Nate Kitchens Archives - KHS Bicycles

August 20, 2023September 15, 2023

Big Bear, CA Gravity Fest / Strait Acres Slalom Event

KHS Pro MTB rider Nate Kitchen in Big Bear California at the Strait Acres, Gravity Fest.

The festival would take place in the Big Bear, California San Bernardino Mountain Range, which is known for some of the best mountain biking in North America. Shane Leslie would be competing in the Pro men’s Enduro category with some tough competition ahead. Shane would overcome all the presented stages and take the overall victory.

KHS Pro MTB rider Shane Leslie in Big Bear California at the Strait Acres, Gravity Fest.

It was great to see Shane on the top spot of the podium and gather some more confidence heading into the back half of the season with some EWS rounds left on his schedule. The main highlight of the weekend was the Dual Slalom which brought some of the best racers around the world to compete for the top spots. It would be our Jr Pro Nate Kitchen who would be stepping up to the premier class and Steven Walton both athletes would be among the best to duel it out for the pristine Strait Acres event. Friday would be Slalom qualifying with everything trying to make the night show which was only the top 16.

KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton in Big Bear California at the Strait Acres, Gravity Fest.Strait Acres, Big Bear Lake, California

Steven Walton would give it his best attempts to get in the final rounds, but would barely fall short at the end of the day qualifying 18th. Nate Kitchen would take his skills among the best and would have a blazing qualifying run to sit in 6th position. Finals would be hosted Saturday evening with Nate’s eye’s on the prize, his first round was going very well beating out top athlete Nik Nestoroff in the first red lane, but would have some quick misfortune by losing his chain in the next battle and not making it onto the round of 8.

KHS Pro MTB rider Nate Kitchens in Big Bear California at the Strait Acres, Gravity Fest.Strait Acres, Big Bear Lake, California

Nate showed amazing speed alongside the top professionals as he was still a Jr. Pro. Sunday would be hosting the Downhill event which was going to be some of the best action all week. With Hurricane Hilary on the move, it was in everyone’s best safety that the race had been canceled and was most likely being moved to the next weekend. The overall weekend was amazing. We want to thank everyone at Team Big Bear, Strait Acres, and Snow Summit for hosting another great event! The team would also like to thank all our sponsors, fans, friends, and family who continue to support!

KHS Pro MTB rider Shane Leslie on the podium taking first place in Enduro in Big Bear California at the Strait Acres, Gravity Fest.

April 22, 2022

Podiums at the 2022 Sea Otter Classic

KHS Pro MTB rider Kailey Skelton racing down the downhill track at Sea Otter.

KHS pro MTB rider Nate Kitchens first place for Jr. Dual Slalom race at Sea Otter.

Sea Otter Classic 2022 is back in full swing with a massive international field of racers and vendors attending! It was absolutely excellent to see everyone enjoying the festival that has been such a notable iconic event for many decades. Team KHS Pro MTB would be in full effect racing Enduro, Dual Slalom and Downhill!

KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff standing 3rd place on the enduro podium at Sea Otter.

It would be Nik Nestoroff firing off Pro men’s Enduro for his first Sea Otter Enduro of his career. He was very excited that two out of the four stages would come with experience being stages on DH and Slalom. The other two stages would be grueling physical stages that would almost be closer to XC racing than Enduro, but with the mix of all the stages and Nik’s experience he would come out with an amazing top 3 finish against some of the world’s best athletes.

KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton racing down the downhill track at Sea Otter.

Nate Kitchen would be holding down our Junior Pro division in Dual Slalom who would be representing us in our next event. After qualifying in the number one position out of a stacked field of the best Slalom juniors in the states he would battle his way all the way through all 32 athletes to tear the number one spot and a Sea Otter title!

