3.9°C Light Rain 
The 2009 U.S. Open of Mountain Biking proved to be a site for Canadians to shine, as 19-year-old Miranda Miller of Squamish captured the Pro Women’s downhill title on Sunday (May 24), and three Whistler-based riders earned strong top-15 finishes.
After a cautious qualifying round when rain drenched the course at the Diablo Freeride Park in Vernon, N.J., Miller rebounded to take the title with her time of 3 minutes, 5.47 seconds. She set the standard even after a lightning storm and torrential downpour shut things down for more than an hour and made the course mad, bad and dangerous.
While no one could knock Miller off her perch, West Vancouver’s Micayla Gatto made the podium (top six) with her fifth-place finish, with Whistler’s Katrina Strand hot on her heels in sixth with her time of 3:16:90.
Whistler’s Rebecca McQueen earned an 11th-place finish, and Whistler-based Katie Holden wound up right behind her in 12th. On the men’s side, Sam Hill captured the title as B.C. rider Steve Smith couldn’t repeat his 2008 victory, finishing eighth.
Meanwhile, Whistler’s Tyler Allison earned a ninth-place finish in the Junior Expert category of the Canada Cup cross-country race in Mont-Tremblant, Que.
Racing at the North Shore Bike Fest 2009, more Sea to Sky riders shone in the approximately 60-kilometre marathon cross-country race honouring the memory of Richard Juryn, and the Seymour Smackdown Downhill that also served as the first downhill B.C. Cup race of the season.
Riding though Mount Seymour and the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve for the cross-country race, Whistler’s Lesley Clements won the Elite Women’s category with her time of 2:17:26, and Whistler’s Dylan Wolsky and Seb Kemp topped the 19 to 29 Citizen Men age group, with Wolsky leading the way with his time of 1:57:01.
Whistler’s Robin O’Neill earned a fifth-place finish in the 30-plus Citizen Women category, thanks to her time of 2:35:38, and Pemberton’s Stuart Kerr finished sixth in the 30-plus Citizen Men category, riding to a time of 2:05:58.
In the Elite Men’s ranks, Whistler’s Matt Bodkin and Dave Burch finished seventh and eighth, respectively, while Team Whistler’s Trevor Hopkins finished eighth in the Master 30 to 39 Men’s group.
In the Smackdown DH race, Whistler’s Tyler Morland rocked the Elite Men’s division to capture victory with his time of 2:40.39, followed by Reuben Miller in eighth, and Whistler’s James McSkimming won the Senior Men’s category with his time of 2:46.49, while David Duplessis finished eighth.
Pemberton’s Jaime Hill finished second in the Senior Women’s category with her 3:47.29 time, and Whistler’s Ben Ferguson posted a fourth-place finish in the 30-plus Citizen Men division with his time of 3:09.62.
Crankworx invites issued
The jewel in the Kokanee Crankworx crown, the Monster Energy Slopestyle, is the hottest and most hyped event at the Whistler mountain biking festival, and the 2009 edition offers a new way for 16 competitors to earn a place in the spotlight.
Eighteen riders will pre-qualify for the VW Trick Showdown, based on previous results, plus five other open spots for winners of specific lead-in events and one wild card slot. The top 10 pre-qualified riders automatically have a slot in the first round of the slopestyle, and the remaining six slopestyle spots will go to the top six VW Trick Showdown stars.
Whistler’s Brandon Semenuk has made the list of invited athletes for the VW Trick Showdown who have a spot secured in the slopestyle, along with 2008 spectacular slopestyle winner Andreu Lacondeguy of Spain; Canadian Ben Boyko; Americans Andrew Taylor, Cam McCaul, Cameron Zink, Jaime Goldman and Paul Basagoita; 2008 slopestyle runner-up Lance McDermott of the U.K.; and Norway’s Trond Hansen.
Germany’s Amir Kabbani and Benny Korthaus have made the list for the trick showdown, along with Canadians Darren Berrecloth and Graham Agassiz, Americans Greg Watts and Tyler McCaul, New Zealander Kelly McGarry and Sam Pilgrim of the U.K.
More Test entries awarded
Lauren Rosser and Paul Filippelli have won places in the sold-out 2009 Test of Metal, as the April winners of the Protect the Test contest that asks participants to demonstrate in writing, photography or videos showing why the legendary Test of Metal course is important to them and Squamish.
The final deadline for the contest is June 5, with the grand-prize winner to be announced June 8. Follow the action and entries at www.protectthetest.com or at the Test of Metal Facebook page. The epic race will go ahead on June 20.
