A Squamish high schooler managed to take a win in a local mountain biking race.
Coast Mountain Academy held a cycling competition that put secondary students in the Sea to Sky area through some of the town’s trails last week.
“I just see it’s fantastic that we’re able to support a community event that brings in youth from all over Sea to Sky and North Vancouver to compete in Squamish,” said Mike Slinger, head of the Squamish school. “It’s pretty awesome to host an event like this.”
As rain pattered down at the bottom of Pseudo Tsuga, riders splashed through puddles and treaded over mud to make it past the finish line.
Periodic whoops of encouragement echoed through the trees.
Squamish found its winner in Ian Milley, who took first place in the Grade 10 division.
“It’s fun to come out and do these races,” said Milley, a student at Coast Mountain Academy. “Good to show off this school and what we can do.”
Milley said the key to his win was to keeping pace with a competitor in the senior boys’ division.
This allowed him to complete the circuit faster than his Grade 10 counterparts.
At the end of the race, he even managed to overtake the Grade 11, he said.
“It’s so fun,” he added.
The winner of the senior’s division was Shane Patterson, a Grade 12 student at Windsor Secondary in North Vancouver.
“Just going really fast, getting muddy — it’s great to be out in the weather,” he said.
“That climb up to half Nelson was greasy and slow,” said Patterson. “Other than that it went pretty well.”
“It’s hard work,” he said.
Patterson, who’s on the provincial mountain bike team, hopes to take on the nationals this summer.
The winner of the senior girls’ division was Julia Long, a Grade 11 student at Whistler Secondary.
“I just went for it,” she said with a chuckle.
One thing she enjoyed about the race, she said, was that it could be either a competitive event or a hang-out with friends.
Some riders are so laid back that they spend much of the uphill climb chatting, she noted, though people may switch into competition mode when speeding downhill.
“It helps for me to stay competitive,” she said. “It feels good to win.”
