Whistler MTB Fest Postscript
Cam
McRae
| The fest included 3 events; a freeride comp, a village criterium and a 6 hour enduro. By far the best attendance was for the freeride comp which was run race style. The course itself though had a certain freeride flair to it. Riders began by ripping through Richie's signature trail "Schleyer" which includes some nice drops and launches which flow together really nicely. |
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| After Schleyer you entered a new trail called Clown Shoes. It includes some steep sections and a couple of ladder bridges, the highest of which was deemed unsafe by the liability people was blocked off for the race. Ironically the blocked section was the widest and safest of that portion of the course. The gnarliest line included a steep drop to a 90 degree corner followed by a log ride to a ladder bridge turn. It was a blast to ride at race speed. |
 Entering Schleyer under the Whistler Gondola |
| There were plenty of opportunities for air in the upper sections of the course and none took advantage of these more than Gareth Dyer. In a 3 jump combination Gareth pulled a cross-up, no footer and then a suicide no- hander which proved aptly named; Gareth didn't regain contact with the bars and managed a "crash of the day" award. Despite piling he got his chit together and finished the course. While Gareth is, by his own admission, not a racer, it's always great to see him come out and put on a show at events like this one. |
 nsmb team rider Lisa Lefroy racing to 3rd place Pro Women |
| It was a strong showing for team nsmb with The Dirty Girls, Lisa Lefroy (3rd) and Katrina Strand(1st) nailing two podium spots. Eamonn Duignan and Pete Roggeman also came out and raced hard and I was appointed forerunner. It was funny to head down the course just ahead of the "young rippers" but I had a blast and put together one of my best ever race runs. I always get stressed before heading down the course but I really like the focus that comes with fighting the clock. |
 Katrina Strand ~ being filmed by Digger on her way to 1st place |
Which of course leads to the question of the hour. Was this in fact a 'freeride' event? Since it was run against the clock most would argue that this was essentially a race. Perhaps the best measure of that would be to see who does best; the freeriders or the downhillers. Unfortunately there wasn't a large enough sample of each group to determine that, but Trevor Porter's 3rd place standing would indicate that the DH boys were favoured. An effort was made to have some tough lines that would penalize riders who went around. One of these, the aforementioned ladder bridge, didn't pan out because of the liability narcs on Whistler Mountain. The others weren't tough enough to do much seperating since even your average plumber like me was able to ride them. My answer would be no - this wasn't really a freeride comp. It was a fun run with some freeride elements but it was essentially a downhill.
| What would a race be without a little controversy? Michelle Dumaresq has been posting some impressive results in the pro women's category of late. So much so that she was named to the national team and invited to the world's in September. None of this ruffles any feathers until people learn that Michelle was once Michael. She has undergone surgical and hormonal treatments and now lives as a woman. Michelle has been inundated with media attention here in Canada and more recently in the US. Recently she woke up to a ringing phone and discovered Connie Chung on the other end. Michelle had some problems on her run and wasn't in contention in this race. |
 Michelle Dumaresq |
| There was some celebrity flair at the event with and Fiona Forbes of City TV on hand as well as the mojo radio girls. Michael and Fiona added some hilarious commentary to the Bike toss event while the mojo girls just giggled occasionally. |
 Check out buddy to the left - the official uniform of biketoss is no shirt, acidwash shorts and nipple rings. Who knew? |
| A highlight of the event was seeing Wade Simmons up and around - recovering from his crash. Wade has a metal bar running the length of his thigh which means no cast and a faster recovering. He was by no means looking cofortable on his feet but it's great to see him back on the scene. There were several pros hanging out at the bottom of the mountain including Thomas Vanderham, Richie Schley, Dave Watson, Andrew Shandro and even Cedric Gracia. Unfortunately none of them entered the event. Cedric was without a bike, and Richie and Andrew were recovering from colds but I don't know why the others didn't throw their hats in. |
 Wade Simmons |
The village criterium, which began shortly after the freeride comp, featured some very fast xc racers, including Andreas Hestler and Alison Sydor. It was very spectator friendly but the turnout could have been better. On Sunday the masochists came out for the 6 hour enduro. The Marquis de Sade had some say in the weather and it snowed below midstation on the mountain. The event seemed like a lot of fun - for those so inclined. Saturday night featured the Beer Cup, a beer tasting event replete with 9 local brewers. The Howe Sound offerings were my favourite. There was some confusion about how much beer you were entitled to on entry and some complaints about cup sizes but for the most part it was a great time with She Stole My Beer going off on stage.
For next year I'd like to see some dirt jumping and an invite only pro event on top off the festivities held this year. The evening events should probably be geared toward a younger crowd, since they are the ones most likely to take advantage of them. I liked the band but I'm getting on. It was a great turn out by the freeride/dh crowd (70 riders in the 19-39 amateur mens cat.) but there needs to be some way to plug into the lycra scene more effectively (nsxc.com?) and encourage spectators. There were also some complaints about the organization of timing and race officials but that is to be expected the first time out.
Despite these caveats the event was a blast and I'm looking
forward to next year.
Story and photos
Cam McRae
Partial Results. For the complete tally check shoreevents.com.
Young Rippers Boys 1. Marcus Jaheny 00:08:04.066 |
00:08:04.066 |
| 1. Jeff beatty |
00:06:28.378 |
| 1. Jamie Caski |
00:06:09.680 |
1. Tom Prochazka |
00:07:43.847 |
1. Peter Morin |
00:08:15.465 |
1. Tyler Morland |
00:05:54.330 |
1. Marilyn Manso |
00:09:08.002 |
1. Katrina Strand |
00:07:32.860 |
