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GranFondo sees big finishes for Zach Garland, Jenny Lehmann

Heat, headwind slow down massive field of cyclists
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The top riders attacked early on West Vancouver's Taylor Way and kept attacking all the way through Squamish and the Cheakamus Canyon, but despite the early effort the times were slightly slower for the second running of the RBC GranFondo Whistler.

Battling a headwind and crosswinds, and heat that would peak over 31 C that day, Zach Garland broke away from the lead pack with just under 20km to go, and never looked back. Unlike last year's dramatic sprint to the finish where the top seven riders finished within a second of each other, Garland was alone with a gap of just over five minutes.

He pulled in at 3:16:02, almost two minutes slower than the top time in 2010. Adam Thuss was second in 3:19:14 and Craig Jones third by six-tenths of a second.

"I had a hard time in July for B.C. Superweek where I just imploded physically, so I made a decision to put my major season goals off and put 100 per cent of my focus on the 'Fondo," said Garland. "I dedicated 10 weeks of my life to get ready for this race, I pre-rode the course and came in with a plan. That said, it was also super hard."

Garland wasn't sure where he was going to try and break from the lead group, which established itself on Taylor Way in West Vancouver and held together for almost 100km of hard riding at speeds averaging 40km/h. Eventually, Garland's body provided the answer.

"The decision was sort of made for me with about 20km to go, " he said. "I was starting to cramp pretty badly, so I knew I had to go or I'd never get another chance."

Thuss gave full credit to Garland.

"We were all riding really well, all six of us. And then Zach just hit it. We were slow to respond, and by the time we got organized he was just gone," he said. "It was a different race this year. Last year the lead group kind of waited a bit through Squamish before breaking away, but the six of us were pushing it the whole way. It probably would have been nice to have a few more in there to battle the headwinds."

Whistler's Ben Chaddock was happy with his race overall, placing eighth in 3:23:47. Not bad, considering that two days earlier he placed second in the Challenge Sprint Canada in Quebec and was promoted to the pro race.

"I woke up at 2 a.m. last night, had breakfast at 3 a.m. and then went to bed for another hour-and-a-half of sleep, that's how badly my clock is off," he said. "But my job is to suffer."

Chaddock races for Team Exergy specializing in sprint events, but is also working on his longer distance races as well. His job was to stick with the breaks, and he did that - leading the charge over some of the hills on the course. By the end, he was racing for a spot in the top 10 for his team. He helped put his teammate Sebastian Salas (the guy who holds the record on the Grouse Grind) in a position to place in the top three, but in the end Salas placed fourth.

"Once (the peleton) got caught, it was really only one rider attacking. The race was over, the money was over - coming into the finish it was more prestige for the team to have a top 10, and we really came through in the sprint, from 10th to fourth for Salas in the last 100 metres.

"It's too bad we weren't in the money, but... I'm very happy with the strides I've made in the last month. I'm going to keep working on my goals, and today was a good indication of my climbing abilities, and a good indication of my future."

The top Sea to Sky rider not racing for a pro team was Pemberton's Josh Hall, racing in the Giro category. He placed 18th overall in 3:23:52.3.

"This is great - when else can you do something like this with a closed road from Vancouver to Whistler?" he said.

"Last year what happened is we had to ride to catch a few guys here and there, but this year (the top riders) were too strong. They went early, and it was obvious from Taylor Way and the Upper Levels Highway that it was their race. We still rode really hard and guys were going up the road to try and chase them, but nobody could touch them. When the group I was with realized that the race for first place was over we slowed down off the pace a little.

"There were not enough guys that were strong enough to catch the leaders. We tried for two-thirds of the race."

That didn't mean the race was over for Hall. He conserved enough energy for the final sprint and made up some ground in the last part of the race.

Josh Stott was next across the line, finishing 22nd in 3:32:52.3. More of a mountain biker than a road rider, he said he took the ride a little more seriously this year and knocked a few minutes off his time from 2010.

"I decided to concentrate on the road for the last month and a half which is why I haven't been to many Toonie Rides lately," he explained.

