Category: Team

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2023 US National Championships

The 2023 USA National Championships was hosted this past weekend at the new Ride Rock Venue located in the amazing mountains of North Carolina. The week’s weather would be a drastic roller coaster ride from dry to wet conditions ever changing. We had the best athletes from America competing for the top spots in multiple categories. It would be Nathan Kitchen who would be competing in Jr. Pro DH and Slalom, Kailey Skelton would be backing up 2021 – 2022 DH National titles and Steven Walton would be holding it down for the Pro men’s DH category. Friday’s DS was a mudder to start to finish. Rain soaked the track and the riders early in the day pushing back the start of racing a few hours. Hats off to the track crew who absolutely worked a miracle to get the rain rutted track in shape for seeding and finals.

KHS Pro MTB rider Nate Kitchen on the track at the US National Championships.
KHS Pro MTB rider Nate Kitchen on the track at the US National Championships.

The day would end with Nathan winning his 1st DS National Championship! Sunday’s downhill track recovered from the heavy rains of Saturday and racing finish times dropped! Saturday would be a full day of qualifying for all team members with very wet track conditions. Everyone would have solid qualifying runs with everyone’s mind on Sunday’s finals and weather looking completely different.  Sunday would bring high pressure for everyone gunning for the top spots. It would be Nathan Kitchen who would improve his qualifying run and get back on the podium in 3rd. Kailey Skelton would push hard as possible but unfortunately just fall short into 2nd place and Steven Walton would…
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Big Mountain Enduro Round 3, Durango Colorado

“I had a fun weekend with the team in Durango for stop three of the BME Series! With a base elevation of 8,800ft and summit of 10,882 , this race was tough on the body! After over 40 minutes and 8 stages of racing I was able to come away with a 2nd place podium finish in Open E-Bike and continue leading the overall points standings going into the final event of the series! A huge thank you to the shimano crew on site for assisting to make sure my KHS 6555+ was running top notch all weekend in the tough colorado conditions.  Off to National Champs this week in North Carolina before diving back in to finish the Big Mountain Enduro Series with a bang!”
– Steven Walton
KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton on the podium in second place in the E-bike class at the round 3 of the BME in Durango Colorado.
KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton on the podium in second place in the E-bike class at the round 3 of the BME in Durango Colorado.
“The week started off really well. I was looking forward to putting in a top-five finish and getting my first podium of the season, the KHS Pro MTB program has really been coming together, and I am feeling very acclimated to the bike and team. I had some great overall stage finishes within the top three but unfortunately on day one I had a massive mechanical, which would put me out of the overall. Looking forward to the fourth round which is hosted two weeks from now in Brian Head Utah. It’s time to get on that podium and finish out a…
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North American Enduro & Rampage Prep

This past Holiday weekend was the North American Enduro Cup hosted in Kellogg, Idaho. This event is a one of the EWS ranked venues, hosting the most elite athletes from North America. The terrain and stages it holds are some of the most superb mountain biking has to offer in the north west. The racers from all around North America would only have Friday to hone in their skills and get a grasp for the seven grueling stages ahead, which would be hosted Saturday and Sunday.

KHS Pro MTB team rider Shane Leslie at in Kellogg Idaho for the North American Enduro Cup.
KHS Pro MTB team rider Shane Leslie at in Kellogg Idaho for the North American Enduro Cup.

It would be our Pro Enduro athlete Shane Leslie, who would be just coming off a practice injury with still some inflammation in his chest, but good enough to give it to go. Shane would have some work cut out for himself with all the top North American athletes racing this weekend. He would put all his effort into seven stages and over 6000ft of climbing he would come out in 11th Pl. He was still under the weather from his practice injury, and definitely is wanting to get on that podium . Shane and the rest of the team will have a week break until they head off to the Big Mountain Enduro series that will be hosted in Durango, Colorado for the third round!

KHS Pro MTB team rider Westynn Iverson getting in some practice in Virgin Utah. KHS Pro MTB team rider Westynn Iverson getting in some practice in…
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BME Round 2, Sunrise Resort, AZ

Round two of the Big Mountain Enduro series fired off at Sunrise Resort, located deep in the White Mountain Apache tribe land. The team would be competing in the Pro women’s EDR and Pro men’s EDR-E. It would be Kailey Skelton and Steven Walton holding it down for this national Enduro race. With Shane Leslie unfortunately having a practice crash just days before the event, he would be heeling up for next week’s Northwest Enduro Cup and Nate Kitchen already being over in the Austrian Alps for his junior pro World Cup debut.
KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton riding at Sunrise Resort in Greer Arizona at the BME.
KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton riding at Sunrise Resort in Greer Arizona at the BME.
There would be seven grueling stages at this weekend’s race. Saturday would entail three stages, more leaning towards back country and longer times and Sunday’s finals would be the other four stages which were shorter and more explosive stages.
KHS Pro MTB rider Kailey Skelton riding at Sunrise Resort in Greer Arizona at the BME.
KHS Pro MTB rider Kailey Skelton riding at Sunrise Resort in Greer Arizona at the BME.
Steven Walton would have three great stages and would be holding the lead going into Sunday’s finals with Kailey Skelton having some struggles and small minor crashes that would put her day one results in the top 10. With high elevations topping at 11,000 feet fitness was playing a huge part for all the athletes competing. Both athletes would be recovering for Sunday’s finals. Kaily who needed to bring back some time and Steven Walton on the…
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