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From the Champ herself, Kim Finch talks about her race experience from the Shimano Winter Series #4

There was not much time for training for this race with all the rain, but I did manage to get a couple rides in. I mostly focused on injury recovery from a prior race. We got in early Saturday for the XC race. I chatted with everyone while setting up. As always Tony checked over my bike and tires before he headed for his practice DH run! Couple quick spins around the parking lot and it is up to starting line. While we were waiting to start, I chatted with Priscilla and the rest of the women in our category. The mass start is off with all the Beginner riders; I pull ahead of a few men to stay in eye contact with my competition. We are all off to the climbs and then the asphalt road and I seem to be ahead. I pass a couple of ladies in the 34 & under group and am feeling pretty proud of myself. The newly cut section is part of a prior Super D course and I was at first disappointed thinking they took out my favorite single track section but they added a climb back up to my beloved single track section.

I was surprised to see the amount of riders, mostly guys that were hiking up this section. I pedaled my way up and hit the single track! The race had some stiff competition with Natalie, which was the other lady in my group. We were neck in neck the whole course. The rain had made a lot of changes on the trail with many ruts. I & my competitor had a small crash at the end of the final single track, which by the way I have never crashed there before. This gave her a slight push ahead of me and I could see her increasing the gap as another two riders crashed where we had just cleared. I jump on my bike and realize my brakes are in the wrong place, quick spin of the bars and I am off again.

I stand up and pump out every pedal stroke with all the energy I have left in hopes to catch her! She is in my sight, along the fence line and then she rounds the corner, one hill left and it is the rocky climb I see her jump off her bike to run up the hill. I was stoked because I can make this climb and pass her. I yell “Rider Up” but she is still on the line I would like to take, so I go around her. I make 3/4 of the climb and stopped dead by a rock, I jump off and run up the hill! Remount the bike and it is a sprint to the finish line! We are rounding the final corners, down the double arrows, which by the way I had no time to pick a clean line and should have crashed flying down it. We hit the final turns to the finish and there is our Team, RL yelling at me, “She’s right behind you”..like I was not aware..Then THE FINISH!! I WON!! Times posted and it was 2 seconds!! What a GREAT RACE!! I was spent.

Quick change of clothes and bikes and I head up the hill for DH practice! I was very glad to see the DH course was mostly off camber turns and no real technical spots! Was designed for me! One run was all I had left in me! Race day Sunday get in one practice run and feel pretty good! Relaxed with the team and up to the top of the hill to “WAIT.” We had a great time cheering for all of the riders as they started their races.

Finally our turn, I told myself that it was MY course and it was just like the San Juan Trail. Getting over the countdown jitters and off I go! I can hear RL cheering, “Go Kimmie! Go get em’!” I rode through the course and I was having a blast! I reminded myself, during the “G” outs, maintain speed so not to over shoot the corners. It went great! Got to the lower rock garden, found MY line and cleaned it just as I planed!

Got the famous wall and legs were spent. I could hear the cheers of teammates in the lower rock garden and the famous words “PEDAL” “GET UP & PEDAL” so I gave it the last that I had! I never checked the times but was so excited and exhausted I just knew it was good!!

Thanks as always to the entire A-TEAM for their support! Thanks to Tony for always making sure my bikes are ready for BATTLE! Special thanks to all of our sponsors! Evomo, Ergon, Hoss MTB and BikeCommuters.com

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This past weekend was a busy one… I raced both XC (Sat) & DH (Sun) at the 17th Annual Southridge Challenge, Fontana, CA.  Saturday was the last leg of the XC portion of the Triple Crown Challenge (TCC).  The 1^st was in Bonelli Park, San Dimas, CA (Oct) and the 2^nd at Mt. SAC in Walnut, CA (earlier this month).  We had a strong showing from our Team in different disciplines of the Fat Tire – XC, SS, Super D and DH.

Saturday:  I was faced with 8 other competitors.  Three were familiar faces from the other two segments of the TCC.  Two were my regular nemesis (friends really) from the 2008 racing season.

