May 2, 2006 – Sunny skies set the stage for a beautiful start of the Plastiglas Ontario Cup Series. Over 750 riders from all over Ontario, Quebec, and even Upper New York State attended Ontario’s official start to the mountain bike race season.

The 9 km course was designed in a figure eight pattern offering lots of spectator viewing areas. The flowing singletrack, sharp climbs, and fast doubletrack had the right combination of pain and recovery to test everyone’s early season fitness.

In the Elite Men’s race Andrew Watson, Team RACE, took the win with a commanding victory over the rest of the field. Mike Garrigan, Team HB, and Derek Zanstra, 3 Rox, came in 2nd and 3rd place respectively and will have many more trips to the podium this year. It was no surprise that Amanda Sin, 3 Rox, was the fastest Elite Woman of the day, but Catherine Vipond, Sport Swap, had a tremendous 2nd place finish and was right with Amanda until the final lap. Heather Morrissey, 3 Rox, rounded out the top 3 with a solid early season placing. Kaitlin Michener and Jon Kinsie of Arrow Racing both took the win in the Junior Expert Women’s and Men’s divisions.

Special thanks to our title sponsor, Plastiglas Industries, and our host Mansfield Outdoor Centre. We would like to thank our other sponsors including Xhilirate Energy Drink, Dukes Cycle, Ecclestone Cycle, Bay Cycle, Gears Bike Shop, Cycle Solutions, Arrow Racing, Outpost Magazine, Pedal Magazine, Squires Race Service, Sugoi, East Side Mario’s, Norco Performance Bikes, Yamaha, Yakima Racks, Kicking Horse Coffee, the Canadian Ski Patrol, and the OCA.

Congratulations to all finishers and we’ll see you at the Plastiglas Ontario Cup #2 taking place at Albion Hills on Sunday, May 14.