Three lakecity mountain bikers were at or near the top of their classes following the six-race 2014 Downhill BC Cup series.
Mason Seaward, 14, Britany Methot, 20, and Cory Brunelle, 25, recently wrapped up the season after racing in the BC Cup Finals held Aug. 29-30 in Fernie.
Seaward finished first in the under-15 men’s division during the weekend, and third overall in the BC Cup series beating Calgary, Alta.’s Jack Mazury by 23 seconds in a time of 3:55.37.
Methot — who participated in two of the six BC Cup races — also took first place after edging Schoningen, Germany’s Nicole Patz by 24 tenths of a second in the 19 to 29 citizen women’s class.
Brunelle, after taking a year off of racing last year, placed 10th in the men’s elite class in 3:10.12.
Both Methot and Seaward said the course was extremely fun, and ridiculously gnarly.
“It was steep, fast and fun,” Seaward said. “The whole top section was really steep, like a 70-degree slope, so I was extremely happy with my race.”
Seaward competed in five of the six BC Cup Races to turn in the third-place overall result.
“This was my second year racing,” he said. “Last year I didn’t do very well. I didn’t even want to look up my overall placement.”
Seaward points to a better bike, improved conditioning, cardio and more strength in helping him take his riding to the next level.
He added having experienced local riders like Brunelle on the series gives him a lot of confidence.
“[It gives more] determination, and that I’m not alone [out there],” he said. “I have people to talk to while I’m there and while I’m practicing.”
Methot, who’s been riding mountain bikes since she was six, pointed to the fun factor of the course in her success.
“It was honestly the most fun course of the year,” she said. “Cory said that, too. It was really steep. You’d break out onto the fast stuff and you’d just be going as fast as possible.”
All three train on Williams Lake’s local mountain bike trails, and the trio hopes to continue racing in the series next season.
“Next year I’m going to do the whole circuit,” Methot said, who plans to move up to the women’s elite division. “I’ve never really raced mountain bikes like that before and I really, really love it, so I’ll be doing a lot more intense training.”
The other races on the BC Cup series were hosted in Port Angles, WA., Kamloops (two races), Vernon and Golden.