Monster Pro Downhill Archives

The last time I did a downhill race (which was actually my first ever downhill race) was in 2018 at National Champs in Snowshoe, West Virginia where I became Junior Downhill National Champion. I have been wanting to do some more downhill racing for a while now and with the enduro season winding down I thought the Monster Pro Downhill Series in Big Bear, California would be the perfect opportunity.

KHS Pro MTB rider Bella Naughton at the Monster Pro Downhill series stop at Big Bear, CA.

Only practicing and racing one track was different for me coming from enduro but I really enjoyed having to pick apart and learn every inch of the track. We raced a trail called 10-ply and the Big Bear trail crew did an incredible job changing up the trail for the race. The loose, moon dust, dirt was ever changing and it really kept you on your toes because a rut that was there one lap could be blown and gone the next.

It was a fun challenge and it made for some great racing. I had a lot of fun getting used to the Sr Suntour Rux 38 downhill fork. The stabilization that a dual crown fork provides was so cool and inspired a lot of confidence in my riding.

Saturday was qualifying/seeding day, I didn’t really have a whole lot of expectations with this being my first downhill other than to ride my bike as best and as fast as I could. I surprised myself with having the first two fastest split times and qualifying 3rd.

The next day was finals, we had an hour in the morning to practice and then would do our race run later in the afternoon.

Our start time got delayed to allow for some reruns in the amateur categories.

Having a lot of time to sit at the top of the track and wait was something I wasn’t as used to and it heightened my nerves a bit more. I dropped into my race run and almost immediately felt my arms pump up. I tried to not think about it and just made sure to hit my lines the best I could. I ended up finishing 3rd in Pro Women and I couldn’t be more stoked!

I am proud of what I accomplished this weekend. A big thank you to the KHS Pro Mtb team as I couldn’t have done it without them. I look forward to doing more downhill racing in the future!

-Bella Naughton

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.