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Rain, mud make it a true Test

Neal Kindree wins third Test of metal title with personal best time
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mud master Neal Kindree left the competition behind on bonk hill to cruise to his first Test of Metal win since 2007. Photo BY david mccolm

Squamish's Neal Kindree knows a thing or two about riding in the rain, and easily bested the competition in some of the worst weather in Test of Metal history on Saturday to take the title.

With rain, mud and cool temperatures to contend with, Kindree also set a personal best on the 67km Test of Metal course by finishing in 2:34:24 — two minutes faster than his time last year, 10 minutes faster than 2006 and six minutes faster than 2007. He picked up nine of 10 on-course primes totalling $900, plus the $250 first prize cheque.

This year's win is a vindication of sorts for the 24-year-old. In 2007, Kindree was the top up-and-coming rider in Canada, selected to represent Canada at the World Championships. At the time he was a sponsored Sport Canada funded rider with his eye on the Olympics.

Then in early 2008 he injured his knee in a logging road crash, and would lose all of 2009 and most of the 2010 race season as he recovered. In 2011 he re-established himself as a rider to watch with wins at events like the NimbyFifty and a fourth-place result at nationals — which temporarily gained him a berth on the national team for the World Championships, and an outside shot at representing Canada at the 2012 Olympics. But he was later bumped from the squad after other riders with more Canada Cup points appealed.

This season Kindree has sponsorship again through the Specialized/EMD Sorono Team, as well as Ryders Eyewear and Corsa Cycles. With the 2012 Olympics out of reach, Kindree's goal this season was to win as many pro events and cash prizes as he can, and to work his way back to the national team. He missed nationals this weekend in Quebec to ride the Test, but has no regrets.

"I'm actually stoked about it (his decision to race the Test)," he said. "I'm super happy with my choice. That's a lot of travel for an hour and 20-minute race, flying to the other side of the country, when I grew up in Squamish and there was the Test to ride. How could I walk away from something like that?"

Kindree instead will travel to Mont-Sainte-Anne this weekend for the UCI World Cup, where he's looking to finish with a personal best. After that he's returning to the West Coast where he hopes to be a factor in the seven-day BC Bike Race.

Meanwhile, he said the rain and wet conditions probably slowed the field down a little, but likely didn't affect the outcome of the race. "It makes for a slightly harder day, but it was really fine and I quite like riding in the rain," he said. "If it's going to be wet my preference is for it to pour — it's fun when it rains like that, better than the odd little sprinkling or drizzle of rain. It's more epic, I guess. It was a lot of fun."

Kindree spent the first part of the 2012 Test battling Chris Sheppard, eventually pulling away on Nine Mile Hill and the Powerhouse Plunge. By the end he had over four minutes on Sheppard, who finished in 2:38:42. Cory Wallace of Jasper won the first prime, and went on to place third in 2:41:27.

The top Whistler rider in Pro Elite was Michael Robinson, who finished 15th in the category in 2:55:54.

It wasn't where he wanted to be, but with the conditions he was happy.

"I just got too cold, and I should have worn more than I did," he said. "But I had a lot of fun out there and it was a battle for everybody. The Rip was insane and the Plunge and Roller Coaster, with everybody there cheering and banging things, that was so much fun.

"There are so many people out for the Test of Metal and it's such a great atmosphere. And watching everyone come in battered and dirty at the end was incredible. You literally could not see out there. If you put on glasses they'd fog up, if you took off your glasses you had water and dirt in your eyes. It was crazy. That's the muddiest three hours I've ever spent."

Next up for Robinson is the BC Bike Race, and he may race the GearJammer in July. After that, he's headed to Fernie for the three-day Transrockies ride.

Robinson managed to stay on his bike from start to finish, although he scraped his leg in Crumpit Woods and has marks on his body from when he hit something, but has no idea when that happened. Near the start, he was also fortunate enough to avoid a pile-up of cyclists that almost took out the leaders.

Nanaimo's Wendy Simms took the women's race in 3:07:19, followed by Calgary's Kate Aardal and Squamish's Brandi Heisterman. Whistler's Cathy Zeglinski was ninth in Pro Elite in 3:31:39.

Heisterman led for most of the race and won eight of 10 primes, but faded on Bonk Hill and was passed by Wendy Simms on the climb. Heisterman started to feel better on the descent, but was temporarily delayed when she lost her back wheel. Kate Aardal was with a group of guys that passed Heisterman in the last half kilometre.

