| Fontana has a lot going for it if you are in need of outlet malls, freeways, or want to buy a house that looks exactly like your neighbor’s. It is about as unlikely a place to hold a National Championship Mountain Bike Race as you can get. But, it is right next door to a major airport, has numerous hotels, and is in the midst of the largest urban population in the United States. The race venue was held again at a local park bordering a small mountain range, and sandwiched between housing developments.
Course Description I don’t know how it is possible but the trails and dirt roads were even drier than last year, the braking bumps were more like hills, the ruts deeper, and the sand plentiful. The first section of the course wound its way uphill onto a paved road (included for easier passing), then continued on singletrack to the top of the Super D course. Some of these climbs were steep but easily rideable (unlike Firestone the week before). The descent was tight twisty singletrack until you came to a section about 100 feet long with foot deep silt. The first time down this hill was pretty ugly. My front wheel had a mind of its own. Once at the bottom you were rewarded with some decent singletrack but that dumped you out onto a road with 200 yards of desert-like sand. The backside climb was unremarkable but the downhill was full of ruts, silt, and braking bumps. It was the location of many crashes during the weekend. At the bottom you began the most significant climb of the course, probably the better part of a mile. At the top you suddenly you were on trails that felt familiar with quick ups and downs, and plentiful rocks. I was glad to have my full suspension at that point. This cool singletrack ended at a concrete water culvert that you rode down and began over a mile of fairly flat dirt road. At the end of the dirt road you turned uphill one more time and then went down some steep singletrack onto the last major dirt road. The return to the venue included one nasty little hill, and a run-in through some shady eucalyptus trees. All in all, the course was about 7 miles. |
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| Fontana NMBS #3 2007 Fontana, California |
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| Women’s Racing
This is the year of Georgia Gould. She is not just winning but is dominating races. In the Cross Country Race, only teammate Katerina Nash could match Georgia’s horsepower for one lap. From that point on, it simply became a Gould Time Trial. As usual, the three top Luna riders made the podium. I was excited before the Short Track Race, knowing that last year’s winner Alison Sydor was in the field along with Cyclocross superstar Katie Compton. As expected, all the main rivals traded punches the first few laps. Compton moved up to second wheel but could not hold that position. Eventually Gould motored away Sydor. Katerina Nash, third at that point did not chase her teammate, but went around Sydor on the last lap to take second. Shonny Vanlandingham, normally on the podium, had a poor start but slowly picked off riders for a 6th place finish. The Super D LeMan’s start was really a fun place to be. The racers ran downhill to their bikes, then back uphill to the starting line. In the field were Marla Steb (who arrived late and had no practice on the course), downhiller Kathy Pruit, Katie Compton, and Kelli Emmett who is previous Super D winner. Pruit won the running portion but then missed the turn onto the singletrack. Compton entered the singletrack third, while Emmett got caught behind some slower riders. Streb was mid-pack after the run but moved steadily through the field to end up fourth. Compton won the race by getting to the front and bombing the downhill. X-Terra star Jamie Whitmore was second. |
| Men’s Racing
The cross country race was one of the best of the weekend. On the first lap Barry Wicks took a slim 10 second lead but was caught by four chasers near the start/finish line. Wicks was quickly gapped by Trebon, JHK, Wells, and Kabush but hung on for a 5th place finish. Kabush was having a rough day being gapped on climbs only to regain contact on downhills and flats. Trebon climbed well but was uncomfortable on the downhills due to a new flat bar on his bike. As a result he tried to be first onto descents wherever he could. With a mile to go Kabush dug deep for an uphill attack and got to the final singletrack first. JHK chased hard but could not catch Kabush. The Super D race had some real talent with Adam Craig, Ross Schnell, and Carl Decker in the hunt. Adam was something like 5th onto the singletrack but passed nearly everyone on the uphill. He then bombed the downhill and was fast on the dirt road back to the race venue. With Ross Schnell sitting second, Decker chose not to chase his teammate, but came around Schnell for 2nd. Perhaps the most exciting race of the weekend was Men’s Short Track. Ross Schnell took an early lead and wowed the crowd by catching air in the whoops of the mountain cross course. An elite chase group caught him after a couple laps, and Trebon counter-attacked and immediately got a 10 second lead. From that point on he added approximately 2 seconds per lap for a convincing win. The chase group looked confused with Kabush not willing or able to lead the chase. Finally Adam Craig came around him and led for a lap or two. Wells eventually put the hammer down and took charge. He was so strong that he dropped all other chasers. Rising star Max Plaxton would grab third, followed by JHK and Kabush. |
| Bolts and such
