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Kindree up to the Test

Rain and mud still make for fast Test of Metal
1425testmetal

By Andrew Mitchell

There have been some wet Tests of Metal over the years, but 2007 may go down in history as the muddiest ever. Most riders crashed at least once and mechanical problems were par for the course, but those that endured made it to the finish line smiling.

The biggest smile of all belonged to Squamish’s own Neal Kindree, the reigning Test of Metal champion. Despite the rain he managed to cut almost five minutes off his time of last year, and came close to the course record set by Whistler’s Chad Miles.

“With the conditions I was expecting about 2:45 (two hours and 45 minutes), so I was pretty happy to see that I beat that when the course was actually worse than I thought,” he said.

“It was slippery, really slippery. I felt bad for all of the people near the back of the pack who have to ride through all the mud when all the mud is churned up.”

The last riders to finish the 67 km course came in after nearly seven hours.

Kindree started with the lead but was overtaken by riding partner and Squamish resident Ryan Edwards when he dropped his chain at the top Cliff’s Corner’s.

“He got a pretty big gap on the downhill, and I spend a while trying to chase him down,” said Kindree, his face barely recognizable in a mask of black mud. “(Edwards) had about three minutes on me, but I caught him on the next flat section and pulled ahead on the next climb so he couldn’t bridge up in the next technical section.

“With the conditions I was really happy with my time.”

Kindree says his result in the Test gives him a boost of confidence heading into a pair of World Cup races in Canada. He also still holds the lead in the Canada Cup standings, and wants to continue working towards the national title.

“Those (World Cup) races are going to be important for the selection of the team in 2008,” he said. “There’s no Espoir (Under 23) category at the Olympics, so I’m going to have to really step it up. I’ve been doing a lot of road riding up to Whistler and Pemberton to mix it up, I’m kind of burnt out riding around Squamish, and my legs are feeling good.”

Kindree’s official time was 2:40:04, while Edwards crossed the line in 2:45:14. Andreas Hestler was third in 2:49:20.

Whistler’s top racer, finishing 10 th in the Male Elite category, was Matt Ryan. Ryan managed to finish in just under three hours, with a time of 2:59:31, despite constant problems with his front derailleur.

“It was right near the start on Roller Coaster, and I had to get off my bike and fiddle with the derailleur for about five minutes. I got it going, but I was having problems all day,” he said. “It was a tough one. I had good legs, but the bike was messed up and I was having a mental shut-down.”

Ryan was also riding with the chase group until his first mechanical problem, and found himself riding alone through to the end of the race. He did manage to make up some of the time he lost in the technical section.

“I caught three guys on the (Powerhouse Plunge), then almost hit a tree. I decided to pull back a bit or I was going to kill myself. At every corner my bike wanted to keep going into the woods.”

Ryan’s biggest crash of the day came in the last minute of the race when he turned off the pavement onto the last section of dirt and lost traction. At the time he saw he was two minutes back of the three-hour mark, and wanted to salvage his day with a strong finish.

“Both wheels went out at the same time. I let the bike take all of it, I was kind of mad at my bike anyway,” he said.

He still broke the three-hour mark by close to 30 seconds.

Dave Burch was having a strong day all around until he started cramping up near the end of the race. Physiotherapists at the last feed station worked on him for a few minutes, and he was able to finish in 15 th in 3:12:13. Dustin Gordon, riding for Team Whistler, was 20 th in 3:20:58.

In the women’s race, Catherine Pendrel finished first overall, passing reigning champion Meghan Kindree early on. Kindree made it a race, however, and finished in 3:22.31, just over three minutes back of Pendrel’s 3:19:08.

“I’m very happy with my race. Catherine is much faster than I am and she’s out there doing all the World Cups, so it’s good that I was able to keep it pretty close,” said Kindree.

“(Pendrel) was a always a role model since I started to race, so it was fun to race against her.”

Kindree had to readjust her time goal because of the conditions. She enjoyed the climbing sections, and the Plunge. “I was all over the place, but I had a good ride through the first section and that gave me more confidence for the next section, and I had a good ride in there,” she said. “The hard part was the Crumpit Woods. The new trail (Farther Side) was really good, but the mud was so thick that you were pedaling all the time.”

Whistler’s Joanna Harrington finished third in 3:33:49. Like Kindree she had no trouble in the technical sections.

“The trails were good and I thought The Plunge was excellent. I expected it to be really slick, but you could get a good grip in the mud if you didn’t lock up. The Crumpit Woods was pretty tough because the mud was so heavy. I was trying to catch Meghan, but there was no way to make up time in there.”

