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Test of Metal sells out in under an hour

Waiting list full for epic mountain bike race

By Andrew Mitchell

Registration for the 12 th annual Test of Metal mountain bike race got underway at 6 p.m. on New Year’s Day, and completely sold out all 800 spots in just 48 minutes. By the time the first hour was up there were already 255 people on the waitlist, and by the end of the evening all 500 spots on the waitlist were filled.

By way of comparison the 2006 Test sold out in four hours and 19 minutes. In 2005 it took just over five days, while the 2004 race sold out on March 9, almost three months after the race went on sale.

“This simply blew away our expectations,” said event organizer Cliff Miller. “We thought that we’d beat last year’s four hour record, but under an hour is mind blowing.”

This year the race organizers held a “Test of the dog that bit you” New Year’s Day registration party where they watched the registrations come through in real time.

“We set up an LCD projector and computer to watch the registrations come in,” said Miller. “We cooked up some double-smoked ham, but it all happened so quickly that no one got a chance to eat before the registration was full.”

The organizers pushed back the registration time from the normal noon on Jan. 1 to 6 p.m. to let racers enjoy their New Year’s Eve without stressing about registration. While the time change no doubt helped speed up the pace of registration, there’s no denying that the race is more popular than ever with a hardcore following of riders that take part every single year.

Some of those riders, like Lesley Clements, compete in the Pro Elite category and are guaranteed spots right up until the day of the event.

“It’s crazy,” she said. “I don’t know anybody who got in. On New Year’s Day it’s the last thing on your mind, and if you weren’t on the ball this year you ended up on the waitlist.”

For riders in the age categories it was first come, first served — even for Under 15 provincial and national champion Tyler Allison, and his father Bob Allison.

“We were online right at 6, but the registration page wouldn’t load so we kept trying and trying,” said Tyler. “We didn’t make it, and we’re on the waiting list right now. I’m pretty sure we’ll get in because we got on it at about 6:55 p.m. so we’re probably not too far back.

“I’ll train for it anyway and hope I make it in. It would suck if I trained for it and didn’t get to race.”

Whistler’s Nils Robinson did get in this year, using two computers and hitting “refresh” over and over.

“I kept getting these pages with fields on them but no text so you wouldn’t know what you were filling in, so I kept trying,” he said.

He finally got through at about 6:25 p.m., with 23 minutes to spare.

“That’s incredible, I guess the race has gotten really popular. I know a lot of people who were going to try to get in this year, and I doubt many of them would have made it.”

Robinson was 430 th on the waitlist last year and got in too late to train for the event. His advice for everyone on the waitlist is to train under the assumption that they’re going to make it to ensure they’re ready. “I think that a lot of people on the waitlist drop out at the last minute, so there’s a good chance a lot of the people on the waitlist will get in again this year,” he said.

The first rider to sign up this year was Squamish’s Garry Cotter.

“Last year I missed by a few minutes,” he said, “so this year I had pizza for dinner and started the computer at 5:55, and kept hitting refresh until I got in.

“First place, eh? This is the only chance I have of coming in first in this race.”

This year’s Test will take place on June 16. Although there are always a few minor course changes as new singletrack is added and the start and finish are moved, the race will follow a 67 km route with approximately 34 km of singletrack. The fastest riders come in at 2:45, while others can take over six and a half hours to make the finish line.

The race itself is a massive effort, with 300 volunteers spending up to 12 hours in the field on race day to ensure everything goes smoothly.

All the proceeds from the race are put back into mountain biking in Squamish, with funds going to the Squamish Off-Road Cycling Association, the Squamish Emergency Program, Team Squamish and the high school mountain bike program.

This year the race will not be sanctioned by Cycling B.C., but by the newly formed Grass Roots Mountain Bike Association of B.C. As a results all 2007 participants are required to purchase a one-day special event membership for $10, even if they already have a Cycling B.C. race license.

Despite the change in sanctioning, Test of Metal will continue to be a part of the provincial “Hell of a Series” marathon mountain bike series, along with the Rat Race and Gearjammer. The Gearjammer, which also takes place in Squamish, has joined the Test of Metal under GRMBA, while the Rat Race continues to be sanctioned by Cycling B.C.

As always there’s more to the Test of Metal than the Test itself. The Mini-Metal and Teen Test will return this year, as well as the invitational Rockstar Freeride event. After missing one year, the Test of Metal Trial competition will return to the festival lineup this year.

New for 2007 is the Pre Test of Metal race, which will take place a week prior, on June 9. This will be an approximately 40 km ride that includes a lot of the same technical trails as the Test — giving people an opportunity to train, as well as to make a final decision whether they’re in for the full 67 km route.