Last Sunday was one even of the season we all look forward and apprehend a bit; the Skookum Stoked to Get Spanked. I have to say it is always refreshing not to have to travel for an event and being able to sleep in your own bed the night before is also priceless. Everyone who has done this race before know that this is far from being a piece of cake. Even if the milage is not the most impressive of all, there is no rest on this action pack course. The race course was a bit different this year with a variation at the start, a climb including Stimulus and a descent on Berm Donor. A windstorm on Thursday night called for some last minute chainsaw operation in order to get the trails ready. With a wet few days prior to the event, on Sunday morning, the trails we nice and grassy just enough to allow for some fabulous riding. For once, the temps were not +35 with 110% humidity, which made the race slightly easier. In any case, we were out for a bit of suffering and enjoyed the ride. At 10 am, more then 100 riders from the area lined up racing in the different categories (1 lap=sport, 2 laps= Elite, U15 & Lill spank). The course took us down on a fast 2 km rip on Mike’s Loop, than there was a bit of a traffic jam getting on Stimulus. The freight train zigzagged to the top of the switchbacks and back on the main loop, the pack started to spread. As we climbed up Spaceman, people were passing and getting pass a bit but it was way less congested then in previous years! We went down TNT which is a classic really, then onto Break a leg, then up to Dusty Beaver, down Berm Donor , only SLIPPERY Root Canal, and up TNT to Black Forest and to the finish line at the Macpherson Parking Lot… AND we did it all again for a total of 34 kms.
Congrats to Lyndsay Corrigan who was racing for the first time I believe and won her category! Way to go! Also Carol Prince had a great race doing two laps on that challenging course. Don also did very well in his category. On my side, I had a great race compare to last year, just feeling overall better on the bicycle! Congrats to everyone who competed in the race since it was, to my knowledge one of the most challenging race in the BC grassroots circuit. Thank you to Skookum for organizing yet a great event!
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