WORCA bike swap on Saturday
The WORCA Bike Swap will take place on Saturday, April 22 at Creekside, which will also be the site of Whistler’s 2006 Earth Day festival. Bus transportation is free all day if you need help getting to the sale.
The cost is $2 per item to sell any type of bike or bike equipment, as well as 15 per cent of any purchases under $1,000 and 10 per cent of any purchases over $1,000. All proceeds will go to Whistler’s youth cycling programs, including camps, evening clinics for younger riders, a grant to the high school mountain bike team, and a new scholarship.
For people wishing to sell items the drop-off is between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and the swap is open until 4 p.m. that afternoon. All participants must pick up unsold items by 4 p.m.
This year purchasers will be able to pay by cheque and credit card, although people paying by credit card will be asked to pay a small surcharge to cover the processing cost. The Franz’s Trail Scotia Bank will also be open on Saturday for larger withdrawals.
Team Whistler in Harris Roubaix
The first B.C. Cup road race of the season was the April 9 Harris Roubaix Classic on a course that features gravel and dirt sections. This year the off-road sections became a mud-pit, cranking up the difficulty level another notch. Team Whistler, a local team of road and mountain bikers, took part with mixed results.
Jennifer Tabenor won the sprint in her chase group to finish 11 th overall, while Trevor Hopkins managed a ninth in the Category 3 race. Joe Maika couldn’t see, but still managed 12 th in Category 4. Josh Stott also finished the race in the chase pack.
On the flipside of the coin, Lloyd Thomas flatted out with four laps to go, while Will Routley, who rides for Team Symmetrics, had several flats and spent most of his day trying to bridge up to the chase group.
Squamish Thunder postponed
The 10 mile/16 km Squamish Thunder trail running race scheduled for Sunday, April 16 was postponed due to Friday’s snowfall accumulation in Alice Lake Provincial Park. More than 30 cm fell in some areas, and more was in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday.
The organizers are planning to reschedule the Thunder for a later date, which will be announced at www.s2s4un.com once it has been confirmed. The Sea to Sky Trail Running Series is offering registered runners the choice of getting a refund or a credit for the rescheduled Thunder or another trail run this season.
Motocross Club hosting fundraiser
The Green River Riding Club, which operates the Green River Motocross Track Park outside of Pemberton, will be hosting a fundraiser at the GLC on May 4. The event is sponsored by Vision Motorsports, which among other things is donating a mini bike for the prize raffle. Other fundraising activities will also take place.
All of the proceeds will go towards the club, which is in the process of acquiring a new Bobcat to groom the track, while preparing for a busy season with four races.
For more information, visit www.grrc.ca.
Whistler riders top Sea Otter Classic
The California Sea Otter Classic once again kick-started the 2006 cycling season in early April, with close to 10,000 riders of all ages taking part in over a dozen road and dirt events.
As always a handful of local riders made the trip to Monterey to take part.
Whistler downhillers Claire Buchar and Danika Schroeter raced in the dual slalom and downhill. Buchar was fourth in the dual slalom, while Schroeter was sixth. In the downhill, Schroeter finished second, while Buchar was third by just seven-tenths of a second. Katrina Strand, who also rides out of Whistler, was seventh.
Tyler Morland raced in the men’s pro category, but didn’t crack the top-10.
Cedric Gracia, who divides his riding time between France and Whistler, finished first overall in the Omnium after placing second in dual slalom, fourth in downhill and fifth in mountain cross.
Squamish rider Neal Kindree also raced, placing 32 nd out of 79 riders in the elite cross-country race. On the women’s side, Whistler rider Willow Koerber placed 14 th out of 53 racers.
Craig Hamilton placed 45 th out of 70 riders in the road race, which took place on the famous Laguna Seca Raceway track. An hour after that race he was in the cross-country short track competition where he placed 18 th . He also raced in the regular cross-country race, where he finished 20 th out of 80 starters.
Kerry-Anne Hamilton, Craig’s daughter, missed her start for the short-track and elected to compete with the boys. She was dropped after the fourth muddy lap, but was back later for the downhill, where she finished second on her hard tail.
Matt Bodkin was 10 th in the men’s semi-pro cross-country race out of 61 starters, while Matt Ryan was 26 th in the same category. Bodkin was third in the short track mountain bike race the previous day.
PVTA hosts Icebreaker Loonie Race
This Sunday, April 23, the Pemberton Valley Trails Association and Bike Co. are presenting the first mountain bike race of the season. The Icebreaker is back.
To take part, meet at the gravel pit at 11 a.m. The ride gets underway at noon. For more information call 604-894-6625.
Women’s soccer league seeking players
The Sea to Sky Women’s Soccer league is seeking players for the season, ages 17 and up. All skill levels are welcome to come out, and will be assigned to teams.
The spring league gets underway this week and will run through to the third week of June.
For information and registration contact Val Fowler at vaf@telus.net or 604-894-1911.
Angling clubs host Cast and Blast event
The lakes and rivers are clear of ice and the angling season is about to begin. To get things started Kokanee and the Whistler Angling Club are hosting a Cast and Blast weekend April 29-30 with demos, a movie premiere party and the second annual Whistler Open Western Canada Flycasting Championships.
Newcomers are welcome to come out, as well as seasoned anglers, to join a group that will include anglers from throughout North America and the western U.S.
The movie premiere is The Trout Bum Diaries , which is presented by Whistler Flyfishing in conjunction with Kokanee, and follows four self-professed fishing bums as they hook fish in Patagonia, Iceland and New Zealand. Tickets are available at Whistler Flyfishing at #117-4366 Main Street, or by calling 604-932-7221.
The Whistler Flyfishing Cast and Blast spey demo day is open to everyone and will include free instruction on two handed fly rods and lines. There will also be a barbecue.
The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Lower Squamish River near the mouth of the Mamquam.
The second annual Whistler Open will host some of the best casters in the world, but also has an amateur category in both distance and accuracy competitions. The contest gets underway at noon on Sunday, April 30.
For more information visit www.whistlerflyfishing.com, drop by Whistler Flyfishing, or call 604-932-7221.
