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05/16/2008
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Garbanzo Downhill Wrap-up
12 kilometres of leg-pumping, stomach churning action
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Words by Stuart Kernaghan
Photos by David Ferguson
Saturday, July 24 was a busy day at the Crankworx Freeride Festival in Whistler,
with both the Garbanzo Downhill and the Slopestyle Expression Session events
going off.
The Garbanzo DH was a new addition to the Crankworx line-up this year, and
those who have have taken the chair to the top can apprediate the effort it
takes to get down under non-race conditions. Imagine what it's like when you're
up against the clock.
Starting the course, way up in the sky
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The Garbanzo DH started just after noon at - big surprise here - the
top of the new Garbanzo expansion.
It travelled down No Joke to the lower half of the mountain, hitting
trails like Dirt Merchant, Ho Chi Minh and B-Line before popping out by
the GLC drops and finishing beside the Fitzsimmons chair.
The course dropped 3,400 vertical feet and covered 12 kilometres of trail,
which made for a hell of a long ride and considerably more pedalling than
most downhill racers were used to.
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Riders were sent off in approximately one-minute intervals, with a total of
116 entries in junior men / women, amateur men / women, and pro men / women
categories.
Flying over one of the drops at the top of the course
Crowd favourite Cedric Gracia won the pro men's event in a time of 15' 17"
and a blistering speed of 47.08 km/h, with B.C. local Tyler Morland coming in
a very close second, less than seven seconds behind, and Aussie Nathan Rennie
only a few bike lengths behind to round out the podium.
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Cedric took home a giant cheque for $1,000, as well as some crazy bike
jewellery and a Siemens cell phone for ripping it up.
It was a bit of an odd prize seeing as he's sponsored by Siemens-Cannondale
- I'd imagine he already has all the phones he could possibly use, but
you never know…
American Kathie Pruitt claimed top spot in the pro women's race and a
few hundred bucks less than Cedric for her troubles. She did, however,
get her own crazy jewellery, a cell phone, and a giant cheque, so it was
all good in the end.
Pruitt wasn't happy that the cheque said 'Katie' instead of 'Kathie',
however, and let organizers know - while she was still on the stage and
the announcer's mic was on.
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Cedric charging down the bottom of the course |
Coming in in a time of 17' 29", Pruitt had a significant gap of more than
45 seconds over the number two finisher, fellow Yankee Anka Martin, and more than
a minute and 10 seconds on the number three woman, B.C.'s Angela Teng.
Pro Men
| NAME |
NATIONALITY |
TIME |
DIFFERENCE |
AVERAGE SPEED |
| 1. Cedric Gracia |
US / France |
0:15:17.54 |
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47.08 |
| 2. Tyler Morland |
CAN |
0:15:24.38 |
0:00:06.84 |
46.73 |
| 3. Nathan Rennie |
AUS |
0:15:25.55 |
0:00:08.01 |
46.67 |
Pro Women
| NAME |
NATIONALITY |
TIME |
DIFFERENCE |
AVERAGE SPEED |
| 1. Kathie Pruitt |
US |
0:17:29.89 |
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41.15 |
| 2. Anka Martin |
US |
0:18:15.98 |
0:00:46.09 |
39.42 |
| 3. Angela Teng |
CAN |
0:18:40.69 |
0:01:10.80 |
38.55 |
Complete results are available at Stat-timing.com.
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