2008 Steven K Sports Race Team News
Southridge Racing Club's 8th Annual Awards:
The 2008 Southridge races series was the longest series of the year, from Jan. to Nov. Eric Bierman placed 2nd and Steve Kinney placed 3rd in the PRO OVERALL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP. Eric Bierman won the PRO OVERALL SUPER D CHAMPIONSHIP.Michelle Rivera is the PRO OVERALL SUPER D WOMEN'S CHAMPION and placed 2nd in the PRO OVERALL DOWNHILL WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP.
STORY ON MOUNTAIN BIKE ACTION
Check it out! Link is below:
Nov 22-2008, Pro Team Rider Eric Bierman, & Pro Team Captain Steve Kinney, Raced at the 17 Annual Southridge Challenge. Eric placed 1st in the Pro Cross-Country, And Steve placed 2nd in the Pro Cross-Country. Eric also placed 2nd in the Pro Super D. A great weekend!!
STORY ON MOUNTAIN BIKE ACTION
Steven K Sports has Strong 2008 Season. Check it out! Link is below:
Nov 8/9-2008 Pro Team Rider Eric Bierman, Raced at the Hillbilly Bike Bash, He placed 2nd in the Pro Super D, and placed 2nd in the Pro XC.
Pro Team rider Michelle Rivera, placed 5th in the 2008 Jeep 48STRAIGHT Championships in San Luis Obispo, California, against the world’s top-ranked riders. Check her out on CBS Sports on November 1st.
STORY ON MOUNTAIN BIKE ACTION
Check it out!
NMBC Super D #1 Michelle Rivera and Her Marin
Link is below:
2008 So. Cal. State Championship finals, Big Bear Lake, CA October 12The race started at a chilly 40 degrees. It was a modified version of the original fall classic race to accommodate all of the different race categories. Team Captain Steve Kinney placed 2nd in the Pro Cross Country and Eric Bierman placed 3rd in the Pro Cross Country. Our team dominated the podium. This was the overall final for the So. Cal. Championship 7-race series, which Steve placed 5th overall in the Pro Cross Country.
This was the last race on our schedule for 2008. You may see us out there doing cyclocross.
Pro Team Captain Steve Kinney placed 6th overall in the 08 California State Cross-Country, and 3rd overall in the 08 California State Super D.
Pro Team rider Eric Bierman won the overall title in the 08 California State Super D.
Pro Team rider Michelle Rivera won the 2008 National Mountain Bike Overall Title in the Pro Super D, And 4th overall in the Pro DH. She placed 1st in the California State DH overall & 2nd in the California State Super D overall. The race was held in Brian Head, Utah. The Downhill course was loose with rocks but fun and originally had a technical rock turn near the top, but apparently there were so many complaints by expert men riders, this small section was taken off the race course.The weather was a little bit of everything but snow. The weekend started out as a beautiful sunny day, but as we came into Saturday afternoon the clouds rolled in bringing with it lightning and thunder. The lightning became a safety hazard and the chair lift was shut down, so many racers didn’t get Super D practice. The Super D race was postponed to Sunday.
Weather predictions were hard rain and possible snow for Sunday but it just barely rained and the races were on for Sunday! Super D started at 11:30 am with no official practice. Some of the pro men couldn’t race the Super D since they had to be back up for their DH race at 12:15 and the chairlift takes 25 minutes to the top. All in all the weather was an adventure. The Super D started out having the racers run backward to their bikes pedaling up the mountain into the single track to some gentle climbs and more treed single track. It was a fun and fast course but without legs to climb it would be difficult to make up those downhill sections. It was a real Super D course and great weekend overall!
2008 Rim Nordic, CA, Aug. 17th. Team Captain Steve Kinney placed 3rd in the Pro Cross Country and 2nd in the Pro Cross Country overall in the series. This was the last race of the series. The course had a lot of steep climbs, 1100 feet a lap! The weather and the conditions were optimal.
2008 California State Championship Race, Rim Nordic July 26, 27, Super D and Cross Country. July 26 was the Super D, the photo below is of Team Captain Steve Kinney and Eric Bierman at the start, click on the photo below to read the article from The Grizzly newspaper. For those of you not familiar with the races at Rim Nordic , if you go off course just a little bit, you are going to hit a thorn bush, get a flat, or go off a cliff. The Super D Pro Men had a mass start with a 200 ft. climb right off the start, then into a rolly double track, then to a steep single track switchback, then high speed rollers to the finish. Once again the Steven K Sports team dominated the podium. Eric placed 2nd, Steve placed 3rd, and Michelle Rivera placed 1st in women's Pro Super D. Eric is currently in 1st in points, Michelle is 2nd in points, and Steve is 3rd. In the Pro cross country on July 27, Steve was fighting in the top 5 in the 3-lap race, then blew up on the last lap due to the heat. Steve still managed to place 8th. Michelle did the cross country race just for training, and ended up winning in the expert category. Steve is currently ranked 5th overall for the Cal-State cross country series. Nationally Michelle is 1st in Pro women Super D, and 6th in Pro women Downhill. Steven K Sports is getting ready for 2009, and is locking down sponsors. If you are interested let us know and we can get you on board. There are 6 races left in the 2008 season.
