Tonight's race was one of the odder races we've held over the years. After getting the start line set up I drove to the top to set up the finish line, on my way back to the start I came across an SUV that had driven off the embankment. The 3 were sitting on the side of the road and said they were fine and that a tow truck was on its way. This was minutes before our start, causing us to delay our start by 25 minutes as we watched 3-4 fire trucks, an ambulance, and a police car drive up to the scene and block off the road, essentially blocking our course. A few riders rode up to check in on the status and the fire chief said there'd be plenty of room for us to get by, but no cars were being allowed through. After a brief consideration of changing routes to either Meadow or Calder, we stuck with Witchcraft. With 22 racers out once again tonight to take on the climb, the earlier group of about 5 or 6 (Paul, Evan, Carole, Rachel, Sandy, and Tamara?) definitely were affected by the road closure as they were slowed almost to a stop at a few places, but still picked it up and rode hard. Many were pretty certain that about 30 seconds were lost to that early group due to the holdup, unfortunate timing but still a great race, and thankfully that SUV didn't go over the edge DURING the hill climb!
The bitter feud between Lorrie Baildham and Kiyomi Schulz continued tonight. In race #1 you'll recall Lorrie crushing Kiyomi's spirit by just 0.6 seconds, only to have Kiyomi claw back next week at Nanaimo Lakes Road by 24 seconds. Tonight Lorrie avenged last week by taking the title by 5.8 seconds. The series lead was pivoting on this outcome and Lorrie now leads 33 - 30. Tamara Zavarise put in a great ride landing a podium spot as well. Again it's really nice to see such a good group in the female category come out week to week and keep those numbers up.
In the male category, Joel Deschiffart continued his assault for the series sweep taking the win over Nick Kupiak by a very narrow 8.4 seconds. These two have had a great battle as well, with all 3 races having less than 10 seconds separating them. Darren Vandergrift took 3rd once again and the podium stayed the same as last week. Paul Auton rode all the way up from Mill Bay for this, so it was unfortunate he was held up by the accident but still rode in 8:02. MIVA welcomed back a couple of old faces tonight, with Brian Zurek and Stefan Jakobsen both coming out. Stefan set the original record going up Doumont 5 years ago, September 3rd could be a bigger battle than Wrestlemania III at the Silverdome.
Evan Luksay again took the youth male title, he absolutely flew up the hill in 11:18 good for 16 overall.
LINK to tonights results LINK to series results to date 2015 Hill Climb Championships Standings
Thank you to Ross for starting everyone off, and to Patrick for once again being both the best dressed person at the hill climb and taking some great shots. Most of all thanks to everyone for their patience in the confusion, it was unfortunate timing for an accident but thankfully no one was hurt.
Next week is Hill Climb #4 @ Departure Bay, this is a speedy one! The final hill climb is on September 3rd (Thursday) at Doumont, DOUBLE POINTS don't forget.
Pre Reg LINK
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