Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Four Kings, but only one crown

Three-day, four-stage mountain bike race as hard as it gets
sports_upcoming2

Whistler has played host to some truly challenging mountain bike events over the years, from the seven Samurai of Singletrack epics to rain-soaked 24 Hours of Adrenaline races, but this weekend's Four Kings — the successor to 2009's Four Jacks and 2010's Four Queens — may be the most diabolical of all.

With four stages packed into three days, the race challenges every type of mountain bike skill; technical descents in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, long climbs and descents on scenic mountainsides, the treacherous ups and downs of Emerald's rhythm-busting "No Flow Zone."

As well, organizer Tony Horn went out of his way to make things more interesting. For example, one section is going to be staged after dark, while another is based on European Enduro races where only select sections of the course are timed. He's using a new trail in the high alpine of Whistler Mountain, breaking in new trails in the valley, going against the flow on some trail sections and generally mixing things up across the board.

"I tried, as much as possible, to include all the stuff I hadn't ridden before or hadn't ridden that much," he explained. "Even the time trial in Lost Lake is different. I've never done a time trial in there before, or an event at night, and it seemed like the perfect place to do that because people know the trails so well."

The event sold out all 120 spots within about 20 minutes of going on sale, despite the size of the challenge — or, more likely, because of it. There were about 40 people on the waitlist, prompting Horn to open the event up to let more people in. Now the race is full with about 165 riders taking part.

The overall winners of the event will be decided based on points, which are determined by a rider's placing on the different race stages rather than time.

Stage 1 is the "King Tubby Dub In The Dark" Time Trial, which takes place in Lost Lake Park after sundown on Friday, Sept. 7. While it's arguably the least technical portion of the race, the 18.6km route gets a little harder when you're using a headlamp.

Stage 2 is the Elvis "All Shook Up DH" in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park on Saturday morning. The ride is short but tough — especially when you get one bike and one set of tires to do the entire course, strictly enforced through "doping" control. The course includes the steep, off-camber rock of Schleyer, Lower Whistler Downhill and Lower Detroit Rock City and gets underway around 10 a.m.

Stage 3 is the "Yummy 500," named after racecar driver "King" Richard Petty, and gets underway Saturday afternoon. The first part of the race is a loop of Yummy Nummy/Foreplay with the uphill and downhill sections timed separately, with a short gap between timed sections for riders to catch their breath. By this point riders will be ranked, and will leave the start in groups of 10 along with riders they're closest to at that point of the race.

Stage 4, taking place Sunday, is the "King Kong Endur-x." It can be best described as the race's epic ride with nine separate timed sections. The ride starts at the Roundhouse Lodge on Whistler Mountain and climbs up the Saddle before heading down to the valley to do a wide selection of tough trails.

The timed sections are: from the top of The Saddle onto Top of the World, Highway 86 and Khyber Pass; It's Business Time; the Flank Trail switchbacks climb; Pura Vida and THC; A La Mode to Danimal/99er junction; Old Binty's, Get Over It and Mel's Dilemma; Dilineator, Shit Happens and White Knuckles; Big Kahuna; and backwards Section 102 to the finish at the Emerald Estates Reservoir.

That's a lot of timing, which Horn will make simpler by outfitting every rider with a FLAIK GPS device for Stage 3 and Stage 4. Riders will be able to visit the website and see how fast they were going on different sections of the trail.

Horn said he was nervous trusting a new technology to time his event, but after seeing it in action and doing a few tests he's also excited to put it to work. After all, he says that the timed sections, more than anything else, reflect his original goals for the event more faithfully than previous events — acknowledging the best all-around riders in town, rather than the fittest or fastest on cross-country or downhill bikes.

"The Four Queens was gnarly, but even then I still think it rewarded fitness more than bike handling," said Horn. "That's really what it's all about, who's the best bike handler? Who can really ride their bike? Who can ride downhill, who can ride cross-country, who can ride all the technical Whistler singletrack."

Horn said this race is wide open with past champion Matt Ryan missing the event, and said it could be anyone's game. He listed around a dozen local riders that were capable of taking the top spot, but acknowledged that the winner could be a younger rider, a downhiller or from the long list of participants from the Lower Mainland that have signed up. "I really have no idea, and that's what makes it so exciting this year," said Horn. "I know Matt's bummed about not being here to defend his title, but I think we're going to have an awesome battle."

Spectators are welcome to come out and watch all stages of the event. The Lost Lake Passive House is a good place to watch Friday's event unfold, and there are no bad viewing areas in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park on Saturday morning. As well, there are lots of great places to watch the descent on Foreplay on Saturday afternoon, a short hike up from Lost Lake Park. For the final day, he's recommending riders head to the No Flow Zone around Emerald as the event is so spread out.

For more on the event, visit www.worca.com.