Round 4 of the Big Mountain Enduro Series took place in Angel Fire, New Mexico this weekend. Angel Fire has always been one of my favorite bike parks to ride and I was looking forward to getting to race here. The two race days consisted of 7 stages with two in the backcountry and the rest in the park. Day 1 started in the bike park on one of my favorite stages of the weekend, I came down in second 1 second out of the lead.
KHS PRo MTB rider Bella Naughton on the podium in fifth place at the Big Mountain Enduro stop in Angel Fire New Mexico.
Then we headed to the backcountry. I unfortunately had a slide out on stage 2 and moved back to 3rd, Stage 3 was better and I was able to move back into 2nd. The last stage of the day was the longest and probably the most important stage of the day/weekend. I made another mistake and crashed, twisting my bars which set me back quite a bit in time. The rain came overnight heading into day 2 which made for some slick conditions for the remaining 3 stages.
KHS PRo MTB rider Lucas Cowan on the podium in second place at the Big Mountain Enduro stop in Angel Fire New Mexico.
I continued to make mistakes throughout the day but managed to salvage a 5th place. Overall, I am happy with how I am progressing. I just need to get better about carrying it through the whole weekend. Proud of the whole team and especially Lucas for getting 2nd in the E-bike men’s class! Looking forward to regrouping and getting ready for round 5 in Brian Head in 2 weeks!
–Bella Naughton
Big Mountain Enduro Rd. 4, Angel Fire New Mexico was last modified: July 3rd, 2024 by Flick
Round 3 of the Big Mountain Enduro Series took place at Sunrise Park Resort in Arizona. This venue is always a proper enduro, racing above 11,000ft on long physical downhills. Day 1 started with an hour and a half pedal to get to the backcountry where we raced two brutal but super fun raw stages before heading back to the bike park for the last stage of the day.
KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton takes 3rd place at round 3 of the Big Mountain Enduro series at Sunrise Resort, Az.
Day 2 was mostly in the bike park with 4 top to bottom stages that really got the arms pumping and tested all the fitness that I had left after day 1. I was happy to get a stage win on stage 6! After 40+ minutes of racing I finished 3rd overall in Pro Women. I am motivated to continue to improve and get faster. Next up for the team is the North American Enduro Cup in Kellogg, Idaho! -Isabella Naughton
KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton on the course at the 3rd stop of the Big Mountain Enduro series that was help at Sunrise Resort, Az.
Sunrise BME is a great venue with a mix of raw bike park stages and “rough cut” backcountry stages. 2 physical days of racing at elevation on long rough tracks make for tough weekend. I was very excited for a dry race close to home. Day one started with two back country stages that I finished 3rd on both to start the day.
KHS Pro MTB rider Jackson Wicklund takes 3rd place at round 3 of the Big Mountain Enduro series at Sunrise Resort, Az.Screenshot
Then e-bikes went straight into an uphill “power stage” that was a very steep hill climb with log and rock obstacles. We Ended the day with a top to bottom bike park stage that I finished 2nd on. With all stages raced on day one I finished the day in 3rd place 15 seconds away 2nd place. Going into day two I was planning on pushing hard to get into 2nd place.
KHS Pro MTB rider Jackson Wicklund on the course at the 3rd stop of the Big Mountain Enduro series that was help at Sunrise Resort, Az.
The day consisted of 3 bike park stages, 1 backcountry stage and 1 uphill stage. I ended up getting 3, 2nd place stage finishes but didn’t quite make up the time I needed. I’m happy with how I was riding on the second day and to finish the weekend healthy in 3rd place.
KHS Pro MTB rider McKenna Merten on the course at the 3rd stop of the Big Mountain Enduro series that was help at Sunrise Resort, Az.Screenshot
I was very happy with how my new SR Suntour suspension paired with Kenda tires handled the dry rough stages. I was running a new Duralux 38 fork with 170mm of travel and a Kenda pinner up front and the new Black Diamond tire in the rear. -Lucas Cowan
KHS Pro MTB rider McKenna Merten takes 3rd place in the women’s downhill at round 3 of the Big Mountain Enduro series at Sunrise Resort, Az.Screenshot
Super fun weekend with the team! Stoked to finish third in my first Big Mountain Downhill race on a really technical and physical course. Overall a great weekend of racing and cheering on everyone in the Enduro. Thanks to the KHS Pro Team and co-sponsors for the support and helping me chase my dreams each weekend!
–McKenna Merten
Big Mountain Enduro Rd 3, Sunrise Az. was last modified: June 14th, 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
