Nash, Kabush win short track at NMBS No. 2

Katerina Nash (Luna) and Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) won the short track on Saturday during round two of the National Mountain Bike Series in Arizona.

One short, loose climb added significantly to the technical challenge of racing in the desert terrain of McDowell Mountain Regional Park outside Fountain Hills. The women dismounted, but some of the men were able to ride it.

Kona teammates Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks opened a small gap early in the pro men’s race, but Kabush, the 2007 short-track national series champion, soon bridged up to form a trio.

“Ryan got off to a great start, but he made a few mistakes and Barry and I got away,” said Kabush. “I kept the pace high after that. I wanted to separate the two tall guys, and after that Barry and I worked well together.”

The two shared the lead, with Trebon heading the chase, until the final laps.

“I was able to out-think (Wicks) a bit on the last couple of laps,” Kabush said. “There were a couple of critical corners at the end of the lap. I am using a light tire, which gave me an advantage accelerating around and out of those.”

Luna riders ruled the women’s race. Nash, the 2007 short-track series champ, had been in a break with teammate Georgia Gould and Wendy Simms (Kona) before powering away with a couple laps to go.

“I had great legs today!” Nash said. “I was just going at a high pace all day. All three of us have raced cyclo-cross, which I think helped with the dismount and remount compared to the mountain bike-only girls. I had one good attack with two and a half laps to go, and was able to keep the gap.”

Simms, meanwhile, crashed with three laps to go, recovering to finish fourth behind Australia’s Dellys Star. Lea Davison (Trek-VW) took fifth, the first time she’s made the podium at a NMBS pro race.

The NMBS continues May 17-18 with round three, the Santa Ynez National presented by Platinum Performance at Ted Chamberlin Ranch in Los Olivos, California. On the menu are cross country, downhill, dual slalom, short track and Super D.

FILED UNDER: Mountain