Squamish's Neal Kindree continued his impressive return to the bike racing circuit by winning the Elite Male category at the Orecrusher on Saturday (May 14).
Kindree edged two-time defending champion Marty Lazarski of North Vancouver by 19 seconds to capture first place. He said getting separation early on helped set him up for the victory.
"It was a big group to start off but I tried early on to blow apart from them and I started studying the smaller group leading the way," he said. "I was following Colin [Kerr] for a while and passed Marty on the descent on lap two."
Kindree said the lead group consisted of himself, Kerr, Lazarski and Ricky Federau. After studying the right time to pass for the first lap, Kindree took over in lap two and never looked back. He added that the changes to the race were a good thing.
"The new set-up is awesome," he said. "A lot better than previous years and it's good that everyone has to do the same three laps instead of six in other years. It was just a good day overall."
Kindree placed first with a total time of 1:51:20.4, with Lazarski close behind at 1:51.39.7. Rounding out the top five were Federau, Kerr and Kevin Calhoun.
The race was also a coming-out party of sorts for Team Squamish's Quinn Moberg, who won the 14 to 20 age group and also posted the sixth fastest time overall.
"It was a good, hard race with not much uphill," he said. "Conditions were nice and the course was just amazing. It was really well organized this year."
Moberg was part of an all-Team 麻豆社国产podium in the group, with Nicholas Bruce finishing second and Sam Bowerman in third. Rhys Verner, Jereomy Pelletier and Daniel Hennigar proved the team's dominance, with six racers finishing in the top 10 for the group.
Moberg trained with Kindree before the race and said he learned a lot from seeing Kindree in action firsthand on race day.
"He just took off right from the start," he said. "It was the predicted group of five who finished top five, but he was just super fast right off the start and I didn't really see him for the rest of the race."
Kindree had some kind words of his own for the aspiring Moberg.
"He's definitely got the horsepower but maybe doesn't have the technical mind or strategy yet," he said. "Once he starts to learn that, he's going to be a great racer."
Brackendale's Brandi Heisterman also had a strong day, winning the Elite Women's division with a time of 2:13:34. She said the new format of the race drew her to the Orecrusher for the first time.
"I really liked the changes Armand made," she said. "He did a great job and it's always nice to race at home. I just came back from a race in California and no one knew who I was - it's nice to see people you know cheer you on. It's a pretty tough, unrelenting course but it really was an ideal day today and it was a lot of fun."
Team Squamish's Lauren Rosser also made an impact, winning the female 14 to 20 age group and posting the fourth-fastest female time overall. The Chief's own Meagan Robertson placed second in the female 20 to 29 age group, with Erin Meggait finishing first. Other group winners included Catherine Gendron (female 30 to 34), Sarah Greenwood (female 35 to 39), Rua Read (female 40 to 44), Cathy Zeglinski (female 45 to 49), Dominik Hug (male 20 to 29), Olivier Gendron (male 30 to 34), Michael Boehm (male 35 to 39), Dwayne Kress (male 40 to 44), David Kvick (male 45 to 49), Ted Russo (male 50 to 54) and David Thornhill (male 60 to 69).
Race director Armand Hurford was pleased with how his first day at the reins of the Orecrusher went down.
"I was looking at this as a first-time event for me and it was amazing," he said. "Weather was good and everyone I've talked to seemed to really enjoy the course."
Hurford said it was a great way to kick off the Hell of a Series and pointed out that racing in 麻豆社国产keeps improving every year.
"I always tell people that you don't have to travel to compete," he said. "Until you start winning Hell of a Series races or the Toonie races regularly, there's no need to travel. You get all the competition you need right here in town."
For more information and complete results from the race, visit http://testofmetal.com/pages/orecrusher.php.
