Make it six Test of Metal women鈥檚 titles for Olympian Catharine Pendrel.
The Kamloops resident cruised to the win on Saturday (June 20) in 3:10:09, beating out second place rider Kate Aardal from Calgary by over nine minutes.
But it was a push from a young competitor that motivated Pendrel early on in the race.
She praised the potential of West Vancouver鈥檚 Emily Handford, who Pendrel said was riding with the top group and it challenged her to step her game up. Pendrel, who won all 10 primes and $1,000, gave Handford $100 and said she鈥檒l see her next year.
Handford asked for a signature on the $100 bill and Pendrel obliged.
Pendrel said the Test of Metal is always a fun stop on her calendar.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great event and a chance for me to hang out with BC riders,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 love the event and I love 麻豆社国产and I always seem to race well here.鈥�
She said today鈥檚 race had ideal conditions and it鈥檚 good experience before her busy summer schedule.
鈥淭he conditions were perfect and I had some good guys to run with,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are so many people cheering here so it鈥檚 nice to have almost a home crowd.鈥�
Pendrel heads to Colorado next week for a US Cup race, then travels to Switzerland for a World Cup and also has the Pan-Am Games and Nationals for the next few months.
Peachland鈥檚 Evan Guthrie had the top time of the day, winning the men鈥檚 division with a time of 2:33:36. He edged out Squamish鈥檚 Quinn Moberg by one minute. The pair were battling for the top spot for much of the race but Guthrie pulled out the win to capture his first ever Test of Metal crown.
Craig Richey from Smithers (2:35:38) placed third, Calgary鈥檚 James Sparling (2:37:30) finished fourth and Sechelt鈥檚 Kris Sneddon (2:37:47) was fifth.
Other 麻豆社国产riders in the top 10 included Rhys Verner (2:40:53) in eighth and Greg Day (2:41:08) in ninth.
Verner was one of a handful of young Team 麻豆社国产members who made an impact in the race. Sean Fincham (2:42:44) was 12th and Luke Di Marzo (2:47:49) was 16th overall. The trio also swept the junior podium.
Verner said he was pleased to improve on last year when he placed 10th overall.
鈥淚t was a pretty good, solid race for me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wanted to make top five and finish around 2:40:00. I did finish at 2:40:00 and got eighth but I鈥檓 still happy with it 鈥� it was a hard race with a lot of fast guys.鈥�
He said he flirted with the top five for much of the race.
鈥淚 was third all the way up Jack鈥檚 [Trail] and there was a big group of us going up Bob McIntosh,鈥� he said. 鈥淒ead End Loop I was sixth and the top three kind of broke apart from there. After Roller Coaster I was fourth and mixed it up with the top group but everything became more separated after Nine Mile [Hill].鈥�
Team Squamish鈥檚 Holden Jones also made a huge impact in only his second Test of Metal race. Jones, only 14 years old, placed 27th at the event with a time of 2:52:41. He said he was thrilled with his showing.
鈥淚t went great,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 did 18 minutes faster than last year and had a super good start and was right where I wanted to be by the time I hit the first single track.鈥�
Jones said his strategy was to try his best to stick with a strong riding group.
鈥淚 picked two or three people who I figured were faster than me and tried my best to stick with them,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was in one of the top groups but in the last 10 or 15 minutes the top riders really pulled ahead. I wanted to get under three hours and I did 2:52:00 so I鈥檓 super happy with that.鈥�
The Grade 9 Don Ross Secondary School student has a busy summer with Canada Cup and National races in the coming weeks.
Other local junior riders in the top 100 included: Nick Kleban (62nd), Hunter Verner (74th) and Kasper Woolley (91st).
It wasn鈥檛 only local junior riders who fared well on Saturday, as several 麻豆社国产riders placed in the top 100 including: Dwayne Kress (19th), Eric Goodwin (31st), Jean-Sebastien Lareau (36th), Ryan Edwards (41st), JD Disney (50th), Nathan Mckay (63rd), Jeff Riemer (73rd), Zoe Dawson (81st), Meghan Kindree (83rd), Sam Bowerman (86th), Michael Kinney (87th) and Joel Harwood (98th).
Locals winning their age divisions were: Rhys Verner (14 to 19 male), Dawson (20 to 29 female), Kindree (30 to 34 female), Julie Miller (40 to 44 female), Kress (40 to 44 male) and Mike Reed (60 to 69 male).
Moberg and Dawson were the top 麻豆社国产male and female riders respectively. The Dirty Mojitos from Port Coquitlam won the relay race, with Squamish鈥檚 Spudnics placing third.
For complete results from the event, visit www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=45275.
