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Bradbrooke dares while McIvor represents

The fourth annual Beyond the Valleycliffe of the Dolls mountain bike challenge took place on Saturday with 42 riders taking on a series of dares in Valleycliffe’s most challenging terrain and stunts.

A series of four double dog dares on every trail were judged by the race organizers, and the winner was the rider with the highest marks on the dares. This year that title went to Joel Bradbrooke, followed by Colin Miller and Barry McLane.

Several other riders received honourable mentions. Whistler’s Ashleigh McIvor, one of two women to take part, rode everything without any body armour or water, just jeans, jersey, and a full face helmet. Joe Lyons, also from Whistler, astonished the judges by being one of the only participants to actually ride up most trails and stunts while the others mostly pushed their bikes. Craig Mathews got the Bike Crack Award for wearing bike pants that wouldn’t stay up.

On an negative note, the BVOD’s perfect safety record is no more with a rider crashing and requiring evacuation by Squamish Search and Rescue. The rider was not injured seriously, but required hospital attention.

"I had hoped that the good karma of donating to SAR every year was why we’ve been so lucky so far," said organizer Bryan Raiser. "But eventually someone has to go down and we’re just glad he’s not broken."

Raiser also praised the hard work of the volunteers.

"Shout out to the volunteers. I had volunteers who came out for a chill gig and ended up six hours helping SAR huffing a body out of the woods. It’s incredible actually how SAR volunteers give up their free time to put themselves through excruciating exercises to save others. I can’t say enough about the incredibly fantastic, busy, and under-funded Squamish Search and Rescue."

The clouds and rain earlier in the week kept the numbers down but Raiser still managed to break even and donate $200 to Search and Rescue and $100 to the Squamish Off Road Cycling Association.

Pictures from the event will be posted at Cynical Sunshine, www.cynicalsunshine.com .