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2023 ISLAND CUP SERIES

XC | ENDURO

 

Cross Country (XC) is a classic style of racing where the event starts and ends usually at the same point. XC courses and trails consist of a mix of singletrack trails, and smooth fire roads. On Vancouver Island, that includes lung-burning technical climbs and exciting swerving descents.
Enduro is a style of racing where the overall race time is the sum of multiple timed stages.  It offers a bit more casual approach to racing as the uphill sections are not timed, only the downhill.  Don’t let that fool you though, there’s plenty of fitness an pedaling required to excel at this discipline. On Vancouver Island, course designers do their best to show off the most fun descents that the riding areas offer.

Follow the Trail Bicycles Racing Team through the 2023 season!

(Most) Photos by Patrick Burnham | @palleus

 

Mt Tzouhalem Enduro Finals (September 24th, 2023 - Duncan)

I had a lot of fun at the Island Cup finals at Mt Tzouhalem. The weather was great, and the trails were just damp enough to have lots of traction. The trails at Tzouhalem were smooth and were enjoyable to ride on. The climbing was also not too long or hard. I was in the U19 Category, and I did 4 stages.

My first stage was Double D, a flow trail consisting of many berms and jumps. The stage was fun overall and was pretty long too. I had a good pace throughout the stage but because I pre-rode 2 weeks prior, I wasn’t able to dial in some of the berms. I was able to get 21st on Double D.

My second stage was Bisection, a short technical stage with few berms. The stage was pretty short. I had a hard time on the top section because it started farther up than what I pre-rode, so I was racing blind for half the stage. I knew I wasn’t going to get a great result on this stage. My result was 28th.

My third stage was Finality into Twist and Shout. The stage wasn’t the best, but it was still a good stage with a fast fun section near the end. There were some tight trees at the top of the stage, but I was able to make up my time on some sprint sections throughout the stage. It was my best stage so far. I managed to get 13th.

The last stage was a very long stage consisting of YBAR to Fluid to Bumblebee. It was the last stage of the season. Since Bumblebee was added to the stage a few days before the race I didn’t pre-ride the stage, so I didn’t have high hopes for the stage. There were a few tight trees on YBAR and sprint section on Fluid which weren’t bad but there was also a very long sprint section between Fluid and Bumblebee. I gave it everything I had, and I was exhausted after the sprint. Bumblebee was very smooth and fast. I was able to get 5th on the stage.

My overall result in the race was tenth and I was 9th overall in the series. Congratulations to Kip for getting 10th in the expert category. Thanks to all the volunteers and coaches and I am looking forward to next year’s island cup series.

- Elyas Smith

Forbidden Enduro (September 17th, 2023 - Forbidden Plateau)

It was cloudy and cool the day of the Forbidden enduro, which was nice after the hot and smokey pre-rides leading up to race day. The trails were still pretty loose, which was difficult for me because I’m used to riding in Cumberland where the conditions are different.  We started off the race by taking a long road until we started the ascent, and we had to climb up a long, steep logging road 3 times, which got harder each time. The aid stations kept us going with all the amazing baked goods and snacks.

We did 5 stages overall. My favourite stage was stage 4, Cabin Fever/Slither, because I felt the smoothest, and had a clean run. Stage 3, Dustwitch, was the most challenging because of how loose and steep the ending was. After the race we went back to the start and had a BBQ and played a game to win a set of We Are One rims. Congrats to all the other trail team riders out there, and thanks to Trail Bicycles and all our sponsors.

- Annabelle Whitehead

Dodge City Enduro (September 3rd, 2023 - Cumberland)

The Cumberland Enduro once again delivered an excellent day! It was dry conditions on a gorgeous lineup of trails for six stages of fun.

I had a pretty clean race and really enjoyed the whole day! My favourite stage was easily Stage 6: Numbskulls - Gravity - DCDH because of how absolutely hectic and loose it was.

