Having a national event where you can sleep in your own bed at night, is a good thing!  Last weekend was the Fontana National, and thanks to Donny Jackson, and the Sho-Air crew for putting on a solid event. 

I headed out Friday mid morning to catch the 2pm pro DH practice.  Since my Intense 4X bikes weren’t quite finished, I was going to race DH and Super D on the weekend.  After dialing in my Intense M6, I was ready to shred a few runs on my local track!  Donny had laid out a few new sections on the top ½ of the course, which were fun and challenging.  It was a tough choice on which tires/tubes to choose, because the course had a little bit of everything in it.  After doing 1 run on 2.35 single ply Invaders, I went with the 2.5 dual ply Edge up front with the 2.35 dual ply Invader on the rear.  I did 4 practice runs, and I felt solid from top to bottom.  After doing some tuning on my Fox RC4 rear shock, my setup was feeling awesome!

Saturday was Super D.  I managed to get 1 practice run on Super D, and one run on the DH.  For some reason both practices overlapped, and not too sure why?  The Super D wasn’t what I’d expected, with some major climbing to be done!  This would be my 2nd ever Super D race and I knew it was going to hurt!  There were 20 pros with some of the best XC racers ready to throw it down.  For the start, they made us sit down with our backs to our bikes, about 20 feet away.  With a count down of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, …GO!  We were off.  I tried to pace myself in the beginning, but my competitive side got the best of me as I tried to stay within sight of the leaders. Bad Mistake!  ½ way up the 1st climb, I was toast.  Tongue dragging on my front tire, legs burning, lungs wheezing, I slowly watched the riders ahead of me just pull away.  At the top of the 1st climb I was a good 30 seconds behind the pack!  I decided to just grind it out, and see if I could catch anyone on the decent.  I managed to catch up to one rider, who kindly got out of my way, only to blow right back by me on the next uphill.  My goal was to not get last place, but I didn’t accomplish that.  I was 20th place out of a field of 20.  Man was that a tough race!  I had fun though and appreciated the cheers as I crossed the line!  I’ll be back! 

Photo by: Craig Glaspell

Sunday was DH race day.  I managed to squeeze in 3 runs during practice, and I had my lines dialed.  My Intense M6 was working so good, sucking up all the rough stuff with ease!  Race run went like this; Started off steady, and hit the first section pinned. I got into a nice groove early on and tried to maintain my speed through the rough sections.  Approaching the waterfall / Rock section I could hear the crowd screaming!  It was pretty dang loud as I went thru, and man that feels good!  Thanks to local fans cheering me on, definitely a cool feeling having that kind of support!  I hit the bottom road section pretty fast, and my legs were feeling surprisingly good.  I tried to save enough energy to really throw down a mean sprint on the wall.  When I hit the wall, I stood up and gave it everything I had.  All I could think of, was my brother EC, and how fast he’d be going, which gave me some added motivation!  I came thru the finish with a solid time, putting me in 8th place for the day.  Super happy about my run, and also stoked to see EC take the win! 

Last weekend was round #5 of the Fontana Winter Series.  Good weather, old school course design, and plenty of friends, always makes for a fun race!  I also decided to race Super D for the 1st time, on my brand new Intense Tracer. 

Saturday was DH practice and Super D race day.  After tuning up the Tracer, I did 2 practice runs on the Super D course.  It was a really fun course, but I knew it was going to be leg burner!  I decided to leave my flat pedals on just for the fun of it, but now I wish I would have gone with the clips!  I rode the pro class and finished 5th, making that my 1st Super D podium! 


My Tracer was the perfect bike, and I can’t wait to try it again!  I then took out my M6 for a few DH practice runs.  The course was vintage Fontucky style, with tough turns, sneaky ruts, and lots of pedaling!  I did 3 runs and called it a day.

Sunday was DH Race Day!  I decided to try the 2.35 Single ply Intense INVADER tire on the front with the Semi Slick ZERO on the rear.  It felt fast on the course, but I did have to keep it safe in a few spots.  I did 2 practice runs in the morning, and I was amped to go for my Race Run.  In the race I felt like I had a really solid run.  I cleaned the top section pretty smooth, but I probably should have gassed it a bit harder on the wall!


I ended up 7th on the day, which was a bit disappointing, but I had so much fun riding its all good!



See you at the next one! 

