August 19, 2022, Burnaby, BC—Cycling BC and the Kootenay Adaptive Sport Association (KASA) have made the difficult decision to remove the Adaptive Mountain Bike (aMTB) category from the BC Cup downhill race at Big White from September 2nd to 4th, 2022.
Rider, spectator, and volunteer safety are of utmost concern. After an incident involving a crash in the adaptive category at a BC Cup race in July, Cycling BC and KASA conducted a risk assessment of the aMTB category and found that due to the motorized features of the adaptive mountain bikes used for racing, the existing Cycling BC and KASA procedures do not currently mitigate the risks involved.
“The Adaptive Mountain Bike community support for the series has been tremendous and we’re disappointed the series has to come to an end so quickly,” says Erin Waugh, CEO of Cycling BC. “This (aMTB) is a new space for many of us and we will continue to work with KASA and our event partners to see what viable options and solutions there are to make this work in the long-term.”
The downhill race at Big White would have been the fourth and final BC Cup race in 2022 that had an aMTB category. Therefore, the 2022 BC Cup rankings and awards for the aMTB category will only include the three prior races at SilverStar, Fernie, and Panorama. A separate announcement of all the 2022 BC Cup winners will be released after the final BC Cup race at Coast Gravity Park, scheduled from September 16-18, 2022.
For more information about Adaptive Mountain Biking in BC, please visit the Kootenay Adaptive Sports Association website at https://kootenayadaptive.com/
For more information about the BC Cup Downhill series, please visit Cycling BC at
https://cyclingbc.net
/about/disciplines/mountain/2022-bc-cup-downhill-series/
Contact info@cyclingbc.net or call 604-737-3034 for any questions or more information.