RACING NEWS 

Southridge NORBA NMBS #1

Norba #1

Fontana, CA 5th-7th May 2006

Wednesday

Geritt B and I left our comfortable hideout in Murrieta CA where we had been hanging out with photomom -Jody Gomez- since Sea Otter three weeks earlier. Arriving at a dry and dusty Fontana early Wednesday morning, the pits already clinking and clanking with the familiar rustle of setup work in process fueled by caffeine induced highs and filled with industry insiders. This was where it was at. Reuniting with fellow South African and new addition to the Morewood US factory team, Jonty Neethling, we let out a burst of focused energy and effort to setup camp for the weekend ahead. It was not long before the Morewood pits were setup: tents up, trailer down, and fridge stocked, we were ready for racing.

Thursday

With the late night addition of Joanna P who had just flown in from Hawaii, the Morewood crew was now missing just one rider, Lisa M, who was still nursing a late'05 season injury and would only be joining up with the crew after Fontana. A late start to the days schedule allowed for bikes to be tweaked and tuned before the afternoon saw the first inspection and practice of the eagerly anticipated Fontana Downhill course.

With murmurs in the race pits of the course being flat and pedally and whispers of the notorious "wall", we prepared ourselves for the worst and were pleasantly surprised. The Southridge crew made the most of the small hill that was at their disposal and designed a course that had as much variation as a 3minuite course could offer. With a rock strewn top section encompassing both fast and slow areas, some extremely tight and tricky corners leading into rock chutes and waterfalls, and wide open moto-style corners shooting the riders out onto the flatter but equally fast bottom section where riders were lead alongside a wall dividing the course from the suburbs that surrounded it. Nicknamed "the wall" this was a flat out sprint for half a mile that took the riders into the final corners that lead to the finish area.

As the afternoon practice session progressed, the bikes and the riders settled into the course and it became far more enjoyable. After final tweaks to bike setup, I was lucky enough to get some time out of the pits to take a hike up the course and witness the Morewood riders at their best, and it was awesome! The course definitely highlighted the good areas of the bikes and team riders, bringing out the best in both, and promising for an interesting weekend and race to come.

The Mountain cross practice, beginning immediately after the Downhill practice was another surprise. The course, fairly flat and smooth in appearance proved to be somewhat rough and sketchy in areas. This however transformed a relatively plain and simple course into one that was more challenging to the riders, and far more fun than expected, but it was not long before a tired Morewood crew returned to the pits after a long day of riding.

Friday

Friday was a big day; an early morning start to make the most of the limited downhill practice, followed by final Mountain cross practice, and then qualifying. The downhill course, now eroded and lose after hundreds or riders doing run after run was taking the toll, new rocks were now exposed, ruts lined virtually every corner, things got tough. The riders took this in their stride however, and surprising said that they were having far more fun on the course than the day before, basking in the challenge that the downhill course offered.

After a short rest, and well deserved breath and break, we headed up to the top of the Mountain cross course for the final practice before qualifying. Qualifying went underway very quickly, with Cole B off first in his signature smooth, consistent style, posting an impressive time that would see him into the middle of the pack. Geritt B was next with a burst of power out of the gate lining himself up for an impressive time. Jonty came down a few riders later, shooting up an impressive roost in one of the final corners, and drawing out a loud cheer from the crowd. Jo was last down out of the Morewood crew, with a super smooth and fast run seeing her into 2nd place qualifier in the pro women field.

Saturday

With the success of the previous day still fresh in our minds, there was a clear sense of excitement in the Morewood pits on Saturday morning. Another downhill practice session saw the riders getting even more comfortable on the course, and even more settled into their new rides for the year. Times coming down, and speeds picking up, all of the riders seemed confident for the race the following day.

Final Mountain cross practice was underway late in the afternoon, with racing to follow suit. The course, after a lot of riding and racing done by the other categories the days before had loosened up a little more than before, and was now even rougher and dustier than it had been in the qualifying, this was bound to make the racing even more interesting and exciting than anticipated.

After numerous gate starts and corner practices, it seemed as though all of the Morewood riders were comfortable on the course. With the course layout most of the race would be competed along the first straight, and into the first corner as is often the case, here in Fontana however this was even more so than ever. The first corner was tricky to navigate, with many options for riders to take advantage of any position they had on the track, and in the field of competition.

