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Rolling into the final round of the Southridge Winter Series with some steady results and good standings in the Super D and Downhill overalls, I was pumped to spend another weekend out at Fontana racing mountain bikes. On account of the enthusiastic response from the riders, Don Jackson and Joe Lawwill decided to use the same Super D track from the previous round. With drier conditions and the overall title on the line between Eric Carter and myself, good racing was bound to happen.

After spinning out a couple practice runs on my Foes 4X bike with first-time Super D racer Craig Harvey, we made our way up the hill for race runs. I had a smooth and flowy top section into the first traverse and sprinted across the pavement up to the water tower where I crested the quick dirt climb, but I several gears lower than normal. From there on out I kept noticing that I was off pace, but made an extra focus on carrying cornering speed and hammered the last sprint across the flat fireroad before carving down the final descent down the mountain cross track.

Waylon Smith pulled out the Lycra and a fresh set of legs to set the fastest time of the day, beating out second place finisher Joe Lawwill by nearly seven seconds. Eric Carter pulled third while I came in a second behind him for fourth, and I earned second overall for the series.

Pro Super D Results:
1. Waylon Smith – 05:32.04
2. Joe Lawwill – 05:38.99
3. Eric Carter – 05:40.23
4. Jon Buckell – 05:41.19 (Foes Racing)
5. Logan Binggeli – 05:44.26

Pro Super D Winter Series Overall Results:
1. Eric Carter
2. Jon Buckell (Foes Racing)
3. Joe Lawwill

On the downhill side of things, Donny laid out another classic Fontana special, making the most out of the sandy dirt with rut/berm combos and rock sections to keep you on your toes. A straight line down a slabby chunk of rock carried a boatload of speed up a small hill midway down the track had many riders grabbing a fistful of brake going up hill – a scenario not common at Southridge. The rocks after this section led over to the waterfall portion of the track which grew several unique “line choices” throughout Saturday afternoon. Come Sunday morning the track was reverted back to the original intended line, which had most riders tip-toeing through trying to keep their bikes upright.

I had a solid race run through the top section. I let my Hydro sort out all the chatter, focused on looking through the turns and no-braked the straight section heading into the saddle. I did my best to carry speed though the waterfall section and blasted onto the first fireroad and topped out my cassette into the lower rock section. I backed off considerably through the lower rocks, hooked the right hand exit and started working through the cogs into the wall section. Saw Sniper hollering at the kink and pushed through all my gears again down the wall to the finish.

Once it was over I pedaled around and felt confident that I had posted another top ten time. But when the times were in and the announcer began reading the results, I found out that I finished second! I’d barely edged out David K. by .06 of a second and lost to EC by only .2 seconds. This is my best result yet in a pro downhill race, and I’m stoked.

Pro Downhill Results:
1. Eric Carter – 02:15.66
2. Jon Buckell – 02:15.83 (Foes Racing)
3. David Klaassen Van Oorschot – 02:15.89
4. Logan Binggeli – 02:17.50
5. Kevin Aiello – 02:18.19
6. Waylon Smith – 02:18.46
7. Jake Payne – 02:21.46
8. Brad King – 02:22.38
9. Kyle Sangers – 02:23.14
10. Jeremy Kneisly – 02:23.19

Pro Downhill Winter Series Overall:
1. Logan Binggeli
2. Waylon Smith
3. David Klaassen Van Oorschot
4. Eric Carter
5. Kevin Aiello
6. John Keep
7. Jon Buckell (Foes Racing)

Full results are up at: Southridge USA’s website.

Thanks again to all that continue to support my racing, including:

Foes Racing
Azonic/O’Neal Clothing
Blur Optics
Marzocchi Suspension
Cane Creek Components
Thomson Components
e*thirteen Components
Sunline Components

Remember, ride for fun!

