Mar 14, 2005 – The rolling farmroads of Bradner played host to 171 riders on Sunday, with a 9km circuit course. Another sunny and hot day (17 °), jerseys and shorts were the order of the day, as lots of very white legs received some much needed tanning.

In the A Group, a large group of 20 riders got away early on the third lap, not without being passed by an eager B Group on the first lap. Once the two groups were separated, the racing got underway. In the lead group, most of the Symmetrics squad (Brad Fairral, Christian Meier, Jeff Sherstibitoff), several Solo/Adobe riders including Carl Jacobson, and Trek/Red Truck Racing strong man Sean Dawson were all present, along with Martin Gilbert (Trek/VW) and pro Kirk O’Bee (Navigators). The large group, which seemed destined to ride away with the race, got over 2:30 on the chase group of 35 riders, but with seven laps remaining, the group was pulled back in. Left in front was Andrew Kyle (Sugoi), Dawson, and Jacobson.

These riders would continue for a few more laps, before being caught by a hard-charging reformed peloton. The last four laps would be characterized by attacks on Bradner’s rollers, with small groups of two and four riders getting away then being brought back in. Finally, a group of five riders secured their move, with Kirk O’Bee bridging up, followed by a solo bridge from Larry Zimich (Team Coastal). In the sprint, O’Bee took first place over Martin Gilbert and Luca Segato (Organic Athlete).

The B Group race was a continuation of the grudge match between two guys who will soon find themselves in the A Group. The winners of 4/5 B Group races to date, the familiar faces of Garth White (Comox Valley CC) and Tim Abercrombie (Escape Velocity) emerged on the last lap, along with Paul Craig (Natural Earth Racing), leading the pack by no more than 200m. Craig lost contact as Abercrombie towed White to the line for the last 2km. White then came around Abercrombie to take a cheeky victory…

Chris Smit (Team Coastal) made it two for two this weekend winning his second C Group race. Teammate Deema Annyuk was second and 15 year-old phenom Cody Campbell (Team Soliton) took an impressive third place.