Steve Kinney raced the Rim Nordic stage race on July 26/ 27/08. The first day was two stages, a hill climb and a dirt crit. Steve won both events. The second day was the cross country which was a different story. On the second lap Steve got a slow leak in his tire and his quick fills wouldn't work. He rode his flat and then ran 3 miles to the tech zone at the start/finish. He got another rim for his 3rd lap, went another 1 1/2 miles and got another slow leak. Steve rode it to the finish and placed 4th in the cross country. Steve placed 1st overall for the combined stages.
Michelle Rivera raced the 2008 NMBS in Deer Valley,Utah June 28,29. The Super D course was a downhiller’s delight starting with a time trial format then running with your bike to the “red line” and hopping on the bike to speed pedal down the course. The most difficult part being the 100 meter steep climb about half way down the mountain. The downhill was a free ride course turned into a downhill race course, which was treacherous for the riders. A lot of broken bones and banged up bodies. Those who survived made it to race day. Michelle placed 6th in the Super D and 8th in the Downhill.
Eric Bierman raced the Rim Nordic opener on June 22-08 and blew the dust off his cross country legs. He placed 3rd in the Semi-Pro cross country.
The whole team gathered at the 2008 Santa Barbara Bike Festival, another Cal State Championship race on June 7th & 8th. It was a 2 day event. On Saturday Michelle Rivera and Eric Bierman raced the downhill and the Super D, and Team Captain Steve Kinney raced the Super D. The downhill was a dual race format Michelle won first place! Way to go Michelle! Eric raced it on his 29er and placed 4th. An hour later the Super D started and Steve was the first to go and placed 3rd. Eric killed the course on his 29er and won first place! Michelle placed 2nd in the Super D. Our team was all over the Pro podium. The Pro cross country was on Sunday. The weather was beautiful but beware the poison oak! The race was 4 laps with 700 hundred feet of climbing per lap. Steve placed 8th. Check out the Team exposure in the latest issue of Mountain Bike Action (July 2008 Issue pg. 20) 3 photos of Steve and Eric in the crazy start of the Super D in Fontana. Below is a link to Michelle on the Mountain Bike Action website in her win in Fontana at the Cal State Golden State Downhill Champ. race. Click Michele's DH photo for more info about her on Mountain Bike Action's website.
Big Bear Shootout, 08 Cal State Champ. Series Race # 4 June 1, The weather was great and the course was in perfect condition. It was a point to point race. The course had 3500 ft of climbing with 80% of the climbing at the end of the race. Steve placed 5th in the Pro cross-country.
08 California Golden State Downhill Championships at Fontana CA, June 1, Michelle won the Pro Downhill and is currently leading the series overall.
May 24-26-08 Angel Fire, New Mexico Rocky Mtn. Champ. Series was an adventure! It snowed both Thursday and Friday night which led to ice and snow slush on the course for practice. The Super D race on Saturday morning was close to freezing at the top with snow strewn throughout the course. Michelle placed 12th in the Pro downhill and 7th in the Pro Super D.
NMBS RACE #3 Santa Ynez was May 17-18-08 in Central Cal.with scorching temperatures (100+ degrees!). Michelle was able to overcome the heat and place 2nd at the Pro downhill Champ. Race. She placed 7th in the Pro Super D and is currently in the top 5 overall in points.
5-1-2008, New Mountain Bike Actions Story on there website. Great exposure to thousands of readers!
2008 California Golden State Downhill Championships at Woodward west, April, 26th-27th,Michelle Rivera 1st in the Pro Down Hill. It was a two-race format. Despite the issues Michelle was having with her fork, she finished 1st in the race and is currently 2nd in the series.
2008 SEA OTTER, April 17th 20th, it was extremely cold and windy, as always. Steve tried to say hi to everybody, but the weather prevented him from seeing everyone. The weather was a little nicer on Sunday when Steve raced in the Pro cross country. There were two laps at 19.5 miles per lap with 2100 feet of climbing per lap. Steve felt great on the first lap, on the second lap he got caught in the wind by himself for a little too long, but was able to finish.
