THE MCBIKE Wild Descent returned this year to welcome an impressive number of under-18 riders.
Twenty-six riders came out to take on the best two runs out of three on Packhorse at Copper Mountain. Ten riders were under 18.
“We had lots of young riders. That was what was really impressive for me, anyway,” said Bruce Martindale, organizer of the race.
A race like this requires a substantial investment and young people are saving their money and doing these kinds of races, said Martindale. Nine cyclists competed in the men’s open category, four in the masters and two in the women’s open.
Nik Berndt of Kitimat won the mens open with a combined time on two runs of 5:28.
Matt Kenny followed in second with 5:54 and Paul Bertrand came in third with 5:56. Both are from Terrace.
Brendan Burnett won the U18 with 5:42, Joey Parkes was second with 6:10 and Eric Jonkman of Kitimat came third with 6:12.
Smithers’ Dave Walter won the masters with a time of 6:07 followed by Martindale at 6:17 and Ken Parkes at 6:52.
In what she said was her first wild descent, Crystal Thomas won the women’s open with 10:28 and Cindy Allen followed with 12:21.
J.D. Martindale had a time of 5:39.12 in the U12 category.
Last year’s race didn’t go because of high insurance costs and lack of volunteers.
This year, Martindale bought insurance for this particular race instead of a biking licence, which helped lower the costs.
And Martindale called on a few friends who usually aren’t involved, and who agreed to be volunteers.
