Photos by: Monique  Spaulding

Report by: Quinton Spaulding

I just love traveling the Highways of America, every  trip has something new and spontaneous to offer.

Traveling through Utah (on our way to Crested Butte, CO), we were treated to some awesome rainbows.

We arrived at the base of the mountain in Crested Butte on Thursday morning to pleasant weather and beautiful scenery.

KHS Factory riders Melissa Buhl and Logan Bingelli were in Europe at this time racing  the “Wheels of Speed” in Willingen, Germany. They then made their way to Maribor, Italy which is one of the friendliest stops on the UCI World Cup Circuit . Buhl on the podium in Maribor with a fantastic 2nd place finish in the 4X.

This was Bingelli’s first World Cup appearance for KHS.  Although he did not qualify for the Final on Sunday, he still put in a good effort gaining some invaluable experience that he can build on down the road as he ventures deeper into World Cup racing. He finished 24th at the “Wheels of Speed”… a good result.

Some crazy sights from the town of Crested Butte.

The peak of Crested Butte Mountain in the background.

In the village.

Next door.

The Crested Butte “SKI Resort” is  well equipped and prepared for a major “action event”. It is rumored that they have future plans for a World Cup Downhill race… on a brand new track.

The Wildflower Rush, MSC # 4 was a new track, which was  nicely laid out with many well built features. This was a “strong pedal” track and fitness was a big factor.

The finish line area had a great ski jump for the crowds. Along with riders that were launching it, it kept the crowd entertained  all weekend long.

We had some good rain showers before qualifying, which made for some pretty slick and sluggish conditions.

I had a fairly decent qualifying run finishing up 22nd out of 65 plus riders.

I shaved 10 seconds off of my qualifying run in the final, along with almost everybody else on a faster drier track. I finished 24th overall on the day and felt pretty good with that result at a National Level.

PRO Men DH Results

Matt Eglin… “The Man” at Hayes that takes care of the teams needs at all our events, outdid himself again at this race …thanks Matt!

KHS will be back in Colorado again for the US National Championships at Sol Vista Mountain Bike Park – July 16th thru the 19th. We are aiming high and looking for titles.

Please stay tuned for more updates and photos as they become available.

All the best!

Q.

Report by: Quinton Spaulding

Photos by: Monique & Brittany Spaulding

This past weekend the “KHS CREW” was at the wonderful facilities of Woodward West in Tehachapi, CA for round # 1 of the California State Downhill and Mountain Cross Championships.

I live to race my downhill bike no matter what the track. I have to admit however, that I was really pleased to see that Donny and his guy’s from Southridge Racing had prepared a newly improved track for us to compete on. It was a short track, yet it had all the attributes for a good race track that “downhillers” would  like instantaneously.

David Dasta

Jim De Haven

Scott Johnson

Francine Johnson

Johnson says that he feels so good in his gear…so good, he wears it out to dinner!

The start gate at Woodward is  just perfect! It drops you in from about 15 feet of elevation and gets you off to a fast rolling start into the top of the track.

The Shuttle trucks  worked hard all weekend  making sure racers were on the track for practice as well as for the race.

The practice lines were pretty busy too, so much so that it seemed that everyone was having so much fun on the new track getting in the maximum amount of practice runs.

As always, KERN COUNTY had all their bases covered when it came to injuries of any kind.

A quick round of “foot golf” right before the first of 2 runs in the final. Cal State races always use a 2 run combined format whereby each rider does two timed race runs. The two times are then combined to determine the winner.

I have not broken my “crashing streak” yet! I went down in my first race run which set me back in the overall. My second run was way more competitive, and if my first would have been as good, I would have had a shot at a podium finish. I finished 11th overall.

Scott Johnson put down 2 consistent runs and placed 12th in the Pro Class overall.

Jim De Haven in one of his race runs.

“Big Cheeze” in the house!  Ric Houseman did such a good job of providing live run- by- run commentary on the racing straight out of the start gate. This made for a fantastic race atmosphere, I could hear him through my helmet during my race runs… it was truly inspiring!

Mountain Bike Actions own Ryan Cleek was also out at Woodward racing DH. He recently suffered a broken Humerus (upper arm) at the first Gravity National held at Bootleg Canyon earlier this season. Ryan ended the weekend with a very strong 2nd place podium finish.

KHS “B-Team” racer Francine Johnson (spouse and teammate of Scott Johnson) finished 2nd in the Pro Women DH, with some excellent riding throughout the weekend.

Chuck Valenzuela takes a solid 3rd place in the Vet Pro class. Valenzuela is always a threat to the podium in this class.

KHS “B-Team” rider Jim De Haven captures 4th place in the CAT 1, 27 -34.

KHS “B-Team” rider Rodney Bradley earns a 5th place finish in CAT 3, 40 -45. The KHS “B-Team” is really growing, and is operating like a well oiled machine.

We all had a really good time and look forward to the next one.

Every time we leave a race we seem to see something interesting. Here is a photo of one of the many windmill farms in that area of California… they are pretty captivating.

If you know of anyone who is interested in joining our “B-TEAM” or “R.A.C.E.R.” programs, please shoot me an email, or contact our R.A.C.E.R. (Team Manager) Vince Calvillo on our sponsorship page… just click on the email our R.AC.E.R. Team Manager “button”.

Proud Sponsors of the 2009 KHS Factory Team

KHS will be at MSC # 4 – Wildflower Rush in Crested Butte, CO  June 19 -21, hope to see you there.

Please stay tuned for more updates and photos as they become available.

All the best!

Q.