Thanks to all the volunteers and race organizers and great job to all the Trail Bicycles Racers:

Nico Schum 3rd U15 Men | Elyas Smith 6th U19 Men | Max Sauter 14th U19 Men | Kip Manktelow 2nd Junior Expert Men | Gray Tunnah 5th Junior Expert Men | Sam Schum 13th Junior Expert Men | Talia Macphail-Mcgrady 1st Junior Expert Women

Thanks as well to all the lovely team sponsors:

@trailbicycles, @nikkeiramenya, Wedler Engineering, Rob Nygren realtor, @eatmoresprouts, @hornbyorganic, and @freshtracksphysio

- Kip Manktelow

Twelve Hours of Cumberland (June 24th, 2023 - Cumberland)

The day started chilly, but it didn't stay that way for long. By the time I did my first lap it was hot.

This was my second time doing the twelve hours of Cumberland and I had the same team as last year Alex (me), Cameron, Ben and Max. We improved a ton and got second place in the team of four u19 boys with 18 laps. The course was longer than last year but not as hot which was a lot more fun.  

Good job to Loki and Elyas for doing it solo with Loki getting 2nd in solo u19 boys with 15 laps and Elyas 3rd with 13 laps. In the male team of 4 the Trail Bicycles Dirtbag Dads (Scott, Brett, Phil and Tom) got first with 22 laps, The Super Sloths with Owen and Eli and their dads Jim and Aaron got 10th with 16 laps. The Trail Bicycles Junior Crushers, Sam, Nico, and Darragh (they did the team of 4 with only 3, good job guys!) got 4th in u19 boys with 17 laps. Ride Like a Girl with Talia, Annabelle and some friends got 1st in the team of 4 u19 girls and 1st in the female overall with sixteen laps. Kip did a team of 2 with a buddy and got 1st with 18 laps. 

We had a great time with hot dogs, burgers and lots of fun.  hanks for the pit support crew parents, I especially appreciated the burgers! 

Thanks to all the coaches for a great last couple months now to enjoy the summer until cyclocross season in the fall.  

- Alex Racher

Gnarnaimo Enduro (June 18th, 2023 - Mount Benson, Nanaimo)

This was my first enduro race ever and it was in Gnarnaimo! 

It was Father's Day and my Dad and I left home at 9:00 to get there by 10:30. As soon as we arrived, it started raining which I didn’t expect. I didn’t bring a rain jacket, so I was in a t-shirt, because the weather forecast said it wasn’t supposed to rain until the end of the day. The rain was off and on, but by the time I went to the racers' meeting it was still raining and everyone was huddled under the tents with their bikes out in the rain. 

After the racers’ meeting it was still raining but we had to start. We grabbed our bikes and started to ride up. I was going at a decent pace because I was trying to stay warm, but just a bit into the race it stopped raining, so I slowed down. The climb was steep in some spots, but the road was chill. On the first lap I just rode past the food station and had some of my own snacks. At the top of the stage, Nico, Eli and Ben got there just after me. I got ready to go and then went when I got the ok. I went too fast right from the start, and because I wasn’t warmed up for the downhill, I wasn’t ready for it. I crashed on a wet root right near the start. Luckily I didn’t land on the root, instead I landed in the dirt which was really soft so I was fine. I got up as quickly as I could and continued. By then I was pretty much warmed up and going fast. I was bombing down the trail and I crashed again! I don’t know why, but I went into some ferns and there wasn’t anything hard underneath. Because there wasn’t any sudden pain I got up and kept going as fast as I could. On the second part of the first stage trail there were a lot of jumps which were really fun, and I sent it over all of them. When I made it to the second road crossing, I almost crashed because you have to turn pretty sharp at the speed you’re going and there’s no berm. There were lots of people cheering there and I feel like it made me go harder. On the corner I almost slipped out but managed to recover. I heard everyone say “oooohhhhh.” Once I made it to the bottom, I caught my breath, had some water, made sure I was ok - and my bike was ok - and then I waited for Nico, Eli and Ben because I knew they weren’t far behind. When they finished and got sorted out we started the climb together.

Once we got to the top of the climbing trail, my head was sweating because I wore my full-face helmet on the way up and it wasn’t raining anymore. I took it off to cool off before the next stage. Once we got to the next stage, we stopped at the food station to have some pickle juice shots (never had those before!), a pickle and some snacks. After that I put my goggles on and headed into the line.  

