WARREN, Vermont — If you enjoy watching people imitate bolts of lightning, then Sugarbush Resort will be the place to be starting August 16th. The Warren, VT resort will host the Gravity East Downhill Race Series August 16-17 and some of the country’s best downhill mountain bikers will be competing for a $5,000 purse.

“We are really psyched to be one of the stops on the Gravity East Series,” said Sugarbush’s adventure chief John Egan. “The ???Bush used to be a one of the hottest mountain bike destinations in the country and then we just dropped off the map. Having a race like the Gravity Series decide to have an event here just shows that all of our hard work over the last two years has paid off.”

Sugarbush in the 1990s used to be a regular stop for premiere mountain bike races. But towards the end of that decade, previous ownership let the trails fall into a state of disrepair. Upon acquiring the resort in 2001, Summit Ventures made returning summer activities to Sugarbush one if its priorities. The legendary mountain bike trails reopened in 2007 and the resort has been busy revamping the entire existing trail network, plus developing and adding new downhill trails. There are currently 18 miles of lift-served cross-country single track and downhill trails.

The Gravity East Series is an eight-event series with races held all over the east coast. The Series last year saw over 800 riders compete in 17 classes from amateurs to pro riders. The 2008 Gravity East Series is sanctioned by USA Cycling and is designated as the USA Cycling Mountain Bike North Atlantic Regional Championship Series. The Sugarbush race is the fifth stop in the summer-long series.

Race registration and practice runs will be held on Saturday with the race getting underway at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday at the resort’s Lincoln Peak.

For the latest Sugarbush information and a complete line-up of events visit www.sugarbush.com.