08/21/2008

Sharon makes Rob and Stu sing for an extra card.

North Shore Triple Crown Seymour, Fromme, and Cypress in one epic day!

The following event report is a summary from James Wilson, one of the event masterminds, and Lee, one of the riders/event volunteers. As well, we've included comments from many of the other race participants.

What makes people want to put on bike events? Is it the love of the sport? Is it because they have boring weekends to fill? No, I think it is some sort of sickness that drives organizers - a sick desire to watch others suffer.

It was with this spirit that the ripper organization (Sharon Bader, Tammy Schou, Cam Mcrae, and James Wilson) decided to put together the forth and final installment of the North Shore Ripper series for 2005, the Crowning glory: THE TRIPLE CROWN.

The concept of the Triple Crown has been floating around for a few years. It's pretty simple really. Competitors ride all three North Shore mountains in one days ride. No rules on bike type or methods of transport. No route! Just poker card stations/checkpoints that the riders must get to, a start, and a finish. A Poker game on wheels. The prize? Bragging rights for the next year!

Pre-race riders meeting. Let's explain the rules...there are none!

From the breakdown of the rules you can probably imagine why reporting on this sort of an event is pretty difficult. I saw the start of the race and it was cool. There were way more people than we really counted on. I saw the blackjack dealer prove that the house does always win. Oh, I saw the finish and I can say that the first 10 people looked a lot better than the last 10. I could comment on the not-so-surprising first place finsh by JF in about FIVE hours, or the fact that the finishing riders were wearing their clothes backwards (more on that later). But really the riders have there own stories and these must be heard.
- James Wilson

Anthony King:
I must write this in point form because my hand does not work very well right now. The following will explain why…

1. 10' header off slippery rocky shute at the top of CBC
1a. $$ left wrist toast
1b. $$ left elbow bloody

2. Climb to the 9th Switchback on Fromme (12:50pm)where there are two trails available. I choose right, they choose left - I lose so we go left. I'm the only one who crashes and we get lost for two hours.
2a. $$ left elbow bloody
2b. $$ groin meets tree stump
BOTH LOSE!

3. Make it to Cleveland Dam at 4:05pm after being dumped by the group I was riding with. Apparently, having a groin injury, a non-functional left wrist and right ankle is no excuse for being slow as we hike the BP trail all the way to the base of the Grouse Grind! They are about to leave me again but I arrive just in time. I spend 15 minutes convincing them that we are not going to be able to ride from the dam to Cypress and back in the last hour remaining. Yes, my group was not the most logical crew. Punish all of them on the road climb back to Dizzy!

P.S. - There was an excessive amount of foul language used during this story which I have choosen not to use to keep this PG. However when your nuts are bing drivin into your skull by your bike seat, its either swear lots or pass out. All done…

Tammy & Sharon working hard to keep the event running smoothly.

Greg Millar: (singing as fatigue sets in)
Sing to Mercedes Benz
Oh Lord won't you buy me a bike with disc brakes
My friends all ride squishes I just make mistakes!
Its hard to slow down, I can't modulate
Oh Lord won't you buy me a bike with disc brakes!

Sean Gerke: (explains how to check out your route beforehand)
Road all three mountains AND The Lions Gate Bridge! Came back via Sea bus! Wearing a full face helmet

Some guys came all the way from Washington state to punish themselves and to dress really funny. Way to go guys! Do they look tired? Its because they're DESTROYED.

Kyle Ness/Brad Fitch - Washington State: So, my friend and I haven't spent much time up in the North Shore since we're from Washington State. We decided we wanted to see some trails. We found out about this 'race' in Canada… We entered and heading up from Seattle. After starting the ride we knew we needed some directions. We found this 'team' and followed. We had a blast and ended up here happily ever after! The end! Epilogue - Next year we'll come prepared with beer!

Bryon Enns:
Rode fully rigid, canti-lever brakes, green lycra!
On Neds trail I crashed. Not your average crash though I went right off a ladder bridge and thought, "uhoh, I can save this!" Of course, the bike went down instantly BUT I stepped off it and walked beside it. Not a scratch on me. Bike did several flips and also came out fine.

From the department of "excessive riding will cook your brain", Team Awesome:
The totally true account of team Awesomes' triple crown race of wonder! It started off with us forgetting about the whole " have to pay real money for insurance" but they cut us some clack and what not. After that some ninja's dropped down from nowhere to tell us that some pirates had kidnapped the princess for some reason and that we would have to shuttle up to save her. Then we biked for like, a thousand years on Seymour, then we got bored and went to Fromme.

At the Blind Skier parking lot, Christy tells us that you have to reverse your jersey and shorts to get your extra card.
Some guy I can't recognize, Steve and Stu will do anything for a bonus.

On fromme we… uh… rode around and stuff and we met a nice man with a mustache and we laughed a lot. Then we got lost for awhile and I stopped paying attention. Although I may or may not have seen someone riding on a bear. But then they both exploded leaving no evidence so don't' ask me about it. Then we talked on a phone to a nicer person who said they had food for us. Then we got lost again. After that we sang some songs and we were at cypress mountain! Somehow, then, we ate some sandwiches. And I dropped trou and a nice lady game me a playing card! Why do people keep doing that?? Then we bike a tiny bit and some zombies ate food with us in a tiki hut.

Team Shuttlewhore does a group trackstand.

And certainly the group that most captures the spirit of the event and don't let the name spoil your view, these guys rode the whole thing!

Team Shuttlewhoreis Jarrett Beatty, Dave Hughes, Pete Prochotsky, Greg Lo, Trevor Hawkins, Ken Bigalow, Guy Thomas, Ian Mackelin, Paul Kim.
9 Men
100 Beer
3 Mountain!
Ian - 6 Stella's, 60 p.s.i. tires and log rides + Stiches and Smile!

Poker and Draw Results From the Triple Crown: Mad Max Helmet (Four 6's) - Euan Solburger Magura Brakes (Four 7's) - Connar Gillan Other prizes went to: Most Angst: Anthony King Most Lost: Johnny Smoke Highest Elevation: Lee Lau/Brian Berg Most Old School: Bryon Enns (cantilever brakes, full rigid!) Most Sportsmenlike Team: TEAM AWESOME! Most Spirited Team: Team Shuttlewhore! Most Ridiculous Route: Rob Mclachlan Best Singer: Jamie Edwards

Johnny Smoke, winner of the 'Most Lost' award.

Johhny Smoke: (writing about his own 'lostness')
Look at those guys. They are SOOO lost. I'll just blow by 'em. I know where I'm going. Sort of…
Oh yeah, that the old trail there! Hmmmm, Don't remember that house… ohhh guard dogs..
We'll, there's a rope going down that canyon, let's go that way!
Hmmm kinda steep…
OK I'm lost.
Tracks going up… WAY UP.
WAY WAY UP! It worked!
YEAH! Skyline Drive!
I meant to do that.

James gets the appreciation fruity drink.

And in the end another chapter in Ripper history goes down. Loads of smiles, lots of laughs, and apparently some of the funniest events in not-so-organized bike racing. The first to complete all three mountains was JF followed by Stu Boyce, Peter Campbell, Lee Lau and Brian Berg.

A special thanks to all of the volunteers who are so essential to an event like this one. Kudos to the organizing committee for ensuring that the details were covered. Thousands of thanks to all of our sponsors who make the prize list rich and support the NSMBA with their cash donations. Please make an effort to support these businesses, as without their support, we are dust. And last but not least to all the people who over the years have either designed, created, dug, worked on ,or otherwise supported the trail network that we love to ride. We so thank you!

Untill next year, Happy trails!
- James

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Sanctioned by