This past weekend, Gary Robbins and I headed over to Port Moody to take on the Suburban Rush Adventure Race. Both of us will admit that we did not give this race much credit heading in. As the race is geared as a beginners event, we thought that it would be arrogant to go over and race this race hard to win. With Bryan Tasaka trying to persuade us otherwise and listing competitive teams that would be at the start line, we both reluctantly agreed to race. Man, were we wrong about this event!
The Suburban Rush is a 30km event which consists of running and mountain biking on a primarily flagged course although some navigating is required in sections. The race is in its 4th season and is put on by Dean Wutke and Shawn Leclair.
While this event is geared toward beginners, the course had us climbing some serious elevation and riding some very technical mountain biking trails. Both Gary and I were very impressed. The course started with a short flat run by the water before heading straight up a trail to a bike transition area. From here of course, we continued to climb. We connected onto some rough hydro line trails which we both recognized as part of the Diez Vista 50km course that we had run just a few weeks prior. The course was definitely designed to build up as much lactic acid as possible at the start and then punish you in the end!
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Once we hit the top of the climb there was a rough downhill road section before heading into some great downhill singletrack. As much as I tried to keep my speed here, I was just getting bucked around on my hardtail and was fighting just to make sure that I didn't bail. I just couldn't keep up to Gary although I later found that he was seriously surprised at how well I handled the trail considering my current ride.
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I've never owned a full suspension and have been happily riding a ti hardtail for quite some time now; but after riding that section of trail, it finally instilled in me that it was time to move onto a dually. With Test of Metal and BC Bike race around the corner, I just cannot afford to get beat up on a hardtail and slow down the team. A new ride is in the works :)
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We had led the race through the running section but was passed by Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island on the bikes due to a much needed piece of missing flagging. It appeared that someone had 'sabbotaged the course' and we ended up losing our hard fought time gain on the run in an instant. We followed on the bikes and hit up the transition area to a fun navigation section beside Bunsen Lake just behind the leaders.
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Once we figured out that the controls were placed just off the trail, we went out and cleaned up the rest of the controls with little issues and came back to our bikes in first place. We knew from here that we just needed to keep a good pace and without any bike issues, we should be able to get to the line first.
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I was having some cramping issues due to the all the lactic acid built up from the start of the race and really just wanted some nice swoopy trails. After a short climb up from the lake, some good trails are exactly what we got! Nice flowy trails with good downhill speed and a fair share of short climbs.
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In the end, we pushed for the line and took home our first adventure racing victory of 2008! It was a great feeling to race again and especially to race on a team with Gary. With the MOMAR Squamish just in two weeks, it was a good measure to make sure we are good to go. Now, hopefully Gary can at least walk after the Miwok 100km!!!
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Thanks to everyone at Suburban Rush for putting on a great event that ran smooth and for holding the race on such a nice weekend!
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If you missed the Suburban Rush this year, I would highly recommend that you give this race some serious consideration in 2009.
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Thanks also to Bryan Tasaka for helping Gary and I get to the starting line and for giving me a ride back to the ferry terminal!
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TNO
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