Southridge Winter Series Finals, Fontana CA March 4, 2012

Race Report: Southridge Winter Series Finals, Fontana CA March 4, 2012

This past weekend was the fifth and final race of the Southridge Winter Series, held at Southridge Park in Fontana CA. The event's downhill race took place on Sunday, and McKenna was first in line to take the shuttle to the top for practice. The course laid out for the day's race was a fun and flowy one, but had several steep and super soft sections to deal with. There was only one course, with beginners to pros riding the same track. McKenna got four practice runs in but was struggling a bit with some of the deep, soft turns.

Racing got underway at 10:30, and McKenna caught the last shuttle up to await her turn for her race run. Being one of the last riders to start, McKenna had time to hike down the course and watch riders handle the soft turns and an intimidating rock drop. She was confident she knew all her lines, and hiked back up to get in line for her turn. Her race run started well, and McKenna was able to get through all the sandy turns with a foot out, moto style. It was around the middle of the course where disaster struck. There was a sharp right hand turn that McKenna came into with more speed than in practice, and was off line exiting.She hit a rock and instantly flipped over the bars. It was some time before she got untangled and was up and going again.

 McKenna crossed the line at 4:26, missing out on first place by 12 seconds. She was pretty upset about her crash, but very happy about the way she got up and gave it her all to the finish line. She was also happy with the way she handled the rock drop, no brakes! The Winter Series has come to an end and McKenna takes home the award for first place overall. Her next downhill race will be the  Fontana City National at the end of this month. Stay tuned to this station for a complete report.