Four Days of Action at Fontana City Nationals
The Pro Gold Fontana City National Presented by Ride Biker Alliance and Southridge USA brought four days of racing in three disciplines, XC, DH and Enduro. The weekend started on Thursday with practice for the first round of the California Enduro Series race which would be held Friday. Even though there were plenty of complaints regarding the timeline of the event, there were still 300+ riders with 12 miles and 1800' of climbing over 4 stages.
The next event on the weekend was the Pro Women's XC event Saturday. The event draws International Competitors. We found riders from Japan, Tawain, Quebec, Switzerland and of course, the U.S.
Immediately after the Pro Women's race the Pro Men took to the dry dusty course.
Raphael Gagne, finishing 6 laps with a margin of just over ten seconds. Gagne a resident of Quebec, lives about 30 minutes from Mount Sainte-Anne but rarely trains in that area as he says he has several great training areas right out his back door. He is slated for several international events, but his next major XC race will be just down the highway at the National event in San Dimas CA next weekend.
Champagne Showers were in order for both XC Pro Podiums. No Cameras were harmed in the filming of these podium scenes.
Men's Pro XC Podium - 1st place: Rapheal Gagne 01:33:28.730, 2nd place: Nicola Rohrbach 01:33:38.915, 3rd place: Derek Zandstra 01:34:12.264, 4th place: Todd Wells 01:37:25.814, 5th place: Cameron Jette 01:38:19.784.
Women's Pro XC Podium - 1st place: Larissa Connors 01:27:51.578, 2nd place: Georgia Gould 01:30:04.009, 3rd place: Catharine Pendrel 01:31:16.651, 4th place: Lea Davison 01:31:56.048, 5th place: Kate Courtney 01:34:13.410.
After the Pro XC events we walked the scene around the venue to see what people were up to.
It didn't take long to figure out that many of the attendees were out on the DH course practicing. The format was such that the Pro / Expert racers practiced separately from the Sport / Beginner racers. We had shot photos of the Pro Practice that morning and while there didn't seem to be a big turn out for practice it seemed the Sport / Beginner racers were out on course for their afternoon practice session.
Sunday, held the final events of the weekend. Short on staff, I chose to stick to the DH event action, even though there were Pro XC Short Course races going on, we were partial to the Pro DH competition, so we jumped in the van to head up.
Jr. Expert Podium - 1st place: Jacob Jordan 02:07.69, 2nd place: Steven Walton 02:10.94, 3rd place: Andras Simon 02:13.30, 4th place: Trevor Boldi 02:20.65, 5th place: Dylan Gay 02:20.67
Vet Pro Podium - 1st place: Chad Hubbard 02:16.85, 2nd place: Joe Picchiottino 02:17.11, 3rd place: Rich Houseman 02:21.00, 4th place: Todd Kobayashi 02:34.14, 5th place: Vahe Aivazian 02:35.06
Women's Pro Podium - 1st place: Samantha Kingshill 02:30.22, 2nd place: Janea Perry 02:50.11, 3rd place: Christina Hirst 03:11.95
Men's Pro Podium - 1st place: Logan Binggeli 02:02.17, 2nd place: Jason Schroeder 02:06.15, 3rd place: Charlie Harrison 02:06.15, 4th place: Cole Picchiottino 02:10.61, 5th place: Christian Gonzalez 02:12.60
My final photo for the weekend - remember...
It's not the size of the dog in the fight it's the size of the fight in the dog. Keep it Pinned Pinkbikers!
MENTIONS: @calledtocreation / @calienduro
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 Steven Gemelos, the director of the California Enduro Series, greets us as we arrive Thursday. |
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| Evan Geankopolis, Team Rabobank / Marin, was the winner for the Pro Men category of the Enduro race Friday. Expect to see a detailed article regarding the Enduro Event soon! |
The next event on the weekend was the Pro Women's XC event Saturday. The event draws International Competitors. We found riders from Japan, Tawain, Quebec, Switzerland and of course, the U.S.
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| The Women's Pro XC start was exciting, with several big names in the XC world in attendance for the C3 UCI Level Race. In short the C3 races are just a few levels below a World Cup. |
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| Larissa pumped on the win as she finishes with no one in sight behind her. It would end up being a margin of over two minutes to 2nd place. Truly dominating. |
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| Larissa Connors, ecstatic about what many fans would claim was the biggest win of her career thus far. |
Immediately after the Pro Women's race the Pro Men took to the dry dusty course.
