MIVA CLINIC CX RACE NUMBER 4

The 4th event in the MIVA evening cyclo-cross series was not as well attended as the previous ones. However seven participants started the race on the same course as was used last week. Justin Mark surged straight into the lead early in lap one. As they completed the lap, Justin was leading with Kirby Villeneuve close behind. John Lam, Shepherd Stewart and Menno Jonsma were at 15 seconds (good to see you out again, Menno). Rose Houle, the sole woman competitor was riding steadily at 50 seconds and Tim Stokes, who arrived late and chased, was another 40 seconds down.

Mark continued to press and by the end of the second lap (his fastest) was pulling away from the rest of the field, with only Villeneuve able to stay close to him.By this time, the order had been more-or-less set, with Lam at 27 seconds, and Jonsma and Stewart at 31 seconds. Houle was riding her own race and Stokes was dropping steadily back.

On the fourth lap, John came in with a flat, but he pumped up the tire and continued fro another lap when he retired, out of air! Meanwhile, Kirby was holding on to second place but retired in lap 5 as on old injury was hampering him badly. Menno took the opportunity to take over second place with fourth man Shepherd now at 2 minutes.

That's the way it stayed until the beginning of the final lap, when Menno left the race with a lat. At the line, it was Justin Mark an easy winner, completing the 10 laps in a creditable 31' 16". A distant second was Shepherd Stewart a lap and 45 seconds down and third was Tim Stokes, who had avoided flats and mechanical trouble, 2 laps down. Lone woman Rose Houle  completed nine laps in 32' 28"

As the clocks go back at the weekend, the final two events in the series will start at 4.30pm. The membership will be polled a day before each race and the events will only run if there are six confirmed starters.

Apologies for late report as the editor's internet went down (Telus technician error)