Several Squamish racers rode to the top of the pack during the fourth annual BC Bike Race, which started in North Vancouver on Saturday (June 26). With official results tallied, five Squamish epic course riders including two women and three men finished in the top 10, while one racer landed on the podium.
Brackendale's Brandi Heisterman finished in second place along with her Whistler team mate, Cathy Zeglinski, in the women's epic category with a cumulative time of 25:13:34. Heisterman jockeyed between first and second place each of the seven days of the race, finishing in first on day one, day two and on day seven. Fellow Canadians Alana Heise and Kate Aardal finished in first place with a cumulative time of 25:05:17.
Local men's elite epic course racers Dwayne Kress and Kelly Servinski gave a consistent performance finishing the weeklong race in fourth six of the seven days. The Squamish duo crossed the finish line in less than three hours for all but two legs of the race, a feat only four of the 38 two-man teams managed to do. Servinski and Kress finished the BC Bike Race with a cumulative time of 20:18:34, less than two hours apart from the first place finishers, Sechelt's Kris Sneddon and American counterpart Stefan Widmer.
Nabbing everything from a first place finish to a 10th place finish, local rider Colin Kerr was all over the scoreboard while he competed as a solo rider in the men's epic category. Kerr bounced between second and fourth place for the first four stages of the mountain biking race beating fellow Canadian Cory Wallace for the title of the fastest Canadian man in the category three of the first four days.
Despite a dismal performance on the fifth day where Kerr finished in 10th place with a time of 2:56:19, the Squamish racer pushed himself to the limits and finished first on his home turf with a time of 2:28:55, three minutes faster than his nearest competitor on day six. Kerr crossed the finish line with a cumulative time of 19:04:12, landing him in fourth place overall amongst the solo men riders. American Chris Sheppard finished first with a time of 18:17:32.
Local women's solo epic rider Carena Dean bounced between fifth and eighth place finishes throughout the seven-day race. Dean battled it out on the course for a podium finish along side five fellow Canadians, including three time Xterra world champion Melanie McQuaid.
Dean finished fifth on day one and three and sat comfortably in seventh place in stage four, five and six of the race. Dean finished the race with a cumulative time of 26:07:34 earning her sixth place. McQuaid secured first overall with a time of 22:22:18.
The BC Bike Race wrapped up in Whistler on Saturday (July 3).
