Squamish's Neal Kindree tightened his grip on the Hell of a Series mountain bike race series after winning the Gearjammer on Saturday (July 23).The local legend adds the win to earlier race wins at the Orecrusher and the Nimby 50, along with a third place finish at the Test of Metal."It went surprisingly well for me today," Kindree said. "I basically took off after Alice Lake and didn't look back."His comfort with the race was apparent, as Kindree beat second place finisher Ricky Federau of Chilliwack by approximately four minutes."He's the Squamish wonderchild," Federau joked."He's a chicken farmer and I'm a garbage man," Kindree quipped, referring to both racers ordinary day jobs.Kindree, who also won the race back in 2007, said he's been focusing on training for other races and was a little surprised to post such a strong time at this year's Gearjammer."I didn't really make this the focus of the week," he admitted. "I've been mostly chasing money but this is a fun race. It's just a lot of trails, which I like and it's a course I know well."He added that plans are still up in the air as far as his participation in the Just Another Bike Race (JABR) as he's waiting for a call to possibly represent Canada at the World's in August. The JABR, which is the final race in the Hell of a Series, is scheduled to take place on Aug. 20.On the ladies side, it was Revelstoke's Melanie Bernier posting the top time. She edged out Whistler's Cathy Zeglinski to win the division."I felt pretty good and pretty strong today," she said. "It's such a nice race and I'm more here for the single track, I love it."Bernier said she was battling with Zeglinski in the earlier stages of the race but managed to pass her as the race continued."Cathy had the lead from the start but I overtook her on the Tracks from Hell and pretty much led from there," she said.Bernier also competed in the Test of Metal and the Nimby 50 this year and said it's a great reason to come back to her former home."It's a good excuse to come back to Squamish and hang out with friends," she said.It's the fourth time Bernier has competed in the Gearjammer and the ski mountaineering expert said that mountain biking is a great summer activity to help keep her in shape for the winter.The top local female was Rua Read, who also won the female 40 to 44 age group.Results from the race were not yet released but check the print edition of The Chief for more details.