Close to 900 riders were at the start line for the race, and 126 did not make the cut-offs or pulled out for other reasons — an extremely high number for a race of this calibre. A look through Facebook comments turned up stories of hypothermia, crashes, mechanical issues related to the mud and more.

An injury report from Murray Watt of Squamish Search and Rescue sums up the day: "We serviced about 25 some odd participants inside the first aid tent. The predominate complaint was...you guess it...mud in the eye. The first aid attendants ran out of saline rinse solution and we had to the raid the supplies of the local BCAS station.

"The most major injury was one male in shock/hypothermia that was transported to SGH by ambulance. There was one woman that was evacuated from the rip to SGH with a probable dislocated shoulder. A male also was examined for a probable broken orbital and a dental injury. He was wiping mud out of his eye and hit a tree. We also scrubbed the mud out of a dozen participants with gouges, rock rash and puncture wounds."

Results:

Men Pro Elite

1. Neal Kindree, Squamish — 2:34:24

2. Chis Sheppard, Oregon — 2:38:42

3. Cory Wallace, Jasper — 2:41:27

Women Pro Elite

1. Wendy Simms, Nanaimo — 3:07:19

2. Kate Aardal, Calgary — 3:09:41

3. Brandi Heisterman, Squamish — 3:09.56

Men 14 to 19

1. Rhys Verner, Squamish — 3:15:47

2. Mahon Lamont, Whistler — 3:26:50

3. Austin Reith, Whistler — 3:30:21

Women 14 to 19

1. Mikayla Martin, Squamish — 4:03:17

2. Jocelyn Ramsden, West Van — 4:56:35

3. Sally Enns, Squamish — 5:53.49

Men 20 to 29

1. Marty Lazarski, North Van — 2:57:54

2. Davey Mitchell, Squamish — 3:09:14

3. Brett Grayston, North Van — 3:12:58

Women 20 to 29

1. Regan Kohlhardt, Squamish — 4:01:25

2. Stephanie Askwith, Whistler — 5:12:12

3. Alex Frastacy, Toronto — 5:22:48

Men 30 to 34

1. John Courtney, Quesnel — 3:01:59

2. Jeff Sherstobitoff, Kelowna — 3:03:37

3. Drew Simson, Canmore — 3:05:17

Women 30 to 34

1. Sarah Olner, Whistler — 3:52:20

2. Chloe Cross, Whistler — 3:53:56

3. Nicle Muzechka, Calgary — 4:08:29

Men 35 to 39

1. Justin Mark, Nanaimo — 3:04:13

2. Andy Rigel, Seattle — 3:04:16

3. Peter Bruce Sinclair — 3:05:57

Women 35 to 39

1. Lea Stralka, Seattle — 3:51:50

2. Janna Gillick, Nanaimo — 3:57:03

3. Stephanie Wilkinson, Canmore — 4:15:55

Men 40 to 44

1. Leighton Poidevin, Canmore — 2:54:03

2. Carl Goldstraw, Squamish — 3:05:15

3. Normon Thibault, Nanaimo — 3:08:45

Women 40 to 44

1. Carey Sather, Nanaimo — 4:03:55

2. Kelly Wilcox, North Van — 4:04:41

3. Nicole Howell, Vancouver — 4:04:42

Men 45 to 49

1. Andrew Handford, West Van — 2:58:35

2. Peter Holzhuter, Kamloops — 3:12:38

3. Steve Bachop, Victoria — 3:15:37

Women 45 to 49

1. Linda Dufour, Vancouver — 4:29:19

2. Kathleen Negraeff, Vancouver — 4:42:27

3. Heather Adamson, Squamish — 4:49:11

Men 50 to 54

1. Steve Crowley, Lantzville — 3:22:38

2. Harvey Bergen, Abbotsford — 3:28:10

3. Barry Rempel, Victoria — 3:28:35

Women 50 to 54

1. Sue Dare, Squamish — 4:30:35

2. Judy Villeneuve, Nanaimo — 4:57:06

3. Alison Jones, Bragg Creek — 5:30:57

Men 55 to 59

1. Tony Routley, Whistler — 3:33:57

2. Daniel Gloor, Squamish — 3:48:06

3. Frank Ammirati, White Rock — 4:06:30

Women 55 to 59

1. Grace Blok, Whistler — 5:51:49

Men 60 to 69

1. Robin Willard, Victoria — 3:48:00

2. Brent Harley, Whistler — 4:15:41

3. Fred Jorgensen, North Van — 4:19:38

Men 70-Plus

1. Gary Baker, Whistler — 4:54:27