The Canadian Mountain Bike Downhill Championships were held at Kicking Horse Resort in Golden this past weekend, and a Kimberley resident earned a gold medal.
David Harder has been mountain biking for over 30 years and he placed first in the Open Master Men 35+ with a time of four minutes and thirty-two seconds.
He is pleased with his time, saying that the pros, who are younger, more fearless and race full time, had a best time of three minutes, 48 seconds.
Harder has been the Canadian overall champion in the National Enduro series in 2016 and is a three time BC overall Champion in Enduro.
“For the last few years I’ve wondered if I should enter the National DH championship so this year I went for it,” he said. “I’m 40 years old now so I entered into my age group and was lucky enough to get the win.”
He rides three or four times a week just for fun, and says it was relatively easy to train for the race.
“I just did a little more specific downhill out of Bootleg,” he said.
Harder, who works at Black Dog Cycle and Ski in Kimberley, is originally from Australia, but came to Canada in 2008 to experience the Canadian mountain bike scene.
He started in Whistler, working at a bike shop, where he met his wife Sara.
“We moved to Kimberley in 2017 for the small town vibe and the mountain sports for both summer and winter.
“I have been riding bikes for most of my life and racing for 30 plus years now, it’s definitely my favourite sport,” he said.
Quentin Emeriau of Kimberley also competed in the same division as Harder and placed fifth.
READ: Kimberley gets grant for Electrify the Mountains e-bike trail network project
READ: WildSafeBC on mountain biking and bear safety
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