It wasn鈥檛 Just Another Bike Race on Saturday morning, as the final leg of the Test of Metal races in 麻豆社国产ran its last race.
Appropriately, the weather, in a month typically sunny, did not cooperate, as the clouds opened up to make for a wetter mountain bike course at the seventh and final version of the 47-kilometre JABR.
The weather no doubt resulted in a few last-minute changes of mind for riders, as the turnout was lighter than planned.
鈥淚 think we had close to 300 actually registered for the day,鈥� co-race director Tim Hoskin said. 鈥淲e鈥檇 be lucky to get 150.鈥�
The final numbers showed 131 in the race, with 113 finishing the event.
First to the finish was Toby Swanson of Snoqualmie, Wash., who came in at 2:44:22.6
鈥淚 was superstoked to win 鈥� and bittersweet,鈥� he said.
He admitted the rain in the morning made the already-challenging trails a bit more slippery.
鈥淭hese trails are hard when they鈥檙e dry,鈥� he said.
The challenge is what keeps Swanson coming back though, as he has tried to attend at least a couple of the Test of Metal events every year.
鈥淭his is the best place in the world to mountain bike,鈥� he said.
Swanson said he hoped the community could rally to host some kind of mountain bike races in the future, and the end of the course Saturday pointed to the uncertainty of the competitions. Sprayed across the ground was 鈥淔INISH?鈥�
Swanson came in almost 48 seconds ahead of Burnaby鈥檚 Sullivan Reed, and not far behind was Squamish鈥檚 Nick Kleban, riding in the 14-19 age category. The Team 麻豆社国产member logged a time of 2:51:10.2.
鈥淚 exceeded my expectations a lot,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 been doing a whole lot of riding lately.鈥�
Kleban fell behind early but fought back by the Word of Mouth portion of the course and was able to stay near the front for the rest of the race.
鈥淎fter I got ahead, I just started riding my own pace,鈥� he said.
Among the women, the top finishers all came from the area. Zoe Dawson posted the best time of 3:16:56.4, while Brandi Heisterman, also of Squamish, was not far behind at 3:18:50.3.
Whistler鈥檚 Leah Trudeau was third, with a time of 3:44:36.7.
Dwayne Kress, who founded the race, decided to get on his bike, marking the second year in a row he has competed. He ended up with the eighth best time of 2:57:05.2.
Kress started JABR after talking with Test of Metal founder Cliff Miller about adding another race in order to have mountain bike events extend through the summer months.
鈥淚 met Cliff at work, and I had the bright idea鈥�. He said, 鈥楪reat. Put one on,鈥欌�� Kress said.
JABR organizers initially held the race in August but decided to move it to September because they thought it might be easier to attract people to help out than during the summer months when there are so many other events being held.
鈥淚t was harder getting volunteers, so we moved it to September,鈥� he said.
However, with school and other sports resuming in the fall, the quest to get volunteers has remained a challenge, as Kress echoed a point made by Miller about an issue facing Test of Metal.
The event has had its high points, Kress said, such as when it filled in for Vernon to host the 2014 Canadian National Mountain Bike Marathon Championships.
The weather might have put a damper on this year鈥檚 last installment, but Kress was not caught off guard. After all, it is 麻豆社国产and fall is coming.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not surprised by the rain,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e disappointed by the rain.鈥�
As far as a legacy for the event, Kress points out that JABR has been as much about celebrating 麻豆社国产and its renowned network of trails as it has been about the actual race.
鈥淚t鈥檚 wasn鈥檛 necessarily a race about the competition,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a race about the trails.鈥�
