Danny Caluag in a familiar spot… 1st.
Last weekend was the kick off to the 2011 Southridge Winter Series… Jake Kinney and I showed up and raced 4 Cross on Saturday. There were 9 pros signed up… Jake and I were in Heat 1 with Brian Schmith taking the top 2. The gate dropped and it’s a sprint between Brian (lane 1), me (2) into turn 1 with Jake on the outside. Brian takes me high and leaves me in the new soft material at the top of the turn while Jake dives under me and into qualifying position. Brian goes on to win Heat 1 with Jake and I in tow. I’ll have to try again next round.
In round 2… I get lane choice with US Olympic BMX speedster Travis Orazda and Joey Jakubiak, another BMX’er turned MTB. The gate drops and the race is on… I take Joey high in turn 1 ( in similar fashion as was done to me in Heat 1) as Travis dives under both of us. Travis opens up a small 5 bike gap on me and Joey but I hold on for the 2nd and move on to the semis.
Here’s where the fun starts… not to mention 50% of the Pro Class were riding Black Market’s.
Semi 1
Danny Caluag ( Mob )
Travis Orazda ( Riot )
Brian Schmith
And I ‘m not sure who the 4th player was… maybe Jarrod Jakubiak.
EC leads Semi 2
Semi 2
Eric Carter
Blake Kearny
Carter Holland ( Mob )
Jake Kinney ( Mob )
In Semi 1, Brian lead into turn 1 with. Then in our Semi, I had lane 1 with Blake in 2, EC in 3 and Jake in 4.
The gate hits the ground and everybody snaps out. Blake and I are elbow to elbow with Blake slightly ahead… but out of nowhere… EC pulls into the lead as we exit turn 1. From there the race became pretty much single file with very little chance to pass. That’s how we finished Semi 2…
1. EC
2. Blake
3. Jake
4. Me
On to the Final!!!
It’s all down to former 4X World Champ Eric Carter, 07 ABA #1 BMX Pro Danny Caluag, former top BMX Pro Brian Schmith and up and coming Blake Kearny.
Gate drops… all 4 sprint into the insanely close to the starting hill Turn 1 with Danny pulling off a perfect 4th to 1st Low High pass and pedaling his Mob right on to the top spot of the Podium followed by Brian Schmith, Blake and EC.
Congrats to Danny on his first Pro 4 X win!!!
Jake and Carter practice lap at Fontana… watch me get snapped… this time.
Sunday Downhill…
That’s right, I decided to race DH again… and again with minimal practice( One Lap ). Had a great time just wished I could have keep it out of the course tape… better luck next time. The Roam did great, can’t wait for the next race.
My Fontana DH Run from carter holland on Vimeo.
You can hear my lungs explode on the wall… fun!