June 24, 2008 – The Suffer Springs Summer Solstice XC race took place at Station Flats, near Bragg Creek on Sunday, June 22nd. This fine event is Alberta’s oldest mountain bike race. Some say it’s been going on for over 20 years, but since the internet is only a wee teenager, we don’t even know its true age. Legend has it that it’s so old, in order to get its proper age, Paul Bunyan would have to chop it down and count its growth rings.

The rain let up for a few hours to let everyone enjoy the day. In the women’s Elite race, Mical Dyck took home the glorious win over the “leader” plate worn by Pepper Harlton. Mical was overheard saying, “this race course is even more fun than portly boy Roddi Lega. I had an brilliant time!”.

The men’s Elite race was rather diverse, and the lead changed several times. Boss Hogg (person in charge) after the first lap of fun was Dallas Morris. Alas, he ended his race on lap 2 with a broken mountain bike. This allowed the lengthy and elegant hair of Jon Nutbrown to pilot ahead going into lap 3. However, Nutbrown’s hair got knotted in his gearing and this conked out his rear derailleur which forced him to gallop for much of the final lap. In the final corner Jeff Nielson and Peter Lawrence were collectively going for glory as Nielson laid down the horsepower and was awarded with a brilliant win on an excellent Alberta day.

Results

Elite Men – 3 laps + start loop
1. Jeff Nielson 2:23:37
2. Peter Lawrence 2:23:47
3. Jon Nutbrown 2:27:52
4. Mike Blennerhassett 2:34:22
5. Andre Sutton 2:41:54
6. Steven Elm 2:49:00
DNF Craig Stappler
DNF Dallas Morris
DNF Steve Martins

Elite Women – 2 laps + start loop
1. Mical Dyck 1:44:34
2. Pepper Harlton 1:53:28
3. Loni Klettl 1:54:50
4. Kate Aardal 1:56:34
5. Margie Smith 2:04:17

Expert Men – 2 laps + start loop
1. Devin Erfle 1:35:59
2. Eckehart Marenholtz 1:38:29
3. Justin Middleton 1:40:28
4. Steve Johnson 1:41:19
5. Matthew Dahl 1:41:30
6. Tom Amberiadis 1:43:37
7. Marc Rumsey 1:44:24
8. Geoff Clark 1:45:05
9. Kurt de Freitas 1:47:36
10. Peter Knight 1:51:43
11. Brad Tymchuk 1:55:38
DNF Erik Bakke
DNF Dwayne Ellis

Expert Women – 2 laps + start loop
1. Nicole Muzechka 1:59:01
2. Samantha Grover 2:01:14
3. Shantel Koenig 2:06:43
4. Jodi Siever 2:07:07
5. Lauren Lankester 2:07:19
6. Kelly Hall 2:20:23
7. Cindy Koo 2:22:24

Sport Men – 2 laps
1. Simon Williams 1:40:28
2. Luke Marshall 1:42:08
3. Pat Dodge 1:42:13
4. Pierre Boivin 1:44:33
5. Andrew Waddington 1:44:54
6. Aaron Sands 1:44:59
7. Brett Zagozewski 1:45:18
8. Paul Martin 1:45:31
9. Ed Garvin 1:48:51
10. David Gauvreau 1:49:56
11. Mike Steneker 1:50:41
12. Kevin McMahon 1:52:13
13. Kevin Finlay 1:54:39
14. Thomas Auer 1:54:44
15. Connor Witzke 1:54:48
16. Bailey McNight 1:55:03
17. Clayton Stafford 1:55:13
18. Bruce Johnson 1:55:18
19. Michael Lankester 1:57:15
20. Derek Neabel 1:57:35
21. David Dyck 1:59:27
22. John McNight 2:04:35
23. Evan Wishloff 2:07:50
24. Henry Yau 2:11:10
25. Patrick Graham 2:17:24
26. Lawrence Keller 2:20:54
27. Michael Kohlenberg 2:24:16
28. Stan Rachar 2:34:25
DNF Mac Garvin

Sport Women – 1 lap
1. Amy Barnett 1:03:16
2. Tami Thicke 1:04:56
3. Michelle Eshpeter 1:06:52
4. Tori Fahey 1:07:45
5. Alyssa Barker 1:11:22

Novice Men – 1 lap
1. Thomas Yip 0:49:35
2. Ryan O’Hara 0:51:03
3. Sam Amberiadis 0:51:22
4. Dustin Dollar 0:53:48
5. David Todd 0:54:58
6. Darcy Kuss 0:55:46
7. Lorie Holte 0:56:27
8. Mark Franklin 0:56:53
9. Ashley Scott 1:01:28
10. Zara Wishloff 1:06:20
11. Peter Verburg 1:10:15
12. Stewart Hutchings 1:11:15
13. Allan Spahr 1:15:10
14. Michael Madill 1:18:24

Novice Women – 1 lap
1. Kelly Matheson 0:54:45
2. Deanne Katnick 0:59:38
3. Megan Culham 1:01:56
4. Theresa Waddington 1:07:50
5. Amber Finlay 1:11:45
6. Anne Bridgman 1:21:54

Sport Youth Men – 1 lap
1. Kevin Stafford 0:47:39
2. Sean Qi 0:48:50
3. Leo Fleck 0:49:01
4. Andrew Spahr 0:51:42
5. Alexander Steneker 0:55:39
6. Ben Marquaret 0:58:06

Sport Youth Women – 1 lap
1. Allison Beveridge 0:53:42
2. Emily De Freitas 0:57:03
3. Zoe Dahl 0:59:00
4. Andrea St. Germain 1:01:19
5. Sarah Witzke 1:10:44

Novice Youth Men – 1 lap
1. Sam Ratzke 0:57:00
2. Noah Epp 0:58:00
3. Graham Todd 1:08:16