Once it was my turn the guy at the start let me know that none of the rain got on the first corner, so it was dry and loose. I went out of the start fast and sure enough he was right. I continued feeling good and fast, but I noticed this trail was bumpy and rough. Then I hit rim twice and realized I forgot to unlock my shocks! On the next berm I pulled over on the inside of the next berm to unlock them as fast as I could. There was no way I was going to keep my shocks locked since I already hit rim twice. I felt really comfortable and fast on that stage except for how my shocks were locked.

I waited for Nico, Ben and Eli again. Once Nico came down Eli came down shortly after. Another rider told Eli he got a flat and his rim had a pretty big dent in it. My dad was on the course taking pictures and once Ben came down, he walked down the side to meet us at the bottom. He and Ben helped Eli with his flat and Nico and I left to go to the next stage. 

The next stage was close by just a short, steep climb in between the two. We got up there and the line was just kids. The stage started in a clear cut, so you could see all the other riders go down. Nico went first and I cheered him on. When I went the trail wasn’t that bad but wasn’t that good either. There was a gap that was about 5 feet that I didn’t know was there but once I saw it up ahead, I hit it and it didn’t seem as big as it looked. Once you get into the trees it feels like a completely different trail. There are almost no berms on the corners and it’s hard to see around the corners because of the bushes and trees. On one of the corners, I crashed, and it might have been the worst one because there was a downhill right into an uphill and once I got up I had no momentum going into the uphill which really slowed me down. 

Once I finished the stage, I made sure I was ok, and I realized the whole front of my jersey had dirt and a couple grass stains on it. I was worried some if it wouldn’t come out in the wash but surprisingly it all did. I got 28th in the U19 male category. 

Congratulations to all the other Trail Bicycles Team riders! Annabelle got 2nd in Jr expert U19 female, Loki 11th and Sam 17th in Jr expert U19 male, Elyas 23rd, Nico 36th Darragh 37th, Ben Pecther 40th, and Eli Pechter 41st in U19 male. 

Thank you very much to our sponsors: Trail Bicycles, Rob Nygren (Royal LePage), Fresh Tracks Physio, Hornby Organic, Eatmore Sprouts, Wedler Engineering and Nikkei Ramen Ya. Thanks also to all the volunteers on the day of the race.

It was a super fun day riding with some great friends from my team and I can’t wait to do the Cumberland Enduro race!

- Max Sauter

Island Cup XC Finals (June 11th, 2023 - Campbell River)

We arrived at the Snowden parking lot - and there were vehicles and bikes parked all alongside the road. 

After a quick warm up we lined up for the start. There was no waiting around and after finding my gear the countdown had already started. I had an amazing start, finding myself just behind Loki and the rest of the leading group. Nearing the first climb I began to feel my legs but was pushed to the top by Scott and a group of other guys. I managed to stick with them until the end of the first lap but was passed on the straightaway. 

My second lap felt like I had nothing left. I was passed by my dad and Gavin Chatterton. Coming around the Start/Finish for my last lap I felt exhausted but found an extra burst of energy and managed to not be passed by anyone else. 

In the end I finished in a satisfying 18th place. Congrats to Max Sauter for 3rd, Owen for 4th, and Elli for 7th in the beginner men category. Talia came in 1st in Intermediate Women. Elyas 2nd, Cameron 3rd, Ben 11th, Nico 16th, Alex 19th, and Max Bathurst 23rd in Intermediate men. In Expert men Kip got 5th and Loki 6th. 

Super fun race and I can’t believe the series is over already.

- Sam Schum

Coal Town Throwdown Women's Enduro (June 3rd, 2023 - Cumberland)

The Coal Town Throwdown is an all women race organized by UROC. It was my first enduro of the season so I was not sure how well I was going to race. The conditions were perfect, sunny but not too hot. It had even rained a bit the night before so the course was not dusty. 

