BC Cup Kicks off 2015 at Race the Ranch

Its's go time again! The level of stoke was very high as racers converged on the Kamloops Bike Ranch this weekend to kick off the BC Cup downhill season. It's only early April and the trails were already dry with pockets of moon dust littering the track. The course held together quite well despite 216 racers training and racing on it for the last few days. With only one really steep section, and a long, flat, lung burner in the middle, quite a few racers switching to their enduro bikes for the day.

Imported style. Anton Wuenscher from Germany (Wheels over Frankfurt) has it pinned during his 16th place run in an extremely competitive Elite category.

Nothing but smiles during a track walk. Not the most technical course, but the Bike Ranch is a lot of fun to ride.

Out of the steeps, Erin Forbes was on course before the wind started to come up.

Launching over the Valleyview scenery.

The only steep section of the course was actually pretty steep with a very loose chute into a drop followed by a tight left-hander. It claimed a few victims throughout the weekend, but North Van's Liam Kain wasn't one of them, pulling 6th in Open Men 17-29.

Senior Women 19-29 winner Michelle Griffiths took a solid 8 seconds out of the next fastest finisher. She looked pretty hungry for a win in Kamloops.

Pressure on the berm! Lynden Sandy (Jr. Ex.) hunts for traction in the dusty middle section of the course. This part of the course involved a lot of pedalling, so no one wanted to pay the penalty for slow corners.

Strong crosswinds on course. Keegan Fry searching for a safe landing zone on his way to 4th place in U17 Sport.

Trevor Thew pedalling hard and breathin' glass a few hundred metres from the finish line: half a second was worth a lot of places in Elite Men's. Thew finished up a very respectable 13th.

Moon dust already. Kamloops makes for some very fun riding.

The chute down to the finish line.

West Coast tuxedo and some shag, Jeremy McDowell does his best impression of a bullet.

Knolly Racing's Nick Grimm pushing hard into the second last corner, finishing 9th in the strong Elite field.

Just when you thought you were fast, Bas van Steenbergen comes through looking relaxed and clowning for the camera on his way to a commanding win in Elite. Less than two minutes top to bottom is very, very fast.

Elite women:
1. Vaea Verbeek
2. Georgia Astle (at left)
3. Britany Merthot (at right).

Elite Men:
1. Bas van Steenbergen
2. Kirk McDowall
3. Remi Gauvin
4. Lee Jackson
5. Anthony Evans