BC cup round 6 XC and DH took place over the long weekend at Mount Washington.
For XC Photos and results click here.
The weather was perfect, maybe a little hot, but still cooler than the main land. The bike park at Mount Washington was open for business as usual, while racers lined up for the Eagle chair to practice the course, all the other riders enjoyed the newest selection of trails accessed by the Hawk chair.
I was filming with the helmet cam all weekend. Keep an eye out for Mount Washington trail videos coming soon. While riding we bumped into Andrew Sherry, Ken Perras and Strahan Loken filming with Aaron LaRocque. Later I caught up with Ken and Strahan for a few fast laps. These guys are awesome, slashing berms, big manuals, out the top of every wall ride. The helmet cam footage to come soon.
The course was on a black diamond trail called Monster Mile. For those of you who for some reason have not yet been over to ride at Mount Washington. Monster Mile is awesome. I heard many riders comment that this course was their favourite of the BC Cup series so far.
This course is rocky and rooty with lots of line choice, offering a mixture of open and fast plus tight and tech sections. Previous races here have somehow always turned out to be wet on race day. It seems the dry conditions really opened up a new level of speed.
Racing into rock sections led to many flats tires and dented rims. "don't bother unless you're running 40 psi and up", was what Sean Nicol was wisely advising the Summit Gravity team.
Jason from Lambert as always brought his tools and was this time set up outside of the Tread Shed. Under the shade of the tent he took the load off the shop mechanics as he was busy changing tubes and fixing bikes. On race day Lambert's rider support was doubled as the guys from Oak Bay Bikes set up their tent right next door. This kind of race side support is much appreciated, especially when your hands feel like they're falling off after many runs and the last thing you want is to fight your tire back on the rim.
With not many rounds left, riders were pushing for points on the rough and dry course. Aside from all the flat tires, as expected I heard of a few injuries on practice day, also one or two on race day. Thankfully the marshals and bike park crew had it covered looking after injured riders and managing to keep the race running smoothly. Get healed soon guys! You know who you are.
As for the results. The Elite men's category was won by James Mcskimming, Tyler Gorz in second and Adriano Digiacinto in third. Overall series leader Jeff Bryson got a flat somewhere near the top, which I believe led to a crash further down. Tyler Gorz is now wearing the leaders jersey.
Dawn Cashen took the win in elite women's category, followed by Cove rider Kristen Smart, with Seana Wright in third.
Fastest time of the day was put in by U17 rider Riley Suhan from Golden. He would have won elite by 7 seconds!
Another point worth noting was Venezuela's Andres Paez, his practice pace had people talking and he won the Junior category with a time of 3:40 that would have also had him on the top spot in Elite.
Hecklers Ridge was this time situated on the last steep descent in the trees, although wasn't quite the same with the absence of Dan Gronross.
There was a very impressive turn out of spectators and supporters. Also lots of photographers.
I got chatting with Action Sports Photographer Jeff Morrison. Hopefully we'll see him at more events at Mount Washington.
Riders, you should go and check out Jeff's gallery to find your photos, I took a look and saw you can also buy well priced quality prints ready for framing.
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Elite Men |
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| 00:03:40.75 | 7 Mcskimming, James | Whistler | |
| 00:03:42.20 | 24 Gorz, Tyler | cbr/Scott | Coquitlam |
| 00:03:42.81 | 22 Digiacinto, Adriano | 22 | North Vancouver |
| 00:03:44.03 | 5 Hornfelt, Brett | www.brysonracingclan.com | Quesnel |
| 00:03:46.36 | 6 Kalisch, Paul | Evil / Dunbar cycles | Nth Vancouver |
| 00:03:47.29 | 16 Terwiel, Justin | Cafe,Giant,\Troy Lee,Oakley,Dakine | Kamloops |
| 00:03:47.87 | 19 Fafard, Ewan | Maple Ridge | |
