North Shore Bike Fest 2009

It’s about time.  It feels right to have some sanctioned racing back on the Shore.  The former home of the Hell of the North, the Roach Race, the Grouse World Cup and even the BLT DH, should have an outlet for those who like to measure themselves against their peers.  This past weekend the innaugural North Shore BikeFest allowed competitve juices to flow for crossers, XC junkies and the DH crowd – and there were smiles all round.

 2009 EB Chickas: Ingrid Henderson, Samantha Duncan, Gwen Prestion and coach Kelli Sherbinin.  All first time racers!

The brainchild of James Wilson, the Shore Fest is a great step towards legitimizing this community and bringing riders togethere.  James and his crew got municipal goverment on board as well as other land owners like the LSCR, mobilized a great vollie troupe and even showed the way for the younger generation.  There was fun to be had on the Endless Biking pumptrack, in the kids’ XC race and on the bmx track.  The kids were loving it.

  Darren Butler of Endless Biking spent an entire day building the sweet pump track.  I never saw the track idle. Photo ~ Dave Silver

The nsmbA took the opportunity to hold their annual bike swap in conjunction with the Fest and there were deals aplenty.  If you didn’t make it down don’t miss it next year:  everyone left smiling and a lot of merch. was sold.  I bought and sold and almost broke even.

 The line up before the swap opened.  Thankfully there were enough deals to go around. Photo ~ Cam McRae

The XC race, a punishing route along the lower slopes of Mt. Seymour, was universally praised by the riders.  I kept hearing ‘that was so much fun!’  In my experience this wasn’t what you usually hear after such a nasty lung burner.

And now some results:   For XC click here.    For DH click here.

 I didn’t hear a single complaint about the XC course – and I talked to quite a few racers. Lots of raves though.  Photo ~ Cam McRae

 Tyler Morland took the Elite Men’s DH race by a tidy margin, covering the course in 2:40. Photo ~ Layne Marrett.

You couldn’t have asked for a better day for racing. The course had been groomed, the crowds were out, and the weather was perfect. And there was just enough dust in the air.  Photo ~ Stuart Kernaghan

Sometimes you get interesting results when you look at things from a different angle… Photo ~ Stuart Kernaghan

Professional photographer Dan Barham, surveying the terrain. He was being relentlessly taunted from below, but managed to maintain his perch. Photo ~ Stuart Kernaghan

Most riders aired out this drop / roll / ride-around section in the middle of the course. Some did it with more style than others. Photo ~ Stuart Kernaghan

Fast? Slow? Hard to tell… This rider took a smart line over the launch, and avoided a nasty route.

This was another section where smoothness and good line choice could shave off time. Some riders barely slowed down for the corner. Photo ~ Stuart Kernaghan

This unfortunate wreck of a bicycle was lying in a heap near the finish line. I wasn’t there to witness the “incident”, but it couldn’t have been pretty. Photo ~ Stuart Kernaghan

  Dan Gronross (of Team Dan) the man behind the DH race.  Thanks to Dan and Layne Marett for putting on an amazing event! Photo ~ Danielle Baker

 Local racer Time Coleman got some great boost off this gap.  Where did he come from you ask?  He bumped off the large root behind his rear wheel. Photo ~ Cam McRae

 Bar to bar action on the bmx course?  On Cyclocross bikes?  Riders went off two at a time in an elimination style event.  I missed the cross race but I heard the action was top notch – as were the riders. Photo ~ Dave Silver

 Dave Watson shredded the course after all the racers cleared out. Photo ~ Layne Marett.

  Dave O’Dowd grimacing, in unbearable agony, at the finish after riding the marathon XC on his Specialized SX Trail. Photo ~ Cam McRae

 Aimee Dunn, amazing vollie coordinator extraordinaire, hugs Gwen Preston.  Gwen came in second place in the 19-29 Citizen Women category, her first race ever! Photo ~ Danielle Baker

 Jerry Willows of team nsmb wasn’t happy with this time – but he enjoyed himself and placed well.  Photo ~ Layne Marett

Thanks to everyone who helped make the first annual North Shore Bike Fest a huge success.

If you’d like any more info head over to northshorebikefest.com

You can also check out Jerry Willows’ blog on the event here or have a look at the bb thread here…