Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Samurai’s soldier on

Riders’ ability to master long, tough course challenges organizers Bike frames were broken. Shorts were ripped at the seat. Handlebars were gone over. Knees swelled up like grapefruits.

Riders’ ability to master long, tough course challenges organizers

Bike frames were broken. Shorts were ripped at the seat. Handlebars were gone over. Knees swelled up like grapefruits.

Still, an amazing 101 out of 104 riders in this year’s Samurai of Singletrack test kept at it to the very end last Saturday, completing the 63 kilometre mountain bike course with times that varied from five hours and 12 minutes to 12 hours and 41 minutes.

Two of the riders dropped out because of an illness. One rider, Pete Hammons, quit after he broke two bikes within five minutes of riding. He cracked the frame of his own bike, then proceeded to rip the rear derailleur off a bike he borrowed from a friend.

Tony Horn, who organized the race with Ru Mehta of Teppan Village, was amazed that so many people finished the race, and so quickly.

"I’m sure the top guys were just amazed," said Horn. "(Will) Routley thought he wouldn’t be able to do it in under six hours, and he was more than 45 minutes faster than that.

"I think we had 11 people who were faster than six hours. We’ve definitely made the race longer and the times were up, but people are just amazing. It was hard, but people keep on stepping it up."

Horn thanked Evolution for the mid-race barbecue, and Beach or Bust and Ruby Tuesday for hosting the post-race area at Lost Lake.

According to Ru Mehta, when he and Horn started the Samurai three years ago, they only expected between 60 and 70 riders out of a field of 100 to finish.

The first year 91 out of 96 riders completed the 43 kilometre course, including sections of 19 mountain bike trails. Last year 97 out of 102 riders finished a 55.5 km course.

Although they’ve tried to make it as hard and as long as possible – a true test of Samurai spirit, this year’s race has Horn and Mehta scratching their heads.

With the last riders coming in close to 13 hours, an hour after dark, and after a sunrise start, they can’t make it much longer. And after last year’s ride, which included some of the most technically challenging trails in Whistler, they can’t make it much harder.

"People were actually scared going into this year’s race, and then it turned out that a lot of people were an hour faster than they thought they’d be," said Mehta.

"I don’t know if we can make it that much harder. All we can do next year is to string together another bunch of trails in the best way possible and make it long enough to keep it challenging."

Whatever happens next year, it’s a good bet that they won’t have any trouble selling this race. In the first year, Mehta and Horn were worried they wouldn’t have enough riders to break even. The majority of riders return every year, and the remaining open spots – the number of entries is capped at 100, the capacity of Teppan Village – are snapped up within hours of when they become available. Now the Samurai even has a waiting list for volunteers.

"How many events can say that?" said Mehta.

Whistler’s Will Routley took this year’s race in five hours and 12 minutes, leaving the pack behind once and for all on the Green Lake Loop.

"I thought the course was really good this year," he said. "It wasn’t as technical as last year, but it was tough because Comfortably Numb is so hard on you. You never get a chance to build any momentum."

Because everyone expected him to win, Routley said there was a little extra pressure.

"I didn’t push it too much, I just tried to ride at a comfortable pace. I hit the Green Lake Loop climb pretty hard and never looked back," he said. "It’s not super-competitive or anything, but there was still some pressure out there."

Had he known that one rider was just minutes behind, he says he might have pushed it a little harder near the end.

After finishing second in the Cheakamus Challenge and Test of Metal, Routley was happy to come up with the win in his third epic of the season.

"It’s just a fantastic way to end the season," said Routley. "To come home from the world’s (championships) and do the Cheakamus and then do this, and get in some good singletrack rides in between, it’s just amazing. I’m pretty happy."

Routley will go back to college this winter in the Fraser Valley, where he will spend more time on his road bike. Although he says he will always be a mountain biker, he posted strong results in the provincials and other road races this season and is talking to different racing teams regarding next season.

"The bottom line is that I’ll still be riding a bike," said Routley.

Second place overall in the Samurai went to Yoshi Tsuji of Japan, who finished three minutes back of Routley.

Third place went to Aussie Matt Ryan, who put on an amazing performance catching the leaders after losing most of his shorts and puncturing his hand in a confrontation with a tree. He had to race home to get another pair, and still finished third.

The top woman was Angela Teng, who finished in 7 hours, 28 minutes. She was followed six minutes later by Leslie Clements, who was followed less than three minutes later by Sylvie Allen.

The top, and only, junior was James Crowe, who finished in about 6:20.

Horn himself finished the race in 8:02, and Mehta came in at about 9:30.

For Paul Fournier, who finished the race in just over seven hours, the best part of this year’s race was finishing without four flats – something that has happened to him the past two years. He did have a slow leak in one tire, however, and had to stop to pump it back up at least seven times.

"As a mountain bike race, there’s no equal to it in Whistler or anywhere," he said. "All you can do to get ready for it is make sure your bike is tuned, eat a lot of food, carbo load the day before, and monitor yourself. Don’t go too hard or you’re going to blow up."

Like other riders, Fournier said the hardest part of the day was Comfortably Numb, a new 24-kilometre trail that includes a lot of newly built sections that have yet to be worked in.

"People have started calling the trail "uncomfortable bum," said Fournier.

The last riders, coming at 12:41 were Kristina Holst and Andrea Unger. They needed lights to finish, and only had time to go home to shower before the after party at Teppan Village.

As well as recognizing the winners, Horn and Mehta honoured the persistence of seven other Samurai riders at the post-race ceremony.

The award for Eldest Samurai went to 63-year-old Victor Del Bosco.

The Strongest Samurai was Chris Romeskie, who finished the race on a downhill bike.

The award for Keenest Samurai went to Matt Ryan, who lined up at 7 a.m. on the day the race was opened to the public to get a spot. "He called me so many times that I had to tell him to stop calling me," said Horn.

The Comeback Kid Samurai was Johnny Mulville, who was back in the Samurai after missing a year due to a major surgery.

The Dirtiest Samurai was Chris Susko, who fell off his bike on six occasions and apparently landed in mud each time – pretty amazing considering it hadn’t rained for more than three weeks. Under the mud he didn’t have a scratch on him.

The Most Determined Samurai was Bob Lessard, who finished the race in about nine-and-a-half hours with broken ribs. "He figures he set his recovery back for about a month," said Horn.

The runner-up in that category had to be Todd Kemp, who broke his bike on Cheap Thrills, and had to borrow a new bike to continue – only to find that the step-in pedals were not compatible with his type of shoe.

The award for Soul Samurai went to Ian Ritz who finished in ninth place with a strong ride. There were also nine other people in the race that were riding bikes built by his start-up company, Chromag.

The Samurai got underway just after sunrise, about 7:26 a.m. Saturday, to give riders enough time to finish before sundown. Originally scheduled for Sept. 13 and a later start, Horn and Mehta were forced to delay the event to Oct. 4 as a result of the fire risk and backcountry closures last month.