July 8, 2007 (Whistler, BC) — On yet another glorious sun-splashed day in British Columbia, the inaugural BC Bike Race: The Pacific Traverse came to an end on July 7.

Once again top stage honors went to the Trek-Volkswagen duo of Chris Eatough and Jeff Schalk, who after zipping along at 100kph on a Skyline cable ride, zipped around the singletrack-laden Whistler time trial course in 1:29:51.

It was their seventh straight stage win, giving the pair of American east coasters a clean sweep in this race that started a week ago in Sooke on Vancouver Island, and finished Saturday in the shadows of the towering Coastal Mountain Range.

Hot on their heels was Rocky Mountain-Haywood Securities (Andreas Hestler and Kevin Calhoun), who clocked a 1:37:29 on the course that featured famed technical Whistler cross-country trails such as Kill Me Thrill Me, North Secret, Zappa and Comfortably Numb.

Third place on the day went to Jason First and Manuel Prado (La Ruta de los Conquistadores), who crossed the line in 1:39:44.

The order of results were the same in the men’s overall standings, with Trek posting a cumulative time of 25:02:50, Rocky Mountain carding a 25:45:03, and La Ruta rolling home in 26:28:52.

“If we had all been racing solo, maybe it would have been different,” said Hestler, who did double duty all week, racing and filling his role as race spokesperson. “But that’s not what this race is about. It’s a team event and it will always be a team event.”

In the women’s two-person category, Team North Shore Girls Don’t Cry (Cynthia Young and Michelle Newton) scored their sixth stage win, stopping the clock in 2:32:33. The North Shore Girls also won the overall title, with a cumulative time of 35:19:15.

“We thought we could get on the podium, but we didn’t come here thinking about winning,” said Newton, a homeopath and mother of three. “We spent 55 minutes on the side of the trail with a mechanical on Stage 5, but came back and only ended up losing 17 minutes. Just to finish all seven days is an amazing accomplishment.”

Second place overall in the women’s category was locked down by the two Jenns, Keefer and Sawrenko (The Jennerators) who finished with a cumulative mark of 36:31:03. Team Tunnel Vision (Emma Smith and Sarah O’Byrne) were third overall, in 37:52:26. Smith and O’Byrne met last summer in Whistler, the same time they both started mountain biking.

“It took us a few stages to learn how to work together,” admitted O’Byrne. “But we figured it out. We were constantly just asking each other, “˜You good?’ and if the other person didn’t answer you knew there was a problem. Thankfully that didn’t happen very often.”

Stage 7’s mixed category win went to Team BC’s Lesley Clements and Matt Bodkin, who wound their way around the technical Grant Lamont-designed course in 2:11:45.

In the mixed overall there was a big shake-up at the top, after the previously unbeaten duo of David Harris and Lynda Wallenfels had to drop out when Harris tumbled off a bridge, smacked his head and injured his ankle. Harris was briefly knocked unconscious, and was taken off the course on a backboard as a precautionary measure.

But later in the day, the Durango, Colorado rider was spotted at the Meadow Park Base Camp, and outside of an unexpected ambulance bill, he said he was feeling okay and would definitely live to ride another day.

Harris’ mishap opened the door for Team Crystal Mountain Hotels (Hillary Harrison and Ryan Watts) who jumped from first to second overall, posting a seven-day time of 32:16:20. Second place went to Clements and Bodkin (33:50:36), with San Diego Trek’s Greg Norombaba and Lisa Riehl in third (35:14:01).

In the veterans 80-plus category it was Rod Dagneau and Mike Charuk (West Coast Racing to Team Whistler) taking the stage in 1:48:56. The pair of locals was second overall (29:14:25), with first going to Randy Richmond and Sandy Mitchell (Gerick-Nelson) who covered the 500-plus kilometer trek in 28:38:35. Third in the 80-plus was Team Spike Shooter (David Overstreet and Mark Thompson) in 29:57:05.

The final stage win went to the dominant duo of Doug Nottebrock and Con Diamond (Kootenay-Okanagan Cooperative) who finished the Whistler TT in 2:35:11, and had a seven-day time of 34:53:55. Second in the stage and overall went to the only other official 100-plus finishers, Clive Rubens and Leo Groenewoud (Geopsyclos). Their cumulative time was 45:09:32.