I rode up with Annabelle and some girls from the Devo team from Vancouver. We were in the Expert division so it was a long day with 6 runs in total, but we didn’t mind as the trails were mostly fun and flowy.  In order, we did Blueprint, Blockhead, New Vanilla and Funky Vanilla, Truffle Shuffle and Off Broadway, then back up to do all of Vanilla, and finally Scat and Brat. 

I had a rocky start, crashing on Blueprint, but fortunately avoided damaging my bike and myself. After that I kept it pretty steady and was able to place 7th even though my bike was pretty creaky by the end. Annabelle rocked it, coming in 5th!

There was a huge dinner banquet and an awesome afterparty which was so much fun. I look forward to doing it again next year! Thank you to all the volunteers who helped put on this awesome event!

- Talia MacPhail-McGrady

BC School Sports High School Mountain Biking Provincial Championships (May 27th, 2023 - hosted by Stanley Humphries Secondary School, RED Mountain, Rossland)

The BC High School Mountain Provincials at Red Mountain were hosted by Stanley Humphries Secondary School. It was a unique event because we did both XC and Enduro on the same day. It was also bizarre seeing all my Trail teammates in their respective high school jerseys.

The race organizers switched the race schedule the night before the XC which threw off our original warm up plan. We had to make some last-minute changes, and came to the line feeling prepared. The XC started with a steep fire road climb which was made harder by the heat of the day. The climbing continued up some single track, levelling out for a bit before descending. The XC trails on Red Mountain started rooty/bumpy but ended flowy/jumpy. I struggled a bit in the XC climb as I had been off my bike for two weeks due to a crash followed by a school trip. I rallied in the single track and was able to make some passes, ending up in 29th place. I was a bit disappointed in my result. 

We had a lunch break before heading back up for the Enduro in the afternoon. The weather had changed—it got breezy, dark clouds were in the sky, and you could tell rain was coming. We pedaled up as a group to the start of the first Enduro stage. Unfortunately, with over 450 riders the start was chaotic and delayed. The first stage was techie, tight, and I had to stay focused just to stay on course. Lots of riders had small crashes but I was able to ride clean. 

There was a one-hour delay not long after the start of the second stage due to a big crash requiring medical attention. This delay allowed a thunderstorm to roll in and we all got really cold waiting at the top. Luckily there was not too much rain, so the trails stayed dry. 

The second stage was faster and flowier with bigger jumps. I was clean again and felt good about my ride after struggling in the morning. Unfortunately, the medical delay meant that the Gr 10s, 11s and 12s didn’t get to do the 3rd Enduro stage.   

Thanks to Stanley Humphries for hosting, to all the volunteers who made the event possible, and to all the parents who took time to drive us to Rossland. Great job to everyone who raced at Provincials. 

- Ben Pechter

Here are the results as published, but there have been a few errors in the timing, so I apologize in case results are wrong:

XC Gr 8 Boys: Cameron 3rd, Alex 12th, Ben 29th || XC Gr 9 Boys: Elyas 2nd, Gray 3rd || XC Gr 9 Girls: Annabelle 4th || XC Gr 10 Boys: Sam 8th || XC Senior Boys: Kip 2nd, Loki 5th || Enduro Gr 8 Boys: Cameron 9th, Ben 29th, Alex 48th || Enduro Gr 9 Boys: Gray 11th, Elyas 50th || Enduro Gr 9 Girls: Annabelle 1st || Enduro Gr 10 Boys: Sam 15th || Enduro Senior Boys: Kip 19th, Loki 24th 

Cumberland XC (May 14th, 2023)

I had a shocking start to my Cumberland XC race day! 

The sign in for the race was at 10:30am so we had lots of time before we had to leave home. Sam, my dad and I arrived in Cumberland and signed up and waited in the shade until 11am then we started our warmup in the heat. We rode to the start line at 11:25am and it was already so hot - it felt like 30 degrees. The racers were called up and the race was on! 

Less than 20 seconds into my race my crank fell off! I had to run back down to the finish line where some nice people helped me fix it. They were super-fast, but I was still behind all the beginners. I went so hard to try and catch back up to my category. My first lap was quite fast because I didn’t feel the heat yet, but when I got to my second lap it was really hot. I felt like walking could be faster than the speed I was going, but I kept on riding. Thankfully when I got to Sapsucker, I knew I was done with all the uphill heat. 

