Shane Leslie Archives - KHS Bicycles

May 15, 2024

Big Mountain Enduro Rd 2, Windrock Tennessee

KHS Pro MTB Rider Jackson Wicklund on the trail at the BME round 2 in Windrock TN.

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. — 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 Lucas Cowan on the trail at the BME round 2 in Windrock TN. — 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

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.

August 7, 2023August 9, 2023

Final Big Mountain Enduro, Big Sky, Montana

“Big Sky was epic this year with some wild conditions in the mud. Day 1 was going well sitting just outside the top 5 until a big slide out at the end of stage 4. Day 2 went much better with a couple top 5 stage results and moving back up a bit on the overall. Can’t wait to keep building into the Morzine EDR next month.”

-Shane Leslie

“That’s a wrap on the 2023 Big Mountain Enduro! I’m extremely stoked to end the series with a hard fought win and claim the E-Bike Overall Title! Myself and 2nd place were swapping stage wins all weekend and after 8 stages of racing in the tough muddy conditions only 1.5 seconds separated us.

Thrilled with how my KHS 6555+ performed this weekend and super impressed with the durability of the bike and components throughout the entire season. We have a few more races coming up before the close of the year that I’m looking forward to and I’m already excited to start working towards more great E-Bike results at next year’s Big Mountain Enduro Series! Huge thank you to everyone at KHS, our team sponsors, our great distributors, and everyone else who supports us! This wouldn’t be possible without you!”

-Steven Walton

“Tough week with extremely challenging rain conditions as it down-poured all day, everyday during our practice and race days. Race day #1 was so smooth until it wasn’t! I had a big slam stage 3 and due to the mud, I couldn’t get back up to my bike, costing me over 45 sec of time. My goal for day 2 was to stay smooth and finish strong.

Day 2 went so well! Smooth and ended up having some great stage finishing of second and thirds. I’m happy to finish strong and I am looking forward to improving my enduro races! Wish I didn’t crash, after analyzing times I would have been on the 2nd or third podium step! Thank you KHS for the support.”

-Kailey Skelton

July 11, 2023

Big Mountain Enduro Round 3, Durango Colorado

“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

“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

June 21, 2023June 22, 2023

North American Enduro & Rampage Prep

KHS Pro MTB team rider Shane Leslie at in Kellogg Idaho for the North American Enduro Cup.

This past Holiday weekend was the North American Enduro Cup hosted in Kellogg, Idaho. This event is a one of the EWS ranked venues, hosting the most elite athletes from North America. The terrain and stages it holds are some of the most superb mountain biking has to offer in the north west. The racers from all around North America would only have Friday to hone in their skills and get a grasp for the seven grueling stages ahead, which would be hosted Saturday and Sunday.

It would be our Pro Enduro athlete Shane Leslie, who would be just coming off a practice injury with still some inflammation in his chest, but good enough to give it to go. Shane would have some work cut out for himself with all the top North American athletes racing this weekend. He would put all his effort into seven stages and over 6000ft of climbing he would come out in 11th Pl. He was still under the weather from his practice injury, and definitely is wanting to get on that podium . Shane and the rest of the team will have a week break until they head off to the Big Mountain Enduro series that will be hosted in Durango, Colorado for the third round!

KHS Pro MTB team rider Westynn Iverson getting in some practice in Virgin Utah.

Moving one state south, we check in with Westynn Iverson. The new kid on the block, Westynn, showcasing his high freeride talent here on his home soil of Virgin, Utah. Westynn Iverson has just graduated from high school and has been working on many photo and video projects to show the world his view from mountain biking. Westynn is very passionate and dedicated to progressing his skills in the big mountain arena and we all look forward to his late fall projects that he is currently working on!