Overall, 69 two-person teams completed all seven stages of the first BC Bike Race. There were also two four-person squads that made it all the way to Whistler, plus six solo finishers who lost teammates to injuries or illness somewhere along the way.

Possibly the most impressive feat of all was turned in by the husband and wife duo of Jochen and Diane Faber. The couple drove more than 2,000 miles from Ann Arbor, Michigan, then battled hard everyday on their way to an honorable seven-day total of 50:13:36. It was the slowest mark of any official finisher “” and more than double Trek-VW’s time “” but maybe that means they had twice the fun.

Results

Teams of 2 Open Men
1. Chris Eatough, Jeff Schalk (Trek VW Mountain Bike) 1:29:51
2. Andreas Hestler, Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain/Haywood) 0:07:35
3. Manuel Prado, Jason First (La Ruta/Sho-Air) 0:09:53
4. Julian Hine, Kevin Phelps (Chromag-Sram) 0:11:36
5. Justin Mark, Andrew Clarke (Team Helly Hansen) 0:12:45
6. Evan Plews, Bear Perrin (Capitol Subaru Cycling) 0:20:23
7. Timmy Dougherty, Rich Dillen (Bearnaked Cannondale/T) 0:22:51
8. Reed Melton, Marc Driver (Sun Summit South-Drive) 0:24:09
9. Gary Jackson, James Durand (Twin Sin) 0:28:48
10. Michael Cushionbury, Damon Roberson (Bicycling Magazine) 0:30:12
11. Sterling Mudge, Mike Bordogna (Cloud City Cyclists) 0:33:46
12. Nigel Halsted, Brian Mccurdy (Ridin’ Dirty) 0:34:55
13. Kip Mikler, Mark Sevenoff (Bike Magazine) 0:35:30
14. Dan Peters, Brett Zagozewski (Prairie Boys) 0:38:19
15. Alexei Marko, Ross Mccredie (Fat Chance) 0:39:24
16. Scott Hedlund, Brad Samis (Sin Twin) 0:44:05
17. Graham Tutti, Paul Player (Tutti) 0:45:32
18. Phil Johnston, Paul Sharman (The Hustlers) 0:48:30
19. Barry Lyster, Steven Devantier (Pedal-Specialized) 0:50:50
20. Nicholas White, Jesse Epstein (Team Marty’s) 0:51:11
21. Jeff Cote, Mark Coates (Itscanadianeh) 0:54:19
22. Neall Banner, Paul Martin (Bow Cycle) 0:55:57
23. Mark Coates, (Team Coates (Team 13)) 0:56:56
24. Charles Halliburton, Nicholas Vipond (Fat And Slow) 0:57:17
25. Erik Keniston, Doug Gangi (Cold One Please) 0:59:03
26. Rodrigo Elvira, Guillermo Cuello (Miti Batai) 1:00:17
27. Terry Williams, Todd Williams (Williams) 1:12:17
28. Rick Bruce, Cam Robertson (Los Hombres) 1:18:58
29. Daniel Gordon, Greg Jakubek (Cycle Center) 1:23:28
30. Daffyd Roderick, Mike Peshko (Rpm Spinning Plus Grav) 1:36:52
31. John Nakashima, Andrew Mckean (Keep The Rubber Side D) 1:41:06
32. Tim Logie, William John (Phat’N’Dirty) 1:42:36
33. Chris Mccann, Layne Nadeau (Sierra Spokesmen) 1:57:17
34. Dan Stern, Doug Clawson (Sts) 1:57:59
35. Nick Thelen, David Simpson (Slowmosapiens) 2:09:56

Teams of 2 Open Women
1. Andrea Kraft-Costigan, Carmen Turner (Sombrio Dakine Bavaria) 2:24:02
2. Cynthia Young, Michelle Newton (Shore Girls Don’T Cry) 0:08:31
3. Jennifer Keefer, Jen Sawrenko (The Jenerators) 0:10:35
4. Emma Smith, Sarah O’Byrne (Team Tunnelvision) 0:19:37
5. Jennifer Garrett, Janna Mackenzie (Rider’s Cycles) 0:28:33
6. Karen Eller, Carolin Rahner (Scott / Trenga / De) 0:33:05
7. Danielle Fisher, Karen Todd (Katfish) 0:48:58
8. Stephanie Tuck, Megan Kogut (Lucky Golden Star Bicy) 1:05:35
9. Beth Crowther, Lanie Forman (Team 10-33) 1:43:00

