Neal Kindree is officially the king of the Hell of a Series after winning Just Another Bike Race (JABR) on Saturday (Aug. 18).
The Squamish native became the first rider to ever win all four races after winning the Orecrusher in May, Test of Metal in June, Gearjammer in July and now JABR.
Kindree broke away from the pack early and cruised to the win with a time of 2:05:16, beating out second place finisher Cory Wallace by nearly six minutes.
"I got away from the others after Cliff's Corner," Kindree said, noting that he turned it on after the Thunderbird Ridge portion of the race. "It was more me just setting the pace than really breaking away."
It's the second consecutive win at JABR for Kindree, who said he enjoyed the new course.
"I don't want Dwayne [Kress] to change anything about the course," he said. "It's a totally different race than all the others, there's a lot of singletrack and there are a lot of trails that even I don't ride regularly. It all comes together and it's just a fun ride."
Kindree said he's taking a minor break from the mountain biking scene after racing 23 out of 30 days in July but did share that he will be tackling the GranFondo in September.
Sechelt's Kris Sneddon placed third and another Squamish native Quinn Moberg had a strong showing in fourth with a time of 2:19:02.
"It was a pretty hard race," he said. "I started off a little sluggish but I made up a lot of ground at the end and had a really nice battle with Ricky Federau."
Moberg, who is still a junior rider, placed third at last year's JABR and said it's one of his favourite races of the year.
"JABR has a lot of really fun trails and it's the kind of race you can just go out there and have fun," he said.
He said contesting with the top dogs like Kindree, Wallace and Sneddon was a thrill.
"It's an honour to compete with those guys," he said. "Those guys are all unbelievable riders but also super nice guys."
Moberg said his summer plans include attending Live at Squamish next weekend and resting up after a busy year.
The women's division saw another repeat champion as Coquitlam's Sandra Walter took home the top prize again. Walter finished the course in 2:28:10, beating out second place finisher Brandi Heisterman of Brackendale by over five minutes.
"I was working with Brandi for a lot of the race but on the first major descent she let a few guys pass her and I went with the guys," she said.
Walter said the JABR course suits her style well.
"I love the technical and twisty trails and I was really feeling it today," she said. "I always enjoy the trails in Squamish."
Walter said she's off to the World Championships in Austria on Sept. 8 as a part of Team Canada and will continue training in the meantime.
Other top local finishers included: Davey Mitchell (12th overall), Eric Goodwin (first in 30 to 39 division and 13th overall), Olivier Gendron (16th overall), Sam Bowerman (17th overall), JD Disney (22nd overall), Chris Christie (24th overall) and Nathan McKay (25th overall).
For complete results from the race, visit www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=3319.
