Southridge Season Opener Update!

*****Update courtesy of the man with two names, Charles Taylor Libolt********



Hey y'all fellow Backboners, here is the downhill
rap-up for the first Fontana Winter Series race this
weekend!
Saturday was an incredible day for riding, temps in
the 70s, clear skies, and no wind. Which meant great
racing for the XC guys, and great practice for the
downhillers. The DH course remained tacky throughout
the day, thanks to some recent rain storms that packed
down all the dirt.
Of course, that all changed Sunday morning when I
rolled out of bed and stared out my bedroom window.
The trees near my second floor balcony were leaning in
from the howling winds that picked up overnight.
Gotta love those good ole' Santa Ana winds that decide
to pick up each year for the Fontucky series.
By race time, the top of the hill was practically a
joke, I felt like I was summiting Everest. Each step
took total concentration to not be blown off the side
of the mountain. Which, unfortunately did happen to
an unknown female DH racer. A sudden gust of wind
picked her up off the course, and left her with a
broken ankle. With complaints and injuries suffered
by riders being blown off course by sudden strong
gusts of wind, Donny Jackson decided it was in our
best interest to change the course prior to the start.
It is a very rare occasion when the course is changed
prior to the start, and I side with Donny 100% on that
decision, it was getting pretty hairy out there.
Fortunately, the change was a minor one, and the race
started a mere 1 hour behind schedule after the
injured persons were escorted off the hill.
Every rider at the top unanimously agreed that
their respective class would be won by the person who
suffered the least amount of wind gusts during their
race run. I'll have to check the weather reports for
the actual wind speeds, but they were the strongest
winds I have ever tried to ride in.
I had a fairly clean run, only blown off course
once, and had one other minor mistake due to the wind.
I wound up in 7th place in semi-pro, not great, but
not bad either considering its the first race of the
season. I'll be back out there in 2 weeks to see if I
can pick up those few seconds and make a run for one
of the top podium spots. Pictures will follow as soon
as they get posted, there were tons of photographers
on the XC and DH course this weekend.
Taylor

***Randy's XC update from Saturday coming soon!*****