The fifth annual Boogaloos event was quite different from the first four.
There was a change in name - from Boogaloo to Boreale - sparked by a slight change in the course. In previous years the race started or ended at the Boreale Mountain Biking compound.
This year the event started and ended at the Magnusson trail parking lot on Grey Mountain Road on Saturday, but still used a lot of the Boogaloo trails.
No one seemed to mind the changes.
“It was great. I love the grassroot events and they put together an awesome course today with a ton of single-track,” said Kristenn Magnusson. “I don’t think I reached for my water bottle once because I didn’t have the opportunity between shifting, gearing up and gearing down, and taking the corners, and staying with the rubber-side down. It was pretty fun.”
Magnusson had fresh eyes for the event. She moved to Whitehorse from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island a month ago.
Magnusson was the top female on the long course, completing the 21-kilometre race in one hour, 21 minutes and 49 seconds. She is currently doing some coaching with Boreale Mountain Biking, which co-hosted the event with the Contagious Mountain Biking Club (CMBC).
“I’m not used to the dry, sandy, dusty (conditions) - we don’t get much of that on (Vancouver) Island,” said Magnusson. “On the corners you tend to skid out a bit.”
Saturday was also the first for race times to be recorded at the event, using CMBC’s new Jaguar System that employs tiny computer chips stuck onto helmets like stickers. It was a practice run for the system, which will be used at CMBC’s 24-Hours of Light Mountain Biking Festival noon to noon, June 22 to 23.
The Jaguar System reaffirmed the fact that Whitehorse’s David Gonda is freakin’ fast.
The three-time Yukon mountain biking champ was the fastest overall on the long course, cruising over the finish line at 1:04:45.
“It’s just nice to come out to an event with good organization, a barbeque - to see local people,” said Gonda.
“It was great. I just tried to ride as smooth as possible. My back was getting a little sore because it was different muscles - you don’t really feel that until you’re going hard in a race like this. It was a fun course, primarily all single-track. It definitely kept you on your toes.”
Gonda represented the Yukon in cycling at the 2009 Canada Summer Games in P.E.I. The race’s second-place rider is scheduled to represent the territory at the 2013 Canada Summer Games in August.
Whitehorse’s Spencer Skerget, 19, rode to second with a time of 1:07:53.
Skerget’s passion for the sport was ignited after representing the Yukon at the 2011 Western Canada Summer Games where he placed 10th in the mountain bike race.
“I really got into it a couple years ago - I went to westerns - I just kind of heard about it and went for the team and ended up going,” said Skerget. “I got a half-decent result, so I’ve been keeping with it the last couple years.”
The Boogaloos was a change of scenery for Skerget after beginning the season in the 2013 Island Cup race series in Victoria, B.C., where he attends school. In the Island Cup he had three top-10 finishes and two top-20s in the expert men’s division.
“It’s awesome. The riding here is a lot different than what I’ve been riding during the winter on the west coast,” said Skerget. “It’s good to come back and ride fast trails.
“It’s less technical and more fast. Less steep - a lot more fun.”
Veronica Huggard, another mountain biker on board for the Canada Games, placed fourth for females on the long course with a time of 1:30:54.
A total of 81 riders cycled in the 21-kilometre, seven-kilometre and a kids races at the Boogaloos event, down from 101 last year.
Top-10 results
Long course males (21 km)
1st David Gonda - 1:04:45
2nd Spencer Skerget - 1:07:53
3rd Josh Decloet - 1:08:15
4th Ian Parker - 1:11:03
5th Guy Gorrell - 1:13:45
6th Derek Crowe - 1:13:45
7th Bill Slater - 1:14:49
8th Preston Blackie - 1:16:35
9th Thomas Tetz - 1:17:48
10th Ryan Leech - 1:18:11
Long course females (21 km)
1st Kristenn Magnusson - 1:21:49
2nd Sierra van der Meer - 1:28:43
3rd Sam Salter - 1:28:47
4th Veronica Huggard - 1:30:54
5th Jenny George - 1:43:17
6th Stephanie Gorrell - 1:46:33
7th Julia Lindeman - 1:57:26
8th Rachel Moser - 1:59:37
9th Carrie Burbidge - 2:04:41
10th Katherine O’Donnovan - 2:05:26
Short course males (7 km)
1st Micah Taggart-Cox - 31:27
2nd Caious Taggart-Cox - 36:25
3rd Lucas Taggart-Cox - 51:46
4th Hunter Vincent - 1:03:06
5th Jay Sinclair - 1:03:44
6th Ferdie Rogle - 1:03:47
Short course females (7 km)
1st Ava Milner - 33:09
2nd Kelly Milner - 33:09
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com