Hey MBA! Steve K Sports Pro Mountain Bike Team here. We just wrapped up our Spring Break Mountain Bike Tour. We hit the Norba's at Fontana and Arizona, two California Gold Cup Downhill Series events, and culminated it all at the Sea Otter.
At the Fontana National, Eric Bierman placed 10th in the Pro Super D on his new 29'er from Marin. The course had 500 feet of climbing and a 2 mile sprint to the finish. Michelle Rivera crashed in practice and bruised her hands. She skipped the downhill race but placed 12th in the Pro Super D. Team Captain Steve Kinney toughed out the Pro cross-country, Short Track, and Super D to gather points.
Southridge Racing Club also ran California Golden State Downhill #1 at the Fontana National. Michelle placed 3rd in that secondary event.
The next race was the Arizona National and Steve Kinney attended. There was a time trial Super D, short track and then a cross-country. The weather was perfect with temperatures in the low 80's. It was the Super D that kicked off the weekend at 5:00 p.m. Friday. The course was flat and rolly to begin with, and then the last few hills just smoked your legs. The dirt crit was at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Steve started in the middle of the 90 rider pack. To start the big field went crammed into a right-hand corner descent. A racer hit his brakes in front of Steve, Steve hit him and the racer behind hit Steve, causing Steve to fly over the bars. When Steve got up and going again he was 10 seconds behind the last racer. He worked his way back up through the hike-a-bike section and was able to obtain some points. The cross-country was strewn with rocks and cactus, and was mostly singletrack. Many racers flatted, but Steve was running the Steven K tubeless system and didn't have that problem. Steve placed 56 out of 90 racers.
At Sea Otter, it was extremely cold and windy. (Has it ever not been?...) Steve Kinney had to work triple-duty as a vendor, buyer and racer. It was a busy weekend! For Sunday's Pro Cross-Country the weather turned nicer. It was two full circuits of a 19.5 layout with 2100 feet of climbing per lap. Steve felt great on the first lap. On the second lap he got caught in the wind by himself for a little too long, but was able to finish.
California Golden State Downhill Championships #2 was at Woodward West. It was a two-race format. During morning warm up and practice, Michelle unfortunately suffered a fork mechanical. Despite the fork issues, Michelle went on the win the Pro class and is currently 2nd in the series.
