Another fantastic weekend of mountain bike racing in Roberts Creek last weekend saw 300-plus riders enjoying the local trails.
On Saturday the cross-country race took in 40 km of single track, old skid roads and logging roads, plus more than a few mud holes thanks to the weather.
Local pro racer Kris Sneddon took the men’s title 30 seconds ahead of Quinn Moberg from Squamish, with Sandra Walter taking the women’s pro title.
The Sunshine Coast Equestrian Club catered a salmon barbecue, and Townsite Brewery slaked the thirst as the racers came in spread over three hours.
While two-thirds of the racers chose to go the distance on the marathon course, the rest picked the 25 km shorter course to test their legs on. Both courses included climbing Pumpkin Patch — no easy feat.
Jacques Martiquet was the fastest non-pro local man on the long course, while Meghan Molnar took the purse for the non-pro women.
On the short course, Alun Wooliams of Roberts Creek was the fastest local man, and Charmaine Lightfoot the top local woman.
All four locals received cash prizes donated by Sneddon.
In the downhill race on Sunday, locals dominated. Despite recent modifications to Mach Chicken to slow the course and make it safer overall, the top men were Magnus Manson just ahead of last year’s winner Forrest Riesco. Local girl Katherine Short easily took the win in her class.
The Works category demands that you ride both the cross-country marathon and the downhill on the same bike with no modifications in between. This is no easy task, but Matthew Clough of Roberts Creek claimed back the title he won two years ago, and Jenny Strong of Calgary won for the third year in a row.
“It was good to see our local riders doing well up against so much off-Coast competition, and many of them were also involved in prepping trails for the race,” said race coordinator Sue Duxbury. “Thanks to Jeff Doran for heading up the work party on the downhill course, and to Rod Camposano for his time and energy on both the downhill and the cross-country trails.”
Sunshine Coast Search and Rescue were on scene both days, and were kept busy cleaning up cuts and scrapes and giving out ice packs, but there were no serious injuries.
While the downhillers were ripping it up on Sunday, members of Sunshine Coast United Mountain Bikers and Sunshine Coast Cycling were busily cleaning signage off the cross-country course. The B Team served up Mach Chicken burgers and an incredible array of dessert options.
— Submitted
