Video & Race Report: Miranda Miller & Rhys Verner Win Round 2 of the Canadian Enduro Series - Kamloops, BC
Race Recap: Round #2 Kamloops // Norco Canadian Enduro Series presented by Live to Play Sports
What a day for a race! After a week of sizzling weather and relentless mosquitoes, the temperatures dropped and the bugs took a break, making for ideal race conditions. We had fresh dirt on the course, some old favourites, and the unique Harper Mountain atmosphere that makes this event a rider favourite. At one point we had to close a stage briefly for a team of horses crossing the trail, but honestly, that's one of the things we love about Harper Mountain.
Don't worry, no berms were harmed in the making of the video (read below).
This week we had a fully stacked field of amateurs and pros. Taking the top steps were Miranda Miller for the women and Rhys Verner for the men. Honourable mentions going out to our Norco Canadian Enduro Development team riders Max Leyen (3rd Pro Men) and Jacob Tooke (2nd U21 Men). We also wanted to give a shout-out to Emmy Lan, who finished first in the U21 Women's category at the age of 15, she also cracked the top 10 in Pro Women's category.
Stay tuned midweek for our event video, which we will be highlighting the women of the Norco Canadian Enduro Series and the lovely destination of Kamloops.
TRAIL LOVE
Livin’ like a local and exploring like a tourist! Kamloops is hometown for the race organizer, so we treated riders to a few local treats this weekend.
The first major treat was a revitalized trail project that we’ve been spearheading since last fall. The trail links together a bunch of older trails and since it is still to be finalized, we were able to set up a few corners to offer riders a few unique turns to make them giggle!
With every registration, we donate 10% to the local trail club. For this event, we donated $2636 back to the trails.
For 2019 we wanted to give a little more back to the Kamloops scene so last fall we put a grant application together for $5000, we then topped it up with $2500 from Ted's pocket to make it all come together.
This project would not have happened with out the support of the trail managers from KPCC. Also a thank-you to the KBRA in helping with the grant application.
A big thanks to the trail managers at the KPCC and to the KBRA helping with the grant application.
Thanks to:
Harper Mountain | Tourism Kamloops | Red Collar Brewing | Kamloops Performance Cycling Centre | Coookshack Cravings | The Bicycle Cafe | Mountain Biking BC | Deon Baker | Olly Glenn | Patrick Rasche | Drake | Alex Kerkoff | Connor Hamilton | Spoke N'Motion | KBRA | Kyle Rosten
A few of the dedicated builders and maintainers at Harper Mountain.
It's so cool to receive the support of the local community when our events come to town. This is my hometown and I can't thank my friends, riding community and the race community enough! - Ted
We also owe a big thank-you to this guy. Connor has been helping at the series since last year; he's a man of many talents, an endless array of jokes and a bottomless pit of enthusiasm. He can make anyone smile and he's one of the hardest working people at the events. Connor is also a mountain bike instructor, trail builder, and guide. Follow Connor's adventures as he spends his time between New Zealand and BC, providing good times on bikes.
The Course
Liked the course? Donate to the Kamloops Performance Cycling Centre through Trailforks!
Round #2 winners in their fancy Kazoom Cycling jerseys.
Ainhoa is one of the most stylish riders out there. She's still a teenager and placed 4th place in Pro Women next to Miranda Miller, ALN and Jennifer McHugh. Her future looks bright!
The "Rule of Thirds" is part of every racer briefing. You've been warned!
RACING
ALN fought hard to stay with Miranda Miller throughout the day winning stages 3 and 4, but a few hiccups on stage 1 left too big of a margin to claw back. The Pro Women's class was super competitive this weekend and we loved following the action.
That Kamloops flow!
Kamloops isn't all about the wide-open fast and flow. Harper Mountain is littered with tire and rim crushing boulders.
Norco Canadian Enduro Development Team rider Max Leyen made his first appearance in the Canadian series this weekend. He placed third on the day and is looking forward to the next round of racing in Revelstoke, BC
Jesse Melamed wasn't racing, but he was out in support of his teammate ALN who placed 2nd. Remi Gauvin was also onsite, but he was out of the race due to tumble taken the week before.
Miranda was in top form, taking the win by almost twenty seconds.
