Whistler’s Chad Miles was first over the finish line at the annual Bear Mountain Challenge in Mission last weekend, the third race in the B.C. Cup series.
Miles, who rides for Roach, blew past national team member Andreas Heslter by more than five minutes and third place finisher Mike Pruner by over 13 minutes with his time of 2 hours 33 minutes 22 seconds.
This was Miles’ second convincing win in a row in the B.C. Cup race series.
Whistler’s Dave Burch, racing for the Glacier Shop, also competed in the Senior Elite men’s division. He completed the extremely long and challenging course in sixth place with a time of 2:51:20.
James "Crunch" Crowe won his second Under 17 Expert men’s race in a row with a time of 1:27:48. With a second-place finish at the beginning of the year, it’s safe to say that Crowe, who rides for Glacier Shop, Oakley and Kona, is running away with the lead in this category.
Jason Klimock, riding for Whistler club STORMBC and Specialized, finished sixth among Junior Sport men with a time of 1:52:08.
In the Senior Sport men’s race, Mike Tunnah was seventh overall with a time of 1:44:15, almost 14 minutes back of the leader.
Trevor Hopkins, riding for Corsa Cycles, was seventh in the Senior Expert men’s category with a time of 2:28.06.
In the Senior Expert Women’s race, Whistler Jill Vale, racing for Snowcover Sports, was first with a time of 1:53:36. She was second in the previous B.C. Cup race, which would put her at the top of the standings.
In the Senior Elite women category, Whistler’s Angela Teng finished fourth overall with her time of 2:55:27. She cycles for Flash 5, Brodie and EZ-Up.
Matt Bodkin, racing for Whistler Bike Co. and Giant Cycling was sixth among the Master 30 to 39 Expert men with his time of 2:14:55, 5:44 off the lead. Greg MacDonald from the Glacier Shop was 11 th in the same category, just over 11 minutes back of the lead.
In the Master 30 and Over women’s race, Meredith Armstrong finished in eighth out with her time of 1:07:37.
In the Master 40 and Over Expert men’s race, Eric Crowe finished in second place with a time of 1:20:23, 3:27 back of the leader.
In total, almost 300 racers took part in the cross-country race, on a longer course than riders in most categories are used to.
Meanwhile, a record 397 riders turned out for the downhill competition.
Kelly Walters, riding for Fanatyk Co., Azonic and Zeal in the men’s Senior Elite race was 32 nd out of 43 riders with a time of 4 minutes 26.15 seconds, just 30 seconds back of the lead.
Two Whistler riders were in the women’s Senior Elite race. Clair Buchar, riding for Evolution, was third with her time of 4:53:50. In fourth, with a time of 5:04:18 was Sylvie Allen, a member of the national team who is riding for Fanatyk Co.
In the Senior Expert Men, Dave Burch matched his cross-country finish of the day before to finish sixth once again with a time of 4:25.39.
Chris Dewar, also riding for Fanatyk Co. was second among Senior Sport men with his time of 4:20.81.
The fourth B.C. Cup competition of the season takes place June 29-30 at Panorama Mountain Village.