Joe and Donny agreed to have the Super D start on the north hill again, which ran down a singletrack traverse that wound around to the pavement climb to the water tower via a freshly cut slice of mulchy singletrack. A quick pedal up the road and the track dived across the south hill, lining up some small drops and berms that were ripe with moisture. A couple big g-outs were followed by another road crossing over to a rock section referred to as the “Cal-State Line” offered plenty of pin-ball moments to spectators. The rest of the course was a flat fire road haul over to and down the mountain cross track, which was right at home for me and my Foes 4X. This is a textbook example of designing a track that can be fun and challenging for a wide range of riders who enjoy riding mountain bikes on their normal trail bike – more on this format here: http://www.joelawwill.com/superd.php

Bingelli, Lawwill and I were close together on times just below six minutes, but EC showed his early season form and dropped the hammer for the win. This placed us into a tie for first place overall for the Winter Series, leaving the finals to decide the winner.

Pro Super D Results:

1. Eric Carter – 05:46.08
2. Jon Buckell – 05:54.80 (Foes Racing)
3. Joe Lawwill – 05:55.49
4. Logan Binggeli – 05:57.86
5. Stephen Smith – 06:49.43

A flowy track with ruts and berms peppered down the hill combined with hero dirt for the week’s rains added to the variety of this years’ Winter Series downhill tracks. The highlight of the track was the off-camber section in a small ravine followed by a rock drop into a right-left berm combo that shot riders out at sound barrier breaking speeds. I was so eager to get out on Sunday morning to ride this section that I left half of my race gear at home!

My race run went well – I had a blast going through the mid section of the course, but with a couple small mistakes here and there that affected my overall momentum, especially getting out of the lower rock section on to the wall, I was in for some serious Tucky lung after I crossed the finish line. Still, I was very happy to just hang on to a top ten finish as I’ve moved up another spot in the Winter Series overall to eighth!

Pro Downhill Results:

1. Eric Carter – 02:11.79
2. Waylon Smith – 02:12.20
3. Logan Binggeli – 02:13.24
4. Joe Lawwill – 02:14.12
5. JD Swanguen – 02:15.36
6. David Klaassenvanoorschot – 02:15.61
7. John Keep – 02:16.26
8. Kevin Aiello – 02:18.39
9. Blake Carney – 02:20.12
10. Jon Buckell – 02:20.30 (Foes Racing)
11. Ryan Egusquiza – 02:21.27
12. Cody Johnson – 02:21.44
13. Jeremy Kneisly – 02:21.89
14. Craig Harvey – 02:22.37
15. Michal Kollbek – 02:22.38

Full results are up at: Southridge USA’s website: www.southridgeusa.com

Big thanks to all that continue to support my racing, including:

Foes Racing
Azonic/O’Neal Clothing
Marzocchi Suspension
Cane Creek Components
Thomson Components
e*thirteen Components
Sunline Components

Welcome back to Southridge, a two hundred foot lump of decomposing granite surrounded by tract housing. Past home to a quarry, an aviary and for the last twenty years, quality mountain bike racing during SoCal’s mild winters.

The Super D track layout for this race was staked out by Joe Lawwill, who knows a thing or two about having fun on a bicycle and has been a big factor in promoting trail bike racing at Fontana this winter. The particular track had some great singletrack traverses around the north hill and felt just like riding at home. I enjoyed my practice runs with Cody and Steve and my race run went great until I came into a turn, high fived a rock in a turn and then went over the bars on the next straight. I got up, jumped back on my 4X and pedaled hard up the fireroad on the backside. From there I pushed through the sweet singletrack cuts of the past Cal State DH courses on out across the long flat fireroad straight and down the mountain cross course. Despite my crash I held onto a second place – stoked!

Pro Super D Results:

1. Eric Carter 05:21.28
2. Jon Buckell 05:35.91
3. Joe Lawwill 05:37.38
4. Logan Binggeli 05:39.98
5. Stephan Smith 06:17.44

Sunday I woke up sleepy from spending the night before watching Supercross at Anaheim. The track had an unusual layout for Fontana downhill – fast! Rim-pinging rocks, tight turns with railable ruts and berms, long no-brake straights and fast sweeper turns were everywhere. Brap!

But when it was time to practice it got dusty. And windy. Tape, bikes and bodies were everywhere and staying on the ground became priority one.

Race time. Still windy. Still dusty.

