Just as the MTX races got under way, the heaven’s opened.   Although not a huge downpour, it was enough to send people scattering for shelter.   Regardless, races are held ‘rain or shine!’

After warming up his legs in the Super D, Dale went on to give a schooling in MTX.  With a somewhat light field, Dale had no problems making the finals.   Mongoose’s Eric Carter also had a fairly easy time cruising to the finals, even with a fairly bad cold.  “I get light-headed just walking up the stairs,” said EC.

Even though there were some regular faces missing, it was a tight battle leading to the finals.  In this rough sport, it’s not a matter of ‘whether’ you tangle up, but ‘WHEN’ you tangle up.  Logan Bingelli’s (KHS) time was apparently in the semi’s, where he was apparently t-boned by a fellow competitor, and ended up hitting the ground hard.  Logan sustained a broken nose and a small facture to his left metacarpal pinky bone.  Although the doctor’s prognosis gave Logan about 6 weeks to recover from the injury, Logan’s optimistic that he’ll be back in time for the Fontana National in a few weeks.  

In the finals, it was a tight battle between the two veterans Dale Holmes and Eric Carter.  Although EC apparently had the lead after the final turn, Dale nipped EC at the line for the win!

 

 

DOWNHILL

With overnight rains, the downhill track turned from a rather simple track with great traction, into a surprisingly tricky course that demanded a bit of skill and luck!  Dirt here in southern California is rather risky to ride fast at times when it’s wet.  Much of the dirt actually absorbs the water well, and still provides excellent traction in the wet.  However, the tricky issue with the dirt here, is that there are many spots that could potentially become extremely slick (like typical mud), but still keeps the ‘look’ as the rest of the dirt.  Much like ice, you never know where you’re going to slip!  The downhill course started out as a fairly consistent muck in the in the morning, but quickly turned into a rutted slippery track by mid morning.  With on-and-off precipitation, it was a crapshoot whether or not riders were going to be running during a downpour.   A few of the pros were the unluckiest, as they rode the slick muck with a light rain shower thrown in for excitement.   If they weren’t battling the spray from the mud on the ground, their goggles were blurry from the rain coming down.  Regardless, that didn’t stop them from putting on a show. 

With a bounty in the upwards of $250, the pro field was packed with riders giving it their all.  World Cup star & the newest to the dominant Monster Energy Iron Horse team, Brendan Fairclough, has been in town testing & getting accustom to his new ‘Sunday’ ride, stopped by for the day to say hello & take a few runs on the track.   When Bren-dawg heard that there was a good size purse to be won, we was interested; when he heard that there was an extra bonus  for beating Chris Kovarik (CRC Intnese) he was excited….  When he woke up the next morning to find it raining, he was pumped!   “It’s just like home!”  Unfortunately he was one of the many casualties that new riders face when they hit the infamous “wall”.   Brendan managed only 8^th.

 

What more could be said about the race except that series leader Chris Kovarik decimated the field by over 8 seconds!  His nearest competitor was an east coast native, Jason Memmelaar, who’s at home riding in the mud & mess!   Jason has been residing in San Diego for the past few months, in training for the upcoming season.   This is his best finish thus far & shows that his training has been working! 

In the women’s field, it was a battle between the nations!  Canadian resident (yet another so cal transplant) Claire Buchar has be relatively uncontested throughout the series.  Her only loss was to American Melissa Buhl (KHS) who again made an appearance this weekend.   Although not necessarily contesting for the overall, Melissa knew it was a great chance to pocket some cash & gain some momentum heading into the Fontana national. NOTE: KHS picked up a new sponsor this season with Manitou supplying their suspension forks.

 

As the day progressed, the track worsened as the slick muck was constantly being churned & bombarded by tires.  However, as soon as you thought that it could not get any worse, the skies cleared for many of the sport & beginner amateurs and dried up the track immensely! Lucky punks!