Teams of 2 Open Mixed
1. Lesley Clements, Matthew Bodkin (Team Bc) 2:11:45
2. Greg Norombaba, Lisa Riehl (San Diego Trek) 0:08:43
3. Hillary Harrison, Ryan Watts (Crystal Mountain Hotel) 0:23:12
4. Karl Etzel, Jennifer Ratay (Team Ride424.Com/X-Fus) 0:32:35
5. Ming Gin, Christina Cuthbertson (Gin) 0:33:56
6. Brady Fleguel, Astrid Bonter (Vancouver Bike Gallery) 0:42:22
7. David Harris, Lynda Wallenfels (Team Desert Cyclery/He) 0:55:42
8. Robin Kay, Jameel Adam (Special K And Captain) 1:12:39
9. Jochen Faber, Diane Faber (Faber) 1:52:08

Teams of 2 Veterans 80
1. Rod Dagneau, Mike Charuk (West Coast Racing To T) 1:48:56
2. Brent Martin, Greg Hayes (Ryders Eyewear Corp) 0:04:12
3. Randy Richmond, Sandy Mitchell (Gerick- Nelson) 0:04:49
4. Dave Howells, Denis Fontaine (Ironhorse/Helly Hansen) 0:11:48
5. David Overstreet, Mark Thompson (Spike Shooter) 0:12:14
6. Doug Doyle, Darin Nevin (Sleepmonsters.Ca) 0:17:24
7. Andrew Handford, Pat Doyle (Different Bikes One) 0:18:27
8. Mike Hardenbergh, Tim Crum (Damn Dirty Apes) 0:24:10
9. Michael Wardas, Ken Waring (Up And Down) 0:25:10
10. Paul Nicholas, Henric Meldgard (Ride To Survive) 0:32:31
11. Greg Mcdougall, Graeme Fitch (Team Harbour Air) 0:36:56
12. Michael Stiles, Rick Lewis (Stitch Me, I’M Bleedin) 0:40:15
13. Dave Mountain, Jim Bennett (Midlife Mojo) 0:49:01
14. Trevor Plestid, Stuart Jones (Winded) 0:49:08
15. Steven Wallouch, Bruce Kelsch (The Aristocrats) 0:52:59
16. Dean Hachey, Mike Davidson (Hachey) 0:54:33
17. Derek Riley, Monti Burtini (Burley M F) 1:05:38
18. Keith Mcivor, Kevin Smith (Skyline Flyers) 1:08:12
19. Bruce Gordon, Ken Knight (Wheely Forkin’ Tired) 1:16:17
20. Shuichi Kanamori, Leon Fetzer (Team Shuichi-Leon) 1:22:27
21. Greg Stevenson, Jim Clement (Ready & Wheeling) 1:28:10
22. Chris Mccue, John Ratzke (Big Ride-Bigger Hair) 1:28:15
23. Ken Oertle, Jonathan Mcquenn (Team Action Cyclery) 1:47:12

Teams of 2 Veterans 100
1. Doug Nottebrock, Con Diamond (Kootenay-Okanagan Coop) 2:35:11
2. Rick Kaleta, Jean Michaud (Team Canine Carnage) 0:28:13
3. Clive Rubens, Leo Groenewoud (Geopsyclos) 0:52:49
4. Gary Stetler, Guy Dutil (Team Synergy) 1:04:37

Team of 2 VIP
1. Dean Payne, Jason Sumner (Payne Sumner) 2:36:07
2. Rene Michaely, Ryan Ervin (Michaely) 0:18:30

Team of 4
1. Rob Blanchard, Rob Herbst, Bruce Barker, Darrell Jones (Out There Guys) 2:37:16
2. Tori Fahey, Alana Heise, Lisa Le Poole, Alison Jones (Out There Girls) 0:59:17

Team of 4 VIP
1. Richie Schley, Dave Watson, Seamus McGrath, Unknown Rider (Richie; Dave & Seamus) 1:41:56
2. Brian Green, Sam Brovender, Michael Brown, Kevin (Falcon Falcons Fliers) 0:18:47
3. Melanie Mcquaid, Lesley Tomlinson, Wendy Simms, Unknown Rider (Melanie; Lesley & Wend) 0:29:01
4. Unknown Team 0:42:06
5. Our Amazing Bike Techs 0:47:07
6. Dean Payne, Mike Calwill, Peter Reid, Unknown Rider (Peter, Mike & Dean) 0:53:30

