The main focus of the mountain biking calendar for Sunshine Coast Cycling's "core team" is the B.C. Cup circuit.
This seven-race series takes the young riders all over the province and gives them the opportunity to experience race courses from the Rockies to the Coast. Riders win B.C. Cup points depending on their results and the points are totalled at the end of the season. The worst two races are dropped and the riders with the best of five are awarded the B.C. Cup.
SCC puts a large portion of their sponsorship funds into getting the youth development team to these races and for accommodations when they're there. It's paying off for the SCC team that currently has cyclists in the top end of most categories.
June 21 found the downhill team in Mission for the Arduum Challenge, a race so challenging and technical that the U15 category is excluded from entering. SCC's 16-year-old Linden Feniak dominated the entire field holding the fastest time of the day right until the end when he was beaten by less than two seconds by a single pro elite rider. For a U17 rider to pull off a result like this is outstanding. SCC's Harrison Duxbury-Sleep finished sixth.
The June 27/28 weekend had the core team split up with the downhillers in Panorama for B.C. Cup downhill race number four.
The Panorama race was extremely fast with several steep sections. Harrison finished third with the 10th fastest time of the day. Linden followed closely in fourth, while Gibsons' Forrest Riesco was ninth.
U15 woman Holly Feniak was first as was junior woman Kelsey Begg. On the cross country team, SCC members took on the Cardiac Classic in Burnaby in cup race number four and the provincial championships. SCC pulled off a strong showing with Sebastian Sleep taking the win and the provincial championship in the junior category. Also on the podium was Jessica Marquis (junior women) who finished third. Sebastian, Harrison and Linden will all travel to Quebec in July to represent B.C. at the national championships.
