World Cup champions for the downhill, cross country and 4cross events will be crowned at Windham. It will be a weekend of big crowds, big checks and big trophies.
Last summer, the ski resort hosted its first mountain bike competition in several years, the East Coast Nationals. It was attended by over 700 athletes, including Olympians Georgia Gould, Adam Craig and Todd Wells. They raved about the quality of Windham’s courses and facilities, and that word spread quickly.
"You could see how much expertise and hard work went into the making of the course, and it was really appreciated," said Gould. In his blog, Craig said, "Every inch of each and every course… was manicured in some way or another…The gravity courses weren’t the usual fall line skid, they had great flow and were built with an eye toward sustainability."
Riding on that wave of praise, this summer Windham has hosted a stop on the Gravity East Series and will stage the Yankee Clipper/Kenda Cup August 15-16.
"We have been told to expect some pretty incredible crowds," Windham's Special Events Manager, Rick Hodge, says of the 2010 World Cup finals. "We have 428 days to prepare for this, and we intend to use every minute to ensure our success. Our first task is letting the community know what to expect, and how they can seize the opportunity to welcome the world and show off our world-class hospitality. We intend to convince new guests that they should come back for all the other activities we offer."
The Kenda Cup includes cross country events on the same courses that Olympic athletes praised last summer before moving on to Beijing. The Windham event will determine the eastern champions of the Kenda Cup, which will move on to compete against the western champions at the InterBike Show in Las Vegas, where the national champions will be crowned.
Running in Windham at the same time as the Kenda Cup, the Yankee Clipper includes "gravity" races like the downhill, super D and duals that dazzle crowds with intense speed and action.
