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Pedal by the Puddle says farewell

After six years of pedalling it was a bittersweet end for riders, volunteers and organizers at the Pedal by the Puddle.
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Rhett Derksen was one of many little peddlars to take on the challenge of the Mini Pedal by the Puddle. A bit of mud made for a wildly entertaining race.

After six years of pedalling it was a bittersweet end for riders, volunteers and organizers Sunday as the lakecity’s Pedal by the Puddle enduro mountain bike event was held for the last time.

Ivor McMahen, one of the event’s organizers and a member of the Williams Lake Cycling Club, said despite the event’s wild popularity the WLCC and the organizing committee felt it was time for a change.

“After six years of doing the same style of event some of the excitement and freshness has worn off,” McMahen said. “Every year it’s a huge amount of work for myself and for all the volunteers so we’re looking hard at things … It was time to take a break and look at possibly mounting a different style event in the next year or so.”

Some ideas have been floated around, he said. Particularly, the WLCC is looking at incorporating a two- or three-stage race into the future event.

“It would showcase a lot more of our trails than this format does,” he said. “It would also bring people to town for overnight stays and from a tourism perspective it would bring a lot more people into the city, which is part of what we’re trying to achieve here.

“We’re hoping [this isn’t the end],” McMahen said. “We’ll let the volunteers have a bit of a rest and recharge and we’ll look at what we can do to put on something new and fresh. Change is always good.”

This year’s Pedal by the Puddle, held on some of Williams Lake’s finest singletrack in the South Lakeside area, required riders of all skill levels to ride around a 10-kilometre loop, some as part of a relay team, for six hours. The object of the race was to complete as many laps as possible in six hours. This year’s race featured 138 registered adults plus another 40 to 50 participants in the Micro and Mini Pedal by the Puddle races for kids.

“About eight years ago Scott Gordon, Scott McCreight and I were daydreaming about hosting a mountain biking event here to get some interest in riding, show off the trails and just encourage people to take on the challenge of a competition they hadn’t done before,” McMahen said.

“We had been in the Salty Dog Enduro in Salmon Arm a couple of times and we realized it was a fantastic format for all levels of rider because of what we call a time-limit format — nobody finishes last. The race is over and everybody stops at the same time whether it’s your first race and you’re a beginner rider or whether you’re an elite and you’ve done many, many laps so it’s a very supportive format for anybody that hasn’t done an event before.”

The top three results from each race class (where applicable) are as follows. Ages in the team category are combined:

• Women’s Team Over 95: First — Ann Smith and Denise Deschene, four laps averaging 1:26:26.8 per lap.

• Women’s Team 76-95: First — Ann McMahen and Katie McMahen, five laps avg. 1:13:20.2; Second — Leigh Sindlinger and Shawna Schaefer.

• Women’s Team 0-75: First — Sarah Purslow and Helen Purslow, six laps avg. 1:03:47.7; Second — Megan Chutskoff and Anne Butters, two laps avg. 1:29:54.9.

• Men’s Team Over 95: First — Oystein Fladmark and Scott Forrest, seven laps avg. 55:00.8; Second — Glen Nicholson and Rocky McKinley, six laps avg. 1:02.48.7; Third — Stewart Bell and Michael Franklin, five laps avg. 1:07:45.7.

• Men’s Team 76-95: First — Guy Ridler and Kelly Servinski, eight laps avg. 46:43.5; Second — Jason Jacobs and Glen Boudreau, seven laps avg. 55:38.3; Third — Bruce Denis and Scott Watts, five laps avg. 1:09:40.1.

• Men’s Team 0-75: First — Ryan Oliver and Cory Brunelle, eight laps avg. 46:26.2; Second — Tyson Denny and Landon Pinette, six laps avg. 57:29.3; Third — Jesse Wallace-Webb and Vince Austin, four laps avg. 1:11:15.3.

• Mixed Team Over 95: First — Rod Shigeoka and Cynthia Manderstrom, four laps avg. 1:13:47.5; Second — Charles Newberry and Melissa Newberry, three laps avg. 1:43:02.9.

• Mixed Team 76-95: First — Beth Holden and Tom Schoen, two laps avg. 1:03:10.2 per lap.

• Mixed Team 0-75: First — Sonya Zurevinski and David Zurevinski, seven laps avg. 54:53.3; Pihl Hiom and Grace Hiom, six laps avg. 1:02:03.3; Third — Jane Wellburn and Kurt Williams, six laps avg. 1:03:17.

• Solo Female 0-39: First — Amy Butler, two laps avg. 2:01:46.4.

• Solo Male 0-39: First — Peter Watson, eight laps avg. 46:32.1; Second — Mike Smith, seven laps avg. 54:19.8; Third — Rolf Marmet, six laps avg. 58:20.6.

• Solo Male 40 and Over: First — Paul Berry, eight laps avg. 47:57.1; Second — Larry Hindle, seven laps avg. 50:35.8; Third — Brad Cramer, six laps avg. 59:29.0.

For complete results from the Pedal by the Puddle visit www.zone4.ca and search for Pedal by the Puddle.



Greg Sabatino

About the Author: Greg Sabatino

Greg Sabatino graduated from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in 2008.
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