Southridge Winter Series Archives

January 16, 2023

Podiums at First Race of the year for the KHS MTB team

KHS Pro MTB rider Nate Kitchen out on the down hill course out at the Southridge Winter Series.

KHS Pro MTB rider Nate Kitchen on the podium in first place at round 1 of the Southridge Winter series.

“The Team could not be prouder to fire off the 2023 season with Nate Kitchen & Steven Walton grabbing top podium positions out at the Southridge Winter series in Fontana, CA! It was not an easy weekend of racing with California dealing with torrential downpours, we were lucky to be racing and staying safe throughout these tough weather systems. Steven Walton would grab 2nd place in the Enduro & Down Hill events in some wet conditions. Nate Kitchen would have some dominance performance in the Jr. pros taking the top spot!

“Solid weekend out here in Fontana for the first race of the year. Happy to start the season right with a 1st place finish. Southridge bringing the wall back and some rain made things tricky and super physical. Glad to keep it together and excited for what the rest of the year has in store”.

-Nathan Kitchen – Jr. Pro Athlete

KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton out on the soggy Enduro course out at the Southridge Winter Series.

“First race of the 2023 season is in the books! Had a huge amount of rain come in to shake things up for racing! Saturday’s Enduro race saw some cold and wet condition, and visibility was a challenge, but I stayed smooth for a 2nd place finish. Sunday’s DH race I was able to start the year with a second-place finish! I always enjoy the Fontana winter series as it’s great to see where your pace is at and what changes need to be made early on in the year before our race schedule gets packed”

-Steven Walton – Pro Athlete

KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton out on the podium in second-place for Down Hill at the Southridge Winter Series.

We would like to thank Southridge Racing for always putting on the best Winter series possible and all our sponsors and supporters! Bootleg Canyon State Championships will be held next weekend! Kailey Skelton will be debuting her first race of 2023 at the Costa Rica Open at the beginning of February and Shane Leslie will be debuting his first race at the Tennessee National second weekend of March!”

-Logan Binggeli – Team Management

KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton out on the podium in second-place for Enduro at the Southridge Winter Series.

January 27, 2022

Podiums for the KHS Pro MTB at Southridge Winter Seires

KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton on the track at the second round of the Southridge Winter Series.

Fontana, California would be hosting round two of the Southridge Winter series. Success was continued with our third race of the season. The race team would start off Saturday with three stages of Enduro which would keep all athletes on their toes. They would have to manage each race and have no mistakes to get the lowest time to win.

KHS Pro MTB riders, Nik Nestoroff and Steven Walton standing in first and second place in the Enduro event at the second round of the Southridge Winter Series.

It would be Nik Nestoroff who would win his second Enduro Regional race of the year, keeping his race machine ahead of all the other competitors. Steven Walton would be hot on his heels with a solid second-place finish. All the athletes have really been enjoying their new KHS Bicycles 6600 Enduro machine which is new to our fleet.

Sunday would move onto the downhill racing event; it would be another demanding physical track. Not only with many physical and mental obstacles to overcome it was quite short, so times would be tight.

KHS Pro MTB rider, Kailey Skelton standing in first place at the second round of the Southridge Winter Series.

To continue her third win in a row, Kailey Skelton took a large win in the Pro Women’s Downhill division.

KHS Pro MTB rider, Nate Kitchen standing third place at the second round of the Southridge Winter Series.

Nate Kitchen, our junior expert rider, would come in a solid third place, racing some of the fastest junior racers in the West Coast.

KHS Pro MTB riders, Nik Nestoroff and Steven Walton standing in first and third place at the second round of the Southridge Winter Series.

In the men’s division it would be Nik Nestoroff who would keep the 2022 win streak alive now claiming both Fontana’s and the Nevada State championship! Another solid podium for Steven Walton and continuous success for the whole team!

KHS Pro MTB rider Kailey Skelton at the start gate during the second round of the Southridge Winter Series.

After three straight demanding weekends of racing the team finally would have a couple weeks off to continue the preparation for the big nationals and international events. We always want to thank all our family, friends and sponsors who continuously help us achieve our goals and most of all have fun at the races.

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.

