The sun shone and they came in droves. Well, ferry loads anyway — they overloaded the ferries. Many local B&Bs, hostels, motels, restaurants and grocery stores saw a spike in business last weekend with the arrival of 300-plus mountain bikers and their families from as far away as Alberta and Washington for the Sunshine Coaster Mountain Bike Race, held May 2 and 3.
Three months of Saturday mornings’ toil by local volunteer trail builders did not go unappreciated. Although this year’s marathon course designer Warren Hansen made the course longer and included more technical sections and more climbing than the Test of Metal, the racers loved it.
“Go big, or go home” he said, and so we went big.
In fact, current world champion Catharine Pendrel said on the podium, “If everyone got to ride trails like these, more people would ride mountain bikes, because these trails are phenomenal.”
Fifty-two volunteers and 16 local sponsors supported this event. The race is in its 15th year (the first nine as the Rat Race) and now truly on the map with Cycling BC recognizing us a part of their Premier Series, and as a selection race for the provincial race teams.
Search and Rescue stood by all weekend and were kept busy during the cross country on Saturday with minor injuries, but the downhill race on Sunday passed accident free.
Local pro racer Kris Sneddon donated cash prizes for locals only and those went to Duncan Bryson and Meghan Molnar for the marathon, Seth Wells for the 21-km course, and local boy Forrest Riesco for the downhill race.
Volunteers cleaned off course signage from the cross-country race even as the downhill was underway on Sunday. The organizers wish to thank the community of Roberts Creek for supporting this event and sharing the trails this weekend. Twenty years ago when the Test of Metal started here in the Creek, that was not the case, so we’ve come a long way.
Mountain biking is alive and well and thriving on the Coast and supporting the local economy.