Rich Houseman

Photos Courtesy of: Monique Spalding & Courtney Peters
Filming Courtesy of: Gary Houseman

I packed up my Intense M6 and headed out to Round #4 of the Fontana winter series last weekend.  It had been raining on and off over the last 2 weeks, but the course was in mint shape!  Always nice to see some dark, loamy, So Cal dirt!  We don’t get it too often!

Saturday’s practice was really fun, and after 5 runs I felt pretty dialed on the course.  I put on 2.35 Intense single ply tires front and rear, to get some extra rolling power, for the fast Fontucky course!  I’ve also been testing the new Fox RC4 rear shock, which is absolutely sick!  Thanks Fitzy. 

Sunday we were treated to a freshly watered course, with most of the track having unbelievable traction.   I did 2 practice runs, and was ready to race.  I was following my older bro EC down in the final, so the pressure was on!  My run went really good on the top ½, but after watching some video footage, I wish I would have pedaled like my boy EC!  I had made a bobble in the bottom rock garden that cost me some time, but overall I was happy with my race.  I ended up 7^th on the day, and had blast doing it!  Special shout out to Greg Lenac from Fox Clothing who took the win in his class, making that 2 for 2!  Must be the THR coaching! 

See you at the next one! 

2009 Sponsors – Thanks for the Support!

http://www.foxhead.com/us/mtb/team/?id=15402

National Mountain-Cross Champion Rich Houseman will be teaching 4-Cross/Mountaincross skills clinics during the 2009 Southridge Winter Race series in Fontana, California. The clinics will take place on Saturdays before the 4-Cross event. Rich will be teaching race fundamentals on the Southridge race course, such as starting gate technique, cornering, jumping, passing and more. The skills clinic costs $75 per person, and is limited to a class of 10 riders. The Southridge Winter race series begins January 10, 2009. Visit www.southridgeusa.com for directions and race info.  Visit www.teamhousemanracing.com for clinic registration and information.

Hey guys,

Well the end of the season is finally here and what a year it has been. I want to thank everyone for their support, it was an awesome first year of racing and I couldn't ask for much more..

The last time I wrote I was in Sol Vista for the MSC G3 race. I ended up winning all 3 stages for the overall. My teammates Chris and Joey finished 2nd and 3rd making it a top 3 sweep for the Yeti team! After Sol Vista I headed to Schladming, Austria for the final round of the World Cup Schedule. It was my first time in Europe and we had a great time. The track was super fun and with all the rain, it made for quite a race. I felt good in practice and knew I could finish strong if I had a clean run. Well my run ended up pretty good and I finished 8th in the finals, my best result of the year. To top it off Justin finished 6th and Sam got his first world cup win! With all three of us in the top 10, we (Yeti) were the top team for the weekend and moved up to 3rd overall in the team standings for the year. We look forward to going up another few spots next year!

After getting home from Austria I headed back to Keith and Taf Darners house to relax and hang out for a while. I went to Interbike in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and thats always a good time. I raced the first ever Arena Mountain X race, which was held inside of the South Point hotel and Casino. It was a cool event and I think it really has a future if things are done right. I was having a hard time with my gates all night but managed to get 3rd against a pretty stacked feild of 4x racers including the World Champion (Rafael Alvarez) who finished 2nd.

Other than all of that, I just signed on with Yeti to race the full World Cup schedule through 2010! They have an awesome team and I'm super excited to be on the program for a few more years. I'll be going back home to California in a few weeks to start preparing for next season. I have a strong program for the off season and I can't wait to show it off next year! There are some big things happening in the next few months so I'll be sure to keep everyone posted on whats going on. Thanks again to anyone who has helped me this year, I way appreciate it.. See ya at the races!

Thanks to my sponsors- Yeti cycles- Fox Shox, Monster Energy, Smith optics, Freestyle watches, Nema, 661, Dylan Dean designs, and Loopd.com

Photo by Sven Martin



Read more

Hey guys,

Well the end of the season is finally here and what a year it has been. I want to thank everyone for their support, it was an awesome first year of racing and I couldn't ask for much more..

The last time I wrote I was in Sol Vista for the MSC G3 race. I ended up winning all 3 stages for the overall. My teammates Chris and Joey finished 2nd and 3rd making it a top 3 sweep for the Yeti team! After Sol Vista I headed to Schladming, Austria for the final round of the World Cup Schedule. It was my first time in Europe and we had a great time. The track was super fun and with all the rain, it made for quite a race. I felt good in practice and knew I could finish strong if I had a clean run. Well my run ended up pretty good and I finished 8th in the finals, my best result of the year. To top it off Justin finished 6th and Sam got his first world cup win! With all three of us in the top 10, we (Yeti) were the top team for the weekend and moved up to 3rd overall in the team standings for the year. We look forward to going up another few spots next year!

After getting home from Austria I headed back to Keith and Taf Darners house to relax and hang out for a while. I went to Interbike in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and thats always a good time. I raced the first ever Arena Mountain X race, which was held inside of the South Point hotel and Casino. It was a cool event and I think it really has a future if things are done right. I was having a hard time with my gates all night but managed to get 3rd against a pretty stacked feild of 4x racers including the World Champion (Rafael Alvarez) who finished 2nd.

Other than all of that, I just signed on with Yeti to race the full World Cup schedule through 2010! They have an awesome team and I'm super excited to be on the program for a few more years. I'll be going back home to California in a few weeks to start preparing for next season. I have a strong program for the off season and I can't wait to show it off next year! There are some big things happening in the next few months so I'll be sure to keep everyone posted on whats going on. Thanks again to anyone who has helped me this year, I way appreciate it.. See ya at the races!

Thanks to my sponsors- Yeti cycles- Fox Shox, Monster Energy, Smith optics, Freestyle watches, Nema, 661, Dylan Dean designs, and Loopd.com

Photo by Sven Martin



Read more

Hey guys,

Well the end of the season is finally here and what a year it has been. I want to thank everyone for their support, it was an awesome first year of racing and I couldn't ask for much more..

The last time I wrote I was in Sol Vista for the MSC G3 race. I ended up winning all 3 stages for the overall. My teammates Chris and Joey finished 2nd and 3rd making it a top 3 sweep for the Yeti team! After Sol Vista I headed to Schladming, Austria for the final round of the World Cup Schedule. It was my first time in Europe and we had a great time. The track was super fun and with all the rain, it made for quite a race. I felt good in practice and knew I could finish strong if I had a clean run. Well my run ended up pretty good and I finished 8th in the finals, my best result of the year. To top it off Justin finished 6th and Sam got his first world cup win! With all three of us in the top 10, we (Yeti) were the top team for the weekend and moved up to 3rd overall in the team standings for the year. We look forward to going up another few spots next year!

After getting home from Austria I headed back to Keith and Taf Darners house to relax and hang out for a while. I went to Interbike in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and thats always a good time. I raced the first ever Arena Mountain X race, which was held inside of the South Point hotel and Casino. It was a cool event and I think it really has a future if things are done right. I was having a hard time with my gates all night but managed to get 3rd against a pretty stacked feild of 4x racers including the World Champion (Rafael Alvarez) who finished 2nd.

Other than all of that, I just signed on with Yeti to race the full World Cup schedule through 2010! They have an awesome team and I'm super excited to be on the program for a few more years. I'll be going back home to California in a few weeks to start preparing for next season. I have a strong program for the off season and I can't wait to show it off next year! There are some big things happening in the next few months so I'll be sure to keep everyone posted on whats going on. Thanks again to anyone who has helped me this year, I way appreciate it.. See ya at the races!

Thanks to my sponsors- Yeti cycles- Fox Shox, Monster Energy, Smith optics, Freestyle watches, Nema, 661, Dylan Dean designs, and Loopd.com

Photo by Sven Martin

Last weekend was the 1st official race for the SoCal YETI Regional Team.  The boys got their 303's before the event and were so stoked to be riding the YETI colors!



Judging by the results, I'll say that they liked them!  Kevin Aiello continued his terror on the JR X field, with a commanding 5 second win. This would have put him top 10 in the Pro class!



Aaron Gwin came through with a 2nd place behind Kovarik in the Pro mens field.  Although only his 3rd DH race ever, "Gwinny" has been making his mark out here in SoCal!  Keep your eyes on this kid throughout the year!



Both riders commented on how good their 303's pedaled, and how well they tracked through the rough stuff.  With a little more tuning, and training, look for these guys to be stepping on podiums all year long! 

See ya at the next one!

Big HOuse

YETI SoCal Team Manager

I spent all weekend chasing around the youngsters!  Gwinny, Knucklehead, and I rode the pump track Friday evening and DH all day Saturday.  Good stuff!