May 12, 2021

Podiums out in Fontana for the KHS Pro MTB team

KHS Pro MTB riders Nik Nestoroff and Steven Walton going 1 and 2 in Fontana at the final round of Enduro at the Southridge Winter Series.

It would be Steven Walton Kailey Skelton and Nik Nestoroff competing in Saturday’s Enduro and also Sunday’s final downhill race. Fontana has produced some of the best Enduro and Downhill racers in America and continues to do so. Saturday would fire off with Enduro racing with three complete stages the team would have to really focus in and stay consistent throughout each stage.

KHS Pro MTB rider Kailey Skelton racing on the Enduro track out Fontana at the Finals of the Southridge WInter Series.

Kailey Skelton would have some tough competition. She was leading stage one and two but with some minimal mistakes on stage III she would end up second place overall in Saturday’s final pro Women’s and Enduro category.

KHS Pro MTB rider Nik Nestoroff racing on the Enduro track out Fontana at the Finals of the Southridge WInter Series.

As far as the pro men’s Enduro category goes it would be a battle between teammates Nik Nestoroff and Steven Walton would be battling each other throughout all three stages to see who would come out on top. After stage one it was Nik Nestoroff leading the pro men’s category with a super blazing time. They would have to transfer over the Southern California mountains to stage two which Steven Walton would throw down a blistering time to win stage 2.

KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton racing on the Enduro track out Fontana at the Finals of the Southridge WInter Series.

It was very intense coming into the final stage with time so close and basically whoever won stage III would win the overall Enduro Pro men’s category for the day. After it was all said and done Nik Nestoroff would take the win in the pro men’s Enduro category. After combining all three stage times it would only be a three second difference between Nick in first place and Steven in second place.

KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton racing on the DH track out Fontana at the Finals of the Southridge WInter Series.

Sundays Downhill finals started off with great practice for Steven Walton and Kailey Skelton. Nik Nestoroff would be on the sidelines due to Mother’s Day and his big win and the enduro category. The track was very technical and fast and the two KHS athletes were really enjoying the final Fontana course. In fashion it would be Kailey Skelton who takes the big win in the professional women’s Downhill category and to top the day off it would be Steven Walton who would come down with a blistering time to beat some of the top factory athletes to take the win!

KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton taking the first place in the Pro Men's DH race out in Fontana at the final round of the Southridge Winter Series. — KHS Pro MTB rider Steven Walton taking the first place in the Pro Men’s DH race out in Fontana at the final round of the Southridge Winter Series.

It was awesome to see a KHS Bicycles take both wins in the Downhill category on the same day. History was made with both professional men and women taking top spots and continuing the teams domination of the Fontana Winter series.

January 11, 2021

2021 Race season Starts off with Podiums

KHS Pro MTB team's Kailey Skelton on the dirt for her rae run at round one of the 2021 Southridge Winter series. Photo by: Chris Hausen

KHS Pro MTB team's Steven Walton taking first place with teammate Nik Nestoroff taking home second place at round one of the 2021 Southridge Winter series. Photo by: Chris Hausen — KHS Pro MTB team’s Steven Walton taking first place with teammate Nik Nestoroff taking home second place at round one of the 2021 Southridge Winter series. Photo by: Chris Hausen

The first race of 2021 is all wrapped up and in the books. Huge success came from the team out at round one of the Southridge Winter Series in Fontana California. With Steven Walton claiming the downhill and getting 2nd in the Enduro.

KHS Pro MTB team rider, Nik Nestoroff, racing Enduro at the first round of the Southridge Winter Series 2021. Photo by: Chris Hausen

Nik Nestoroff was able to claim 1st place in the Enduro and come out with 2nd place in the Downhill.

KHS Pro MTB team's Kailey Skelton taking first place at round one of the 2021 Southridge Winter series. Photo by: Chris Hausen — KHS Pro MTB team’s Kailey Skelton taking first place at round one of the 2021 Southridge Winter series. Photo by: Chris Hausen

Also our new factory team rider Kailey Skelton was able to crush the competition in the pro DH women’s category with a massive 1st place !

The team has been training very hard and taking the 2021 season very safe and steady to hopefully manage a long season of racing. Next weekend you can find the team out in Boulder city, Nevada competing at round one of the bootleg Canyon Mountain Bike series. This will also be a Nevada State championship held race.