The Salmon Arm Salty Dog Enduro mountain bike race is the classic start to the fat tire season. Run on British Columbia terrain, winners traditionally receive a pie for surviving six hours of early season riding.
Of course, this is impossible to resist for Bow Valley riders, who pillaged the pie supply yet again on Saturday (May 14) and landed several riders on the podium.
Biathlon Canada national team member Julia Ransom and Alberta World Cup Academy alumnus Rebecca Reid teamed up to win the women’s team combined age 32-50 category with seven laps of the 10.5 kilometre course, finishing in 5:54:30.
“Rebecca and I stocked up on candy, watermelon, Solo bars and Coke to fuel us through the six hour day. The course was beautiful: Flowing single track followed by a ripping downhill with ramps and options for jumps. Needless to say, I had an amazing time. To top it all off, we won a pie,” Ransom said.
Eva Poidevin and Candace Bourque surprised themselves with a win in the women’s team age 51-79 category, clocking eight laps in 6:12:31.
“It was a surprise win,” Bourque said. “Our only goal was to go out and have fun and we focused on making it through each lap with momentum and consistency. If we didn’t win a pie, plan B was to buy one for ourselves for surviving the six hour race.”
Canmore’s Megan Dunn was the class of the women’s solo under 40 sport category, finishing seven 10.5 km laps in 5:40:38. Dunn trained to compete in the infamous Ride the Divide bike race last year, but had to pull out before the race due to injury. Sonia Ratte of Revelstoke was second and Katrina Rosen third.
Rundle Mountain Cycling Club future stars Christopher Glanzing and Logan Sadesky teamed up for 10 laps in the men’s team combined age 0-35 event to take the win over teammates Matthew Kuzik and Aidan Brown, who finished nine laps.
The Bow Valley also flourished in the mixed team event. Maritimers/Canmorites Stephanie O’Brien and Ian Murray were locked in a gripping battle with neighbours Liza Pye and Jeff Lockyer, with O’Brien and Murray emerging victorious. The duo clocked nine laps in 6:05. Murray actually clocked one of the fastest laps of the day, finishing 10.5 km in 34:44.5.
In the U15 categories, the Bow Valley earned more pie. Tiegan de Leeuw and Finn Manktelow finished 16 three-km laps in 3:08:05 to finish second in the U15 boys division, one lap ahead of Jon Sturgess and Adam Oshanyk.
Sena Odyakmaz and Katya Dittrich teamed up in the U15 Girls race, clocking 13 laps in 3:05:28 to win silver.
Mountain bike race season returns to the Bow Valley on June 4, with the Mountain Maiden Mountain Bike Race at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
