It was a beautiful, sunny day in Surrey BC for the first race of the Cycling BC Premier XC series and for the return of the Junkyard Dog XC race. A hundred riders came and challenged the twisty, technical course set amongst the urban forest in a trail network that has been skillfully handcrafted by the SORCE Bike Club.
The Elite men’s race had group of 4 strong break away early from the pack and stay together for most of the race. In the end, it came down to a close finish between teammates Greg Day and Kevin Calhoun, Rocky Mountain Factory Team, with Day taking the win. Sullivan Reed, Rock Mountain Bicycles, rounded out the top three.
In the Elite women’s race it was Stacey Smith, Cyclepath Kelowna, who took the lead early and held on to win by a large margin. Kelsey MacDonald, Team GIANT Vancouver, came second while Emilie Thy, Dodge City Racing, was third.
There was a strong turnout of 30 strong for the youth categories which are also part of the Cycling BC Premier XC series. In the male categories, Sean Fincham, Cycling BC, won U19, Hunter Verner, Team Squamish, won U17, Hamish Graham, BPR, took the U15 and Clief Rodgers, Devo/Daryl Evans Racing, was the top U13.
In the youth girls we had Emily Handford, Devo/Different Bikes/Rocky Mountain, win the U19, Erin Attwell, TripleShot Cycling the U17 win and Elizabeth Gin, EV/Devo pb Catalyst Kinetics winning the U15 category.
“It is so great to see such a large turnout of youth for this mountain bike event. Cycling BC is doing a great working with the clubs and getting out in the schools with their iRide program. The future of cycling looks very good here in BC,” commented Barry Lyster, Cycling BC race coordinator.
Master riders are also a very big part of racing here in BC, and the Premier Series is also for those riders. In Master 30+ Men, Carsten Ivany, Team GIANT Vancouver took the win while in the women’s it was Kelly Jones. Brad Issel, Daryl Evans Racing, won the Master 40+ Men’s race while it was Nicole Hlus who won the women’s.
Next race in the Cycling BC Premier XC series will be the Sunshine Coaster on May 2.
Cycling BC would like to thank the SCORCE bike club, Daryl Evans, City of Surrey and all the sponsors and volunteers who put on an amazing event.
Final results for the 2015 Rocky Cycle & Daryl Evans Racing JunkYard Dog.
For more information on the Cycling BC Premier XC Series click here.
