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Locals win muddy Cheakamus Challenge

Matt Bodkin, Lesley Clements on top once again
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Masters of Mud Top finishers Chris Clark, Kevin Calhoun and winner Matt Bodkin were wearing the trails when they reached the finish line of the 2008 Cheakamus Challenge. Photo by Joern Rohde, www.wpnn.org

It was a cold, wet day that greeted more than 300 riders at the start of the 24 th annual Cheakamus Challenge in Brackendale on Saturday, and the promise of wet, slippery conditions ahead.

“It was cold, it was wet — we were prepared for some hypothermia, but that never really materialized, although we were close to it. It was a hard day for hard people,” said event director Grant Lamont.

“Even the people doing the short course were challenged a lot more than they expected… The attrition rate was fairly high, and we saw a lot more DNF’s (Did Not Finish) than usual. Some riders definitely suffered more than others with the conditions, but we only had one injury this year and it was 30 yards from the finish line.”

With some of the top international riders missing the event — some because of the weather, and some because of a competing Cactus Cup event — the podium was wide open to local riders.

They made the most of the opportunity, and the race for the podium remained close for the first 50 km of the 71 km course. Matt Bodkin — winner of the 40 km Soo Valley Rumble the previous week — was first out of the Cheakamus Canyon. Bodkin then waited for Kevin Calhoun to catch up so he would have someone to ride with on the highway.

“It’s always better to have someone to ride with to take turns blocking the wind, and we stayed together until Trash, when I pulled ahead on the singletrack,” said Bodkin. “He started to reel me in on the long climb up (Crater Rim) trail, and at one point I looked back and saw Matt Ryan and Chris Clark bridging up on a switchback. I was actually surprised I managed to keep so much of a gap for so long, and I didn’t want to be the guy from the Tour de France who leads all day then gets absorbed by the pack in the final sprint to the finish.”

Bodkin let up a little to save his energy, and was caught by Ryan on a steep climb in Riverside. He estimates that Ryan had about 20 seconds on him at that point, but Bodkin kept him in sight until the next climb, when he took over the lead again. He was first on Tunnel Vision, and was still feeling good by the road.

“My hands were really cold, which made it difficult to grip the bars by the end, but it wasn’t that bad. I still felt like I had a lot of energy,” he said. “This was a big race for me, I’ve wanted to win this one for a long time and I knew when I found out the big guns weren’t coming because of the rain that I had a shot at it.”

His final time was 3:30:42, while Calhoun of North Vancouver was second in 3:32:23, and Whistler’s Matt Ryan third in 3:33:52. Whistler’s Jason Shorter and Greg Grant were fourth and fifth.

The women’s elite race went to Lesley Clements, also the winner of the Soo Valley Rumble, in 4:09:42, followed by Melanie Lewis in 4:41:29.

“I was super stoked,” Clements said. “Coming out of Trash I was a minute back of Stacey Spencer, so I thought I’d keep going at a strong but moderate pace because she’s not from here and doesn’t know the trails, and I thought I could catch her on the singletrack.”

Clements never caught her and thought she was second at the finish line, but later found out that Spencer made a wrong turn.

Clements played it safe on the wet singletrack and made it through without any crashes. She also stuck close to a group of men, which made a difference.

“Out of the canyon it was good, I managed to stay behind a big guy in a red jersey on the highway section… In the last quarter of the race I was with a guy I did another race with. It was kind of nice to have someone to pace off, you’re usually out there by yourself for hours and getting lonely.”

Bodkin and Clements each won $300 for finishing first in their categories, plus custom metal awards from The Fix bike shop in Function Junction.

“I was happy to see some locals win it after a lot of the other registered riders didn’t show up,” said Lamont. “Times were about half an hour slower on average than last year which says a lot about the conditions, but the locals really toughed this one out.”

As well, Bodkin won $100 prime for being the first rider out of the Cheakamus Canyon, while Spencer won the women’s $100 prime. Spencer was leading until the Riverside area where she got off course.