2008 California Golden State Downhill Championships, at Gravity Shootout, April 12th & 13th, Michelle Rivera The weather was exceptionally hot and racers were grateful to have water provided at the start. As for the course, it was short with a few small drops and some relief through the shaded and tight switch back canyon section. Michelle crashed on her first run but luckily it was a two-run format and was able to make up enough time to still place 3rd in the Pro Down Hill.
2008 NMBS RACE #2 NOVA RACE, AZ, April 5th & 6th, There was a time trial/Super D, then a dirt crit, and a cross country. The weather was perfect in the low 80's. The race started out at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. The course was flat and rolly for the first few miles and then the last few hills just smoked your legs. The dirt crit was at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Steve started in the middle of the pack, 90 racers went into a right hand corner descent. A racer hit his brakes in front of Steve, Steve hit him and the racer behind Steve hit him. Steve went flying over the bars. When Steve got up and got going again he was 10 seconds behind the last racer. He worked his way back up through the hike-a-bike section and was able to obtain some points. The cross-country was strewn with rocks and cactus, with 90 percent single track. Many racers flatted, but Steve was running his tubeless system and didn't have that problem. Steve placed 56 out of 90 racers.
2008 NMBS RACE #1 FONTANA, CA, Mar, 29th 30th, Eric Bierman placed 10th in the Super D on his new 29'er from Marin. The course had 500 feet of climbing and a 2 mile sprint to the finish. Michelle Rivera crashed in practice and bruised her hands. She skipped the downhill race but placed 12 in the Super D. Team Captain Steve Kinney toughed out the Pro cross-country, Dirt Crit, and Super D to gather points.
3-9-08 FONTANA, CA, SOUTHRIDGE SERIES Race #5, Michelle Rivera, Placed 3rd in the Pro Down Hill. Eric & Michelle; have won the SOUTHRIDGE SERIES overall
in the Pro Super D!3-9-08 SO CAL STATE CHAMP SERIES CROSS-COUNTRY & SUPER D Bonelli Park, CA, Race #1, Pro Team Captain Steven Kinney Placed 12th in the Pro cross-country
Eric Bierman Placed 1st, dominating the Pro Super D, winning by a minute over 2nd place!!
FONTANA, CA, Race #4, Feb 23rd & 24th, 2008, New Mountain Bike Action Story
Pro Team Captain Steve Kinney, stuck in the snow at 7000 feet, was not able to attend the race. Eric Bierman raced in the Pro cross-country and got 6th, then he raced in the Pro Super D. He won again and he will win the series over all. Michelle Rivera is dominating the Pro Super D and yes she won again, she will win the series too. In the Down Hill race it seems she likes 3rd places, she is currently 3rd in the Down Hill series. Steve, Eric & Michelle have one more race to go in the series.(PHOTO IS LINKED TO THE MOUNTAIN BIKE ACTION STORY)
FONTANA, CA, Race #3, Feb 14th, 2008, New Mountain Bike Action Story.
(PHOTO IS LINKED TO THE MOUNTAIN BIKE ACTION STORY)
On Feb 9th 2008, FONTANA, CA, Race #3 The course was slightly different than it was at the previous race. The conditions were warm, sunny and windy. The race started with a fast tempo and then all of the racers settled into a race pace. Team Captain Steve Kinney placed 4th in the Pro cross-country. Eric Bierman sat out the cross-country but raced the Pro Super D. Eric passed several racers on his way down. There was one racer ahead of him who would not get out of his way because he was wearing earphones (against the rules by the way) and didn't hear Eric yelling at him. Eric ran into the back of this racer causing Eric to crash off of the course. Eric was still able to place 2nd in spite of this mishap. Michelle Rivera had a flawless Pro Super D run and placed 1st again. In the Pro downhill race on Sunday, the short course (2+ minutes) she couldn't take advantage of her power and placed 6th.
Two new stories on Mountain Bike Action's Web Site
Pro Team Captain Steve Kinney, Eric Bierman, and Michelle Rivera.
(PHOTO #1-LINKED TO THE XC STORY & PHOTO #2-LINKED TO THE SUPER D STORY ON M.B.A. SITE)
Dominating the Pro Super D
New Story on Mountain bike action about Eric Bierman & Michelle Rivera
(PHOTO IS LINKED TO THE MOUNTAIN BIKE ACTION STORY)
2008 2nd Downhill Race of the year - Southridge, CA
On Sunday Jan 27th 2008, FONTANA, CA, Pro team rider Michelle Rivera, placed 3rd in the Pro women's Downhill.
2008 2nd Race of the year & kicking butt- Southridge, CA
2008 First XC & Super D Race of the year - Southridge, CA
(PHOTO IS LINKED TO THE MOUNTAIN BIKE ACTION STORY)