| 00:03:52.05 | 23 Therrien, JS | Transition | Squamish |
| 00:03:53.53 | 9 Venables, Rob | Dunbar Cycles | Vancouver |
| 00:04:02.86 | 4 Bjorsell, Jev | Dunbar Cycles | Vancouver |
| 00:04:35.68 | 1 Bryson, Jeffery | brysonracingclan.com | N Vancouver |
| DNF | 14 Porteous, Ben | Dunbar Cycles | Vancouver |
| DNF | 20 Bartlett, Darryl | Pink Bike/ Devinci | Coquitlam |
| DNS | 17 Roseingrave, Ross | Dunbar Cycles | Duncan |
| Elite Women | |||
| 00:04:32.14 | 50 Cashen, Dawn | Cycle Path Kelowna/ Spy | Kelowna |
| 00:04:36.75 | 53 Smart, Kristen | Cove Bikes/Mojo Coffee | West Vancouver |
| 00:04:46.94 | 51 Wright, Seana | Ozzie's Cycle | Port Alberni |
| 00:05:07.70 | 52 Moore, Alexis | Barking Spider Mtn Bike | Williams Lake |
| Junior Men (17-18) | |||
| 00:03:40.30 | 371 Paez, Andres | Venezuela | |
| 00:03:45.87 | 366 Porteous, Cameron | Dunbar Cycles | Vancouver |
| 00:03:52.99 | 369 Gustin, Sky | Ozzie Cycles | Port Alberni |
| 00:03:59.95 | 351 Campbell, Craig | Republic Bicycles MMR | Garibaldi Highlands |
| 00:04:04.82 | 353 Faubert, Ray | Coquitlam | |
| 00:04:07.35 | 368 Quesnel, Kyle | Team Squamish | Squamish |
| 00:04:07.43 | 350 Ballhausen, Jessie | Summit Gravity | Pemberton |
| 00:04:07.89 | 359 Quesnelle, Steven | Taws Cycle/NORCO/Saultline @. TV | Powell River |
| 00:04:11.38 | 357 Gould, Clinton | MMR | Brackendale |
| 00:04:20.69 | 360 Robson, Dexter | Experience Cycling/Norco/Faultline | Saltspring Island |
| 00:04:25.28 | 367 Grimm, Nicolas | John Henry Bikes | North Vancouver |
| 00:04:35.83 | 362 Timmer, Jordan | Maple Ridge | |
| 00:04:43.17 | 370 Hodson, Geoff | North Vancouver | |
| 00:04:48.30 | 372 Currie, Alex | John Henry Bikes | North Vancouver |
| 00:05:38.08 | 363 Young, Simon | Sunshine Coast Cycling | Gibsons |
| 00:05:52.76 | 365 Dale, Justin | Dunbar Cycles | Vancouver |
| DNF | 356 Gillett, Ryan | No Hype Bikes | Langley |
| DNS | 361 Stowards, Jeremy | Team Armadillo | Mission |
| DNS | 352 Desmarais, Forrest | Olymia Ski and Cycle | Vernon |
| DNS | 355 Gauvin, Remi | Arrowsmith Bikes | Nanoose Bay |
| Senior Men | |||
| 00:03:45.41 | 388 Walters, Ryan | John Henry | Vancouver |
| 00:03:50.93 | 386 Rozel, Shannon | Summit Gravity | North Vancouver |
| 00:03:51.02 | 390 Stead, Rob | Vancouver | |
| 00:03:52.25 | 391 Johnston, Chris | Dunbar Cycles | Whistler |
| 00:03:52.54 | 394 Olk, Tristan | North Vancouver | |
| 00:03:57.86 | 384 King, Kevin | Dunbar Cycles | Vancouver |
| 00:04:05.70 | 380 Masse, Jordan | Steed Cycles | New Westminster |
| 00:04:08.36 | 395 anderson, Daniel | North Vancouver | |
| 00:04:16.63 | 389 Tafts, kevin | Obsession Bikes | Burnaby |
| 00:04:23.79 | 379 Bromley, Jordan | Burnaby | |
| 00:04:28.83 | 387 Smith, Zac | Trident Sports | North Vancouver |
| 00:04:29.23 | 378 Langridge, Andrew | West Vancouver | |
| 00:04:53.25 | 375 Buis, Andrew | KBRA | Kamloops |
| -3:26:58.27 | 377 Faubert, Ken | Coquitlam | |
| DNF | 393 Dawes, Matt | Oak Bay Bikes | Nanaimo |
| DNF | 392 Carter, Cole | On Top Bikes Race Face Santa Cruz | North Vancouver |
| DNS | 385 Pottle, Tyrone | Bicycle Cafe | Kamloops |
| U17 Men (15-16) | |||
| 00:03:33.39 | 320 Suhan, Riley | DARKSIDE/Santa Cruz Bikes | Golden |
| 00:03:52.75 | 307 Feniak, Linden | cove bikes/ sunshine coast cycling club | Sechelt |
| 00:03:53.07 | 305 Duxbury-Sleep, Harrison | Sunshine Coast Cycling | Gibsons |
| 00:04:03.04 | 308 Geddes, Nicholas | Norco Factory Team | Whistler |
| 00:04:08.69 | 309 Gibson, Deon | bicycle cafe | Kamloops |
"We were stoked to see such a great turnout for our BC Cup races on the Island this weekend," says Mount Washington PR Director Brent Curtain.
"The weather was stellar and you could tell from the vibe of the crowd, everybody was pumped for a weekend of great riding up here."
After the podiums and prizes, Mount Washington's Mike and Brent raffelled and tossed out "mountains" of swag generously provided by some the mountain's sponsors: Race Face, Lambert and Maxxis.
Also thanks for the huge support from Island bike shops like Dodge City Cycles, Mountain City Cycle, Arrowsmith Bikes, Ozzie's, and Oak Bay Bikes.
For more images Check out the CCN BC Cup Round 6 Gallery