Final GC

Teams of 2 Open Men
1. Chris Eatough, Jeff Schalk (Trek VW Mountain Bike) 25:02:50
2. Andreas Hestler, Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain/Haywood) 0:42:13
3. Manuel Prado, Jason First (La Ruta/Sho-Air) 1:26:02
4. Justin Mark, Andrew Clarke (Team Helly Hansen) 3:18:28
5. Evan Plews, Bear Perrin (Capitol Subaru Cycling) 3:35:14
6. Julian Hine, Kevin Phelps (Chromag-Sram) 4:09:02
7. Michael Cushionbury, Damon Roberson (Bicycling Magazine) 4:48:18
8. Reed Melton, Marc Driver (Sun Summit South-Drive) 5:00:58
9. Timmy Dougherty, Rich Dillen (Bearnaked Cannondale/T) 5:53:05
10. Gary Jackson, James Durand (Twin Sin) 6:44:53
11. Kip Mikler, Mark Sevenoff (Bike Magazine) 7:02:24
12. Neall Banner, Paul Martin (Bow Cycle) 7:19:15
13. Scott Hedlund, Brad Samis (Sin Twin) 7:28:57
14. Graham Tutti, Paul Player (Tutti) 7:42:02
15. Nicholas White, Jesse Epstein (Team Marty’s) 7:48:46
16. Sterling Mudge, Mike Bordogna (Cloud City Cyclists) 7:55:21
17. Dan Peters, Brett Zagozewski (Prairie Boys) 8:43:02
18. Nigel Halsted, Brian Mccurdy (Ridin’ Dirty) 8:54:33
19. Alexei Marko, Ross Mccredie (Fat Chance) 9:17:02
20. Barry Lyster, Steven Devantier (Pedal-Specialized) 9:22:00
21. Phil Johnston, Paul Sharman (The Hustlers) 10:01:06
22. Rodrigo Elvira, Guillermo Cuello (Miti Batai) 10:31:00
23. Jeff Cote, Mark Coates (Itscanadianeh) 11:26:26
24. Daffyd Roderick, Mike Peshko (Rpm Spinning Plus Grav) 11:34:52
25. Charles Halliburton, Nicholas Vipond (Fat And Slow) 11:54:14
26. Erik Keniston, Doug Gangi (Cold One Please) 12:10:39
27. Rick Bruce, Cam Robertson (Los Hombres) 12:40:13
28. Tim Logie, William John (Phat’N’Dirty) 15:50:36
29. Mark Coates, (Team Coates (Team 13)) 15:52:38
30. Terry Williams, Todd Williams (Williams) 16:25:39
31. John Nakashima, Andrew Mckean (Keep The Rubber Side D) 17:24:31
32. Chris Mccann, Layne Nadeau (Sierra Spokesmen) 17:31:06
33. Dan Stern, Doug Clawson (Sts) 18:15:54
34. Nick Thelen, David Simpson (Slowmosapiens) 22:19:35
35. Daniel Gordon, Greg Jakubek (Cycle Center)

Teams of 2 Open Women
1. Cynthia Young, Michelle Newton (Shore Girls Don’T Cry) 35:19:19
2. Karen Eller, Carolin Rahner (Scott / Trenga / De) 0:23:16
3. Jennifer Keefer, Jen Sawrenko (The Jenerators) 1:11:44
4. Emma Smith, Sarah O’Byrne (Team Tunnelvision) 2:33:07
5. Stephanie Tuck, Megan Kogut (Lucky Golden Star Bicy) 4:24:27
6. Danielle Fisher, Karen Todd (Katfish) 5:06:34
7. Jennifer Garrett, Janna Mackenzie (Rider’s Cycles) 6:45:29
8. Andrea Kraft-Costigan, Carmen Turner (Sombrio Dakine Bavaria) 10:01:27
9. Beth Crowther, Lanie Forman (Team 10-33) 12:13:28

