ten/Manitou/Smith), the winner of the Seven Springs round, was runner-up in the season standings. Alejandro Ortiz (Nema/Morpheous - Ecuador) finished the year on two podiums, as runner-up to Mulally in the dual slalom points championship and as third place overall in the downhill standings.
Mulally finished the season with five Gravity East downhill victories and never finished lower than fifth (one race). On the dual slalom side, he finished with a perfect score of five victories after dropped races were calculated. Only a crash in the semi-finals of Saturday's dual slalom kept him from sweeping every race.
After missing the first three races, Bourque went on to win every other downhill on the Gravity East schedule, with the exception of the new venue at Eastern Pennsylvania's Vertical Earth Mountain Bike Park at Blue Mountain, where Karen Eagan of Samuel Adams Brewery took the victory. Eagan had what many riders would consider a dream year in the Gravity East this year, winning the dual slalom title and finishing second in the downhill standings. Overall, Eagan won three times in Gravity East competition this year; twice in dual slalom and once in downhill.
In Sunday's downhill final, Bourque, Eagan and Stephanie Gubernat (Cutters Bike Shop/VerticalEarth) finished one, two, three for both the race and the season title. Bourque's time of 3:19.15 was over seven seconds faster than runner-up Eagan.
In the men's race, Mulally blazed down the course with a time of 2:32.33. Memmelaar raced home second in 2:36.00 and Ben Moody (Rhino Bike Works) rounded out the podium with a 2:38.39
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Results
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Neko Mulally (Specialized Team America)
0:02:32.33
2
Jason Memmelaar (Hayes/5 ten/Manitou/Smith)
0:00:03.67
3
Ben Moody (Rhino Bike Works)
0:00:06.06
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Women
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Dawn Bourque (Rhino Bike Works)
0:03:19.15
2
Karen Eagan (Samuel Adams)
0:00:07.48
3
Stephanie Gubernat (Cutters Bike Shop/VerticalEarth)
Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
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