It was so fun going down Bonestorm on the last lap, because it was downhill shade. I crossed the finish line and I was so happy it was over, but also excited for the next XC race. 

Amazing job to Darragh who came in 10th, Owen 7th, Max.S. 4th, and Elliot 2nd in beginner men. Intermediate women/men Annabelle was 15th, Elyas 2nd, Gray 7th, Cameron 8th, Nico 28th, Alex 37th, and Ben dnf'd because of an injury. In expert men Loki was 10th and Sam was 22nd. Good job to all!

- Nico Schum

Murderhorn Maiden - Nanaimo Women's Enduro (May 13th, 2023)

It was very hot on the day of the Nanaimo Women's Enduro, and me and my cousin decided to do our first race in the expert category. We had bejewelled our helmets the night before for the event. 

We rode up to our first stage, which was Sexy Flanders and Max Power. It was running really nice, and I felt pretty good on it. We peddled up to the second stage after stopping at the aid station for some popsicles, (Gate Keeper), which had a lot more pedalling. We were starting to get really hot as we rode up to the 3rd stage which was called Kid Gorgeous. It had a few fun features like a steep rock roll and a drop, and it was very loose and steep. We headed up the final climb to the last stage, and we were starting to get super tired. 

I dropped in feeling pretty good, but when i picked up speed, I flew over an unexpected gap, and went over the bars, hitting my knees hard. I quickly got back on my bike and was able to finish the rest of the stage clean. I was happy to finish second, and improve my times from last year.

This was such an amazing event, and I had so much fun racing with so many awesome people. Thanks to Trail Bicycles and all our sponsors.

- Annabelle Whitehead

Hammerfest Enduro (May 7th, 2023)

It was very hot out, but it had rained the day before, so the trails at Hammerfest were very nice. 

Right before the start of the racers' meeting, the organizers announced the order of the stages. The organizers told the racers to do the stages in this specific order: stage 5, 1, 3. Doing stage 5 first was hard because stage 5 puts you at the bottom, so you have to climb all the way to the top again. I was expecting they would have told us to do 1, 3, 5 - then it would have been much easier. 

At the start of stage 5  I made a mistake. You were supposed to make a really sharp turn and they hadn't flagged off the option to go straight so a lot of people like me just went straight and got lost. So they had to do a re-run for everyone when they were done stage 3. After I made that mistake, I climbed up to stage 1 which was called Tomcat Ridge. It was rocky, and I remember in the pre-ride that it wasn’t that fun but going fast in the race it was pretty fun. 

Then there was stage 3 which was Swashbuckler and Temple Dog, which were both really fun smooth trails. In fact that was probably my favourite stage. After that I did stage 5 (again), and I was happy to see that they had flagged the place everyone just blew past earlier. Now that stage was also fun, but I still think stage 3 was my favourite. After that I had my burger. 

Thanks to all the organizers and volunteers for a fun race and congrats to everyone who did that race.

- Darragh Whitehead

Squamish Enduro (May 7th, 2023)


What a day! Pre-riding the day before, this course really scared me with its steep, technical, greasy and fast stages. When pre-riding, I just couldn’t help but think that these trails were not meant to be raced, they felt too steep, too scary and too demanding. But I was proven wrong. The massive 60km 1900m climbing day turned out to be amazing. 

I enjoyed the terrifying greasiness of the first stage, though I missed every one of my lines. I loved the slabs and amazing crowds on stage two! Racing blind on stage three was fun, and it was clear how much time and effort had been put into remaking that stage. The much-needed feed stations were well stocked. Stage four was so sick with all the steep sketchy rocks and once again amazing crowd energy. 

On the climb up to our final stage of the day, I realized myself and the whole U21 Open category had already missed our cut-off time. Luckily the volunteers didn’t care, and I had the time of my life on stage 5. By the bottom the arm, calf and hand pump were almost too much to bear, but I held on for dear life and survived the day with no crashes!

