CANMORE – Logan Sadesky is hungry for more medals.
The 21-year-old Canmore mountain biker recently racked up three podium finishes at the Ziggy Gnarly Mountain Bike races, which served as the Alberta provincial championships, held at the Canmore Nordic Centre on Aug. 28-29.
“It was fun to race at home in Canmore in front of a bunch of people I know,” said Sadesky, who now splits his time between Victoria, British Columbia and Canmore.
Race director Shane Munro said the Rundle Mountain Cycling Club (RMCC) was thrilled to be able to host the event.
"There had been a whole bunch of races cancelled throughout the year – we were definitely watching COVID numbers because we wanted things to be as safe as possible. It was great to see all the racers turn out," said Munro.
"Our team pulled together really well to put on the event. Evereyone that was there was happy to be racing – it's been nearly two years that they haven't been racing – there were a lot of big smiles out there."
In the morning on the first day of racing, Sadesky jumped out to an early lead in the cross country mountain bike race, his preferred discipline, and never relinquished the top spot.
“My starts have been a strong point for me recently, so I wanted to get out quick and then sustain a good tempo and see where that took me.”
The RMCC member finished the gruelling course with a time of 1:29:00.2, a little more than a minute-and-a-half faster than his nearest competitor Carter Nieuwesteeg, from Fernie, B.C. Rounding out the podium in third position was Canmore’s Eric Ouellette.
With a little more than an hour to rest and recover, Sadesky was back in the saddle and on the familiar trails competing in the second race of the day: the enduro. In an enduro race, the downhill sections are timed, and the uphill sections are mandatory but not timed.
“I just tried to survive out there in the afternoon,” said Sadesky, while laughing. “I was pretty tired. I just tried to take it easy on the climbs and really push on the descents and have some fun.”
Sadesky finished 20 seconds ahead of Ouellette with a time of 19:59.9.
On the following day, Sadesky competed in the gruelling six-hour marathon race. The young mountain biker fell short of a first-place hat trick, but still managed to peddle his way to a second place finish.
“I’m definitely not used to that distance. It was super hard and I was chasing Cory Wallace the whole time – he’s a bit too quick for me.”
Despite the second place finish in Sunday’s race, Sadesky’s two first place finishes the day before helped propel him to the top of the overall standings and take home the event's top prize, the Mountain Goat.
"He's come up through all of the club's programs and now he's racing in the Canada Cup. He was stoked to be racing here at home in the club colours. His results go to show the quality of the programs the club can offer," said Munro about Saesky's results over the weekend.
Sadesky said he was pleased with his results, but was equally impressed by the turnout from his fellow competitors. Munro said there were about 230 racers who competed over the weekend.
With his impressive display at the provincial level, Sadesky is now focused on the 2021 Canadian Cross Country Mountain Bike Championships, which will be held Sept. 24 to 26 in Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec, and the remaining dates on the Canada Cup circuit, including a stop in Canmore in October.
“I find with some of the national level events, I’m not quite fighting for those podium positions. I’m now starting to fight my way up into the top 10. At these smaller local and provincial events, being able to fight at the front of the pack is great – it gives you an extra boost of confidence. If I find myself in those top positions at the bigger races, then I can use what I learned here to keep my position," Sadesky said.
“Mountain biking is something I really love right now, especially the racing aspect. As long as I keep enjoying it, I will keep on going.”
