Neal Kindree entered Saturday’s (July 7) final stage of the B.C. Bike Race with an almost four-minute cushion over two-time defending champ Chris Sheppard and needed nearly all of it to hang on and win the overall men’s solo Epic title.
Kindree suffered a flat tire as the leaders entered the Lost Lake section halfway through Saturday’s course, but the Squamish resident charged to the finish to place third for the stage and capture the seven-day race by just 15 seconds ahead of Sheppard.
“I’m stoked about it,” Kindree said of his overall victory at the Whistler Olympic Plaza finish line. “That’s what I said last year that I wanted to do – to come back and win it and I’m glad I did. I would have been choked if I had lost today because of a flat tire.
“If I had have lost it because of that, it would have ruined more than my day. I wouldn’t be drinking in celebration; I’d be drinking in sorrow, that’s for sure.”
Kindree’s cumulative finish time for the week was 16 hours, 15 minutes, 52 seconds as he picked up his first B.C. Bike Race title. Sheppard was the only rider with a real chance of catching Kindree on Saturday, but the 39-year-old said he knew that would be tough even after Kindree flatted.
“My game plan was to hammer Lost Lake as hard as I could,” said Sheppard. “But it would have been a tall order to get almost four minutes (back) in just that end section… I knew it would be almost impossible.”
Whistler’s Michael Robinson was eighth on Day 7, finishing in 1:18:28 to place 10th for the week overall. Robinson said he never looked to see where he was in the standings until the race hit Squamish.
“When I got there and saw how stacked the field was, top 10 (seemed) a little bit unrealistic because there were a lot of heavy hitters there,” said Robinson, who broke his hand during the first stage in 2011 and had to drop out. “But I was fairly consistent throughout the week.
“I didn’t really have a bad day and I think Lady Luck was on my side a bit. I had a couple of issues on Day 2 with mechanicals that cost me a few minutes but compared to what some people had, I got away scot free.”
Oregon’s Barry Wicks was third overall for the week at 16:34:44. Wicks led after Day 5 but experienced mechanical issues Friday (July 6) in Squamish to fall out of the running and make Saturday a two-horse race between Kindree and Sheppard.
Kindree said the strategy of letting Wicks lead the early stages seemed to pay off later in the week.
“I spent three days, basically, watching Barry ride, figuring out where he’s strong, where he’s weak and how I could get away from him,” said Kindree, who won the Whistler stage last year but placed third overall. “I think I played some really smart cards in the first half of the week, just being patient.”
Sheppard earned Saturday’s stage win at 1:11:28, while Cory Wallace was second on Saturday, clocking in at 1:14:52. Kindree’s time on the Whistler course, a 26-kilometre loop that also featured trails in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, was 1:15:08.
Wendy Simms won the women’s solo Epic stage in 1:35:27 on Saturday and won the overall title by more than 2 ½ hours over Australia’s Melinda Jackson, while New Zealand’s Hannah Thorne took third. Whistler’s Fanny Paquette was fifth in her hometown stage and placed seventh overall.
Team Jamis, comprised of U.S. riders Thomas Turner and Jason Sager, was the men’s Epic team of two overall winner at 17:06:54 after claiming the Whistler stage in 1:15:57. The two Rocky Mountain Bikes teams finished second and third, as Kevin Calhoun and Keith Stark were the runners-up, followed by Colin Kerr and Greg Day.
Among other local participants, Graeme Fitch finished 50th overall in the solo Epic men’s masters division, placing 28th in the final stage. Ross Chafe placed 72nd overall in the division.
Whistler’s Scotty Aitken and partner Ian Kennedy finished fifth overall in the Epic team of two veterans class for riders with a combined age more than 80.
Visit www.bcbikerace.com for full results and registration for the 2013 event, which is now open.
