McKenna Merten Archives

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. — 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

I had a great time at Rock Creek for the first-ever Monster Pro Downhill Series race this past weekend. I drove into North Carolina on Thursday and headed up for a track walk while Jon at SR Suntour serviced my fork for a big weekend of racing. Scoped out all the different sections and lines and was so excited to get on track the next day.

KHS Pro MTB rider McKenna Merten at the Monster Downhill series round one.

On Friday morning, we practiced bright and early in the morning. Did a solid six laps learning and dialing in the course. The race track was running so well; there were a lot of technical rock sections mixed with fresh cut steep loam bits and quite a few fun features throughout the track; Neko Mulally and the guys at Rock Creek did an awesome job at putting a killer race course together for us. I chilled the rest of Friday, knowing we had a lot of work to do on the weekend. We went to the mountain on Saturday morning, got another four solid laps in on the course, and went right into seeding afterward.

I had a good and smooth seeding run, which slotted me into seventh place. Race day came before I knew it, and I couldn’t wait to see what I could do racing against some of the best ladies in the world. Got a few good practice runs in and waited for my drop time. I did my pre-race warm-ups, and then it was go time. By the end of the weekend, the course was a little blown out, so I felt pretty loose in my race run but held it together enough for a solid sixth place, only 0.2 seconds off of a podium spot and beating my seeding time by over a second.

KHS Pro MTB rider McKenna Merten crossing the finish line at the Monster Downhill series round one.

Tight times across the board, but I am very happy with my progress and performance. Working and training hard every day and being that close to some of the top girls in the world feels good. I am so excited to head out to the Sea Otter Classic in a week and do some dual slalom racing. Thank you so much to the KHS Pro MTB team and all the cosponsors for the support. My bike and entire setup is perfect, and I am so happy and lucky to be a part of such an awesome team.