Almost 230 riders were at the start line Saturday for the 2008 GearJammer, a 47-km race through some of Squamish’s most challenging trails. There were no cut-offs on the course and times ranged from roughly two and a half hours to more than six hours.
The overall win this year went to Colin Kerr from Bowen Island, racing in the Male Elite category. He was first across the finish line in two hours, 22 minutes and 54 seconds.
Just 22 seconds back was Whistler’s Matt Ryan in 2:23:16, placing second in the Male Elite group for the second year. Matt Green of Vancouver rounded out the podium, well back of Kerr and Ryan in 2:30:46.
Both Kerr and Ryan broke the course record set last year by Neal Kindree, Kerr by almost four minutes.
Ryan had hoped to win after beating Kerr up the first climb, but was passed on a technical section by some aggressive riding for the sometimes loose conditions.
“I attacked on the climb to see what the other guy had, and I think I shot my bullets a little bit early,” ‘said Ryan. “I shut down for a brief moment, I had a few twinges in my legs, and he got me on the descent (Middle Power Smart). He was riding the downhill slightly better so I let him by. He really threw caution to the wind, he was either going to crash, flat out or win, and unfortunately for me it was the third option. It was still a fun race, and he was a fun guy to ride with.”
Ryan caught Kerr again at the top of the Powerhouse Plunge, and managed to shadow him on the descent until Ryan’s front tire was kicked sideways around a corner and he went over.
“I jumped up and he was already gone, I totally lost contact,” he said. “It’s hard to chase after you’ve just fallen so I just took it easy and tried to make up time in the Crumpit Woods but it was too late. Five more minutes in the race and I would have caught him, and he knew it. I talked to him at the finish and he was definitely feeling a little punched by the end while I’ve just come off the B.C. Bike Race and I’m used to longer rides.”
The rest of Ryan’s season is casual. He’s planning to race the Ken Quon Ride On, the West Side Wheel Up and possibly the Cheakamus Challenge.
At the finish line Ryan was surprised to have broken the record.
“It really wasn’t that crazy on the climb, nobody was pushing it too hard.,” he said. “The course also got a bit longer with the singletrack at the end, but I guess we were going a little faster on the descents.”
Race director Curtis Roberts said that race conditions likely played a part in the faster times.
“The trails were in really good shape for the most part, really fast and hard,” he said. “Some of the south and west facing trails were maybe a little too dry, around Middle Power Smart or Pseudo Tsuga, and we had a few crashes in that area. Everywhere else, especially in the forest areas, the trails have held together really well and riders could really push it.”
Roberts says it was a difficult event to coordinate this year, taking place the same weekend as the Pemberton Music Festival. He said it was a struggle to find portable toilets and generators, and that some volunteers couldn’t confirm until the last moment because they were considering going to the concert. As well, he expects that some riders missed the race to go to Pemberton.
Despite the challenges, and the real possibility that the music festival will return next year, Roberts said they are committed to the last weekend in July.
“There aren’t a lot of open weekends available, we’re two weeks after the Squamish Triathlon and Squamish Days are a week after. There are also all the Canada Cup and Cycling B.C. events that we don’t want to conflict with, so we’re making this our weekend,” he said. “For the record,” he joked, “we had our date set before the Pemberton Festival.”
Despite the technical trails and sometimes loose dirt, only four people were injured in this year’s race — the most serious being a ligament tear in a rider’s knee. Another participant biked for an hour on a broken collarbone before giving up.
Roberts says the format for the race — he says up to 70 per cent of riders’ time is on singletrack — won’t change, even as he steps down as race director after this year.
“This race is about mountain biking, it’s not a road race,” he said. “We actually have two longer road sections just to spread out the pack, and we haven’t had any bunching up of riders on the singletrack yet. It’s what the riders like about this race, it’s a mountain biker’s mountain bike race, and you have to be a good technical rider to have a chance at winning it.”
Also in Elite Men, Josh Stott of Pemberton, riding for Team Whistler, was sixth in 2:41:04; Whistler’s Greg Grant was seventh in 2:42:55; Team Whistler’s Dave Burch was eighth in 2:44:51; Chris Clark was 10 th in 2:48:56. Grant and Burch were also 11 th and 12 th overall respectively.
Whistler riders also did well in the age groups.
Mike Boehm placed sixth overall and first in the Male 35 to 39 group in 2:38:51, while Carl Goldstraw of Pemberton was second in 2:49:47. Tim Jervis was 21st in 3:39:02 and Bob Bajic 35 th in 6:26:29.
In Male 40-44, Keith Ray was second by less than a minute, as well as being 10 th overall in 2:42:20. Ken Kozel was 23 rd in that category in 3:51:16.
Tony Routley of Team Whistler swept the unofficial Squamish Triple Crown with another win in the 50 to 54 category at GearJammer, placing 12 th overall and first in his group in 2:45:01. Whistler’s Scott Brunning was second in 3:10:19, finishing more than 25 minutes after Routley crossed the line.
Originally the three Squamish bike events this season — the Ore Crusher, Test of Metal and GearJammer — were supposed to constitute a race series, with participants in all three events racking up points to determine an overall Triple Crown winner. The concept was thrown out after the Ore Crusher over some confusion about age categories, but Roberts expects it to be sorted out next year.
In Male 19 and Under, Jesse Melamed was the top rider in 2:59:38, edging out Squamish’s Philip Cairns by 50 seconds. Melamed also finished 35 th overall, and was one of only 35 riders to break the three-hour mark for the course.
In Male 20 to 29, Seb Kemp of Whistler was second in 3:06:08. Jaimie Tilbury was ninth in 3:42:16.
In Male 30 to 34 Tim Andrews was ninth out of 33 starters in 3:08:08.
Mike Charuk destroyed the Male 45 to 49 field with his time of 2:51:14, more than nine minutes faster than adventure racer Bart Nakano.
Also in the category Brent Murdoch was 11 th in 3:26:43 and Mike Rogerson 22 nd in 3:58:10.
In Male 60-Plus David Thornhill was second in 3:37:34, followed by Gary Baker in 3:52:49. Mike Hawes was fifth in 4:06:17.
On the women’s side, the top racer overall was Annie Kvick, who was first in the women’s 30 to 34 race in 3:17:46.
From Whistler, Melanie Bernier won the Female 20 to 29 category in 3:47:25.
Sheryl MacLeod was second in 30 to 34 in 3:31:00.
In 35 to 39, Sarah Jervis was sixth in 5:03:26.
Complete results are available at www.gearjammer.ca.
