The organizer behind Squamish鈥檚 legendary Test of Metal mountain bike race series has been honoured by the province鈥檚 largest cycling organization.聽
Last week, Cliff Miller was inducted into the 小蓝视频 Cycling Hall of Fame at the Cycling 小蓝视频 2015 Awards Ceremony. The annual event, held in Burnaby, recognizes outstanding athletes, coaches, clubs and race officials.
Miller dedicated 20 years of his life to promoting mountain biking and developing one of the province鈥檚 most outstanding races, said Team Squamish lead mountain biking coach Mike Charuk.聽
鈥淗e is just constantly putting on a world-class race,鈥� Charuk said of the Winnipeg native. 鈥淗e鈥檚 worked through good times and bad with Cycling 小蓝视频 to make that race a reality.鈥�
Miller founded the Squamish Off-Road Cycling Association (SORCA). In 1994, Miller and Kevin McLane picked up the torch to reignite the Test of Metal. World champions and Olympics athletes have used the race as a foundation to move their sports careers forward, Charuk said.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 really a development race for many people,鈥� he noted.聽
Miller wasn鈥檛 the only Squamish resident to take to the stage at the awards. Eighteen-year-old Rhys Verner was the 小蓝视频 champion for mountain biking and cycle cross. He also collected an overall first place for Under-19 division in the premier series, which tallies up the top five results from eight races. Holden Jones won the overall series for the Under-17 division.聽
Squamish鈥檚 Cory LeClerc won best mountain coach for his involvement with the Squamish-based C4 racing team. The team also won the best mountain bike club and Team Squamish won the best youth mountain bike team.聽
Charuk won best youth coach. He recently completed coaching school for an advanced coaching diploma with the Canadian Sports Institute.聽
Team Squamish had a busy year, Charuk said. Hunter Verner and Nick Kleban competed with Holden at the nationals in Quebec.聽
Charuk hopes to see more female riders out for the 2016 season. This year, Kei Gray, Michaela Hoskin and Sorsha Henning competed in the Test of Metal, Charuk said.聽
Team Squamish and the cycling academy at Howe Sound Secondary School are building a strong base of youth riders in Squamish, Charuk said.聽
鈥淪uccess breeds success.鈥�
The community has a number of World Cup riders who have become mentors to the younger cyclists, he said. Team Squamish also enjoys great support from community backers in town including Sean Daly, the manager of Nester鈥檚 Market Squamish.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 have done it without him,鈥� Charuk said.聽