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| Todd Wells, Focusing with his eyes on the prize prior to the start. He would finish 4th on the day in the Pro XC Category. |
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| The start of the Men's Pro XC race saw fans lined up and the racers bunched up. Gagne, on the left of the photo would stay at the front the entire race. |
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| Gagne leading the pack of three frontrunners on the third lap with just split seconds between them. |
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Raphael Gagne, finishing 6 laps with a margin of just over ten seconds. Gagne a resident of Quebec, lives about 30 minutes from Mount Sainte-Anne but rarely trains in that area as he says he has several great training areas right out his back door. He is slated for several international events, but his next major XC race will be just down the highway at the National event in San Dimas CA next weekend.
Champagne Showers were in order for both XC Pro Podiums. No Cameras were harmed in the filming of these podium scenes.
 |
Men's Pro XC Podium - 1st place: Rapheal Gagne 01:33:28.730, 2nd place: Nicola Rohrbach 01:33:38.915, 3rd place: Derek Zandstra 01:34:12.264, 4th place: Todd Wells 01:37:25.814, 5th place: Cameron Jette 01:38:19.784.
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Women's Pro XC Podium - 1st place: Larissa Connors 01:27:51.578, 2nd place: Georgia Gould 01:30:04.009, 3rd place: Catharine Pendrel 01:31:16.651, 4th place: Lea Davison 01:31:56.048, 5th place: Kate Courtney 01:34:13.410.
After the Pro XC events we walked the scene around the venue to see what people were up to.
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| Pro Gold was the presenting sponsor for the National Event held in Fontana this weekend. |
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| With so many events going on, BBQ's were fired up every where to feed hundreds of riders during the 4 day event. |
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| Roger from Kenda hanging out with the tech crew from Shimano. |
It didn't take long to figure out that many of the attendees were out on the DH course practicing. The format was such that the Pro / Expert racers practiced separately from the Sport / Beginner racers. We had shot photos of the Pro Practice that morning and while there didn't seem to be a big turn out for practice it seemed the Sport / Beginner racers were out on course for their afternoon practice session.
Sunday, held the final events of the weekend. Short on staff, I chose to stick to the DH event action, even though there were Pro XC Short Course races going on, we were partial to the Pro DH competition, so we jumped in the van to head up.
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| Shuttle runs are the best. |
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| Cole Picchiottino, Trek Testing Team, hanging out before his race run. |
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| Joe Picchiottino, Cole's Uncle, doing the same thing! Both Picchiottino men would finish on the podium. |
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| Another great turn out for the DH event during the Fontana National Weekend. |
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| Crowds were in full affect for the National in Fontana. There were people all over the DH course spectating and enjoying the show put on by riders of all levels. |
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| Steven Walton, looked fast and smooth during morning practice, but would fall short of the 1st place finish he was looking for, before heading to France for the World Cup. |
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| Jacob Jordan on his way to a win this weekend in Jr. Expert, a belated birthday gift to himself. |
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| Charlie Harrison, the winner of the overall Winter Series, was screaming fast, however he would finish in 3rd behind Binggeli, and Schroeder. |
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| Logan Binggeli showing the crowd what slaying a corner looks like. |
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Jr. Expert Podium - 1st place: Jacob Jordan 02:07.69, 2nd place: Steven Walton 02:10.94, 3rd place: Andras Simon 02:13.30, 4th place: Trevor Boldi 02:20.65, 5th place: Dylan Gay 02:20.67
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Vet Pro Podium - 1st place: Chad Hubbard 02:16.85, 2nd place: Joe Picchiottino 02:17.11, 3rd place: Rich Houseman 02:21.00, 4th place: Todd Kobayashi 02:34.14, 5th place: Vahe Aivazian 02:35.06
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Women's Pro Podium - 1st place: Samantha Kingshill 02:30.22, 2nd place: Janea Perry 02:50.11, 3rd place: Christina Hirst 03:11.95
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Men's Pro Podium - 1st place: Logan Binggeli 02:02.17, 2nd place: Jason Schroeder 02:06.15, 3rd place: Charlie Harrison 02:06.15, 4th place: Cole Picchiottino 02:10.61, 5th place: Christian Gonzalez 02:12.60
My final photo for the weekend - remember...
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It's not the size of the dog in the fight it's the size of the fight in the dog. Keep it Pinned Pinkbikers!
MENTIONS: @calledtocreation / @calienduro
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Scrub those barnacles off ya mangy swabs!
I had a great time at Fontana, all the volunteers did a really good job, that new steep section of trail on stage 4 was wicked fun, but a lot of the in-stage pedalling could have been easily reduced.
I think weve all complained once or twice on a climb before