Teams of 2 Open Mixed
1. David Harris, Lynda Wallenfels (Team Desert Cyclery/He) 31:32:17
2. Hillary Harrison, Ryan Watts (Crystal Mountain Hotel) 0:44:03
3. Lesley Clements, Matthew Bodkin (Team Bc) 2:18:19
4. Greg Norombaba, Lisa Riehl (San Diego Trek) 3:41:44
5. Karl Etzel, Jennifer Ratay (Team Ride424.Com/X-Fus) 3:59:07
6. Brady Fleguel, Astrid Bonter (Vancouver Bike Gallery) 6:02:33
7. Robin Kay, Jameel Adam (Special K And Captain) 14:15:11
8. Jochen Faber, Diane Faber (Faber) 18:41:20
9. Ming Gin, Christina Cuthbertson (Gin)

Teams of 2 Veterans 80
1. Randy Richmond, Sandy Mitchell (Gerick- Nelson) 28:38:35
2. Rod Dagneau, Mike Charuk (West Coast Racing To T) 0:35:50
3. David Overstreet, Mark Thompson (Spike Shooter) 1:18:30
4. Andrew Handford, Pat Doyle (Different Bikes One) 2:14:16
5. Brent Martin, Greg Hayes (Ryders Eyewear Corp) 2:44:45
6. Dave Howells, Denis Fontaine (Ironhorse/Helly Hansen) 3:31:54
7. Mike Hardenbergh, Tim Crum (Damn Dirty Apes) 4:21:08
8. Michael Wardas, Ken Waring (Up And Down) 4:30:36
9. Doug Doyle, Darin Nevin (Sleepmonsters.Ca) 4:49:34
10. Keith Mcivor, Kevin Smith (Skyline Flyers) 5:40:17
11. Michael Stiles, Rick Lewis (Stitch Me, I’M Bleedin) 6:15:02
12. Paul Nicholas, Henric Meldgard (Ride To Survive) 6:34:56
13. Dave Mountain, Jim Bennett (Midlife Mojo) 7:23:04
14. Trevor Plestid, Stuart Jones (Winded) 7:54:54
15. Steven Wallouch, Bruce Kelsch (The Aristocrats) 8:28:50
16. Dean Hachey, Mike Davidson (Hachey) 8:41:02
17. Greg Mcdougall, Graeme Fitch (Team Harbour Air) 8:54:45
18. Greg Stevenson, Jim Clement (Ready & Wheeling) 9:41:51
19. Bruce Gordon, Ken Knight (Wheely Forkin’ Tired) 10:00:46
20. Shuichi Kanamori, Leon Fetzer (Team Shuichi-Leon) 10:32:36
21. Chris Mccue, John Ratzke (Big Ride-Bigger Hair) 11:38:04
22. Derek Riley, Monti Burtini (Burley M F) 12:31:03
23. Ken Oertle, Jonathan Mcquenn (Team Action Cyclery) 15:31:23

Teams of 2 Veterans 100
1. Doug Nottebrock, Con Diamond (Kootenay-Okanagan Coop) 34:53:55
2. Clive Rubens, Leo Groenewoud (Geopsyclos) 10:15:37
3. Rick Kaleta, Jean Michaud (Team Canine Carnage) 12:10:47
4. Gary Stetler, Guy Dutil (Team Synergy)

Team of 2 VIP
1. Dean Payne, Jason Sumner (Payne Sumner) 2:36:07
2. Rene Michaely, Ryan Ervin (Michaely) 0:18:30

Team of 4
1. Rob Blanchard, Rob Herbst, Bruce Barker, Darrell Jones (Out There Guys) 38:17:58
2. Tori Fahey, Alana Heise, Lisa Le Poole, Alison Jones (Out There Girls) 5:38:12

Team of 4 VIP
1. Unknown Team 2:24:02
2. Our Amazing Bike Techs 0:05:01
3. Dean Payne, Mike Calwill, Peter Reid, Unknown Rider (Peter, Mike & Dean) 0:11:24
4. Richie Schley, Dave Watson, Seamus McGrath, Unknown Rider (Richie; Dave & Seamus) 4:39:07
5. Melanie Mcquaid, Lesley Tomlinson, Wendy Simms, Unknown Rider (Melanie, Lesley & Wend) 9:53:00
6. Brian Green, Sam Brovender, Michael Brown, Kevin Falcon (Falcons Fliers) 12:24:58