2014 Singletrack 6 - Day 4 Recap

When the Singletrack 6 Crew rolled into town over a year ago to meet local members of the Golden Cycling Club we were blown away by the tour de trail they gave us. These folks have mountain biking in their blood and have built a trail network that seemingly goes on forever. With so much trail to choose from, Golden became the logical choice to host two days of riding. Today, the lower slopes of Mount 7 and the Mtn. Shadows trail system played host to the Smith Optics Stage 4.


At 10AM, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police lead out delivered the pack to the first climb of the day. Seven kilometers later, with the field stretched out, the riders were fed into Erich's trail and the aptly named Skid Marks for 350 metres of elevation loss and one gnarly timed descent. Steep, rocky and loose, this trail required a ten finger death grip and was ridden quickly by those with the highest of technical skills. Ripping into the finish of the timed descent, Golden resident Shane Kroeger was able to throw down the fastest time of the day among the men in 5:53. Kate Aardal posted a time of 6:45 to place her on top of the ladies podium.

Our shortest stage of the week at 30km, this route was still a formidable challenge with terrain that was significantly different compared to the previous day. Short, rocky step ups and drops were peppered throughout the course pushing riders to maintain focus through every pedal stroke. The Cliff Side and Rock About trails proved to be the most technical XC trails on the day and pointed the riders south under a heat sheltering forest canopy.


Checkpoints are always a well appreciated stop on the race trail. On hot days it's always reassuring to know that you have support waiting with cold drinks and food. Today, the Smith Optics Bacon Station was in operation at Checkpoint 2 making the Smith Crew the most popular people on the trail. Everything is better with bacon!

From Checkpoint 2 it was time to strike for home. Eight kilometers of singletrack stood between the riders and a refreshing dip in the Kicking Horse River. Dropping back into town, Cory Wallace and Kris Sneddon made a sprint for the finish line. Wallace captured the fastest XC time of the day by one tenth of second in a blistering 1:33:04.3. Kate Aardal captured her second stage win of the week posting a ladies best time of 1:50:59.

Riders continued to roll in through the mid afternoon and the Smith Optics Stage 4 was in the books as one of the most loved stages of the week.


Full results HERE. More images HERE.

The Winners of Stage 4 and Overall Leaders through Stage 4:

Team Category
Stage Winners
Overall Leaders

Open Men
Jon Firth & Dax Massey
Jon Firth & Dax Massey

Open Women
Karen Tremaine & Mindy Mullikan
Karen Tremaine & Mindy Mullikan

Open Mixed
Anja McDonald & Tristan Rawlence
Anja McDonald & Tristan Rawlence

80+ Men
Kris Henderieckx & Kris Hertsens
Kris Henderieckx & Kris Hertsens

80+ Mixed
Alana Heise & Jeff Neilsen
Alana Heise & Jeff Neilsen

100+ Open
Henric Meldgard & Keith Simmonds
Henric Meldgard & Keith Simmonds

Solo
Stage Winner
Overall Leader

Open Men
Cory Wallace
Kris Sneddon

Open Women
Kate Aardal
Kate Aardal

40+ Men
Leighton Poidevin
Filip Meirhaeghe

50+ Men
Rich Marshal
Rich Marshal

Timed Descent Stage Winner Overall Leader
Male Shane Kroeger Shane Kroeger
Female Mical Dyck Kate Aardal

Next up? The Moonrakers trail system in Golden for the Schacher Stage 5. 53kms of fast and flowy singletrack, one timed descent and 1400m of elevation gain.

Be sure to visit singletrack6.com daily for reports, results, photos and video from the race.