The Lumpy Leidal Primes, presented by Gordon and Carleen Leidal, are a tribute to Geoff “Lumpy” Leidal, a local rider who was killed in an avalanche in 1998. Leidal was a frequent racer in the Cheakamus Challenge, and his goal was always to be the first rider out of the canyon.

In the age categories, one racer — John Connor of Salmon Arm — entered in the men’s 13 and Under race, completing the entire 70 km course in an impressive 4:45:59.

In Men’s 14-18, Devan McClelland of North Vancouver was first in 4:13:01, followed by Hayden Drygas of Squamish in 4:30:27.

In Men’s 19 to 29, Ben Someteron of Whistler was first in 3:48:53, followed by Chris Johnston in 3:51:57, and West Vancouver’s Robert Whishaw in 3:55:09.

Second overall in the race and the Men’s 30 to 39 category belonged to Chris Clark, who finished in 3:31:37, followed by Andry Traslin in 3:37:43, and Mike Boehm in 3:42:03. There were 75 finishers in that category.

In men’s 40 to 49, where 83 racers finished, the podium was all Whistler. Eric Crowe was the top racer in 3:56:50, followed by Mike Charuk in 3:47:02, and Bob Allison in 3:49:50. Keith Ray and Eric Goehle were fourth and fifth.

In Men 50 to 59, Whistler’s Tony Routley was first in 3:45:31, more than 26 minutes faster than second place finisher John Ramsden of West Vancouver and his time of 4:12:15. William Letham of North Vancouver was third in 4:15:46.

In Women’s 19 to 29, Emma Smith was first in 4:52:15, followed by Alena Radomsky in 4:57:47, and Melanie Bernier in 5:01:25.

In Women’s 30 to 39, Tamara Goeppel of Whitehorse was first in 4:36:02, followed by Aileen Anderson of South Africa in 4:50:03, and Tanya Campasano of Roberts Creek in 5:04:37.

In Women’s 50 to 59, Gerald Woods was first in 5:33:06. Bridget Nowakowski of Quesnel was second in 6:30:34.

Short course

Jesse Melamed was both the top junior and the top racer overall on the 40 km short course, finishing in 2:12:27 — more than an hour faster than the next fastest junior rider. Paul Burrill was second in 3:13:56, followed by Mahon Lamont in 3:23:32.

Meanwhile Simon Robinson of Vancouver was the fastest adult on the short course in 2:31;04, more than 28 minutes back of Melamed. Husain Esmail of Calgary was second in 2:36:42, and Alan Arnett of Washington third in 2:38:15.

Katherine Short of the Sunshine Coast won the women’s junior short course race in 2:31:49 — just 45 seconds back of the top adult. Calindy and Jocelyn Ramsden of West Vancouver were second and third in 2:51:20 and 3:24:35 respectively.

For next year’s race, Lamont is planning a few tweaks, like making the Riverside aid station accessible for riders heading in both directions at that stage. He also plans to invest a share of the race proceeds in trail work, including some money towards the technical singletrack in Tunnel Vision.

One of the most noticeable changes next year will be the reroute of the Sea to Sky Highway, and the fact that the road to Pinecrest and Black Tusk will no longer be on the highway.

He also thanked the volunteers for persevering through a long, cold day, and the RCMP and Kiewit for their help with the highway section, IGA for sponsoring the feed station, Dusty’s for opening up to accommodate the racers, and other supporters and sponsors.

“I feel that everybody went above and beyond this year,” said Lamont.

The Cheakamus Challenge is now 19 years old, or 24 years if you count the “See Colours and Puke” races that preceded the Challenge. The race starts in Squamish and finishes in Creekside, and the 70 km distance features 35 km of trails and roughly 2,000 metres of climbing. A new section of the Sea to Sky Trail from the Cal Cheak North campground area was included this year (which was also the start of the short course) as well as a new section of Sea to Sky Trail that opened last year.

For more information or complete results, visit www.cheakamuschallenge.ca.