Several dozen riders from Whistler and Pemberton fought through what some called “greasy” conditions in Saturday’s (June 18) annual Test of Metal mountain bike race in Squamish, and many walked away pleased with their results.
More than 60 locals were among the 827 cyclists who managed to finish the 67-kilometre journey that was more than 50 per cent single-track and featured 1,200 metres of climbing.
Whistler’s Tony Routley was one of the locals who left the event very satisfied with the result, as his finish in three hours, three minutes and 48.1 seconds left him 45th overall and atop the men’s 55 to 59 division.
“Anything around the three-hour mark, I’m pretty happy with,” he said. “And it was wet and slippery out there, so it wasn’t the fastest day it could be.
“I’ve been doing this thing for 15 years now and was checking out how I did compared to the last 15 years and it was my second-fastest time. So I guess I’m still doing pretty good,” laughed Routley.
Kris Sneddon of Sechelt was the overall winner with a time of 2:32:10.6, which put him more than a minute clear of runner-up Christopher Sheppard of Bend, Ore. Squamish resident Neal Kindree was third. Some former champs like Max Plaxton and Geoff Kabush weren’t able to finish the race.
World Cup star Catharine Pendrel easily claimed her third consecutive women’s event, also placing 11th overall at 2:45:45.4. Team Whistler rider Brandi Heisterman of Brackendale was second among females, clocking in at just less three hours, and Maple Ridge’s Jen Ann Berkenpas was third (3:03:07.5).
At 17th overall, Michael Robinson had the best Whistler finish (2:48:05.8), while Michael Boehm placed 29th at 2:56:32.6. Boehm shared the men’s 35 to 39 podium with Team Whistler’s Trevor Hopkins (3:00:53.6, 37th overall) as they were second and third in the category, respectively.
Whistler’s Joshua Stott grabbed the final place in the top 60 by finishing in 3:06:58.7, while fellow local Rob McSkimming achieved 67th spot (3:07:43.0) and was second to Routley in age division results.
Jesse Melamed wasn’t able to retain his men’s 14 to 19 age group crown but did finish third in the category and 84th overall at 3:12:17.7.
Russ Wood had the best placing among Pemberton residents, finishing 70th overall (3:08:39.5).
Another Pemberton rider, Dean Linnell, had no wildlife run-ins to report from Saturday after his much-publicized cougar encounter in a training ride the weekend before. Linnell said he posted a personal best (3:20:48.4) in the event despite the conditions and having not raced the Test of Metal in a while.
“I hadn’t done it in about three years,” said Linnell, who plans to return again in 2012. “I’m already thinking about going faster next year.”
Linnell crossed the line less than three seconds ahead of Cathy Zeglinski (3:20:51.0), who had the best finish among Whistler women and was the ninth-fastest female overall.
Zeglinski said she was seventh most of the way but fell victim to some cramps and dropped to ninth on the final stretch, though she was only 15 seconds behind sixth place as things got tight at the finish line.
“Interesting was that… sixth through 10th place finished only two minutes (apart), which is unusual for women’s racing and made for exciting cat and mouse games in the pack behind me, as I understand they traded positions a few times,” Zeglinski said in an email, also noting that it was “amazing” to see two female riders in Pendrel and Heisterman crack the three-hour barrier.
Other Whistler women recording good results were Alison Iles (4:06:38.1), Sarah Olner (4:08:06.2, 30 to 34 division winner) and Chloe Cross (4:15:56.5).
Race organizers called Saturday’s event “one of the best yet” in a Tuesday (June 21) press release.
“We’ve got about 1,500 people either participating in or volunteering for various events, and almost all of them walked away with a positive experience,” said Test of Metal president Cliff Miller in the release.
For a full list of results, visit www.testofmetal.com.