Rhys Verner, unstoppable this weekend.
SMITH THRILLS AND SPILLS - Timed Descent
At every event, we pick a stage that is full of wild thrills and tremendous spills. This year our buddy Mike Coulter is on course armed with $75.00 cash to make someone's day a little better, so follow along on Instagram for the video from this stage, and be sure if you see Mike Coulter to spin a yarn and tell him about your Thrills and Spills.
Sometimes your thrills lead to epic spills!
Streamers, overalls, Hawaiian Shirts, you name it - the grass slalom has it!
The SMITH Thrills and Spills stage took place on the Grass Slalom. On Saturday night costumes were in full force, and we awarded $100 to Rhys Verner (not pictured) as the fastest person down the grass course.
Livin' the Dream!
These events are more than just racing, it's about having an adventure with your crew and in some cases, winning some sweet, sweet, prizing!
Simon McClaine took the We Are One Rim Swap Fiesta - Simon is also a professional trail builder in Tasmania as well as a videographer!
This is a unique venue for racers as camping happens right at the Harper Mountain Lodge. Cody from SMRT Tent is the envy of all racers. Follow his adventures as the self proclaimed "Midpacker" on his blog to see what it takes to be the most bestest, well-rounded mid pack racer.
Jennifer McHugh was our 2019 Women's overall champ. She has her work cut-out this season, but if there is one thing we know about Jen, she loves as good challenge. Here she is smiling all the way down stage 4!
RESULTS
You can find the full results here.
If you're looking for photos, we had the pleasure of having James Cattanach and Sam Egan onsite, you can view their photos here on Pinkbike , or use Roots and Rain to purchase even more photos.
Pro Men - Rhys Verner, Mckay Vezina, Max Leyen
Pro Women - Miranda Miller, Andréane Lanthier Nadeau, Jennifer McHugh
Open Women - Krista Cook, Stephanie Lachance, Nikola Starko
Expert Men - Tyler Gorz, Matt Bolton, Reid Pearce
40+ Men - Grant Murray, Frith Murray, Jason Polnau
30-39 - Brett Hornfelt, Jeff MacDonald, Osvaldo Codoceo
21-29 Men - Linden Ladouceur, Fraser Andrew, Nicola Lachowski
U21 Men - Carter Krasny, Jacob Tookes (NCES Development Team), Emmett Hancock
U15 Men - Marcus Goguen, Wei Tien Ho, Elijah Barron
U21 Women - Emmy Lan (15 years old!), Emily Williams, Sena Odyakmaz
VOLUNTEERING
If you're keen to volunteer, register here as a volunteer
Thanks to all our volunteers, you are the backbone of the racing community!
You seem busy, I'll let you go. Races are hard work. Jacob Tooke (2nd U21) is part of our event team, which means post-race he re-rides the entire course to clean it of tape and signage. It's a lumberjack sandwich kind of ride.
The Norco Canadian Enduro Series is supported by:
A massive thank-you to this year's series sponsors and supporters and anyone who Volunteered with us and anyone who helped with a shuttle, a beer, or a spare tube!
Need something? More information?
• Visit our Website
• Athlete Inquires & Volunteer Information | Robyn Goldsmith admin@bcenduro.com
• All other inquiries | ted@bcenduro.com (Event Director)
MENTIONS: @SmithOptics / @raceface / @CLIF
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
14 women finished at Fort William in Elite this weekend.
If Miranda Miller, who is a world champion actually showed up, she would have been pretty much guaranteed a top 10
She chose to go to kamloops instead.
If theres clearly so little financial incentive to go to a World Cup race even when you’re a shoe-in for a top 10 finish how can you be surprised that the prize money is so low at a regional enduro event?
The prize money is a bonus - Rumour has it Miranda donated the money to another racer! Now that’s community!
Dont kid yourself, for a person who makes a living riding bikes, it's almost ALL about the money......
Dont get me wrong, I've raced a bunch of BCES events and loved them, but I had no chance of winning either.
The upper times in this event for all age categories were as good or better than the top expert men. It seems like there may have been some level of confusion or uncertainty about who that category was for.
I think if you're going to include an expert category, there needs to be a change in the race course which reflects the different category, similar to how CDC does it's expert/non-expert classes.