 |
|||||||||||
|
"The Two Wheeled Approach to Self Esteem"
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
2005 Canadian National Mountain Bike Championships
The B.C. Experience
(As told by Jill Short, The unofficial "mom" of Team B.C.)
I am so proud to have been part of the group of people who travelled to Mont. Ste. Anne, Quebec to support our B.C. riders that took part in Canada’s National Cross Country Mountain Bike Race on June 11th and 12th, 2005. Cycling B.C.’s Technical Director, Gary Jackson put together a team of B.C.’s top young riders and made their dream of competing with the best riders in Canada come true.
 |
Representing TEAM BC from the Sunshine Coast were Katherine Short riding in the Junior Expert Women under 19 category and Sean Stanhope riding in the Sport/Cadet Men under 17 category. From Victoria were riders Jeff Clarkson and Matthew Savage. From West Vancouver riding in both the cross country and downhill disciplines was rider Mikaela Gatto and also from West Vancouver riders Graham and Trevor Bant. Completing TEAM BC from Squamish was rider Neal Kindree. |
|
The astonishing thing was that the Sunshine Coast actually boasted five top riders in the event. Riding pro were Kris Sneddon, Matt Cottrell and Matt Green. Despite temperatures in the high 30’s and extremely high humidity, all of the riders proudly rode their best with the best riders in the country. |
 |
Olympic, World and Canadian champions from B.C., Lesley Tomlinson, Andreas Hestler, Alison Sydor, Roland Green, Kiara Bisaro, Patricia Sinclair and Wendy Simms encouraged our riders and cheered them on individually during the race. Katherine Short exclaimed, “Every time I was on a climb or on a technical descent I’d hear Lesley Tomlinson encouraging me to ride hard or tell me what my gap time was. I couldn’t figure out how she could be all over the mountain cheering me on. She’s amazing!” High praise and huge thank yous are sent to these extremely impressive role models from the riders. Receiving acknowledgement and encouragement from the absolute best cyclists in Canada was indeed motivating for all of the riders.
 |
Katherine rode one of the hardest races of her young career and placed third in Canada. She was beaten by Emily Batty of Ontario and Marie-Claude Surprenant of Quebec, both girls being 17 years old to Katherine’s 14 years. Sean Stanhope placed 8th. Matt Cottrell placed 32nd among 65 pro riders. Kris Sneddon placed 5th also among the pro elite men riders |
| Hero of TEAM BC was Victoria rider Jeff Clarkson. He rode an extremely strong race and was easily holding onto second place when he jammed his chain. Standing watching him as he tried desperatedly to free his chain I had to admire his strength, his determination and good sportsmanship as he struggled. Close to tears and clearly frantic, he finally managed to free it and flew off, passing six riders over the difficult course and managing to finish in 10th place. He never gave up. He was there to race and race he did, despite a mechanical upset that would have sent many riders to DNF in frustration |  |
A huge heartfelt thanks goes to coordinator extraordinaire Gary Jackson who had every detail looked after so the riders could focus on riding. Sean Stanhope discovered upon arrival that his free hub was broken. Gary arranged for the loan of a wheel for the weekend from Rocky Mountain Bikes so that Sean would not have to try and buy a new wheel.
It was an amazing, wonderful event. The Sunshine Coast should be proud that some of Canada’s up and coming racers are from here.
But all is not yet said and done. The five riders from the Sunshine Coast, it should be noted, all started out in the coast’s Sprockids program. Thank you, Doug Detwiller for providing the opportunity for these kids to get out on their bikes and learn to ride, to have fun with other riders and to feel confident enough to take the next step into competition. Thank you as well, to the On the Edge Bike Shop who has also supported these riders in so many ways.
Congratulations to all of the BC TEAM. Keep on riding!