Crowsnest Pass: Osprey BC Enduro Series, Presented by Smith Optics - Race Recap
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 Crowsnest Pass, it's on the map as three different communities, but all that matters is the riding is unsurpassed, you need to come here! |
Crowsnest Pass
People travel a lot to ride bikes and anytime you run into a rider, you invariably end up playing the name game - Have you ridden Whistler? Squamish, Lillooet? What about Tyax? - as the list gets shorter, there is a bit of prestige to having ridden places that not many have or riding something that is unique.
Our goal at the Osprey BC Enduro Series is to highlight up and coming destinations, threading the line between adventure, exploration, and racing.
Well when Darcy Neniska (local of Crowsnest) talked my ear off last year in Retallack about how amazing his local trails were, I said: "sweet sounds rad, where's home". I'm not going to lie, I had to Google Coleman, Alberta. It was surreal, given that we were at Retallack, Darcy kept saying, so Ted, what do you think, Crowsnest?
So I asked around, legitimately, no one in my vast network of friends had ridden there. Over the following months, I watched a ton of footage from Darcy's Go Pro, and the local club (United Riders of Crowsnest) president Andrew Fairhurst got in touch with me. Organized is an understatement, they had a ski-lodge booked, Cariboo Brewing was on board, Crowsnest Coffee was in for support and they had a massive green light from the township, even the Fire Chief (Steve) came out to lend first-aid support for the event!
It's truly amazing what a community of mountain bike champions can accomplish and we haven't even gotten to the trails!
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| The United Riders of Crowsnest BOD hosted one heck of an event, those trails! |
Round #2 of the OSPREY BC Enduro Series (BCES) EAST, presented by Smith Optics took place last weekend at Pass Powderkeg Ski, Crowsnest Pass. This round was hosted by United Riders of Crowsnest.
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| The infamous Crowsnest; at 2785m it engulfs the valley with its coliseum like presence. |
Let's Get to RACING
Crowsnest Pass
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| Nothing like an Alpine start to get the day going - Riders had a big pedal to get up here, but the warm up was welcomed. |
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| Stage 1: Katie Spittlehouse, picking her way through the sub-alpine boulder field. If you like rock and to get loose, this is the place for you! |
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| Stage 1: Scott sending the rock roll, This photo is taken looking directly uphill, it was steep, steeper than a horses face! |
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| Here we have an opposite foot-out, flat-out, eat your heart out Semenuk. |
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| Sub-alpine switchbacks were burning through egos, as fast as brake pads! |
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| You need to ride here. |
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| Logan Keen, one of the U21 up and comers, his results are steadily improving, he's no stranger to drops and jumps and stage 2 was right up his alley. Jumps, drops and loose! |
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| Spotted! The elusive Evan Wall. Evan took advantage of our 'Claim the Pro Podium' this weekend. His U21 time was fast enough to grab second place in Pro, so he graciously took his spot on the Pro Podium. |
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| Stage 4, likely a few wobbly pops deep, no one smiles bigger and has more fun riding than Henning. |
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| Rich Mulligan, choosing not to take a 'Mulligan' in the boulder field on Stage 4. |
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| Stage 4 was littered with rock and rock rolls! |
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| Darcy is right, Crowsnest Pass is like Canmore in the 70s, loose, unadulterated and prime for the sending! |
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| Mountains make you feel small. So did Stage 5, how are your lungs? How big are your Kahunas? |
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| Jose Letlier - Stage 5, don't let his Chilean suave fool you, he's a motivated, crusher and focused on one thing - Sending it!!! |
Photographers
Mucho respect to the men behind the lens.
Sam Egan of Cedarline Creative has his photos here
Full Results: Click Here
To view the series results check them out on Roots and Rain.
