麻豆社区

The Contagious Mountain Biking Club (CMBC) began their summer season on Tuesday night as riders took to the Chadburn Lake trails for the Yukon Brewing Twoonie Race.

The event marked the first race of the summer series, with four more events staged to take place over the season.

In the open men's division Paul Burbridge and Jonah Clark battled each other for four laps across the five-kilomtre trail.

With Clark leading for the first three laps, Bubridge was able to move into first after attacking on a climb heading into the final lap.

"I was able to just sneak by him and then just put my head down and hoped that he wasn't following me,鈥� said Burbridge.

"He was going pretty hard and on the third lap we basically fought the whole way, I tried about five or six times to get by him but he's a pretty tough guy to get by.鈥�

Burbridge was able to maintain his position and crossed the finish line in a time of 1:01:00.

Clark arrived moments later, posting a time of 1:03:24.

For Clark, it was his third consecutive race in as many days.

On Sunday, he placed second in the 50-kilometre Yukon River Road Race and was back in the saddle on Monday night for a group ride.

Both Clark and Burbridge are preparing to compete in the B.C. Bike Race in July, a seven-day mountain bike stage race from Vancouver to Whistler.

"I want to get a number of hard efforts in,鈥� said Clark.

"Back-to-back, days in a row, to prepare for the B.C. Bike Race and get ready for having to do it for seven days in a row.鈥�

"A few of us are training for the B.C. Bike Race,鈥� said Burbridge.

"All these races are to get us primed up for that. That's why the race season is early this year, Tony (Anthony DeLorenzo, a race organizer with CMBC) set it up so we could use it as training.鈥�

Seventeen cyclists were split across four divisions, open male, open female, and novice male and female.

In the open female category Jenn Roberts was uncontested and completed the three laps in 1:09:41.

Dave Pharand led the novice male category with two laps in 44:45 while Jane Perepalkin led on the female side with a time of 44:46.

"It was a tough course,鈥� said Clark.

"You never get a chance to recover on the laps because there are no extended downhills, there are some downhills but they are over pretty quick and you have to get back on the power right away so it's a tough course. There's no letup until you're done.鈥�

Clark, who was racing on an aluminum hardtail bike he put together before the race, said the plethora of roots that litter the Chadburn trails make a full suspension bike the better choice.

"Riding that course on a aluminum hardtail, with all the little roots, you get beat up pretty bad when it's all over,鈥� said Clark.

"You have to hover off the saddle which gets tiring.鈥�

Burbridge was also racing on a hardtail and expressed a similar sentiment.

"Being on a hardtail made it a bit tougher, I think the guys on full suspension were a bit happier, but it was a fast trail, very fast.鈥�

The next race in the series will take place on May 22. For a complete listing of events, visit cmbcyukon.ca.