As Donny counted down to “one,” I pushed out of the gate and into the flow. My Hydro tracked through the rocks and held it together on the crucial loose off-camber turn on the upper third. Good.

Then the wind. Then the g-out to hill climb. I set up inside – outside over the rocks on the flat left hander, through the right hand g-out to the next fast straight. Course tape was all over the track and soon wrapped all around me and my bike. I kept pedaling and narrowly avoided getting the taped wrapped up in my cassette.

Through more rocks, more pedaling on The Wall. “Wow, no wind,” I thought. Bam! Oh, there it was, the whole way down the wall. Made it to the bottom and it felt like a fast run, but the clock didn’t agree.

Placed mid pack. Bummed, but the next race is already coming and it’s time to go ride.

Pro Downhill Results:

1. Logan Binggeli 14A 02:08.84
2. Waylon Smith 8A 02:09.25
3. Aaron Gwin 747A 02:09.79
4. Eric Carter 7A 02:10.25
5. Kevin Aiello 28A 02:11.41
6. Rich Houseman 5A 02:11.61
7. John Keep 29A 02:12.46
8. Blake Carney 34A 02:13.94
9. Jeremy Kneisly 16A 02:13.96
10. Ryan Egusquiza 12A 02:14.43
11. Michal Kollbek 372A 02:15.46
12. Adam Digby 217A 02:15.90
13. Brad King 192A 02:17.11
14. Spenser Mehr 145A 02:17.14
15. Craig Harvey 26A 02:17.21
16. Jon Buckell 17A 02:17.69
22. Troy D’Elia 32A 02:21.00

Full results are up at Southridge USA.

Thanks to Foes Racing and all the great people that continue to help provide support! I’m currently leading the Super D Overall and am in ninth in the Downhill Overall. The next races are on February 19th and 20th. See you there – it’s going to be a wet one!

www.foesracing.com
www.marzocchi.com
www.canecreek.com
www.bikethomson.com
www.e13components.com
www.sixsixone.com

Check out Tutto MTB.

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Super D started up on the northern hill near the top of the steep hike-a-bike used recently in the Kenda Cup XC events. Donny marked off the upper half with a traverse from the top on over behind the water tower to just beyond the top of the downhill start. From there, Joe Lawwill etched out some good lines that rounded the southern end of the downhill tracks and included a punchy uphill sandy berm section for an extra kick in the teeth. Once the race began, I pushed a conservative pace along the upper portion of the XC singletrack into the grind up behind the water tower, where I passed Jeremy Kneisly on his long travel bike. Once it turned downhill again I was able to catch my breath for a few moments while slicing through Joe’s turns before the putting everything I had left into the flat pedaling sections on the bottom of the track. Turns out I had put down the fastest time of the day in Super D! Radness!

On track to my first win of the year in Pro Super D. Photo by Eric Foltz.

Pro Super D Podium.

Pro Super D Results:

1. 08:51.61 Jon Buckell 17ZK (Foes Racing)
2. 08:54.81 Ryan Gardner 210ZK
3. 09:16.39 Logan Binggeli 14ZK
4. 09:17.42 Joe Lawwill 22ZK
5. 09:19.64 Eric Carter 7ZK

Cat 1 XC racer and all-around good guy Vu Le tried his hand at DH racing this weekend. I think he’s hooked and quickly headed over to the dark side!

Teammate Troy D’Elia racing to 17th place in Pro Downhill. Photo by Jason Cleghorn.

After lunch I managed to do a couple runs on the DH track which was a bit more rocky and technical than the previous race and included some of Donny’s famous tight and awkward flat turns. Returning in the morning, I was motivated to ride the track like Eli Tomac had the night before, but the wind was blowing pretty hard all directions, especially coming through the fastest section leading into the uphill saddle halfway down the hill. My Hydro’s wheels stayed on the ground during my race run and hearing people like John Canepa hollering on the wall helped me sprint out the bottom portion. I crossed the finish line and felt the familiar burn of the Tucky lung! My time wound up good enough for eighth – gotta keep pushing for a podium!

Racing to 8th place in Pro Downhill. Photo by Eric Foltz.

