The two man battle that played out through most of the 2014 Orecrusher race saw Sechelt鈥檚 Kris Sneddon edge out local favourite Quinn Moberg to win his first ever Orecrusher crown on Saturday (May 10).
Sneddon placed second in both 2013 and 2012 and said Moberg presented a relentless challenge all afternoon.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 sure if I was going to be able to get rid of Quinn,鈥� Sneddon said, laughing. 鈥淗e had a lot of snap off the start and seemed to be working hard for those primes. The separation happened on the third lap right after the big climb and we started running into some traffic.鈥�
Sneddon completed the course in 1:54.17, beating out Moberg by one minute and 22 seconds. Squamish鈥檚 Greg Day finished third with a time of 1:56.15.
Moberg gave credit to Sneddon for the win and said he was the better rider on Saturday.
鈥淚 really wanted to win but Kris proved to be really strong today,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e got nothing but good words to say about Kris 鈥� he鈥檚 a fantastic guy and he rode well today so hats off to him.鈥�
He agreed with Sneddon that the third lap proved to be the turning point.
鈥淚t was a mix of me not being as strong as him today and the traffic we ran into helped him open up a lead,鈥� he said.
鈥淥ne of these year鈥檚 Quinn鈥檚 going to win it,鈥� Sneddon added. 鈥淗e鈥檚 an up and comer.鈥�
For the women, it was Coquitlam鈥檚 Sandra Walter continuing her dominance on the Squamish trails. Walter won her third straight Orecrusher title with a time of 2:09:31.
鈥淚t went really well,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 find this the most painful of all the Squamish races. It鈥檚 just constant and unrelenting roots and bumps.鈥�
Walter beat out Whistler riders Chloe Cross and Petra Tlamkova, who finished second and third respectively.
Moberg wasn鈥檛 the only young local rider with a strong day, as Team Squamish member Rhys Verner placed sixth overall with a time of 2:10:29.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy with how I rode and my position,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 right around where I wanted to be. I tried to be as efficient as possible and really hammered that third lap.鈥�
The Orecrusher also marked the first ever race in the 小蓝视频 Youth XC Mountain Bike Series. Youth riders were timed on the first two laps for the series and Verner finished second in that competition behind Whistler鈥檚 Mahon Lamont.
鈥淢ahon kind of broke away on the second lap,鈥� Verner said, noting he was playing it by ear as far as what race he was trying to win. 鈥淥nce he broke away I didn鈥檛 kill myself to try and catch him. I let him have it and cranked it up on the third lap to try and do as best as I could for the Orecrusher.鈥�
It was a good day for a number of locals including: Dwayne Kress (seventh), Eric Goodwin (ninth), Kelly Servinski (13th), Sean Fincham (14th) and Matteo Abel (23rd).
Next up for Sneddon is the Trans-Sylvania Epic in Pennsylvania starting on May 25 and he will return to Squamish for the Test of Metal in June and the 小蓝视频 Bike Race in July. Moberg, Walter and Verner are all heading to Quebec on Thursday to compete at the Canada Cup cross country event.
For more details on the race, visit www.testofmetal.com/pages/orecrusher.php.
