Squamish's Neal Kindree tightened his grip on the Hell of a Series mountain bike race series after winning the GearJammer on Saturday (July 23).
The local rider adds the win to earlier victories at the Orecrusher and the Nimby 50, along with a third-place finish at the Test of Metal, to his 2011 trophy case. He now sits atop the Hell of a Series Elite Male standings with 755 points.
"It went surprisingly well for me today," Kindree said. "I basically took off after Alice Lake and didn't look back."
His comfort with the race was apparent, as Kindree beat second-place finisher Ricky Federau of Chilliwack by four minutes. Kindree blazed through the course with a time of two hours, 26 minutes, two seconds.
The top two finishers were in a jovial mood at the end of the race.
"He's the 麻豆社国产wonderchild," Federau joked.
"He's a chicken farmer and I'm a garbage man," Kindree quipped, referring to both racers' ordinary day jobs.
Kindree, who also won the race back in 2007, said he's been focusing on training for other races and was a little surprised to post such a strong time at this year's GearJammer.
"I didn't really make this the focus of the week," he admitted. "I've been mostly chasing money but this is a fun race. It's just a lot of trails, which I like and it's a course I know well."
He added that plans are still up in the air as far as his participation in the Just Another Bike Race (JABR) as he's waiting for a call to possibly represent Canada at the World Championships in August. The JABR, which is the final race in the Hell of a Series, is scheduled to take place on Aug. 20.
Kevin Calhoun of North Vancouver finished third on the men's side with a time of 2:30:48. Calhoun sits in second place in the Hell of a Series standings with 600 points and is the only racer capable of catching Kindree.
Several other local males had strong days including Greg Grant (10th), Davey Mitchell (14th) and Tony Bachler (19th).
On the women's side, Revelstoke's Melanie Bernier posted the fastest time, 3:09:19. She edged out Whistler's Cathy Zeglinski to post the victory.
"I felt pretty good and pretty strong today," she said. "It's such a nice race and I'm more here for the singletrack. I love it."
Bernier said she was battling with Zeglinski in the early stages of the race but managed to pass her as the race continued.
"Cathy had the lead from the start but I overtook her on the Tracks from Hell and pretty much led from there," she said.
Bernier also competed in the Test of Metal and the Nimby 50 this year and said it's a great reason to come back to her former home.
"It's a good excuse to come back to 麻豆社国产and hang out with friends," she said.
It's the fourth time Bernier has competed in the GearJammer. The ski mountaineering expert said that mountain biking is a great summer activity to help keep her in shape for the winter.
The top 麻豆社国产female was Rua Read, who posted a time of 3:24:44 and won the 40 to 44 age division. Read is dominating her division in the Hell of a Series, having scored a total of 600 points in her three series races.
Despite competition from Whistler's Crankworx, which rescheduled its event to correspond with the GearJammer weekend, event organizer Jo Sykes said she was pleased with the 2011 edition of the race.
"Everybody that I spoke to told me the trails were in amazing shape and it was a great day out," she said. "But I'm looking forward to Crankworx going back to their normal days. There were some strong riders who normally would be in the GearJammer who went to Crankworx and I think lots of spectators went on Saturday because that was their big air day."
Sykes noted that it was also a little tougher to get volunteers this year but that riders still enjoyed the course.
She added that next year's race will likely see riders go down Paradise Trail instead of Logger's Lane, which caused issues for motorists this year.
The next race in the Hell of a Series will be the Just Another Bike Race (JABR) on Aug. 20.
For more information and full results from the GearJammer, visit www.gearjammer.ca.