- Kip Manktelow


Thanks to all the volunteers who made this amazing race possible, and to the crazy race organizers who decided this course was reasonable to race on.  


Thanks as well to our sponsors: @trailbicycles, @nikkeiramenya, Wedler Engineering, Rob Nygren realtor, @eatmoresprouts, @hornbyorganic, and @freshtracksphysio

Powell River XC (April 30th, 2023)

The Powell River XC Race is the 4th cross country race I have done this season and the second time I have raced cross country at Duck Lake, Powell River. The race started earlier than the other races and I had to wake up at 4:30. I couldn’t pre-ride on Saturday, so I did most of the loop before the race. The course was not particularly challenging other than some narrow pedestrian bridges. The climb felt a lot shorter than last year's race. The course was fun and challenging with grippy dirt and slick roots.

Everyone got lined up on the road at around 9:50. I was racing intermediate, and I had to do 2 laps. Experts did 3 and beginners did 1. I was competing with 27 other people in the intermediate men’s category. The race started at 10:00 and I was able to get ahead of everyone on the climb. I did very well on the first lap, and I was gaining time on the climbs. Though I did use a lot of my energy. On the second lap I was able to maintain first place on the uphill. Though tragedy struck on the climb right before the top. I noticed my shifter was coming loose. I tried to keep it from falling off, but it didn’t help that a chunky downhill trail was coming right up. When I was biking through the fast flat section of lap 2, around halfway through the course, the bolt came undone, and the shifter fell right off. I then had to hold the shifter in my right hand and hold the handlebar in the left. This was very tricky to do. I ended up clipping my handlebar on one of the narrow metal bridges. On the positive side though I had created a big enough gap on the climb to the other racers that only one racer passed me around the end of the course. I unfortunately was not able to keep up because of my shifter. I managed to place second and other than the shifter, the race was very fun and challenging.

Great job to everyone who raced at Powell River. Excellent job of Owen and Eli who were 5th and 6th in beginner male. In intermediate men Max Bathurst was 11th, Alex 13th, and Ben 16th. Well done Loki and Sam who were 5th and 11th in Expert men. Also, great job to Tom Skinner for getting 3rd in Expert men and to all the coaches and parents who raced. I am stoked and looking forward to more races in the future.

- Elyas Smith

Sooke Harbourview Enduro (April 23rd, 2023)

This was my first enduro race for this season and my first-time racing in Sooke. After pre-riding the course during spring break, I knew I would have a tough time not crashing on the descents. I joined the race in the Jr Expert category and competed against 20 other racers.

The first stage on the enduro was Zig Zag (Rocky Mountain Ridge) and all sorts of dreadful things occurred. I was using my dad's bike for the race (I broke my own bike), so I was not used to the different ride quality. The first stage was the most memorable stage because I almost crashed over a drop (it would have hurt). I also lost the front tire traction at least five times, lost the chain and punctured my rear tire near the end of the stage. Luckily, the tannus armor tire insert prevented rim damage, and I repaired the puncture with my tire plug kit.

The second stage was fun and there was not a lot of near-death experiences. I took it easy due to the first stage being a train wreck. I placed slightly better than the first stage and the tire was still holding up.

The third stage was the most difficult stage of the race, and my objective was just to survive the stage. I struggled to keep the stage smooth, and I found myself flying toward a tree. Somehow, I clipped out of both pedals and got my feet on the ground before crashing. On the steep sections, I did better than my pre-ride, but the near crash lost me a few places.  

During the fourth stage I felt quite comfortable, but I got confused where the finish was. The fifth stage, although it did not feel perfect, I managed to podium the stage. My final placement was 7th, which was much better than what I had initially expected. I learned that the competition for enduro is very tough, and my dad’s bike is incredibly fun.

Excellent job to my teammates that also raced: Gray and Elyas placed 3rd and 22nd in U19 men, Annabelle placed 2nd in U19 women, and Kip 23rd in Expert men. It is great to be racing for Trail Bicycles again so I can enjoy the trails with fellow teammates. 

Great thanks to the team sponsors: @trailbicycles, @nikkeiramenya, Wedler Engineering, Rob Nygren Realtor, @eatmoresprouts, @hornbyorganic, and @freshtracksphysio.

