August 21, 2207 (Vancouver, BC) – Over 80 cyclists of all ages and abilities took part in August 18th’s Cypress Challenge, an inaugural cancer fundraising ride that was the vision of three dedicated individuals. The Challenge event brought together top regional teams, including Escape Velocity, Masi-Adobe, Rocky Mountain, Trek Red Truck, TNA, Le Peloton and Canada’s number-one ranked pro Team, Symmetrics, whose Will Routley stole the show with a climb from Cypress Mountain’s Service Yard to Hollyburn’s Cross-Country area – an unrelenting 12km route, marked by its steady 5.7% pitch – in just over 30 minutes! Teammate to Routley, herself no stranger to the top step of the podium, was Leah Goldstein, capturing the fastest female time of the day, at just over 35 minutes.

“I am massively impressed by the support the cycling community has shown today,” beamed North Vancouver’s Dave MacDonald, co-organizer of the Cypress Challenge, together with Dan Scholten and Allan Prazsky. MacDonald, clearly happy with the efforts of the event, continued, “Our gauge for success was 30 riders and a few hundred dollars! We knew it was going to be a special event when cycling aficionados from Le Peloton (a local cycling club made up of middle-aged businessmen) signed-on for the event together with top pro’s like Andrew Pinfold, Will Routley (Symmetrics) and double Gold World Masters Games Medalist, Larry Zimich and his World Champion (Masters) wife, Barb. They just kept coming! The road started to fill, and I thought, wow, all this through a simple mode of publicity – serious email spam, and a few posters! Just think what more time and a better marketing campaign could do to raise money next year!”

Close to $2,000 was raised on Saturday, with 100% of the Cypress Challenge entries being contributed to the Tour of Courage. Together, the three Cypress Challenge organizers have raised in excess of $6,000. Cycling enthusiasts wishing to contribute to cancer research can do so directly online, by clicking on www.tourofcourage.com.

The organizers of the Cypress Challenge would like to thank the cycling community, and to the sponsors that kindly donated prizing for the event, including Aritzia, TNA, Northface, Adidas, Pez Cycling News, PowerBar, Broadway Dental, ATAC Sportswear, Royce Shoes, 66North, Kicking Horse Coffee and Broadway Roofing.

Overall Results

Men Under 34
1. Will Routley 30:53.00
2. Andrew Pinfold 00:10.00
3. Kevin Noiles 00:28.00
4. Jonathan Page 00:49.00
5. Brandon Chrichton 00:50.00
6. Kieth Stark 00:51.00
7. Damien Waugh 02:46.00
8. Brad Slater 03:47.00
9. Shane Savage 04:00.00
10. Brian March 04:04.00
11. Clinton Kabler 06:09.00
12. Ted Martin 07:35.00
13. Dana Williams 08:33.00
14. Jakub Wasiede 09:07.00
15. Max Feldman 11:11.00
16. Neil Schuler 11:18.00
17. Phillip Marren 14:37.00

Men 35 – 44
1. Larry Zimich 32:15.00
2. Paul Beard 01:35.00
3. Mike Hunter 01:46.00
4. Russ Stead 02:41.00
5. Alex Northey 03:11.00
6. Jason Brooks 04:46.00
7. Derek Porter 04:47.00
8. Doug Molder 04:59.00
9. Bob Chew 05:05.00
10. Phillip Colderoy-Lo 05:07.00
11. Richard Pestes 07:42.00
12. Paul ‘The Hammer’ Needham 09:30.00
13. Darren Vanunen 10:00.00
14. Michael Daerendinger 12:01.00
15. Jerome Marburg 13:39.00

Men 45+
1. Tom Walker 33:38.00
2. UNKNOWN UNKNOWN 31:43.00
3. Mike Ryan 00:13.00
4. Mark Ellis 03:51.00
5. Steve McMurdo 04:55.00
6. Perry Grunenberg 05:56.00
7. Peter Curtain 07:41.00
8. Doug Smith 07:42.00
9. Kurt Foellmer 08:25.00
10. Christo Ferreira 09:53.00
11. Tony Thompson 10:49.00
12. Rick Peterson 10:58.00

Men 60+
1. Alan Ross 42:30.00

Women 35+
1. Leah Goldstein 35:29.00
2. Sara Neil 03:21.00
3. Barb Zimich 06:01.00

Women Under 34
1. Karen Watson 42:10.00
2. Jennifer Kohm 02:14.00
3. Anna Zonderland 03:26.00