"The headwind was brutal today. I tried to hide behind other riders as much as possible, although sometimes you had to take the lead for a while. But the sun was out, it was a lot warmer than last year - you couldn't have asked for a better day."

In the women's Giro race, Jenny Lehmann - Garland's roommate - was the top racer in 3:51:58, followed by Claire Cameron in 3:53:13.5. Less than a bike length back in third was Leah Guloein in 3:53:13.8.

Squamish's Brandi Heisterman, more of a mountain biker than a road rider, stuck with the lead group once again and for the most part it was a replay of last year.

"I tried to get away lots of times, but it was the same thing as last year with only a few girls doing all the work," she said.

"There were three girls that were attacking the whole way from the Lions Gate Bridge, but there's weren't enough attackers to get away."

Heisterman went for a solo break at one point, but the other girls - using road racing strategy - reeled her in.

As a result the women's lead group stuck together until the last 10km or so, when Lehmann pulled away. Heisterman said she continued to push, but like last year lost in the final sprint to girls who were a little better rested.

"I was seeing stars and by the end I was going backwards. I probably went from second to ninth again. It's sort of frustrating but I really enjoyed myself and was proud that I was able to push the pace a little. I'd do it again."

She finished ninth in the women's Giro in 3:53:16.1, about three seconds back of the podium.

The first prize for the top male and female in the Giro category was $3,000 this year, with $2,000 for second and $1,000 for third.

 

GranFondo

There were no prizes in the general GranFondo classification, but that doesn't mean it wasn't competitive. Local riders did well in their respective age categories and in the overall rankings.

Of the five major Whistler teams in the running this year Team Fun Hog got the best of Team Whistler in the Mixed category by placing first overall out of 27 teams. Their time was 3:39:34, while Team Whistler was second in the category in 3:44:37. Team Knobless in Whistler were fifth in 4:00:46, the Whistler Question were 13th in 5:28:22 and Lupino Whistler 21st in 6:19:28.

Team Fun Hog was comprised of Greg McDonnell (3:39:37), Kristin Johnston (3:38:52), Ted Battiston (3:39:02), James Hallisey (3:39:35), Scott Hall (3:39:39), Marla Zucht (3:39:35), Roman Torn (3:44:48) and Guy Patterson (3:39:35).

Johnston placed second overall in the women's 40 to 49 age category, and was the second woman overall behind Knobless in Whistler rider Christine Shandro by just 12 seconds. Marla Zucht won the women's 30 to 39 group despite hitting a cone in the home stretch and scraping her knee. She still placed almost five minutes ahead of Squamish's Megan Rose, riding for Team Whistler.

McDonnell said that they used team tactics from the start.

"It was the consummate team ride," he said. "We came into it with a strategy and we executed it to a tee. The only bobble was at the water station where I almost wiped out and took Marla with me."

The team stuck together, working together to move their way up the field.

"I think we had the nicest guys and that's why we won," said Johnston. "Everyone was really supportive and the energy was so positive."

"We're all friends and ride together anyway," added Zucht. "It was really fun."

Two of the team members came into the race with new children, while Patterson spent the last seven weeks before the race on a boat. He didn't have a wind trainer, but would go for a trail run every time they were docked.

Team Whistler riders did well in their respective age categories.

Mike Boehm led the team, placing 35th overall and 12th in the men's 30 to 39 age category with a time of 3:33:35. After last year's race, where he was running around at the start trying to fix a flat, he said anything would have been an improvement.

"It was good," he said. "It was hard to keep track of everybody because there were so many riders and people were doing their thing, but everybody was having a pretty good day out there. No question we were a little slower than last year, but that's because the action didn't really get going until Function."

Boehm rode with a few teammates, including Tony Routley, towards the finish. They pre-rode the finish area and knew they could pass a few riders, and Boehm estimates that he passed 18 or 19 people in the final sprint with Routley providing a slingshot through the crowd.

He also gave high marks to Team Fun Hog. "Their team tactics played amazingly, so hats off to those guys. I'm just happy I finished strong and still have some left in the tank. Another GranFondo down."