U15 MEN
Pos No. Name Team Time
1st 198 Mateo Massitti | 00:19:44
2nd 197 Jack Menzies | Outside/Rad Bike Enduro Team/RMCC | 00:20:31
3rd 193 Bailey Petersen | Calgary Cycle | 00:23:23
U21 MEN
1st 36 Yannik Schulz | Higher Ground Mountain Sports | 00:19:53
2nd 28 Jacob Tooke | Olympia Cycle and Ski, Smith Optics | 00:20:45
3rd 35 Wyatt McLaughlin | 00:20:49
21-29 MEN
1st 171 Andy Jaffray | 00:21:01
2nd 175 Craig Merritt | 00:21:28
3rd 191 Zach Singer | 00:21:30
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| Teegan approves of the UROC Bike Fest - Beer, Bikes, Mountains. |
30-39 MEN
1st 131 Gord Haine | 00:20:55
2nd= 161 Phillip Fowler | 00:21:03
2nd= 132 Graham Torrie | Bike Bros | 00:21:03
40+ MEN
1st 62 Andrew Fairhurst | United Riders of Crowsnest - UROC | 00:19:23
2nd 245 Reg Mullet | Race Face, NOBL, Calgary Cycle | 00:19:35
3rd 77 Grant Hvizdos | Bike Cafe | 00:20:15
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| Bunch of legends on this podium. 1st Place is the President of UROC and posted the fastest amateur time. Reg Mullet is a world-record holder for the most MTB descents in 24hrs, and Grant sponsored the BCES drinking at the Rum Runner Pub on Saturday night. |
SHORT COURSE U21 MEN
1st 210 Logan Storvold | 00:17:45
2nd 207 Jacob Baggott | Rundle Mountain Cycling Club | 00:18:41
3rd 192 Andrew Bown | RMCC | 00:18:54
SHORT COURSE MEN 21+
1st 83 Sylvain | 00:17:07
2nd 213 adam duell | ascent cycle | 00:17:11
3rd 217 Jason Latreille | 00:17:27
SHORT COURSE U21 WOMEN
1st 22 Sena Odyakmaz | Outside Radbike | 00:19:52
2nd 201 Pascale Paradis | Pedalhead Road Works | 00:20:02
3rd 235 Clara Bown | 00:24:27
SHORT COURSE WOMEN 21+
1st 203 Marlies van Dijk | Indy | 00:22:00
2nd 204 Stephanie Reimer | 00:22:07
3rd 57 Sara McCartney | 00:22:50
OPEN WOMEN
1st 50 Karey Watanabe | Specialized Alberta/Sweet Riders | 00:22:46
2nd 60 Tara Walmsley | Ibis, RaceFace, Osprey | 00:23:06
3rd 42 Erin Walsh | Hardcore Bikes | 00:23:43
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| Pretty sure the prize money was spent on partying... |
PRO MEN
1st 7 David Harder | Cube bikes, Nobl, NRG, Ospreypacks, Raceface | 00:17:56
2nd 27 Evan Wall | Giant Bicycles / Ridley's Cycle | 00:18:41
3rd 20 Nick Quinn | Transition Bikes / Dakine / Spy / NRG / CAFE | 00:18:48
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| Evan Wall, 17 years old, he's not wasting any time coming after reigning champ Dave Harder - We'll leave Dave's age out of this. |
GOLDEN
In two weeks we are heading to Golden. The Higher Ground crew are making this a stop to remember. Part of the 2016 Totally Spoked Bike Fest, Tourism Golden have rolled out the red carpet with a lot of supporting activities.
This is going to be one High Alpine Adventure, you don't want to miss. Gondola tickets are half price, you'll want the bump up!
This race will feature more than 2,000m of descending!!!!
This stop will include:
• Enduro Skills Clinic by Higher Ground's David Gagnon - email him for more info: davesnow13@me.com
• Totally Spoked Bike Fest
A massive thank-you to this year's series sponsors and supporters
• Osprey Packs
• Smith Optics / @SmithOptics
• Nobl Wheels / @NOBLwheels
• Kazoom
• Tourism Kamloops
• Wandering Wheels
• Knolly / @KNOLLYBIKES
• Pinkbike
• Race Face Performance Products / @raceface
• Fouriers
• Commencal / @COMMENCALbicycles
• Tourism Rossland
• Red Racer Beer
• Smith Optics / @SmithOptics
• Nobl Wheels / @NOBLwheels
• Kazoom
• Tourism Kamloops
• Wandering Wheels
• Knolly / @KNOLLYBIKES
• Pinkbike
• Race Face Performance Products / @raceface
• Fouriers
• Commencal / @COMMENCALbicycles
• Tourism Rossland
• Red Racer Beer
WE NEED HELP!
We're always looking for parents, girlfriends/boyfriends or injured riders to help out!
What you'll get:
• Jersey
• Lunch
• Post-race meal and drink
• Discount entry on any other race, for you or for a friend/kid/dog
Contact Diana: admin@bcenduro.com
Need Something?! More Information?
• Website
• Athlete Inquires | athletes@bcenduro.com
• Volunteer Information | admin@bcenduro.com (Diana)
• All other inquiries | ted@bcenduro.com (Event Director)
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#SMITHisMTB #TheExperienceIsEverything #OspreyPacks #BCEnduro #BCES #BCEnduroSeries / @bcenduroseries / www.facebook.com/bcenduroseries
Author Info:
Member since Mar 9, 2013
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Bonus, I ended up in the top step too. Wasn't planned but the energy of our group made me crank in the throttle a bit.
Thanks to Ted, Megan and the UROC volunteers!
I'll be back 100% to ride here????????