                                     Clydes

At the starting line, we were grouped with the Women’s 35+.  At GO, we sprinted on a flat dirt road which quickly turned into an elevated left-handed U-turn.  Here is where I experience the first hold up.  At this turn, series leader Mike D. falls, then a lady from the 35+ group.  Half of the racers that were stuck behind them (including myself) were forced to either dismount or find an alternative route which caused us seconds that counted.  As I made my way past the crash, I sprinted to chase the pack.  From here I would stay behind teammate Kim Finch.  Approaching the first real climb on dirt (where the DH starts), Kim and I pass our friend Val (he looked exhausted).  We passed him then made our way to the winding singletrack.  At the bottom we caught up with our other team mate Priscilla Policar.  We would ride together for a bit, while motivating and encouraging each other.   Passing the smokestack-like structure is another climb.   From the bottom I see Scott V. (a clyde in my class) reaching the top portion of this climb.  From here I broke away from Priscilla and Kim in hopes to catch Scott.  (There is history with Scott and I, as we battled throughout the year.  We took turns placing better than each other at various races.  He is currently one-up on me so I was really motivated to catch him!)

I made my way down another singletrack segment, through the paintball field, then up the final climb… I can see Scott up ahead.  I continued to grind up.  I knew I had to close the distance.  When he reaches the final singletrack descent he’ll open up the gap.  Through the singletrack at the backside of Southridge I tried to go as fast as I can.  Reaching the left-handed drop into the culvert, I see Scott on his way back on the flats.  In front of him was Ner (Val’s brother) with a big smile.   On the flats I big-ringed it back.  From the distance I see Scott and Ner pulling away…man these guys are fast!  Coming around the riverbed/aquaduct area I see Ner but not Scott… uh oh!   I knew we were almost finished and this was not good.  I finally caught up to Ner and passed him but Scott was no where in sight.  I ended up finishing last in my class.  Despite not catching Scott, I was please with my race.  I came in last but my finishing time was better than any of my previous races in Fontana.

                                                                                       Overall I felt good about the race and my performance of the series.  Prior to the awards for the overall results of the TCC, they posted me as 3rd place and totally omitting Mike D. (series leader).  As RL stated on his post, I took the liberty of advising the officials that Mike was not even on the list and should be.  After recalculating the points, Mike was on top and I was bumped down to 4^th.  Bad thing is there is no recognition of 4^th  as they only went three deep for the awards.  Never the less, I was pleased with myself for racing all three races and finishing each one.

Sunday: Armor time… I’ve ridden on Fontana’s DH course several times but have yet to race on it.  This was the day.  Around 8:30ish, I met up with RL, Priscilla and their kids.  After preparation and seeing the line for practice, it would appear that we will only have time for one practice run.

As I stood on top of the mountain, I have to admit that I was very nervous.  With this many people and not familiar with the course I was intimidated with the pretty much everything.  RL went first on the practice run.  I gave him about 5 seconds they off I went after him.  I tried to stay on his heels as I wanted to follow his lines but as soon as we started winding through the upper rock garden panic set in.  The rock sections were fairly easy but after not seeing which lines to pick I stalled out.  I have to admit I walked several sections but had every intentions of re-doing it.  As I made it down to the bottom, before the lower rock garden, RL was waiting for me.  As I neared his position, off he went and I followed.  I stayed behind him heading into the rock garden then… he was OTB!  All I see was his green bike up in the air.  Fortunately he was ok and got back up, then rode to the bottom.  I followed him shortly after reviewing the lines through this section.  At the same time the course officials were telling everyone to ride through as practice was over.  Darn, that means I’ll only have one run.

From the end of the practice until our start time was a good 1.5 hours.  There was plenty of time to think about the course and the lines to pick.  But for me anxiety was kicking in.  I was nervous, MORE than any of my other DH races that I have entered.  For some reason the “rocks” were really intimidating me and I could not shake it from my head.  Often I found myself pacing or just trying to walk around to stay calm.  This is typically not me.  About an hour prior to our start time we lined up for the shuttle.  RL was first to be taken to the top then I followed shortly.  Reaching the top and seeing RL was a relief.  Still nervous, I made small talk with several other guys that I have seen in previous races.

As my group lined up, I was first on the list.  The group in front of me was a Women’s group.  They will give the last woman (Lala w/Incycle) and I a one minute gap as oppose to the 30 sec between riders.  With many thoughts of the course running through my head, I tried to stay focus.  Donny says “Joe, go on 1”… At 1 I sprinted down to the bottom.  Approaching the upper rock section (where I walked in practice) I put my trust in my bike and maneuvered through the rocks.

                                        Upper section. Pic by Dino Brown

There were a few areas where I slowed down, such as the corners with huge ruts, but I managed to get through them smoothly.  Somewhere in the upper section, I heard Johnny D (racer after me) on my heels (on the video posted by RL, you’ll see Johnny go over the bars right behind me).  Reaching the bottom, by the cul de sac, I was very close to catching Lala.  She heads into the lower rock garden but slows down just before the spot where RL went OTB (in practice).  By this time I was literally on her rear wheel… With no momentum and thoughts of crashing, I dismounted off my bike, placed it on the step down and got back on.                                                                       Lower rock garden. Picture by Christopher Wood

I rolled through the remaining rocks and headed to ‘the wall’.  Here is where you test your legs as it is a long sprint on a 40+ lbs bike. At this point I finally pass Lala and make my way to the finish line!                               Picture by Sharky

In the end I finish 4^th out of 6.  I was very relieved that I made it to the bottom unscathed.  I know I wasn’t going as fast the others but it was a big weight off my shoulders and a relief mentally just to complete the course.         

I had a great time participating in the Triple Crown Challenge and the DH on Sunday.  I cant say it enough that our Team rocks!  This weekend we had racers in XC, SS, Super D and DH. We podiumed in each category! 2008 has been a great year in racing!

Many thanks to our sponsors – MtnBikeRiders.com, BikeCommuters.com, Evomo, Ergon and Hoss!!!

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                                    800mm is stock but has lines for shortening/cutting the bars which will accommodate from 680mm to 800mm length.

Torsion BFD bars:

Model:                      Torsion Race
Center Diameter:        31.8mm
Bar Diameter:            22.2mm
Bar Width:                 800mm w/cut lines 790 to 680mm
Rise:                         0mm, 20mm, 35mm, or 50mm
Upsweep:                  5 degrees
Backsweep:               9 degrees
Material:                   al 2014 double butted
Finish:                      shot-peen+anodized black / + powder coat white
Logo:                       laser etched (anodized) or decals (powder coat)
Weight 0mm rise:      309 to 350g (680 to 800mm)
Weight 20mm rise:     315 to 356g (680 to 800mm)
Weight 35mm rise:     322 to 363g (680 to 800mm)
Weight 50mm rise:     330 to 371g (680 to 800mm)

The stem is a 65mm, 200g in shotpeen white paint.  This stem looks bomb proof!

B52 Stem:

Model:                     New B52
Steerer diameter:      1 1/8” (28.6mm)
Bar diameter:           31.8mm 4-bolt face plate w/PC logo insert
Rise / length:           (0 degrees) 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80mm
Material:                 3D forged AL 6061
Stack height:           45mm
Finish:                    shot-peen black or white paint
Logo:                     laser+polycarbonate co-molded insert in face plate
Special Feature:       KORE 34 (K34) compatible
Weight:                  176g for 55mm, 200g for 65mm, 224 for 75mm

I love the white paint job! It just has sleek written all over it.   I’ll be swapping out my DH bars on my Intense Socom DH bike and replace with the Torsion bars.  The color will definitely match my bike!  Look for a full review in the near future. There’s a chance these may go on my SS build as well.  I’ll keep you all posted.

For more information visit www.kore-usa.com

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Courtesy of KHS Bicycles:

Mt. Beauty is the last Downhill National series race in Australia. It rained on race day…in fact, 7 out of 7 national rounds have rained in AUSTRALIA. It’s starting to feel like Europe.
Womens DH Results: Tracy Moesly 1st, Tracy Hannah 2nd, Caroline Buchanan (KHS) 3rd. This awesome result placed Caroline 3rd for the Australian National Downhill Series (2007-08). Caroline is only 17 and places 3rd behind two Elite Pro women. Incredible!
2007-08 Australian National Champion 4X Australian National DH Champion and Australian National 4X Overall Series winner.
Under-19 Downhill Champion and 3rd place in the Overall National Series Championship (2007-08).

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