麻豆社区

The Southern Lakes Bike Loppet's two previous record holders teamed up to shatter the current race record by 12 minutes Saturday.

Steve Ball and Ian Parker combined to finish the 173-km race in four hours, 42 minutes, beating Ball's 2012 race record of 4:54 and earning themselves the golden helmets as loppet winners.

Male solo rider David Gonda also beat Ball's 2012 mark with a time of 4:44, but would finish second to Ball and Parker.

A total of 29 teams competed in the sixth annual loppet, which sees riders cycle through the communities of Marsh Lake, Tagish, Carcross, Mount Lorne and Golden Horn. Riders ranged in age from 10 to 70.

"We didn't have the strong headwinds we usually have,鈥� loppet organizer Simi Morrison said of the record paces.

"Last year, it was really, really windy between Tagish and Carcross. Usually we have south winds off Bennett Lake and Tagish-Carcross is usually the windiest stretch. It really slows the riders down,鈥� she explained. "This year, we had a northwest wind, which meant they had a tailwind all the way from Golden Horn to Marsh Lake. I guess that really sped them up.鈥�

Cyclists did have to face rain however, with many arriving at the finish line in Marsh Lake soaked through.

"Marsh Lake had some really heavy downpours in the afternoon,鈥� Morrison said.

"We used to have higher numbers of riders, but I'm pretty sure that's because we had bigger teams,鈥� Morrison said. "In the last few years, the number of riders has been steady, because we have more and more solo riders. When the race started, we maybe had one or two solo riders, and the main field was all three- to five-person teams.鈥�

For the first time in race history, the loppet featured more female solo riders than male. That category would come down to a photo finish between top females Jennifer Walsh and Melanie Tait.

The Crooked Wheel Award, presented to the last team to finish, went to the mixed team made up of Surena Pretarious, Ilza Pretarious, Tyler Hunter, Kaitlin McDonald and Mathew Knaack.

"We picked up an old, bent wheel at the dump and it gets spray-painted,鈥� said Morrison. "Most of the time, people get further behind because they have flat tires or stuff like that.鈥�

She said the race record of five flat tires was not broken.

This year, the Crooked Wheel Award was donated by the Tagish Community Association.

The annual loppet is meant to appeal to all kinds of cyclists, both professional and recreational.

The start and finish line is rotated through the communities each year, with Saturday's race marking the first time it returned to Marsh Lake, the event's original start line.

The length between each community is considered a leg.

Top results from the loppet are as follows:

Solo Woman

1. Jennifer Walsh (5:26)

Melanie Tait (5:26)

1. Trena Irving (6:58)

Meagan Wilson (6:58)

Solo Man

1. David Gonda (4:44)

2. Spencer Morgan (4:49)

3. Karl Blattmann (4:57)

Duo Women

1. Carol Spillette, Jaana Schall (7:36)

Marg Wallace, Robin Hamilton (7:36)

Duo Men

1. Steve Ball, Ian Parker (4:42)

2. Lee Hawkings, Jim Hawkings (5:12)

3. Malcolm Taggart, Phil Hoffman (5:44)

Duo Mixed

1. Erika Joubert, Dean Eyre (5:54)

2. Katrina Wohlfarth, Lee Carruthers (7:02)

3-5 Men

1. Alex King, John Thomas, John Doland (5:11)

3-5 Mixed

1. Bill Waugh, Penny Sheardown, Ron Tait (5:25)

2. Heidi Brook, Peter Heebink, Christina MacDonald, Tammy Reis, Dave Brook (5:46)

3. Hillary Gladish, Andy Reid, Kathleen Jarvis, Mike Tilbrook (6:14)