Squamish's Neal Kindree picked up his second straight Hell of a Series mountain bike race victory on Saturday (May 28) in Pemberton when he finished first overall in the second annual Nimby Fifty.
Kindree, who earlier in the month won the series-opening Orecrusher race in Brackendale, completed the extremely difficult, 40-kilometre course in two hours, 15 minutes, 59.8 seconds on a hardtail bike. That put him 53 seconds clear of runner-up Kevin Calhoun and more than three minutes ahead of third-place finisher Greg Day, both of North Vancouver.
"I put an emphasis on the first and second climbs and apparently had (a three-minute lead) at the top of the Nimby and just rode smooth," said Kindree. "Second place closed a huge gap on me but that's what you get for riding old technology, I guess."
Kindree, who was third in last year's race, said focusing his attention more on biking has been key to his strong start to the season.
"I was coming off an injury from a few years ago and last year was just playing with racing to see what my body could stand up to," said Kindree, national U23 champ in 2006 and 2007. "I've found that biking is actually the least bothersome for my knee and pursuing it over the winter and through spring, I've been just trying to build fitness and get back to where I was before I injured myself."
Squamish's Greg Grant also has a strong showing, placing 10th, while last year's winner Colin Kerr, also a 麻豆社国产resident, had mechanical issues and wasn't able to repeat as champion. Kerr finished in 15th place overall.
Kelowna's Jennifer Schultz took home the women's elite title, with Squamish's Megan Rose finishing third. Brackendale's Brandi Heisterman also competed in the race but was unable to finish.
Local riders also cleaned up in several other categories including Daniel Hennigar, who won the 14 to 19 male division, Regan Kohlhardt, who won the 20 to 29 female group, Davey Mitchell, who won the 20 to 29 male group and Petra Hauke, who won the female 35 to 39 division. 麻豆社国产residents Dwayne Kress and Mike Charuk also had top-three finishes in their respective categories.
Race co-director Terry Evans said all 300 spots in the race sold out and participants once again raved about the course.
"I stood at the finish line and shook hands with the top 20 riders, and pretty much the comments were, 'That was an amazing course,' or 'That was the toughest course I've ever done,' or both. Conditions were perfect and the trails themselves were in amazing shape, really tacky."
Kindree echoed Evans' sentiments about the quality of the event.
"I think the course, the layout of the event, the after party, the whole set up - I would say it's a classic at just two years," he said. "It's a blast."
Evans also said moving the start, finish and apr猫s area to North Arm Farm worked out perfectly.
"It was an amazing venue," he said.
Next up on the Hell of a Series will be the North Shore Bike Fest, which takes place from June 3 to 5 at the Inter River Park in North Vancouver.
For full results from the race, visit www.nimbyfifty.com.
