March 28/11 11:04 am - BC Island Cup #3

Posted by Editoress on 03/28/11
 

Hadley and Dyck Conquer Island Cup #3

The quaint little hamlet known as Cobble Hill is the third stop on the Vancouver Island Cup XC series. The course was split into two climbing sections and two descending sections, and totalled roughly 6.5km. The race brought out some big Island names:  3 time Single Speed CX Champion Drew Mackenzie, Master National CX champion John Fokkema and even former national triathlete Kelly Guest. Throw into the mix were other names : Hovey, Skinner and Woodburn - this was a stacked field and no easy laps for anyone. With a mass start and a short steep climb before the first single track,  it was the key to be out front. Matt Hadley, National Team member and Olympic hopeful, led out Drew Mackenzie and never looked back, increasing his lead each lap and winning by about 1:30, with Carter Hovey getting past Fokkema in the last lap to claim 3rd.


The women’s race saw two National Team racers go head to head. Mical Dyck lined up next to Catherine Vipond for the coveted hand made Cobble Hill Coffee mug (the 1st place prize). With a strong start Dyck led into the single track and put a little time between herself and Vipond. Catherine fought back near the summit, caught and passed Dyck and started to pull away, passing lower categories as she powered away. It then took Dyck nearly the rest of the race to catch back on, eventually passing Vipond on fire road before the last single-track descent.  Vipond grabbed the wheel of Dyck and they reamined tight all the way down to the fire road.  It looked like they may sprint the line until Catherine washed out as she powered through of the last corner to the road, but held it together to hold onto 2nd. Karen Truman came in at 3rd. 

Courtesy Regan Pringle

Women
1 Mical Dyck
2 Catherine Vipond
3 Karen Truman

Men
1 Matt Hadley
2 Drew Mackenzie
3 Carter Hovey
4 John Fokkema