With the B.C. Bike Race wrapping up in the Sea to Sky Corridor, Squamish's Neal Kindree wanted to defend home turf against some of the world's best mountain bikers.
Kindree did just that in Saturday's (July 9) seventh and final stage that ended in Whistler, putting some of his local knowledge to work and crossing the line in one hour, 22 minutes and one second.
"I tried hard yesterday but couldn't get away from the lead group," said Kindree, who was second in Friday's (July 8) 麻豆社国产stage. "Having done quite a lot of riding in Whistler (the trails) are quite rocky, so I aired up my tires quite hard and I think that allowed me to motor down that stuff.
"I was with them at the top and all that time (gained) was on the descent."
Kindree finished the day where he started it in general classification, placing third overall behind overall winner and Canadian Chris Sheppard (16:34:54) and American runner-up Jason Sager (+10:31) in the men's solo epic division. Kindree finished 19 minutes, 53 seconds.
"Today was a bit of survival mode," said Sheppard, who was already 10 minutes in front and finished third on Saturday. "I realized that flatting again would really suck and I was interested in protecting the lead."
It was a repeat victory for Sheppard, who applauded the Stage 7 course plotted by Grant Lamont set in what he called "the most beautiful place in the world."
"Coming to Whistler, my first bike race here was in 1989, so it's been 22 years," said the Kamloops native. "For me to come here is meaningful. Grant Lamont is such a pillar in the sport. He always gives us something interesting and he did today."
Sager shared the podium with Sheppard last year as well, but Kindree was doing his first B.C. Bike Race.
"This is a big win for me," Kindree said. "Some of these guys are racing World Cups and NORBA Series, so to be able to beat them shows something."
The Kona team of Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks won Saturday's stage and their third title in four years in the open men's team of two division. Their combined time (16:41:25) over the epic distance put them two seconds short of an hour's margin of victory over Marty Lazarski and Ricky Federeau.
Sneddon's and Wicks's time would have put them second in the solo division behind Sheppard. Sneddon said they tried hard to finish with the best overall time.
"We didn't get Shep, which would have been nice, but he was about seven minutes in front of us at the end of it," said Sechelt's Sneddon. "The last couple years we'd always have a lead in the team race, and why bother taking risks or riding hard? We could just sit back, easy-pedal and make sure we don't do anything dumb.
"At the end of it, it was like all these guys were saying that we're a bunch of slackers and the solo category is really where it's at. I think we sort of proved that we're still competitive."
In the women's solo epic, Canadian Jennifer Schulz (22:33:52) finished first with a comfortable lead over New Zealand's Hannah Thorne and U.S. rider Wendy Lyall.
Trish Grajczyk of Calgary actually had the fastest solo women's time in the epic-distance race, 22:21:20, beating out Schulz, but she was competing in the epic solo Masters women's category. Dr. Rua Read of 麻豆社国产finished second among 13 competitors in the division with a finishing time of 23:46:51. Kelly Ault of the United States was third.
A full list of results for the epic and challenge distances can be viewed at www.bcbikerace.com. Those interested in taking on the 2012 event should head to the website soon to register as well, as race officials said nearly two-thirds of next year's spots have already been filled.
