The first outing of the year for Stan’s Enduro racers went down this past weekend at Connecticut’s Powder Ridge. The crew at Powder delivered the goods, cleaning up five of their finest trails for us. Short but sweet, these stages provide a fun mix of flowing berms and technical terrain, providing racers with a solid warm up for the rest of the season. Mother Nature threw some moisture into the mix, spicing things up and keeping racers on their toes. The 2025 season is already off to an amazing start with tight racing and good times shared with friends. Keep scrolling to see where your favorite racer landed on the results sheet come Sunday afternoon.

After the Intense DH racers took on Powder Ridge two weeks ago, the Stan’s Enduro community couldn’t wait to get back between the tape for the first time in 2025.

Careful, don’t want any air bubbles.

Be mindful of where you brake out there, the rocks and roots are slick from recent soaking rain storms.

The 12U class was fired up to get going on their 11am practice day group ride.

Levi Peters shows some style on the Stage 3 jump line during practice.

Sunny lift laps were a luxury for practice but it would be all pedal power on race day except for 12U and 14U.

Post practice beverages provided by Hedlum Brewing.

Ideal camping weather and catching up with friends after a long winter, it’s great to be back at the races.

After some late night showers on Saturday, the sun was shining bright on Sunday morning as racers chipped in, starting with the 12U and 14U classes at 8:45am

We had to keep the Cannondale Ebike class honest so we timed their first climb and added it as a power stage.

Phil Kmetz was all business on the climb and kept the momentum rolling into the rest of the day, winning the Cannondale Ebike class by over a minute.

Nathan True traded stage wins with Markus Dumoulin all day and narrowly escaped with a 0.29s advantage, riding to his first 21-29 Men’s win.

Although this is a bike park the stages feature some punchy climbs. Isaac Maynard puts the power down and rolls into fourth place for the 12U class.

Fifth place for 7 year old Chase Ulmer in the 12U class, his best Stan’s Enduro finish to date.

The sky didn’t drop any precipitation on us during the race, but there were a few puddles left out there.

The pace was there for Markus Dumoulin as he won three stages but fell just a hair short of the win, earning second place in his first race with the 21-29 Men.

Christian Stahl keeps the bars straight through the rocks on Sasquatch; he would claim the 40-49 win by over thirteen seconds.

Whatever works!

It’s not a long climb, but it became a walk for most after three or four stages. Still stoked, but reserving energy.

Strong start to 2025 for Willem Cooper, P4, which beats all his Maxxis ESC results from last season. Maybe the CCF Devo kids are showing him a few tricks these days?

All four members of the Shearer family landed on the podium this weekend, including father Todd, who finished third in the 50+ class.

First Maxxis ESC race for Danielle Powe,r and she found her way to the top step in the Amateur women’s class by a commanding margin of nearly two minutes.

Jade Jenny logs some frequent flier miles on Stage 2. He would have an impressive season opener, winning all five stages as well as the race for the 30-39 Men.

Brian Clark gives it his all on the final stage of the day, which secured his first 50+ class W along with a pair of stage wins.

Third place for Kai Waldman with a stage win, no doubt she’ll be stacking up the podium results again in her second year with the Pro Women.

Despite not winning any stages, Kelly Dube had a consistent race day and earned second place, 7.1s off the Pro win.

Michelle Guy took the W home for the Pro women’s class with a total race time of 12:46. Her first Pro win came at Powder one year ago, maybe she can make this a yearly tradition?

Pro Women: 4th – Cora Gates, 2nd – Kelly Dube, 1st – Michelle Guy, 3rd – Kai Waldman, 5th – Hailey Sarausky

We’re seeing double with two Shearer’s on the podium this weekend, Peter Shearer was able to lock down third place in his first Pro race.

Isaac Allaire held a steady pace through all five stages to take P2 for the Pro Men.

It seems like Tucker Shearer got even faster during the off-season, putting 17 seconds into the rest of the Pro men’s field and was the only racer to complete the course with less than ten minutes on the clock. He might just be the fastest man in Connecticut.

Pro Men: 4th – Willem Cooper, 2nd – Isaac Allaire, 1st – Tucker Shearer, 3rd – Peter Shearer, 5th – Dan O’Connor

Things that just make sense: Hedlum brews and post-race stories with friends.

That’s all she wrote from Powder Ridge, thanks to everyone who came out to kick off the Stan’s Enduro season in style with us. Enjoy your Memorial Day and we’ll see you June 1st at Round 2 hosted by our friends at Arrowhead Recreation Area, home of New Hampshire’s finest loam. Intense DH racers will be back at it June 15th as we head back to Mountain Creek, New Jersey for the first time in a few years. You won’t want to miss either round, so get registered!

Words and photos: Andrew Santoro
Video: Seth Merritt

Full Results
Easternstatescup.com

2025 MAXXIS ESC SCHEDULE

INTENSE CYCLES DOWNHILL SERIES
May 4 Powder Ridge, CT
June 15 Mountain Creek, NJ
June 22 Jiminy Peak, MA
July 13 Mount Snow, VT
July 20 Killington, VT
Aug 10 Thunder Mountain, MA
Sept 14 Blue Mountain, PA
Sept 21 Powder Ridge, CT
Oct 26 Jiminy Peak, MA Finals

STAN’S ENDURO SERIES
May 18 Powder Ridge, CT
June 1 Arrowhead, NH
June 22 Jiminy Peak, MA
July 20 Killington, VT
July 27 Monteau, NH
Aug 10 Thunder Mountain, MA
Aug 24 Burke, VT
Sept 21 Powder Ridge, CT
Oct 12 Arrowhead, NH Finals

THULE SHOWDOWN SERIES
June 22 Jiminy Peak, MA
July 20 Killington, VT
Aug 10 Thunder Mountain, MA
Sept 21 Powder Ridge, CT

CANNONDALE EBIKE SERIES
May 18 Powder Ridge, CT
June 1 Arrowhead, NH
July 27 Monteau, NH
Aug 10 Thunder Mountain, MA
Sept 21 Powder Ridge, CT
Oct 12 Arrowhead, NH