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Hovey reclaims Test of Metal title

Charuk third in inaugural Ultra Test
testofmetalstart

By the time the Squamish Test of Metal got underway at 11 a.m. last Saturday the temperature was already in the high 20s and approaching day’s high of 31 degrees Celsius.

If the heat bothered any of the 800-plus athletes who took part in this year’s 67.5 km epic – including more than 35 km of singletrack – the times certainly didn’t show it, with faster times than last year recorded in both the men’s and women’s elite categories.

From the start it looked like Victoria’s Andrew Kyle would repeat this year after leading the entire race and claiming all 10 primes along the way.

Carter Hovey, the winner in 2002 and the runner-up in 2003 had other ideas, and went on to reclaim his title in the Crumpit Woods section after narrowing the gap to just 15 seconds heading into the singletrack. Hovey, who is also from Victoria, passed Kyle in a technical section and held on to the lead to finish in two hours, 40 minutes and 33 seconds, with a narrow 39-second margin of victory.

Third went to Abbotsford racer Ricky Federau who finished in 2:43:25.

In the women’s Elite race it was payback time for Sarah Noble, who led most of the 2003 race before being passed at the end. This year she led right from the start line and didn’t look back to finish the course in 3:11:42. Wendy Simms was second in 3:16:36 and Melanie McQuaid an extremely close third in 3:16:37.

This was also the first year for the Ultra Test, a 105-km race that began three hours before the Test of Metal on the GearJammer course and caught up with the main race at the start line.

Steven Williams of Seattle won this race in 5:38:58, followed closely by Andrew Handford in 5:40:13. Whistler’s Mike Charuk was third in 5:46:13, finishing the Test of Metal section on Ricky Federau’s back wheel after getting a 45 minute start on the rest of the field.

"I’ve done two 12-hour races, so I knew what I was getting into with the 105-km race," said Charuk, who races in Canada Cup events in the Masters category. The heat didn’t affect his racing, he said, but "I drank 10 bottles of water and didn’t pee until four o’clock in the afternoon, so that should tell you something. I didn’t find it that hard, but you had to push yourself through the day."

Charuk said he enjoyed the GearJammer race because it had uphill singletrack sections and flowed really well. He also got a chance to do the infamous Powerhouse Plunge twice in the day.

"Just clearing it without clipping out of the pedals was a boost for me, especially on the second time because I had just done it a few hours before and I was able to really rip on it."

Charuk came out to race, and immediately found himself in the top-eight. He rode most of the race with a rider he knew from the Canada Cup series, and who was a veteran of the epic Trans-Rockies Challenge.

Together they worked their way up to the front of the pack, passing riders with mechanical problems and a flat tire. They wondered when the top riders from the Test of the Metal would catch up and were surprised that it didn’t happen until the end of the Crumpit Woods sections.

"I had a really good ride, I was in the zone," said Charuk.

In the women’s Ultra Maribeth Evezich was the only one out of three entries to finish, coming in at 7:58:14.

Cliff Miller, the chief organizer for the event as well as one of the event’s founders, says he was blown away by how well things came together.

"It’s getting better and better, and the community is totally behind it," he said. "I’m amazed at how big it’s gotten."

The idea to hold an Ultra Test has been kicked around for several years says Miller, but it wasn’t until this year, when the main event sold out all 800 spots a record three months in advance, that they had time to put the event together. There were only 30 spots in this year’s Ultra, and there will be more next year.

"We’ll probably increase the field a little bit, but by keeping it a limited thing it increases the interest – the last thing we want to do is open up too many spots and not be able to fill them all," said Miller.

Next year will be the 10 th anniversary of the race, and the pilot group of volunteers that organizes the event is already meeting to discuss new twists for next year’s Test of Metal.

"We’ve got a lot of tricks up our sleeves," Miller said. "There are a lot of things that are up for discussion. Next year is year 10, so the pilot group is already committed to starting work on it next week instead of the usual month before the event. It should be interesting."

In the Citizen Men’s Age 30 to 39 Group – one of the largest categories with 197 starters – Joe Maika was fifth in 3:17:53, Greg McDonnell was 22 nd in 3:42:06, Ted Battiston 47 th in 3:54:27, Stu Ridley 48 th in 3:55:09, John Minton 49 th in 3:55:32, and Shane Robilliard 71 st in 4:10:27.