- Loki Motai

Cobble Hill XC (April 13th, 2023)

On Sunday, April 13th I participated in my second Island Cup XC of the season. This was my second time racing the Cobble Hill XC and by far my best race of the season so far.

I arrived at the trail network at around 10:00 which gave us an hour to register and pre-ride a short section of the course. At 11:00 we were all lined up on the double track road and ready for a tough race.I was racing intermediate and doing 2 laps. My goal for the race was to take my time and pace myself wisely for the first lap, which I did and it worked out well for me. I still had energy in the tank going into the second lap. Overall, I had a super good time racing and managed to place 10th.

Congrats to everyone else that raced and huge thanks to Brett and Sinead for the ride and to all the volunteers and coaches!

- Gray Tunnah

Hammerfest XC (March 26th, 2023)


My dad and I woke up early and headed down to Errington for the Hammerfest XC. This is my second time participating in this race and is one of my favorites because everyone involved is super nice and helpful and the course is a fun yet challenging loop.  

After getting my gear together I went and pre-rode the course with other Trail team members. The course was well marked and kudos to all the folks who spent so much time prepping and fine-tuning the trails, they had nice conditions. The weather was a little chilly, but it was nice once you got into the race and the rain held off.  

I decided to step-up and ride the U19 expert category which was five laps of the course, the intermediates did 2 laps and the beginners completed one lap. The start was staggered, with the beginners and intermediates leaving after us. There were lots of people there cheering and supporting the race, which was nice.  

I especially want to give a big thank-you to the volunteer timekeeper and course sweeper who stuck around for me to finish even though I was one lap behind everyone else.  

After the race I joined all the participants, supporters and volunteers for a BBQ, prizes, and awards. Overall, it was a good day to be out with the Trail team and even though I had a tough result, I had fun and learned a lot. 

- Maximillian Bathurst

Victoria XC (March 19th, 2023)




This was my third time racing in the Hartland trail network, and by far my favourite experience. 

The trails there are very physical, and were pretty hard to enjoy in past years when I was on a smaller bike, as a smaller person. This year I was finally able to power up the tricky rock climbs and find some flow on the high-speed descents. I was in Expert, where we did three laps of a 5.4-km loop that had one large climb to start the lap, then a bunch of rolling, punchy descents and climbs to bring you back around and close up the loop.

Since it was the first race of the season, I had low expectations about my speed and endurance, and my goal was to stay steady throughout the three laps. The VOC (Very Official Cowbell) started the race, and at that moment, in all the confusion of the first lap, I was surprised to find that my thoughts stayed focused and I didn’t ruin my race by going out too hard. I got into a good groove going up the first climb, and once we got to the descent I started passing people left and right. 

I was really surprised at my ability to hold back when I was feeling strong at the start of the race, and save it for later. This meant that by the time the fatigue of the second and third lap set in, I still had some juice in my legs to clean the techy climbs. Nearing the end of the last lap I punched a climb a bit too hard to stay ahead of someone and I started to see stars, so I backed off a bit and made it back to the finish line.

Overall a super-fun day racing!

Great job Trail Bikes Team on some good first results of the year:
Eliot Pechter - 5th Beginner Men | Hudson Van Tongeren - 7th Beginner Men | Owen Racher - 9th Beginner Men
Elyas Smith 9th - Intermediate Men | Cameron Meldrum - 15th Intermediate Men | Ben Pechter- 23rd Intermediate Men
Gray Tunnah - 24th Intermediate Men | Alex Racher - 43rd Intermediate Men | Kip Manktelow - 18th Expert Men | Loki Motai - 21st Expert Men

Congrats as well to coaches and/or parents Tom, Scott, Brett, Chad, Aaron, David and Jim!

Massive thanks to our sponsors:
@trailbicycles, @nikkeiramenya, Wedler Engineering, Rob Nygren realtor, @eatmoresprouts, @hornbyorganic, and @freshtracksphysio

- Kip Manktelow

Stay tuned for more race reports!

Race Schedule and more: Island Cup Race Series - XC