Fontana 1 Race Report with Rich Houseman

2011 marks my 15th year racing Mountain Bikes, and I’m still having fun!  The Fontana races have always been part of my schedule, and I love racing out there.  It was a busy weekend with Anaheim Supercross on Saturday, and I wasn’t going to miss that!  I woke up early Saturday Morning and headed out for some quick practice runs.  With all the rain we’ve had, the conditions were near-perfect.  After 3 practice runs on my new Intense M9, it was time to go watch Supercross!

Sunday morning came quick, and after 5hrs of sleep, I was on my way back out to the course.  My good buddy Nick from Shimano volunteered to be my mechanic for the day, and I couldn’t have been happier!  Nick has been helping me out over the last few years, and it’s always nice having someone of his caliber looking over the bike.  I ended up getting 2 practice runs, and had all my lines dialed.  My Kenda tires were hooking up, bike was running smooth, and I was ready for the race run!

The race run started out smooth and after nailing the first few turns, things were going well.  I made sure to keep momentum where it was necessary and knew I’d need to put down a hard sprint on the infamous “Fontucky Wall!”  It’s always cool to hear the crowd cheers and the local support makes you feel good.  I had one sketchy moment towards the bottom, with a few spectators in the course, and luckily they got out of the way!  I sprinted as hard as I could down the wall, and ended the day 5th place.  Solid start to the season, and I couldn’t have done it without all my great sponsors!  Thanks!

2011 Sponsors:
Intense Cycles, Fox Shox, Bell, Easton, Kenda, Shimano, Nema, Smith Optics, ODI, MRP, Stone Brewing Co., Kicker, Finish Line, Crankskins, Team Houseman Racing

Rich Houseman