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Mountain bike festival a success

Aside from some rain on Sunday and a few first-year bugs, the inaugural Whistler Mountain Bike Festival last weekend was a success according to event organizer Richard Juryn of Shore Events.

Aside from some rain on Sunday and a few first-year bugs, the inaugural Whistler Mountain Bike Festival last weekend was a success according to event organizer Richard Juryn of Shore Events.

"The first year is always the toughest year for an event. We had some problems getting timing together and there were a few delays getting events off on time, but overall we’ve had nothing but positive feedback on the weekend, it was great," he said.

"The people at Whistler-Blackcomb, and the municipality and Tourism Whistler were very supportive and we were very well looked after. They challenged us to do certain things, and judging by their reaction I think we passed the test."

Huge crowds of spectators gathered in the village to watch the freeride challenge, bike toss, and village criterium on Saturday, and to enjoy the expo area at the base of the Whistler Mountain. The trial riding demonstrations by the Baia brothers were also extremely popular.

Sunday’s Enduro didn’t have much in the way of crowds, but with the rain Juryn wasn’t surprised that the village was empty.

The events themselves were well attended with more than 170 riders in the freeride competition, and solid first year turn-outs in the village criterium and Enduro. The kids’ criterium was huge with almost a hundred kids, and the men’s solo categoryin the Enduro alone had 15 riders.

In addition to the timing, there were some last-minute insurance issues that prevented kids younger than 13 from entering the freeride competition, and meant that kids under 16 had to go around certain obstacles on the course. "It was too bad, because there were a lot of kids out that really wanted to race. We’ll know better for next year and really try to get everybody involved."

One of the high-points of the weekend according to Juryn was the involvement of national team riders Alison Sydor, Geoff Kabush, Trish Sinclair and Andreas Hestler, all of whom who donated their own time to ride with the kids in the village criterium and to compete in the criterium afterwards.

Another high point, he said, was the involvement of Whistler junior James Crowe in all three events. He was third in the freeride, and with his father Eric, second in their division in the Enduro.

Next year Juryn plans to make the event event bigger, stretching the events out over three days. "I think one of the things we learned is that we probably shouldn’t have tried to run the freeride contest and the village criterium on the same day. It’s too hectic."

He also plans to talk to local business about the village criterium to see if businesses inside the island created by the race course were adversely affected by the race, and to look at ways to better accommodate their needs in the future.

Over the next few years he hopes to grow the event into something like a World Ski and Snowboard Festival for mountain biking, with more spectator-friendly events and activities.

"Mountain bike competitions are great for competitors but a lot of the time there’s not a lot for spectators if they are not hardcore into mountain biking. I think the World Ski and Snowboard Festival shines because it has something for everybody – the hardcore skiers and boarders get their fix, but the people who doesn’t know anything about the sport can also learn a little and be completely entertained," said Juryn.

Whislter riders on top of freeride

While most of the competitors in the B.C. Freeride Challenge on Saturday were familiar with the bike park, for many of the riders it was their first crack at a trail called Clown Shoes.

Clown Shoes is a new double diamond run built in the North Shore tradition that was only just completed. It features some long bridges, jumps, and drops with some steep and narrow transitions.

The route included Upper and Lower Schleyer, Good Call, Clown Shoes, Bones and Heart of Darkness.

"There was some concern that the route was too challenging, while for others I don’t think it was challenging enough," said Juryn. "I think everybody enjoyed it though, and I’ve had nothing but positive feedback on the race.

"You have to hand it to your local riders like (Tyler) Morland and (Jeff) Beatty for showing how good the riding is out here. There were a lot of good riders out there and they couldn’t keep up."

Whistler’s Jeff Beatty, who at the age of 18 is one of the top junior racers in the country, was just glad to have another chance to race this season.

"It was definitely good to get out on the bike," he said. "The course was like everything else in the park. It was challenging but doable, and it was really fun. I like to ride that kind of stuff in the park, all the singletrack technical stuff rather than just jumps."

Beatty, who races for Oakley and STORMBC, won the junior competition with a time of six minutes 28.38 seconds, almost five seconds faster than Adriano Digiacinto of Handsworth in 6:33.29. Whistler’s James Crowe, a national champion cross-country racer, was third in 6:41.79.

Although he won the junior category hands down, Beatty was still less than happy with his run. "I had a mechanical on the course, which took a lot of time off. I wanted to be in the top three or top five in the pros, I know I have the ability to do it," he said. His rear derailleur got caught in his spokes, and Beatty had to stop and rip it and his chain off.

"I don’t want to make excuses because that’s the way racing goes. It was my fault that my bike wasn’t dialed in, but at the same time it’s still kind of a bummer."

Beatty plans to train all winter, and next season hopes to compete in the U.S. NORBA racing series to get more exposure and maybe win some money. He will also race in the western Canada Cup races and B.C. Cup races wherever possible.

In total, 31 riders took part in the junior male race, and 28 finished.

Katie Neilson was only junior woman in the contest, crossing the finish line in 11:10.83.

Whistler’s Tyler Morland, who rides for Evolution, was the only racer of the day to break the six minute mark, finishing the course in 5:54.33. The 21-year-old was over nine seconds faster than the next rider, Eric Gross from the Cover Bike Shop, who posted a time of 6:05.49. Trevor Porter, also from Cove, was third in 6:06.49.

Whistler’s Dave Burch, riding for the Glacier Shop, finished fourth in 6:08:04.

In total, the pro men’s field included 24 riders.

In the pro women’s race, Whistler’s Katrina Strand, 26, blew away the competition with a time of 7:32.86. Barb Haley from Cove was second in 8:01.48, followed by Lisa Lefrot of North Shore Mountain Bike (NSMB) magazine in 8:22.39.

Whistler’s Tom Prochazka took the master 40 to 49 group with his time of 7:43.847. Marilyn Manso, another local, raced unopposed in the women’s 40 to 49 group and posted a time of 9:08.00.

Peter Morin was the oldest competitor at the age of 62, finishing in 8:15.46.

James Caski took the men’s 19 to 39 race, which had 70 entries, in 6:09.68. He was followed by Whistler’s Greg MacDonald in 6:38.75, and Graham Beatty in 6:39.66.

Amelia Colasurdo won the women’s 19 to 39 category in 7:36.14, followed by Kaz Boelema in 8:16.11 and Tonia Leronowich in 8:48.86.

The young rippers category for kids 13 and 14 went to Marcus Jaheny in 8:04.06. Rossco Sabiston was second in 8:09.06 and Kieran Maniflower third in 8:10.04.

Micayla Gatto was the lone female finisher in the young rippers with a time of 9:29.85.

Enduro Results

Alan Carlsen was the top solo male in the Whistler 6 Hour Enduro on Sunday, completing 14 laps of the six kilometre circuit in 5:59:12. David Kvick was second with 14 laps in 6:17:25, and Chris Christie third with 13 laps in 5:54:00.

"The rain really made it epic and hard for the riders," said Juryn. "The last two hours must have been tough. It was raining hard, and it was chilly."

Complete results and photos will be posted on the Shore Events website at www.shoreevents.com by the end of the week.