The series finale for the MIVA Hill Climb Series had it all. The rain bucketed down pretty well all day, until 6pm, but as we said rain or shine the race would go on and we're glad it did. 24 racers came out to take on the Doumont Double Points finale and close out the season, 4 for the first time this year as we welcomed Michael Addiscott, Tayden de Pol, Bill McMillan, and Phil Birrer back to the hill climbs.
MIVA had put a $50 bounty in the 4 categories for any course record that could be broken. The records stood as:
MALE: Paul Auton (2011) 12:00
FEMALE: Janna Gillick (2011) 15:06
YOUTH MALE: Tayden de Pol (2014) 18:56
YOUTH FEMALE: Abigail Hare (2013) 19:25
All 3 categories that had entries tonight managed to break the former course record!
The youth males were off first with Tayden de Pol back out after swim season finished up, he hammered up the hill in just 17:06, a full 1 minute 50 seconds off his course record for last year! Not a bad 2015 debut. Right behind him was the Comox whizkid Evan Luksay, dancing up the final inclines and narrowly taking the course record down even further to 16:51 and with it, $50 to spend on bike stuff.
In the female category we once again had 8 ladies out. From 2011-2014 MIVA averaged 1.24 women out per hill climb. In 2015, we averaged EIGHT! In 2014 we had 7 female entries total, in 2015 we had 40 entries and our lowest single race had 7 women. The epic showdown between Kiyomi and Lorrie was not to be, as 24 hours before the race Kiyomi was injured on a trail run and showed up tonight to volunteer wearing an air cast unfortunately. There was the potential for a tie in which case it would've defaulted down to an arm wrestle, a cage match, and who had more 12 point events. Lorrie managed to push out a 2nd place finish tonight to finish with 62 points and take home the MIVA Female Hill Climb trophy. Lisa Mcleod leapt up the standings with her 3rd place ride tonight to finish 2nd overall. Janna Gillick came with her game face on and slammed a record breaking 14:12 new womens course record (5th overall as well), to add another $50 to her prize winnings (she donated it to nachos and wings at the Black Bear afterward, thank you!).
The male category also wasn't short on drama, as Mr. Four-for-Four Joel de Schiffart was summoned back to his running career and school and had to miss out. Course record holder Paul Auton (12:00) also couldn't make tonight's race, leaving it wide open and the standings torn apart. Nick Kupiak flew up the hill in just 11:48 to not only take the course record, but launch himself to the top of the standings with the double points victory and take home the Male Hill Climb trophy. Nick worked extremely hard all year and may have rode in more MIVA events than anyone else, from crits to TTs to hill climbs, and this trophy was well deserved. Close behind was Darren Vandergrift in 12:58 and from what I can tell, the 8th fastest time ever up Doumont. In third place Joel Lutz set a PB and put himself into a 2nd place overall tie with Joel de Schiffart at 48 points.
Here is how the final standings shook out after a crazy final day: 2015 Hill Climb Championships Standings
All of Patricks photos are here!
Thank you to Kiyomi for picking up the hot chocolate and helping me set up the MIVA tent (while in an air cast), to Patrick for once again snapping amazing photos, to Ross for also getting some pics, and to Peter for starting everyone off from the bottom.
To go from having 7 racers per night average to over 23 is nothing short of amazing, thank you to all of you who made the effort to hit the climbs with us. MIVA took a gamble by moving the season up a month as normally the hill climbs are Sept-Oct, this move paid off in high attendance AND it clears all of our schedules to get out on the cross bikes and focus on that. If you thought our takeover at the pub tonight was social, wait until you see a cross race (if you haven't before).
Next up is the already-happening CROSS season. Hit up the Cross On The Rock website for details, registration will be going live very soon. MIVA's event in the series is on Sunday November 8th, the back end of a double header (OBB hosts Saturday at Bowen). This is a huge event and is not possible without the hard work of many of you. If you're interested in helping out with the My Little Pony crew it is much appreciated, please let me know. In the meantime, hit up the 'Cross group training rides happening Tuesdays at 6pm @Maxey/Wellington.
RELATED NOTE: the MIVA tent is available to anyone going to the Cross races, let me know!
(sorry if there are errors, no time to proof this or put pics in)