Team Whistler was comprised of Mike Boehm (3:33:35), Trevor Hopkins (3:34:08), Dave Burch (3:34:15), Tony Routley (3:33:38), Linda Robichaud (3:51:53), Megan Rose (3:44:36), Ann Yew (3:44:37) and Jean-Philippe Boulais (3:39:37).

Routley was fifth in the men's 50 to 59 age category, while Megan Rose and Ann Yew were second and third respectively in women's 30 to 39.

Knobless in Whistler was comprised of Dawn Titus (4:00:46), Christine Shandro (3:38:40), Kelli Fitzmaurice (4:44:11), Kristine Shellard (4:44:10), William Letham (3:44:27), Brent Murdoch (3:49:36), Geoff Palmer (3:33:54), Dave Johnston (3:38:01) and Lee Harrison (3:38:37).

Johnston was 10th in the men's 40 to 49 race.

Dawn Titus was fifth in women's 50 to 59, Christine Shandro second in 40 to 49.

The Question were Mark Coates (5:49:11), Amber Mann (5:28:22), Royden Richardson (6:37:46), David Burke (5:25:46), Nicole Trigg (4:51:27), John Legg (3:45:52) and Tim Latter (5:57:16).

Lupino Whistler were Darci Sibbald (6:17:23), Stan Yee (6:04:32), Kevin Sibbald (6:17:19), Kendra Mazzei (6:51:27), Barb Sittlinger (6:19:28), Graham Sibbald (5:55:28) and Kevin Holland (6:51:27).

There are too many individual results to mention, but worth noting is Phil Chew finishing the ride in 4:31:11, cutting over nine minutes off his time for last year. Chew is a disabled skier and ski coach who pedals with one leg.

"I was toast," said Chew after finishing his ride. "I cut nine-and-a-half minutes off my time, and I gave it everything last year. Just getting a new bike and being a bit lighter, and putting in a few extra kilometres - all those things helped.

Chew also did a 140km ride in Langley this year, so he knew he could handle the distance, and decided to skip out on the water stations where he lost several minutes last year.

John Ryan, a paraplegic, also hand-cycled the course in 8:33:41, averaging over 14km/h on a hilly course in some of the hottest weather of the summer.

Chew passed Ryan on the Taylor Way climb, and was inspired by his fellow adaptive racer.

"He must have been in the start group ahead of me and I caught him at the bottom of Taylor Way. I yelled 'way to go John' and he answered back, 'go for it Phil.' I was thinking to myself, this is going to be hell for me with one leg, but then I saw John. I looked at him and he was starting to hand-pedal himself up there, and that was a little inspiration for me to really go up that hill."

Chew said the headwind probably cost him a few minutes and his dream time of finishing under 4:30. "When the headwind popped up over Brohm ridge, it was a little hell to pay," he said. "I kept looking for a big guy to get behind and worked that way  as much as I could but there were a few times where I was stranded on my own in the headwind."

Claire Daniels placed third overall in the women's 19 to 29 race in 4:04:56.

Donna Savage was second in women's 60 to 69 in 4:50:05.

Squamish's Max Saenger - who managed bialthlon during the 2010 Games - was first in male 40 to 49 in 3:32:51.

In men's 70-plus, Whistler's Gary Baker was second in 4:28:57.

With 7,000 riders this year and no hometowns listed in the results, we probably missed a few people. If you know of any Sea to Sky athletes in the top 10 in their category, let us know at andrew@piquenewsmagazine.com.

 

Registration for 2012 RBC GranFondo Whistler opens today

If you didn't get a chance to register for the sold-out 2011 RBC GranFondo Whistler or just want another crack at the 122km course, registration for the 2012 edition starts today, Thursday, Sept. 15 at noon at www.rbcgranfondowhistler.com.

Sales actually started on Monday for the people who raced the event in the first and second years, and according to race director Rob MacKinnon they were averaging around 200 hits a minute on their registration website.

The number of entries will initially be capped at 7,000, the 2011 cap, but additional spots could be added in the future if the organizers decide to grow the event. Organizers have said they want to grow the event to 10,000 in 2012.