Greater Trail downhill mountain bike racers wrapped up an unprecedented season at the 2018 Mt. Washington Steve Smith Memorial near Comox Sept. 16-17.
The race was the seventh and deciding event of the BC Downhill Cup season and the results proved the difference in many categories. Local riders started the Downhill Cup circuit in Whistler June 24, then competed at Sun Peaks, Silver Star, Fernie, Panorama, and Big White, before the final event at Mt. Washington.
In between, Rossland riders Keegan Fry and Logan Merringer raced at the World Cup in Mont Ste. Ann, Que. in August, and Fry also made the cut for Team Canada, competing at the 2018 UCI Downhill World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switz. Sept. 4-9.
But mud and rain was the name of the game at Mt. Washington, where despite many spills during the practice runs, a number of Greater Trail riders emerged victorious.
“The Mt. Washington Steve Smith Memorial was a very wet and wild weekend to say the least,” said Shane Bjarnason, father of racer J.T. Bjarnason. “It was a fun weekend all the same and everyone had a blast riding in the slop.”
Fry led the Jr. Expert category after five races, but missed a race in Big White to attend the World Championships. Merringer made the most of the opportunity winning at Big White, then finishing in eighth place at Mt. Wash to take the overall Jr. Expert title with 1,020 points. Fry claimed second place overall with a fourth-place result, finishing just 70 points behind his teammate.
In the UCI 13-14 Men, Rossland’s Bodhi Kuhn finished first in the race and captured top spot overall in his category after four first-place and three second-place finishes on the circuit this season.
Fruitvale’s J.T. Bjarnason and Rossland rider Gavin Patterson both moved up a category, racing in Jr. Expert after moving up from Jr. Sport. Bjarnason, in his second race in Jr. Expert, finished sixth in the Mt.Wash race, while Patterson finished in seventh.
Kian Merringer, racing in UCI 13-14 Men, finished 11th and sixth overall.
Samara Kuhn UCI Jr Women (15-18) took a bad fall in practice and couldn’t race but still finished fifth overall in her class.
Caroline Rousselle finished first in UCI Master Women in the Mt. Washington race and also captured first overall.
The local riders would like to send a thank you to sponsors Foxhead Canada, Shimano, Teck, Sutco, Revolution Cycle, Kootenay Mountain Biking, Cycleye, and Speed Pro Signs.
