This past weekend was the 4th of 7 BC Cup races, held at the beautiful mountain resort of Panorama just outside of Invermere. Panorama has hosted this race for several years but for the last two years had been racing on a new course. This year they decided to go back to the original course, and I for one am glad they did! While I enjoyed the other course when I raced it in 2007, I had so much fun practicing the course this year that it almost didn't feel like a race weekend!
Panorama's bike park had its opening day on Friday. There weren't too many people out riding but the conditions were perfect for those of us that were. The course was empty and fast, with very few braking bumps and lots of smooth corners. Rain from the previous days meant lots of mud and slowly growing ruts, but it was drying out quickly and all in all it was the perfect mix of technical ‘pick your line' sections and faster ‘just let go of the brakes' bits.
Saturday was sunnier and much busier. The Mile 1 Quad chairlift consistently had a 20-30 minute line up, but most people seemed to be getting a good 6 or 7 practice laps in. The popular place to stop and watch was the rock garden about half way down the course. While the rest of the course continued to dry up, a natural spring kept the rock garden wet and muddy, and many a rider found their way out of control and over the handlebars in this section.
By Sunday morning most of the course had turned dry and dusty, and the braking bumps were significantly larger. It was a fast albeit somewhat rough course on race day!
Being so close to Alberta there was a good turn out of racers from Calgary. The Calgary Cycles crew were out in full force, decked out in their TLD kits and flying down the hill on their Trek Session 88's. Jeff Bryson's new Specialized team brysonracingclan.com were also looking fast and smooth, and at the end of the day both teams had riders standing proud on the top of the podium.
The fastest time of the day was actually put in by a Junior - Luke Stevens from Calgary Cycles came away with a 3:01.95, almost a full second faster than the fastest Elite Man, Tyler Gnitt of brysonracingclan.com who put in a 3:02.77. Jamie Biluk, Nick Quinn, Dan Skogland, and Alex Prochazka rounded out the top 5 for the men. Jeff Bryson, who came in 7th in this race, remains the points leader for Elite Men.
On the women's side I managed to cross the finish line with a flat tire and a time of 3:35.17, which put me in first place. Dawn Cashen came in second, and Alexis Moore placed third and is the points leader for Elite Women.
Results:
Elite
Junior Men 17-18
Masters Men 30-39
Masters Men 40-49, Masters Men 50+, U17 Men
Masters Women
Senior Men 19-29
U15 Men, U17 Men, Citizen Men, Woman's results