In the next age group up, the 40 to 49 class, which had 196 racers this year, Whistler’s John Blok was third in 3:28:08, shaving about 20 minutes and 83 spots off his previous time. Grant Lamont was 18 th in 3:46:02, Bob Deeks 29 th in 3:53:31, Christian Begin was 52 nd in 4:05:17, David Robertson 61 st in 4:13:15, and Geoff Weddell 112 th in 4:50:57.

In the 50 and Over group, David Thornhill was 21 st in 4:35:23, Gary Baker was 31 st in 4:51:11 and Jim Monahan 44 th in 6:24:56.

In the Citizen Clydesdale class, a category for men over 200 pounds, Pemberton’s John Inglis was first across the line in 3:44:40.

In the Freeride category for bikes over 35 pounds, Joseph Lyons was third in 4:03:21 and Scott Jewett was seventh in 4:28:53.

In the Citizen Women’s Age 19 to 29 race, local adventure racer Jen Segger was second overall in 4:04:40.

"My goal this year was to be in the top three and I did have one of the better times in my category. I wanted to finish in around 3:45, but on the last section I had some issues going on, so I was glad to have the time I did. I had an injured knee going in, and it flared up a little in the Crumpit Woods," said Segger.

Segger originally took up mountain biking because it is a component of adventure racing, but now she is starting to enjoy it on its own merits. She is registered as a solo competitor at the 24 Hours of Adrenaline in Whistler this year.

This was her second Test of Metal. In 2003 she was sixth in her category, and next year she says she will likely move into a higher competitive category.

The heat didn’t bother her, although she wished she brought her Cambelback rather than two bottles of water.

"In the end I decided to go as light as possible, but in retrospect I probably would have brought the pack because I did run out of water," said Segger.

What did work for Segger was strategy.

"I think the key to his race is to push really hard off the start because you want to be up front with the top riders and stay out of the congestion."

In the 30 to 39 group, Cathy Zeglinski was third in 3:53:47 and Marla Zucht sixth in 4:04:22.

Caroline Lamont was third in the 40 to 49 Citizen race with her time of 4:25:49.

Brenda Baker won the 50 and Over category with her time of 4:51:11, and Lee Bennett was fourth in 5:39:11.

James Crowe was fourth in the Junior Expert Men’s category with a time of 3:11:32.

Michael Boehm just missed the podium in the Master Expert 30 to 39 category with his time of 2:55:54. Matt Bodkin was fifth in 3:03:10, Trevor Hopkins seventh in 3:04:40, Tyler Dumont 26 th in 3:28:16, Craig Hill 33 rd in 3:46:00 and Doug Dewar 36 th in 4:29:12.

In the Master Expert 40-Plus race Tony Routley finished second in 3:08:30. Rob McSkimming was seventh in 3:15:56, Eric Crowe eighth in 3:19:36, James Shellard 11 th in 3:24:41 and Dan Curry 25th in 3:59:02.

In the Senior Elite Men’s race Matt Ryan was 13 th overall in 2:55:54, followed by Dave Burch in 19 th in 3:04:23.

Lesley Clements was 11 th overall in the women’s Senior Elite class with a time of 3:43:06. She’s still waiting to find out how she finished in the Marathon Series, as this year’s Test of Metal was also the third out of four stops in a provincial long distance racing series. Clements finished ahead of the two women on the marathon series that she has finished behind this year, so she thinks she may have moved into first place.

"I had a good race. It was hot, which took a little out of me, then I got knocked over on the first downhill by a really agro guy who was trying to pass me. He handlebars hit mine and I went flying about 30 feet down the trail, ripping my shorts and getting scraped up. He crashed, too a little further down. I tried to make the best of it and yelled that he owed me a beer, but I didn’t get his number.

"After that it was good. It was a bit of a wakeup call, and I rode extra hard after that."

Mike Tunnah won the Senior Sport Men’s race in 3:38:06.

In the Under 15 category Brandon Semenuk was third in 3:53:42.

In the Ultra-Test Mike Charuk was third in 5:46.29, less than eight minutes back of the leader after riding 105 km with over 8,000 vertical feet of climbing.

In the Teen Test’s Minime Masher category (ages 11-12), Jesse Melamed was third with a time of 55:57 and Tyler Allison fifth in 1:01:06. In the girl’s Teen Test (ages 13-14), Victoria Whitney was fifth in 1:04:24.

Due to the sheer number of competitors in last week’s Test of Metal and the fact that hometowns aren’t included in the results, we will likely miss a few names. Please contact us at 604-938-0202, ext. 231 or sports@piquenewsmagazine.com to let us know who you are.