With everyone already accomplishing massive results and not even the weekend officially here it would finally be time for Pro Women’s and Men’s Dual Slalom to take place. After the qualifying dust would settle it would be Kailey Skelton in the top 15 and both Steven Walton & Nik Nestoroff would be sitting in the top 20. The athletes would be going straight from qualifying into the final rounds of 32. Kailey Skelton would battle her first ever Dual Slalom appearance that would lead her to a top 16 finish. Nik & Steven would have high hopes since they were bringing confidence from 2018 when they both finished on the podium. Unfortunately, with some small mistakes and crashes they would both be out of the battle in their first rounds.

Heading into Sunday’s Downhill finals it would be the Pro’s firing off first. Kailey Skelton would give it her all to come across the line and finish in a solid 6th place. In the Pro men’s category, it would be Nik finishing in 17th position and Steven in 20th against the best racers in the world. The highlight of the day would be Nate Kitchen who would dominate the field in Junior Pro’s and take the big win!

Overall the team had accomplished amazing achievements with two major titles in the junior division one Pro podium in Enduro and multiple top 20 finishes. It is great to see the team always making an impact on the MTB community and doing a great job role modeling the next generation! KHS Pro MTB wants to thank all our sponsors, friends and family for the continuous support. The team has one week off before the head to the Pacific Northwest to compete in Port Angeles.

January 12, 2022

Podiums all Weekend Long

KHS Pro MTB riders Nik Nestoroff and Steven Walton on the Enduro podium at the first round of the 2022 Southridge Winter Series.

The KHS Pro MTB team started off the 2022 race season with a bang. Capturing back-to-back wins at the Fontana Winter series regional event. Southridge USA has always been a foundation to the mountain community by bringing some of the best racers in the world to the California dirt. It would be Nik Nestoroff who has had an absolutely fabulous off-season, he would take the pro men’s Enduro win on board the brand new KHS 6600 Enduro bike. Followed up with a strong result from Steven Walton he would be taking third in the Enduro which was very impressive since he’s under the weather.

The team couldn’t be more ecstatic with a fresh start and new bikes under their belts to get the ball rolling for the 2022 race season. Fontana, California always produces some great race weather along with a strong field of racers to compete against the best of the best. Firing off in the Downhill Pro women’s Kailey Skelton would get back to her roots right where she left off in 2021 with winning the female Pro downhill race by a large margin and getting her feet wet and back into the grind of racing.

KHS Pro MTB rider Kailey Skelton on the women's DH podium at the first round of the 2022 Southridge Winter Series. — KHS Pro MTB rider Kailey Skelton on the women’s DH podium at the first round of the 2022 Southridge Winter Series.

As far as the elite men’s Nik Nestoroff would take back-to-back wins with not only Enduro, but he would take the win in the Downhill category with the fastest time of the day. Nik really enjoyed the race and would gain some confidence out of this going into next week’s race at Bootleg Canyon. Steven Walton would keep strong and hot on Nik Nestoroff’s heels with the solid second place finish in Downhill and he would also gain confidence going into the Nevada state championship race which will be held in Boulder city Nevada next week.

KHS Pro MTB riders Nik Nestoroff and Steven Walton on the men's DH podium at the first round of the 2022 Southridge Winter Series. — KHS Pro MTB riders Nik Nestoroff and Steven Walton on the men’s DH podium at the first round of the 2022 Southridge Winter Series.

Hot off the news press is our new Junior X rider Nate Kitchen who was recently signed to the team late this off-season. Kitchen is definitely an eye-opener to the mountain bike community and will be watched thoroughly throughout the season. Nate would finish a strong third place in his junior category which was super stacked as usual with some of the best international junior riders you could compete against.

KHS Pro MTB rider Nate Kitchen on the Jr. DH podium at the first round of the 2022 Southridge Winter Series.

We as a team greatly appreciate everyone’s support from family, friends and sponsors who always dedicate and believe in success. We are really pumped that the season has already started, and we are in great preparation to continue success throughout the season. We will be seeing everyone next weekend at the Nevada state championships in Boulder city Nevada.