Mountain bikers feature in premiere event
Last Saturday saw eight members of the Golden Bay Mountain Bike Club, take on Nelson’s premiere mountain bike course. The Coppermine Epic works its way up and through the stunning mineral belt in the hills overlooking Nelson. Two courses of 40km gave riders the option of taking on the extra challenge of a climb up Fringed Hill. The Epic race included this climb, whereas the Enduro race omitted that section. Both courses were varied and technical, with most riders at some point having to carry their bikes, particularly through the rugged Boulder Valley section.
Seamus Ryan took on a tough field in the Vet 2 section of the Epic race and was second in that category (19th overall) despite having to stop for a puncture. Bruce Chick also suffered at the hands of the course, getting a puncture in both tyres, costing him too much time to make up, but still managing to finish with a smile on his face.
Out of the eight riders, six had top four finishes in their category, with the women doing particularly well. Lisa Savage won the Vet 1 Epic race in a time of 3 hours 20 mins, some 16 mins clear of her nearest rival. A great day and an awesome race with fantastic prizes and excellent organisation. The Coppermine Epic is a true test and one that suits Golden Bay bikers; let’s have more entries next year from the Bay.
Rob Dawson
Golden Bay Mountain Bike club results: category finish (overall finish in brackets): Epic Vet 1 Women: 1st Lisa Savage 03:20:20 (51st). Enduro Vet 2 Women: 2nd Mandy Richards 03:17:52 (46th). 3rd Frankie Knowlson 03:19:02 (56th). Epic Vet 1 Men: 26th Karl Thompson 03:17:24 (48th). Epic Vet 2 Men: 2nd Seamus Ryan 02:51:20 (19th). 24th Bruce Chick 03:57:34 (82nd). Enduro Vet 2 Men. 3rd John Etherington 03:10:11 (8th). 4th Rob Dawson 03:14:30 (10th).
