April Fools' is No Joke in Fontana: Fontana National 2017

April Fools' brought fun to a Fantastic Fontana National. A full Camping Lot and a Vendor Village that spanned the normal parking area pushed the spectators and participants into the grass of Southridge Park. Not only was this weekend the KMC Winter Series, it was also the First round of the US National and the second stop of the Kenda Cup West tour.

The action kicked off Saturday with the UCI Pro XC Categories. There were racers from all over the world. Up first, the Women.

Clif Factory racers Eva Lechner and Andrea Waldis, warm up before the Pro Women line up on a day that would see temps reach near 80 degrees.

Evelyn Dong, of the Full Cycle/Liv team out of Boulder CO lead out the peloton after the first turn.

Soon enough the wings of Red Bull Racer, Kate Courtney would kick in with a win by a little over 10 seconds at the finish.

UCI Pro Women's Podium - 1st Place: Kate Courtney 01:29.58, 2nd Place: Rose Grant 01:30.11, 3rd Place: Eva Lechner Time N/A, 4th Place: Andrea Waldis Time N/A, 5th Place: Haley Batten Time N/A


UCI Pro Men XC race followed the Women's race. The men would run 6 laps compared to 5 laps for the women, doing the sub 4-mile lap with an average of 15 minutes per lap. Some of the bigger names in the Men's field included; Todd Wells, Carl Decker, and Eric Bostrom.

Christopher Blevins led coming into the finish of the first lap with Wells, right behind him and a trailing Evan Gunthrie in 3rd. If Wells hadn't had a bad crash after flatting on lap 5 he may have hung with the young gun.

Christopher Blevins crosses the line to a cheering crowd and no one behind him in sight for a top step finish.

UCI Pro Men's Podium - 1st Place: Christopher Blevins 01:34.22, 2nd Place: Luke Vrouwenvelder 01:35.56, 3rd Place: Evan Gunthrie 01:36.32, 4th Place: Ruseel Finsterwald 01:37.08, 5th Place: Kyle Trudeau 01:37.18


In between the XC racing Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon's enduro, we checked in with Roger from Kenda. He had tires for racers to see, feel, buy or otherwise just get info on. This guy may be the hardest working rep on the West Coast. He has a reputation for taking care of riders in a time of need and smiles while he's lending a hand.

I checked in on the Enduro, which for this weekend was three separate stages.


The transfer stage from the end of stage 1 to the start of stage 2 was the longest transfer. Fortunately, most of the climb was paved.

Evander Hughes drops in on the middle section of stage 3. Many riders loved the idea that the enduro actually integrated the downhill course for the Sport / Beginner DH category, adding more technical sections than previous courses have offered. Hughes would finish first on the day.

Fastest Pro Woman of the day on the Enduro Course was Christine Eikmeier, streaking down stage 3.

Women's Pro Enduro - 1st Place: Christine Eikmeier 14:02.00, 2nd Place: Sarah Viggers 14:11.00, 3rd Place: Rachel Pagean 14:51.00

Men's Pro Enduro - 1st Place: Evander Hughes 11:43.00, 2nd Place: Tom Sampson 11:51.00, 3rd Place: Matt Guntert 12:18.00

Finally DH Practice Saturday, found Gwin, Klein, and others on course dialing in their rigs for Sunday's Finale.

Aaron did just two runs for practice Saturday. On his sighting lap, he broke things up into segments, where he would ride and then hike up to just above the finish of the last segment and then he'd throw his goggles back on and roll into the next section.

After his sighting lap, he did one full pull. He was obviously confident in his lines.

Klein, was pumped at the end of the Pro Practice Session, saying he felt he had a 1st place finish in sight.

Sunday had an unusual timeline of events. Amateur DH practice would be from 8:00am to 10:00am with Pro DH practice following that until 12:00pm. Amateurs raced at 12:30pm with Pros set to go off at 2:30pm. I decided to get some extra coverage during Pro Practice and it was a good thing I did, as the story was developing.


On his last run of Sunday morning practice, a mechanical would force Bruce to run his small bike for his Pro DH race run. Following the timeline, with Pros leaving first, Klein had no time to do the repairs necessary on his big bike, before his shuttle left for the starting line.


As he pinned it passed the crowd, he claimed it was sketchy. He missed 2nd place by two-tenths of a second. It's speculation of course, but I have to think on his big bike, Klein, not only would have taken second, but the gap on Gwin would have been tighter. Nevertheless, Klein would take the series overall and had this to say "Super happy to take the overall win here at Fontana. I've been using these races as a training tool to see progression in my program and finishing on top of the box (overall) feels great!"


With more than half the course to go, Gwin astonished fans with his closing speed on the next rider in front of him. It was obvious the knee was at full strength, something American's will be stoked for going into the WC season. Gwin said he will be at Otter for one last hoorah before heading to round 1.

Jarod Hanson descends into second. His form has progressed and it's visible in the photos and in his results. Great Progress J-Rod.

Emily Gacad, with the crowd behind her, cheering her to a 1st place finish in the Pro Women DH Category.

Cole Suetos, had fast lines both during practice and his race run and many of the fans were saying he may be the one to beat in the Junior Expert Category this weekend.

Steven Walton had other plans, with the same practice regiment as Gwin, Walton said "Quality over Quantity" adding "It works for me" and it did, as he put 9 seconds on second place, nearly identical to the gap Gwin put on the rest of the Pro Men.

Jr. Expert DH Podium - 1st Place: Steven Walton 02:02.89, 2nd Place: Travis Claypool 02:11.99, 3rd Place: Austin Dooley 02:12.39, 4th Place: Cole Suetos 02:15.73, 5th Place: Shane Farrow 02:18.18

Pro Women's DH Podium - 1st Place: Emily Gacad 02:54.85, 2nd Place: CJ Selig 02:56.04, 3rd Place: Amanda Wentz 03:00.51

Pro Men's DH Podium - 1st Place: Aaron Gwin 01:56.29, 2nd Place: Jarod Hanson 02:05.30, 3rd Place: Bruce Klein 02:05.54, 4th Place: Troy D'Elia 02:13.02, 5th Place: Soren Young 02:16.13

The Series Overall Results found Bruce Klein in first place in the Pro Men's DH Category, while the Pro Women DH Series title went to CJ Selig. The Junior Expert Category had Steven Walton on the top step for the series. Congrats to all the winners and Big shout out to KMC for sponsoring another successful Winter Series.

---

MENTIONS: @calledtocreation

---