2017 Fontana KMC Winter Series, Round 5

The 5th Round of the world famous KMC Winter Series hit Fontana with a whirlwind of the usual riders and a couple of big names making a quick appearance. The weather was typical California winter temps, in the Upper 60's with a mild breeze and the occasional cluster of ominous clouds that threaten to saturate the sacred ground, but held off, instead, giving us yet another flawless weekend of gravity fed racing in the form of both Super D and Downhill.

Many o' rumors fly around the Southern California scene, one of those was that Gwin would be out to say hi for round five. I try not to buy into the rumor mill all too often—I'm more of a "believe it when I see it" kind of guy. It's true, though, you never know who might show up in Fontana. So it's Saturday, let's look around the vendor area to see who's around.


Spotted this guy in the pits and had to do a quick photo in front of one of Gwin's many sponsors, ODI. It is great to see he's all mended and back on the bike, ready to rock the world circuit.

I circled around but didn't really see anything else that was noteworthy. The Super D was starting soon and there was a big contingency with over 60 riders signed up.


On the way up to cover the Super D, I saw Gwin put in some laps, but he said he wouldn't be racing Sunday as he was flying out to test with Fox.


Had to do a double take on this photo of Gwin. Does anything catch your eye?

I stuck around a bit longer and found Samantha Kingshill on the mountain. Samantha is the only Junior Woman to ever attend Worlds representing the USA.


Samantha Kingshill was in Southern California to connect with sponsor Trucker-Co, who she is carpooling with to the GRT in Tennessee this week, so she put a few laps in at Fontana during practice Saturday, but would not race Sunday as she would already be on the road.


On my way over to the Super D Start, I found Anneke Beerten pushing up to the start of the DH course Saturday. After running XC that morning, finishing 2nd, by the way, she wanted to get some laps in to dial in her bike.


Beerten pointed out that she was using the new Shockwiz to tune her suspension on Saturday. She seemed stoked on the interface and said she and her mechanic would be using it for the EWS season this year.

Along the lines of Enduro, let's take a look at the Racing Action from Saturday's Super D!!


Dillon Santos came down from the Bay area (Norcal) to race the Pro Super D category. Dillon is on the Ibis factory Enduro Team.



Absolutely sending this rock feature, Santos would finish 1st on the Super D course.


Sarah Viggers, shred ready at the top of stage 1 for the ladies Super D race. She would finish first in the Pro Women's Category.


Mr. Jackson himself, at the start of Stage 1. He's been doing this for over 25 years. No rookie to long weekends, he sits in the UTV checking riders off as they hit the course.

Final results for the Super D Pro Categories

Pro Women's Super D Podium; 1st Place: Sarah Viggers – 09:56.96, 2nd Place: Taylor Saul – 10:26.41, 3rd Place: Xylena Hoppen – 10:59.32


Pro Men's Super D Podium; 1st Place: Dillon Santos – 08:14.53, 2nd Place: Cody Masson – 08:16.48, 3rd Place: Evander Hughes – 08:23.20, 4th Place: Mike Sleeter – 08:27.63, 5th Place: Nic Beechan – 08:28.28


Sunday – Downhill Finals


The DH shuttles were packed Sunday morning as racers headed up early for an 8am practice call, prior to the finals at 10:30am.

The Pro Men ran the trails first. With Gwin gone, the consistent crew of locals competed to see who would take the top step and add another 100 points to their total for the series.


Bruce Klein, was on fire again this weekend, but a crash near the start of the course left him in fourth place. Klein is still easily in contention for first place overall. Be sure he will finish strong in the final two rounds, barring any mishaps.


Cody Johnson didn't get the result he was looking for today, finishing 3rd in Pro Men's DH. Just his second race on the new Polygon frame, look for him to make improvements and return stronger for the final two rounds.


Sean Bell comes into the Pro DH season this year with a new sponsor. That's right he's part of the Weiner Fam. Weiners powered him to a second place finish in the Pro DH category and I have to say his kit is sick. If you look closely, that's not camo, those are different shades of Weiner Dogs on his Bell helmet and his A-Stars kit has sleeves and the bottom portion of the body to match. Plus he gets a factory colored 10x20 canopy to follow him around on his tour. The real question is—will we see a hot dog stand anytime soon? Come on Bell, make that happen!


Cole Picchiottino pinned on a 160mm Travel 29er Trek Slash with his new Fox 36 fork, finished in first place in DH Pro Men. Cole said he was really wanting to take this weekend to prepare for Rotorua. He felt like the bikes pedaling capability helped him on the wall, but admitted having a big bike on the upper section would have helped.

The Pro Women's Category had a good turn out this week.


Dani Johnson comes through the new rock garden section, which everyone seemed stoked on. She finished 3rd in DH Pro Women.


Rachel Strait showed up to race DH with teammate, Anneke Beerten. It was great seeing Strait in a full face again and she meant business, taking 2nd in Pro Women. Beerten would finish 1st.

With over twenty competitors and the top DH time of the weekend, the Junior Expert Category was the where the real racing action was at. Sixth through Ninth place finished just over a second apart.


Cole Suetos is an up-and-coming rider from the Incycle race team who took third place. Incycle is the team which helped Bruce Klein become a factory level rider. Look for more from this kid, as he progresses through the scene.


Tevor Boldi racing through the mustard fields of Fontana, finished 2nd in Junior Expert.

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First place in Junior Expert and the fastest time in DH, Commencal Factory Rider, Steven Walton shreds the hills of Fontana. When asked if his goal was winning today vs preparing for the first round of the GRT in Tennessee next weekend, Swaltonator, as he is known, said "It was a little bit of both. I always want to win, or I wouldn't be here, but it helps me prep also".

Your Podiums for the DH Finals

Jr. Expert DH Podium; 1st Place: Steven Walton – 01:59.02, 2nd Place: Trevor Boldi – 02:03.53, 3rd Place: Cole Suetos – 02:04.25, 4th Place: Grant Rogers – 02:05.51, 5th Place: Max Sedlak – 02:06.89


Women's Pro DH Podium; 1st Place: Anneke Beerten – 02:20.13, 2nd Place: Rachel Strait – 02:37.68, 3rd Place: Dani Johnson – 02:44.95, 4th Place: Amanda Wentz – 02:45.45, 5th Place: Emily Gacad – 02:47.29


Men's Pro DH Podium; 1st Place: Cole Picchiottino – 02:00.66, 2nd Place: Sean Bell – 02:01.40, 3rd Place: Cody Johnson – 02:04.01, 4th Place: Bruce Klein – 02:05.02, 5th Place: Steve Wentz – 02:09.36

See you in two weeks for Round 6 of the KMC Winter Series presented by Southridge USA

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