Pro Downhill Results:

1. 02:24.64 Logan Bingelli 14A
2. 02:25.91 Tyler Immer 686A
3. 02:27.41 John Keep 29A
4. 02:27.92 Rich Houseman 5A
5. 02:30.29 Kevin Aiello 28A
6. 02:30.38 David Klassen Van Oorschot 3A
7. 02:31.25 Michal Kollbek 372A
8. 02:31.41 Jon Buckell 17A (Foes Racing)
9. 02:34.51 Jeremy Kneisly 16A
10. 02:34.96 Ryan Egusquiza 12A
11. 02:35.05 Jake Payne 307A
12. 02:35.74 Craig Harvey 26A
13. 02:36.46 Spenser Mehr 145A
14. 02:36.48 Bryson Martin Jr. 350A
15. 02:36.50 Waylon Smith 8A
17. 02:37.10 Troy D’Elia 32A (Foes Racing)

Full results are up at Southridge USA.

Thanks to Foes Racing and all the great people that continue to help provide support! The next race will be February 5th and 6th. See you there!

www.foesracing.com
www.marzocchi.com
www.canecreek.com
www.bikethomson.com
www.e13components.com
www.sixsixone.com

Race run photo of Troy D’Elia by Eric Foltz.

Foes Racing in the pits at Southridge.

Even though registration lines were long with many racers signing up for their annual memberships, the Southridge staff kept the lines moving and the Jasons and Evilio were pumped to be back at Southridge.

The Shimano Kids Races are a hit with competitors and parents alike.

I was eager to race Super D at Southridge just as much as the downhill, and the track used for this race delivered the goods. Starting on a fireroad from the top of the major hike a bike previously used for the Fontana Pro XCT Cup races, the track quickly traversed some rolling singletrack before diving down the ridge onto the pavement shuttle road and then hooked up with the lower section of the downhill track, finishing off with a healthy sprint down the Fontucky wall to the finish line. I had a solid run in the hero dirt and edged out Lawill, but E.C. put the power down and smashed the field by a hefty margin. Afterwards I went up for a few practice runs on the DH before heading home to go watch the Supercross at Anaheim. Brap!

Super D Race Results:

1. 02:20.62 Eric Carter 748ZK
2. 02:32.13 Jon Buckell 17ZK (Foes Racing)
3. 02:33.84 Joe Lawwill 22ZK
4. 02:34.11 Ryan Gardner 210ZK
5. 02:36.43 Jeremy Kneisly 16ZK
6. 02:36.49 Luke Wronski 50ZK
7. 02:53.84 Stephan Smith 6ZK
8. 03:01.50 Joe Simpson 6ZK

Sunday morning came early and we went out for a couple runs in the morning and found the track was bedding in well with the turns flowing together and my Hydro hooking up to the moist Fontana dirt like Velcro. I kept my race run smooth and focused on carrying speed throughout the track to the wall and put down all the power I had for it. Troy’s run was going similarly well, but a washout at the road crossing before the lower rock section ended up costing a bunch of time and will serve as motivation for the next race. My time was good enough for eleventh on the day and I will continue on my hunt to be on top of the box this year. See you at the Tucky!

Downhill race run photo by Jason Cleghorn.

Downhill Top 15 Results:

1. 02:03.42 Waylon Smith 8A
2. 02:05.82 John Keep 29A
3. 02:06.41 Kevin Aiello 28A
4. 02:07.28 David Klaassen Van Oorschot 3A
5. 02:08.09 Rich Houseman 5A
6. 02:09.09 Steve Wentz 800A
7. 02:09.58 Jake Payne 307A
8. 02:09.59 Preston Moore 808A
9. 02:10.57 Jeremy Kneisly 16A
10. 02:11.21 Graeme Pitts 741A
11. 02:11.32 Jon Buckell 17A (Foes Racing)
12. 02:12.07 Craig Harvey 26A
13. 02:12.52 Ryan Gardner 210A
14. 02:12.84 Adam Digby 217A
15. 02:12.95 Ryan Egusquiza 12A

Full results here on Southridge USA’s website.

Big thanks to the help of these companies!