Whistler’s Lesley Clements placed fourth in 3:35:05, chasing Harrington for most of the race. “I knew I was going to lose her on the (Plunge), she’s such a good technical rider, but I thought I could maybe catch her again at the bottom,” she said. “I’m happy I made it close.”

Jennifer Tabbernor finished 13 th in the Female Elite group in 3:56:35.

In the Female Recreational category, Victoria Whitney placed second in the Under 20 race in 4:29:13, as well as 17 th overall among recreational women.

Megan Rose was fifth overall and first in the 20 to 29 age group in 4:05:27. Fanny Paquette was 15 th overall and second in 20 to 29 in 4:27:12, and Joanne Hale was ninth in 5:50:15.

In the 30 to 34 age category, Brandi Heisterman was fifth in 4:11:57. Robin O’Neill was ninth in 4:39:23, and Melanie Clark 11 th in 5:14:59.

Lindsay Burch placed first overall among all recreational women and first in the 35 to 39 age group 3:49:52. Ski coach Hilary Lindh was second in 4:07:01, and Lisa Canjar 21 st in 5:53:37.

In 40 to 44, Gwen Milley was sixth in 4:49:21, and Hilary Hendriks 10 th in 5:02:02.

In Male Under 20, Nick Geddes placed sixth in 3:53:52. Tyler Allison started the race, but pulled out with an illness.

In Male 20 to 29, Jonny Lloyd placed second in 3:26:49.

In 30 to 34, Jonathan Silcock was 20 th in 3:37:22, Ian Dalziel was 31 st in 3:53:43, Nils Robinson 55 th in 4:13:53, and Pete Field 67 th in 4:30:33. Field won the Pique Newsmagazine online contest for free Test entry a week out from the race, and was one of 10 singlespeed racers on course. Dean Wegman was 92 nd in 5:05:54, Shawn McLean was 71 st in 4:36:22, and Tony Medd was 97 th in 5:13:24.

In 35 to 39, Trevor Hopkins was a solid fourth place in 3:09:13. Nobuo Shoji was ninth in 3:23:22, Paul Nicholas was 58 th in 4:09:58, John Minton 92 nd in 4:48:31, Joe Polito 105 th in 5:01:55, and Michael Hallett 114 th in 5:11:57.

In the 40 to 44 race, Joe Maika was eighth in 3:25:18 after spending the previous two weeks recovering from mono. Richard Potter was 24 th in 3:47:23, Geoff Weddell was 62 nd in 4:24:54, Todd Allison was 71 st in 4:32:00, Greg Newton was 96 th in 4:49:15, Doug Rogers was 120 th in 5:10:36, Chris Quinlan was 122 nd in 5:11:31, James Martin was 124 th in 5:11:46, John Morley was 133 rd in 5:27:01, and Brian Perrodou was 155 th in 6:21:18.

Bob Allison won the male 45 to 59 category in 3:06:00, with a gap of more than five minutes. He was also in the top-20 of riders to the finish line this year and the second Whistler rider behind Matt Ryan.

“I really hoped I’d be with a group of really good riders that I could draft on the road sections but it didn’t work out and I was on my own for most of the race,” he said. “I had a really good start, and a pretty good ride through the technical stuff. I had a couple of spills, but nothing big. The plunge was the toughest section by far with all the mud, but the new sections were really good so that helped to even things out.

“It’s never the same race. Last year was great for all the technical stuff, and this year it was so tough mentally. You just had to keep moving.”

Graeme Fitch was 23 rd in 4:02:51, Chris Wetaski was 55 th in 4:37:06, and David Rushbrook was 67 th in 4:55:57.

In Male 50 to 59, Whistler’s Tony Routley took first place by more than eighth minutes with a time of 3:08:10. Rob McSkimming was second in that category in 3:16:27, Scott Brunning was 17 th in 4:28:51, and Rick Reid was 27 th in 4:42:40.

In Male 60-Plus, David Thornhill was third in 4:14:24. Gary Baker was sixth in 4:42:47, Mike Hawes seventh in 4:56:40, Tom Thomson eighth in 5:04:20, Dale Reynolds ninth in 5:12:29, and Greg Pritchard 10 th in 6:09:26.

With a number of entry contests open to the public and no registration deadline for Elite riders, a field of 850 athletes took part in this year’s Test of Metal race. Some 785 riders made it to the finish line, with some riders missing the cutoffs and others pulling out because of mechanical and health issues.

The course covered 67 km of Squamish trails, more than half taking place on singletrack.

This year the hometown information for riders was not included in the result. If you know of any riders that were missed for the Whistler area please let us know at sports@piquenewsmagazine.com and we’ll list their results in next week’s issue.