Cycle Component Network

Source: Phil Mowatt

Last weekend was my first trip to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort and the second time I've ridden in Golden. This is certainly somewhere we will be returning to ride sooner rather than later.

Photo Jason Louden

On Wednesday we drove up to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort to meet Western Open mastermind Stephen Exley. After a quick tour of the resort we arrived at the gigantic luxurious house which was to be the base camp for a big group of people involved with the event.

Western Open HQ

The tour of the house was more like an episode of MTV Cribs and this was when we started to realize that Stephen knows how to turn a mountain biking event into an experience.

Colin Bailey settled in already

The party got started when Kirt and Lindsey Voreis arrived after a mammoth drive in the Specialized Allride Tour rig with Austin Aldrich, Cierra Smith, MTB hero Collin Bailey as the mechanic, and videographer Gunner.  Dinner was served, the beers flowed and a serious line up of lightweight Specialized team bikes got unpacked.

All Ride Tour is in Town

By Thursday morning while more folks were showing up, thanks to a huge amount of preparation from Stephen Exley and KHMR, the stress level was low. We had enough time to jump in the gondola to sample some of the 4000 feet of elevation in the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Bike Park.

Stephen guided the whole gang through a mixture of black and blue trails, some high speed and others packed with wood stunts or just steep, rocky goodness. After four or five different trails only then did we arrive at the top of the race course.

Vories shredding KHMR - Photo Clayton Racicot

After a solid day in the bike park, it was back to the house to meet up with local legend/former British ripper Andy Bostock who was to lead us all to the top of Dead Dog on the infamous Mount 7 Phycosis course.

Brett Tippie showed up just in time, Clayton Racicot joined on route, and we arrived at the bottom of the shuttle road to meet Adriano's monster Ford crammed with Bryson Racing Clan riders. Do you see what I mean by serious preparation?

All smiles on a Mount 7 Shuttle - Photo Stephen Exley

The top of Dead dog - Photo Clayton Racicot

For anyone who has never ridden the Mount 7 Psychosis course I won't try to explain how amazing it is. For those who have ridden it, you appreciate what a great end to the day it was to rip this trail with a very solid crew.

Riders view of the finish area - Photo Clayton Racicot

With a solid couple of days and nights behind us it was time for business, Kirt and I moved the trucks from the house to the finish area while KHMR's main man Jordan Petrovics put the final touches to the event set up. Now things were really getting started.

Rider registration came and went with ease and new records were set for attendance. Practice quickly began and the weather was looking perfect.

Hopefully the Kids Race will be a permanent fixture as it was a huge success - Photo Clayton Racicot

The Shimano Kids Race saw over 60 kids line up, put together by Elladee Brown and Tara Llanes.

Cory Leclerc could be accused of sand bagging in the kids race, but nobody said anything

Racing kicked off with the hardtail category. Hats off to these riders as all of them were also registered to race their non-hardtail categories shortly afterwards. The fastest man on a hardtail was Mike Parsons with a time of 4:50.29, followed by Patrick Fagan and Todd Earnshaw.  All of these guys raced their DH bikes later and I thought it would be interesting to compare their results between both their runs.

Photo Clayton Racicot

The DJ spun records while Brett Tippee entertained the crowds and spent the weekend handing out a ton of great prizes.

Nick Grim from Bryson Racing Clan looking fast - Photo Clayton Racicot

Some of the racing highlights were:

Jason Louden from Cycles Lambert was busy keeping people smiling in Neutral Support by repairing racers' bikes.

Brian Serneels who placed 20^th in Elite men had the fasted speed through the CCN Speed Trap clocking 59.7 kph at the finish line.

Cove Bikes Junior ripper, Holly Feniak finished a stonking fast run with a 4:12.49, putting many of the guys to shame. Her time made her the fastest female by over 35 seconds and placed her 20^th in Pro men and 38^th out of the 219 overall riders for the day. I've said it before, watch this space.

Fastest man of the day was Ken Faubert with a 3:44.18.  Holly and Ken's fastest laps won them each a very nice freestyle watch to take home.

Second fastest time of the day was Junior Expert Riley Suhan with a 3:45.88. His time would have placed Riley in second spot on the Pro men podium.

Jeff Bryson. Still made it into the Pro top 10 even with only two practice runs and a busy weekend as a team owner and event sponsor.

Tara Mowat got her bike tuned by Jason Louden, took the win in her category and finshed with a chunk of wood in her leg. She even went to the hospital for stiches and made it back in time for the top spot on the podium. What a trooper!

Pro men podium. Ken Faubert with a 3:44.18. Dean Tennant took 2nd, Tyler Alison 3rd, Adriano Digiancinto 4th and Kirk McDowall 5th. - Photo Clayton Racicot

Dean Tennant took 2^nd in pro men to make it another Dunbar Cycles heavy podium. Tyler Alison 3^rd, Adriano Digiancinto 4^th and Kirk McDowall 5^th.

In the female pro category. Katherine Short took the win and the $500 first place cheque. Cierra Smith was 2^nd and Nickey James placed 3^rd.

Pro women podium. Katherine Short does the honors - Photo Clayton Racicot

We were so pleased to be involved with such an incredible event. Thanks to Stephen and Gail Exley, Jordan Petrovics and all others who work all year to make it happen. Thanks to all the volunteers, racers and supporters who made the 2011 Western Open a success as all the proceeds from this event go to loveforlola.com

A great event thanks to Stephen Exley!

See you next year!