FOUNTAIN HILLS, Arizona, (April 6, 2008) -- Katerina Nash of the Czech Republic and Canada's Geoff Kabush emerged from the Cholla cacti at McDowell Mountain Regional Park as winners of the Short Track race, 5th April, at the NOVA National, powered by SOBE Cannondale: the second stage in the three-race omnium that comprises round two of the six-event national series.

Olympic hopefuls from several different nations contested this Short Track race on a circuit that took about three minutes to complete. The race format required 20 minutes plus three laps.

One short, loose, climb on this desert-land course provided a significant part of the technical challenge. While the women dismounted, some of the men were able to ride all of it.

Early in the pro men's race the "Twin Towers" Ryan Trebon (Kona), of Corvallis, Or. and Barry Wicks (Kona), of Santa Cruz, Calif. opened a small gap, but Kabush (Maxxis), the 2007 Short Track national series champion, soon came up to them to form a trio.

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

These two shared the lead, with Trebon heading the chase, until the nail-biting final laps. "I was able to out-think (Wicks) a bit on the last couple of laps. 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," explained Kabush.

The women's race was dominated by riders from the Luna Chix team, as 2007 Short Track seies winner Nash powered away from her team-mate, the 2007 Cross Country series winner Georgia Gould, Missoula, Mont., with a couple of laps remaining.

Canadian rider Wendy Simms (Kona) had been riding in a breakaway trio with Gould and Nash for much of the race, but she crashed with three laps to go and recovered only as far as fourth place. Australia's Dellys Star finished third, while the up and coming Lea Davison (Trek VW), 25, of Jericho, Vt, took the fifth spot to record her first NMBS pro class podium result.

"I had great legs today!" exclaimed Nash. "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," she added.

Georgia Gould had no response to Nash's attack. "It was watching a rider get smaller fast ahead of you!" She quipped, adding that, "She had the turbo today; I just had the four-speed!"

Gould reported that happily she avoided the cactus spines... until watching the men's race.

Built in the early nineties to host the Cactus Cup,  the McDowell Mountain Regional Park competitive track is the best of desert racing -  endless singletrack, technically challenging corners and straights, a few high speed descents, a smattering of short steep climbs and the occasional cactus!!!. Most racers will negotiate multiple laps and hope to finish without an up close and personal visit to the hundreds of Cholla, Saguaro cactus that line the 10 mile lap. This course rewards the racer who can remained focused while negotiating the twist and turns of the trail at high speeds.

About The National Mountain Bike Series
The 2008 National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS) comprises six rounds and is the premier mountain bike racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned by the national governing body of cycling sports, USA Cycling. The series determines the most consistent performers over an entire summer's gruelling competition. For more information and to see the complete 2008 NMBS calendar, visit www.mtbnationals.com. For all non-media inquiries, please send email to: info@mtbnationals.com.

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