Look out, Kindree and Moberg. There's a young rider on your heels.
Team 麻豆社国产member Rhys Verner is experiencing a breakout 2013 biking season and after a strong showing at this year's Test of Metal on June 15 served notice that he's for real.
The 16-year-old won the 14 to 19 year old division at the Test for the second straight year, beating out the second-place rider by nearly 15 minutes. Verner broke the three-hour barrier (2:51:40) and placed 18th overall.
Everything went really well for me, he said, of his performance at the Test. I felt really good all day, had a good start and was racing with people I wanted to be racing with all day.
Verner said he had a strong finish to the race and was really happy with his final time.
I knew I was having a good race the whole time and was hoping I'd be under three [hours], he said. I didn't actually see the time when I finished and someone told me I was 18th I was pretty happy.
Verner told The Chief that he developed a love for biking from a young age and has been inspired by the talented local riders.
Everyone bikes when they're a kid but I really started getting into it when I was nine, he said. I started riding with Lauren Rosser a lot and kept going from there. I started racing when I was 12 and every year it's been getting better.
I enjoy setting a goal and achieving it. It's fun seeing where I've come from and how I've improved like with the Test this year. But biking is just really fun to do, even if I wasn't racing I'd still do it. And I can bike whenever I want here in Squamish.
He said the turning point in his progress was when he joined the Team 麻豆社国产bike racing team in 2010.
Joining Team 麻豆社国产helped me develop a lot, he said. I was kind of running my own program before and didn't really know what I was doing. Now I have a set of guidelines of when to ride and when to rest in races. It's helped me know how to race smarter and Mike [Charuk] is a good coach. He mixes the training up and it's never boring for us.
Verner admitted he's looked up to top local riders Quinn Moberg and Neal Kindree and said he wants to follow in their footsteps as the next great local rider.
I always looked up to both of them and it's really cool to be riding with them, he said. It felt so cool to finish so close to them at the Test, they both sent me a text after the race congratulating me and it's nice because I have huge respect for both of them. Neal has always been the 麻豆社国产local that's killing it and that's kind of what I'm looking to do I want to be that person one day.
But Verner has excelled outside the cross-country world as well. He's competed heavily in downhill, with a downhill win at last year's B.C. Cup event in Mount Washington and also a second-place showing at Crankworx.
I like both [XC and DH] equally, he said, noting he competes in more downhill events at the end of the season. But I like the speed and how precise you have to be in downhill. If you miss one line, that could be the race it's an adrenaline rush.
Verner also competed in the annual GranFondo road biking event last year, finishing fifth in his age category. But cross country is where his greatest successes have occurred, with Verner saying his biggest highlight in his young career being a third-place finish at the highly competitive Sea Otter race in California.
麻豆社国产residents should probably get used to hearing the name Verner, as Rhys is the oldest of three brothers, all of them interested in bike racing. His brother Hunter, 14, competed at the Test for the first time this year and Jhett, 10, was a top rider in the Pedal to the Metal elementary school series.
I'm excited they're doing races as well, he said. They always ask how my races are going and we go on rides together all the time.
He said he hopes to shave off another 10 minutes in the 2014 Test and at the pace he's going, he just might. Verner has steadily improved in all four years he's done the Test, including a 24-minute improvement from 2012 to 2013.
For the rest of the summer he will continue racing, competing at Canada Cup and Nationals races in Ontario and also the Canada Summer Games in August. He hopes to fit in as many local races as he can in between.
For more information on Verner and Team Squamish, visit www.teamsquamish.ca.