As our hotel was about 6 miles from the venue it was convenient to ride there on our bikes. I immediately noticed assorted bolts along the bike lane and wondered how they got there. We don’t see anything like that on Boston roads. On my return trip on the final day, I made a count. There were over 200 bolts, washers, nozzles, rubber pieces, and so forth. But I also saw what looked like about 5 feet of metal brake fluid tubing and two distributor wires! The question that came to mind is this……”Are there hundreds of cars and trucks driving around LA ready to fall apart because they are missing the hardware that holds them together?” One type of bolt outnumbered the others by a large margin. It was approximately 1.5 inches long and about ¼ inch in diameter. If Locktite had not already been invented, I would come up with a similar product, move to LA, and get rich. A Mystery Indeed I have been to the Olive Garden restaurants a few times with my kids. They serve what I would consider to be mediocre Italian food. Yet, my track record getting into these places is extremely poor due to the massive lines. Colt and I decided to give the one in Fontana a “go”. I did not even park the car but just pulled up along side the restaurant and ran inside. It was a Wednesday night so I did not expect a problem. But, as I rounded the corner to the entrance I could see people sitting outside. Not a good sign. I asked the hostess how long the wait was and she relied “35 minutes minimum”. What is it about these places? Is it the advertising, the endless salad and breadsticks, or do Americans just crave overcooked pasta? If anyone understands this phenomenon, please drop me a note. Be Thankful For What We Have Most bike racers show up for their event, register, and head to the starting line. They have little understanding about the behind-the-scenes organization and infrastructure that makes it all happen. Since Colt and I are usually traveling a long way to races, we arrive a couple days early and get to see how an ordinary park is transformed into a major race venue. Typically it starts with Naked Man from Team Big Bear pulling in his big tractor trailer truck that will become the announcing stage, sound studio, official’s seating, and home to the event timing staff. There are numerous courses to be marked, a computerized registration tent to be set up, riders meetings, volunteer meetings, coordination with local officials, creation of a mountain cross course (with bulldozers), media relations, and making sure all the races go off on time. It is a monumental task. If you add in the cost of event promotion, it costs a small fortune. While riders often gripe about the higher-than-they-used-to-be entry fees, we should consider ourselves lucky to have these events at all. Many do not break even. The event at Snowmass last year netted losses in six figures. Despite land access issues and years of declining numbers of racers, I sense that the sport is now on the way to good health again. So next time you are at one of these events, look up some of the Big Bear/ Blue Wolf guys and thank them. They are easy to find since they will be at the event hours before you, and still there hours afterwards. |
| Georgia and Shonny wishing each other good luck |
| Pro Men appear to be riding a BMX course as they chase Trebon |
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| Photo Galleries Women's Cross Country Men's Cross Country Women's Short Track Men's Short Track Women's Super D Men's Super D Semi-Pro Cross Country Semi-Pro Short Track Misc. Event Photos |
| Video Interviews with Gould, Kabush, Compton and more. Some of these you may have seen uploaded to news websites. |
| Be Prepared
As an occasional event promoter myself, I know that finding volunteers is the hardest part of event planning. I have even canceled an event for which there was insufficient staff. The last couple years at Fontana have come about only because of some innovation regarding volunteers. Last year, a local basketball league was recruited to assist with the race. They got a donation to their team along T-Shirts and an eye-opening introduction to the world of bicycle racing. This year, the Fontana Boy Scouts filled the same role and did an awesome job. Before the start of the Men’s Short Track Race, one of the Boy Scouts was awarded a free bicycle courtesy of KHS Bikes. You should have seen the smile on that kid’s face! Tatoos, Muscles, and Slings Fontana was the first NMBS event this year that included both endurance (XC, STX, Super D) athletes along with the gravity (Downhill) guys. It brings about a strange mix of people at the race venue. The Gravity guys break their bikes so often that they frequently can be seen doing major overhauls of shocks and such at their vehicles. These guys have no desire to ride uphill. One guy told me he had tried Cross Country but thought “the uphills were boring” so he never did it again. Yet there is a respect that exists between both groups of riders. The Cross Country folks consider most of the downhill courses to be suicidal, and the Gravity guys know that they would be puking halfway through one lap of a cross country course. What interests me is how the two groups came to look so different. Gravity guys are often covered with tattoos and body piercings. Their upper bodies look like they spend some serious time pumping iron. The endurance riders look skinny, almost puny in comparison. It is sort of like comparing Greyhounds to Pit Bulls, or Harley bikers to Vespa riders. I have a theory…….endurance riders do not have as many tattoos because their arms are too skinny for them in the first place. Gravity guys drink more beer after their races, put down more fried chicken wings, and generally seem less fixated on reading food labels, keeping training logs, or making sure they have enough hours of sleep. You can always tell you are at a Gravity event when starting on Day 2, Gravity Guys start sporting arm slings. It is almost a badge of honor. So, who has more fun? From my perspective, the Gravity guys win hands down. Perhaps they think we (endurance riders) do because the long training miles let us eat twice that of sedentary people. There is a cool synergy going on here that makes mounting biking a fun sport to be part of. |