June 16, 2008 – Under beautiful skies in the Niagara region, over 1,000 cyclists set out to do battle over the 50km route of the Giant Bicycles Great Lake to Lake mountain bike classic. With huge rain on Friday night the course was a challenge for most.

The men’s race had teammates Danny Souter and 4x Champ Josh Hall, both of Kitchener lining up against local Justin Hines (Rapid City). With Hall crashing and Hines attacking the defending champion was on the ropes but with the help of Souter managed to reel in Hines before the final chute down to the beach and claim another win.

The women’s race was equally exciting with Welland native Natalie Labre overtaking Laura Murray of Toronto in the final 300 meters to claim her first win. Labre’s smile brightened up the local paper this morning with a full page color pic.

In it’s tenth year the Lake to Lake has become a huge community event, with cyclists of all abilities able to take part and enjoy this unique day. Plenty of smiles (even with bruises and cuts) attended the awards as winners received their jerseys and medals while Giant Bicycles gave away plenty of draw prizes including a Giant Anthem Maestro dual suspension bike.

Results

Men

1. Josh Hall (KHS) 1:50:06
2. Danny Souter (KHS)
3. Justin Hines (Rapid City)
4. Jeff Lemon (Liberty Cycles)
5. Jeff Shikaze (Oakville)

Women

1. Natalie Labre (Liberty Cycles) 2:24:09
2. Laura Murray
3. Melanie Bernier
4. Debbie Clarke (Brant Cycle)
5. Lori Davis

Corporate
1. Liberty Cycles