The battle for first place in the West Side Wheel raged hard over wet roots and across slick bridges on Saturday afternoon, but in the end it was Whistler's Matt Ryan who got the best of Squamish's Neal Kindree.
Kindree, who didn't know the course that well, said he got lost a few times and stopped at one point when Ryan - then in the lead - went off the side of the wet bridge and crashed to the ground. Kindree also had the lead coming into the finish, but slowed in the Rainbow parking lot while he looked around for the finish line. Ryan, who won the previous four races, made the pass and finished just seconds ahead of Kindree.
"I pre-rode the course the day before and it was bone dry and perfect conditions," said Ryan. "I said to myself if it's this dry then Neal will tear my legs off. I was praying for rain the night before because that would favour me."
On race day, Kindree took the lead from the start but Ryan managed to bridge up by the Danimal descent after the technical ride down Lower Sproatt. They rode together on Whip Me Snip Me before Kindree pulled away again.
"We regrouped at Get Over It for a little bit, then I didn't see him again until I bridged up again going into River," said Ryan. "We rode together for a while, but he was bobbling a little bit and I managed to get past on one of the corners and thought I'd better torch it from there and get away in the technical stuff. But I pushed too hard and wiped out on one of the greasy bridges."
Neal stopped to help Ryan and they headed out again. Ryan took the lead again, but Kindree passed and they slowed the pace a little to keep it safe. Ryan did try one more pass when Kindree bobbled over some roots, but crashed again in the attempt.
"At that point I toned it town a little and sat behind Neal for the last sprint into the finish. When we came out in the car park I don't think he knew where the finish line was, and I noticed he wasn't pedalling that hard so I just went for it. If he'd known where the finish line was it might have been different, but I had been bracing for the sprint at the end and went out hard.
"It's probably the hardest Wheel Up I've done because of the competition out there."
It was Ryan's sixth Wheel Up win, including his win in 2004. He won again in 2007 and in 2008 was the first rider to win the trophy two years in a row.
"The course is just awesome, I can't rave about the Wheel Up enough," said Ryan. "It's a real mountain bikers course. People ask why I do so well, and it's because it hasn't got a lot of climbing and there's a lot of technical riding, which is a little more up my sleeve."
Despite the slick racing conditions and the crashesw Ryan was only a minute behind his 2010 time, where conditions were ideal. He finished in 1:10:37, just four-tenths of a second ahead of Kindree. Mike Boehm was third in 1:14:59, with Chris Clark and Greg Grant rounding out the top five in 1:15:03 and 1:15:36.
Brandi Heisterman was the top female racer once again in 1:24:18, placing 14th overall. Robin O'Neill was second in 1:37:49 and Katrina Strand third in 1:46:54. Rounding out the top five were Lynda Cowan in 1:47:40 and Sarah Olner in 1:50:12.
Mahon Lamont was the top junior in 22nd overall in 1:39:32. Felix Burke was second in 1:35:05 and Tristan Underhill 35th in 1:39:39. Lisle Stopforth was the top junior female in 68th overall in 2:01:23.
Race Director Phil Chew was happy with the turnout - a record 121 riders - and for raffle ticket sales. This year the race will raise over $4,000 for the B.C. Para-Alpine ski team, which is also a record.
"I really want to get to that 150 number, but I think the rain the day before probably turned a few people off," he said. "Another 30 riders is another $1,500 for the team, so I'm going to really try to get there next year."
Chew, who coaches the B.C. Para-Alpine team, said the money will go towards developing athletes that are working towards the 2014 Paralympics and beyond. In the 10 years since Chew took over organization of the race, they've raised over $35,000 for the team.
Race founder Les Clare, himself paralyzed in a construction accident, also said a few words to thank all the supporters and sponsors, and challenged Chew to keep the race going for at least four more years.
"I've always liked the number 22," he joked. "
He also reminded riders that he created the race as a way to give back to local trailbuilders including Vincent Massey and Dan Swanstrom that were building so many trails on Whistler's west side.
The course started in Function and included Lower Sproatt, Beaver Pond, Danimal North, Whip Me Snip Me, Rainbow Flank, Bob's ReBob, Get Over It, a section of Emerald Forest and all of A River Runs Through It - a total distance of around 13km.
