Photo Gallery & Report: So Cal MTN Stage Race


The So Cal MTN Stage Race was held in honor of Mark J Reynold’s who was killed by a mountain lion while mountain biking. The race was a fundraiser for his charity in Reynold’s name that helps get bikes out to kids in need. The rest of the Rim Nordic XC series also donates money through a raffle to his fund. Saturday’s race was three stages with a Hill Climb, Super D, STXC Dirt Crit. In other words an all uphill TT effort, controlled chaos of semi technical downhill and a short intense battle for position. Sunday was the XC race to finish the weekend off on slightly shorter lap than normal without the typical start loop. Scoring was based off points on each stage placing from pros to beginners.

With the storms over the weekend plus a long season which started in late January its showed in racers legs which led to a low turnout. It finally rained on Sunday with low clouds reducing visibility during the XC stage making the soil perfectly tacky and just cleared for a while for the podiums on Sunday. The pro men had the biggest field with John Nobil (Bear Valley Bikes) and Romolo Forcino (Chain Required Bike Shop) taking first and second respectively overall. John Nobil was dominate in all the stages easily taking the win. Third place Sean Donovan (KHS/Cytomax) was solid on Saturday. On Sunday, Donovan finished the XC stage in 5th, but thanks to the points gap over 4th place overall his teammate Charles Jenkins, managed to hold on to 3rd overall. Greg Gibson (Bear Valley Bikes) finished 5th overall with a strong XC result.

The stage race had big impact on the series overall. In the Small teams overall, the Cyclery Bike Shop has moved into 1st with a small gap to the new 2nd place team, Troupe Racing. Large teams Bear Valley Bikes grew their gap over Chain Required Bike Shop.

Photos & Report by Kenneth Hill / Light & Shadows Photography

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