Cole B was the first Morewood rider up in one of the first heats of the Pro Men's Mountain cross. Despite a good qualifying position and a good effort bad luck in the first corner rendered his best efforts useless eliminating him early in the race day. Jonty was up in the next heat of racing, his qualifying position seeing him pit up against some of the best Mountain cross riders out there, namely Mike King. A poor gate start had all of the Morewood crew with their hearts in their throat as Jonty fought hard down the first straight to make up ground. A smart on the spot decision in the first corner saw him take the inside line leading into the corner in last position and come out in first place, and defend this position the entire way down the course.

Geritt B was up next, his heat also seeing him go up against some big name riders. A good gate saw him I good position down the first straight, and riding smart he stuck a good line through the berm defending his position and allowing him to come out of the first corner in the lead, and go on to win the heat. Unfortunately bad luck in the next round saw both Geritt B and Jonty N being eliminated from the racing to finish 13th and 16th respectively. With Giants Jared Rando going on to take the top spot having qualified fastest and won all of his heats along the way. Awesome riding Jared!

With Jo's heats to follow however, there was still hope for a Morewood rider on the podium. Her first heat went incredibly well, forecasting what was to come and securing her position in the Pro women's final. After a good shot out of the gate in the final heat, Jo came down the start straight in 3rd, entering the first corner in the middle of the pack and carrying enough speed coming out of it to catapult herself into second. This of course brought all of us to our feet as we watched eagerly to take in the awesome racing that was happening before us. Jo shot down the second straight, a wheel behind Leanna Gerrard from the Bear Naked Cannondale team edging just in front of her into the second corner. Being forced wide in the corner however saw Jo in the slower lane, and Leanna keep her lead and defend it through to the finish with Jo taking a close second and Maxxis rider April Lawyer taking third place. Great racing!

Sunday

Early morning Downhill practices meant it was early up for the Morewood crew once again. Arriving at Southridge with a little bit of sleep in our eyes still it was not long before things sped up and we all begun to feel human once again. All of the riders were on the hill first thing to ensure they got in the necessary practice runs to set them in good staid for the qualifying and racing that was to follow a little later.

Once the course had closed and practice was over the whole Morewood crew regrouped for a little bit of a break before hitting the hill once again for the qualifying run. All were in good spirits and feeling confident about the racing ahead. With minds set and bikes tuned it was off.

Jo was the first Morewood rider down and posted an awesome time seeing her take the top spot in the Pro women's qualifier two seconds ahead of Bear Naked Cannondale rider Wendy Reynolds, and scoring valuable series points. Cole was to follow with a super impressive run placing him in 17th in the Pro men's category. Jonty N followed suit with an awesome 12th place spot. The big surprise came down the hill with Geritt, scorching the track and sealing himself safely in first place in the Pro men's qualifier. It was a Morewood 1-1.

It did not take long for the racing to get underway, Jo was the last of the Pro women's field to enter the track, and with a perfect top section she blasted her way to take the top spot ahead of April Lawyer by an awesome nine seconds! Her effort getting her and Morewood their first ever Pro women's NORBA win!

In the Pro men's race it was Cole that would come down first out of the Morewood guys, posting an impressive time of 2.16.75 seeing him into an eventual 10th place overall in the thick Pro men's field. Jonty was off a short while later, cranking his way down the course to place himself 16th with a time of 2.18.03. Geritt, the last rider down had us all waiting with bated breath at the bottom of the track. With Jo following her first place qualifier with a win in the Pro women's race, all eyes were on Geritt to see if he could do the same in the men's race, this was not to be however; a flat at the top of the course and a further related mechanical limited his best efforts, but thanks to these however he saw himself coming down in 11th position overall with a time of 2.16.88, leaving all wondering what could have been.

In Closing

I would just like to congratulate all of the riders who competed at Fontana, especially the Morewood riders who surprised and impressed us all with tremendous results. On behalf of all of the riders, I would also like to send big thanks out to the organizers for putting together such a great event! To all of the team support crew and sponsors, your contributions are much appreciated, and without you we would not be achieving the results we are, you're awesome! See you all at the US Open in three weeks!