“Wow, what a weekend! I have always enjoyed racing at Brian Head with BME. Day 1 was a long one, with an early wake up call to start the pedal to stage 1 followed by 3 more stages out in the backcountry. The stages were brutal, a combination of pedaling and rocky terrain all at 11,000 ft of elevation. I was able to take a stage win on stage 2 and was sitting in second just 8 seconds behind 1st. Later that day, I raced the Big Mountain Downhill. After rain and lighting delayed the start, I was happy to get 2nd and carry some momentum into day 2 of racing for the enduro!
KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton on the trail at the fifth stop of the Big Mountain enduro series at Brian Head resort in Utah.
Day 2 we got to stay in the bike park for the remaining 3 stages which I was excited about but knew I had to push hard to make up the time. After stage 6, Porsha and I were pretty much tied going into the last stage. I gave it everything I had and was able to win the stage by .4 seconds and get the win overall!I came into this weekend with the goal to have fun and ride like I know how to ride and it paid off! I’m so stoked to take the win after 7 stages and super tight racing in the enduro! The team has been working hard this year to get to this point and I feel proud to be able to share it with everyone involved!
– Isabella Naughton
KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton takes first in Women’s enduro at the fifth stop of the Big Mountain Enduro series at Brian Head Resort in Utah.
Big Mountain Enduro Rd 5, Brian Head, UT. was last modified: July 19th, 2024 by Flick
Round 2 of the Big Mountain Enduro Series went down at Windrock bike park in Tennessee this weekend! Crazy rain at the beginning of the week made for pretty muddy practice days which made learning the stages a little challenging. The sun did come out though and started to dry up the dirt a bit and the racing was full on from there. The two days of racing were a blast but also brutal on the body.
KHS Pro MTB Rider Bella Naughton on the trail at the BME round 2 in Windrock TN.
Day 1 was 3 stages with two being 8+ minutes of racing on rough, steep, rocky terrain that never let up the whole way down. The arm pump got me towards the end of stage 1 and it was a battle to try and tame it the best I could the rest of the weekend. Day 2 was another 4 stages of again, gnarly tracks that really tested fitness and skills. I
KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton on the podium in 4th place for Pro Women’s Enduro at the BME round 2 in Windrock TN.
was happy I was able to keep it together and get some good stage results and make up some time. I finished the weekend 4th overall in Pro Women!
KHS Pro MTB rider Jackson Wicklund on the podium in 1st place for Semi Pro Enduro at the BME round 2 in Windrock TN.
I’m also super proud of the whole KHS team putting in great results! Jackson winning the semi pro class was pretty awesome to see!
KHS Pro MTB Rider Jackson Wicklund on the trail at the BME round 2 in Windrock TN.
Lucas 3rd in e-bikes and Shane with a solid 12th place in Pro men! We all have a lot of fun and I enjoy getting to learn from them at every race!Thank you to all our sponsors for supporting the team and making these race weekends happen! We wouldn’t be able to do it without all your help! I plan on putting my head down and working hard these next few weeks to get ready for the 3rd round in Sunrise, Arizona! -Bella Naughton / Factory Enduro
KHS Pro MTB rider Lucas Cowan on the podium in 3rd place for E-Bike at the BME round 2 in Windrock TN.
Stoked to have been racing on some proper tracks this weekend. Was glad to be racing the big bike again and on some DH tracks. Saturday race day had some gnarly long tracks that were rad, unfortunately I had a few mechanicals throughout the day that kept me a bit further back.
KHS Pro MTB Rider Shane Leslie on the trail at the BME round 2 in Windrock TN.
Sunday started to dry up and was able to charge a bit more. I was happy to have a top ten stage and start pushing the pace a bit more. I’m really excited to have a month at home prepping for my home race at Sunrise in Arizona. I can’t wait to be racing in the dry and be battling up front again! -Shane Leslie / Factory Enduro
KHS Pro MTB Rider Jackson Wicklund on the trail at the BME round 2 in Windrock TN.
Big Mountain Enduro Rd 2, Windrock Tennessee was last modified: May 15th, 2024 by Flick
The first round of the Big Mountain Enduro Series took place in Mt. Nebo, Arkansas this weekend. It was a rainy week which made for some wild racing. I opted to ride my KHS 6600 paired with Kenda Pinners and Sr Suntour 36 durolux fork and triair2 shock. Day 1 was 4 stages with a combination of raw cut trails as well as pretty pedaly flow trails.
KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton on the trail.
I had a decent stage 1, finishing 2nd but after the rain started coming down again on the transfer from stage 2 to 3 things got interesting and I unfortunately made a few mistakes on the rest of the stages. After day 1 I was sitting 4th but knew I could make up time on the last 3 stages on Sunday as they were more of the fun raw cut that I like. However, Mother Nature had other plans which cancelled the race day due to lightning and heavy rain and only times from day 1 were taken for the overall. I was bummed to not get a chance to pull back time on the rest of the stages but understand safety is a priority and BME had to make the tough call to not finish the day.
KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton on the podium in fourth place at the BME round 1.
In the end I was on the podium with 4th in Pro Women, and a lot of good things to take away to future races. I am looking forward to heading to Windrock, Tennessee to race the next round of the Big Mountain Enduro Series next weekend, hopefully the rain stays away enough for us to finish a whole weekend! Big thank you to those who support the team and keep us running through tough weekends like these.
-Bella Naughton
KHS Pro MTB rider Lucas Cowan on the trail.
Mt Nebo was my First time racing the E-MTB enduro category. Practice went well, riding the stages with the e-bike was a lot nicer than practicing in the past with acoustic bikes. Stages varied from flow trails to rough cut slippery steeps. We got some rain and sun during practice days that made the stages very slick and difficult to ride. But was good to ride the different stages in varying conditions before the race. Day 1 of racing went well, weather was great and we spent a lot of time studying go pros before the day started. Saturday morning we learned we will have uphill “power stages” each day or racing in the middle of a transfer. I got 2nd place every stage on day 1 and had decent runs. I ended up getting 3rd on the “power stage”. I finished day one of racing in 2nd place.
KHS Pro MTB rider Lucas Cowan on the podium in second place at the BME round 1.
Day 2 racing started early with poor visibility due to fog and an incoming storm. I started the day with a 3rd place stage finish. We had heavy rains over night so I rode cautiously expecting everything to be slick. I Finished 2nd on the last two stages and the uphill “power stage”. I was happy to finish the first race of the year in second place. I am excited to head out to windrock and hopefully race in better conditions! -Lucas Cowan
KHS Pro MTB rider Jackson Winklund on the trail.
Happy to get the race season going over here on the east coast. BME always puts on a great race with technical tracks. Had a busy week getting the 7 stages of practice figured out Thursday and Friday. On and off rain made for some slippery conditions this week. The weekend held some great racing with 4 stages on Saturday. I was able to come away leading after Day 1 of racing 10 seconds up on the field. Sunday started smooth but rain rolling in made the tracks roll slow. Ended up flatting on stage 6 ending my time in the lead. That was all the weekend wrote and I placed 4th just missing the podium after that mechanical. Onto Windrock, rain in the forecast should make for some good racing.
-Jackson Winklund
BME Round 1, Mt. Nebo Arkansas was last modified: May 6th, 2024 by Flick
“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.
“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 strong season”.
– Shane Leslie
KHS Pro MTB rider Shane Leslie at round 3 of the BME in Durango Colorado.
Big Mountain Enduro Round 3, Durango Colorado was last modified: July 11th, 2023 by Flick
