North Shore riders stayed cool on a scorching hot course at Sun Peaks Resort Sunday to claim several medals - including three national titles - at the 2014 Canadian Mountain Bike Downhill Championships.
Vaea Verbeek of North Vancouver led the way, winning a Canadian title in the elite women's category. Other first-place finishers included North Van's Daniel Shaw who won the junior men's (U19) division and Michael Mooney who took top spot in the master men's 50+ category. Silver medals went to North Van's Colin Yarrow in the master men's 40-49 group and West Vancouver's Henry Fitzgerald in the cadet men's (U17) division, while Martin Newman of North Vancouver scored bronze in the master men's 40-49 division.
The win for Verbeek, a native of Grandby, Que. who has lived in B.C. for the past two years, capped an impressive comeback for her following two months of inactivity forced by a lacerated liver.
"This is a relatively unexpected victory, and I am extremely happy," she said in a Cycling Canada release. "I did not have many expectations as to my performance coming back from injury just last week, and I think that's what helped me this weekend. I just wanted to ride, and go as fast as possible. I was eager to ride this very fast course."
Temperatures pushed close to 40 C at the resort near Kamloops, baking the tricky 2.6-kilometre course into a dusty speed chute. Verbeek completed her ride in a time of 3:56.00 to win by more than two seconds. The win earned her the coveted Maple Leaf jersey given to national champions as well as a sleeve that she will wear for the next 12 months that marks her as the Canadian champ.
"I never had the honour to wear the national champion jersey," she said. "The next year will undoubtedly be quite a different experience. I am confident that my results will follow at the World Cup level. My main goal this season is to break the top 10 at the World Cup, and I hope that the sleeve will give me a little boost."
Shaw proved that he is one of the top young riders in the country with his win in the junior men's category. His time of 3:39.66 topped Whistler's Jack Iles by just 11-hundredths of a second.
The event at Sun Peaks turned into a bonding opportunity for two North Vancouver families as Cole Mooney, son of masters gold medalist Michael Mooney, and Jacob Stefiuk, stepson of masters silver medalist Colin Yarrow, hit the same course for a B.C. Cup race being held in conjunction with the national championships.
Cole Mooney finished first in the B.C. Cup U17 Sport race with his good friend and fellow Argyle student Jacob just behind in second place.
The two boys started biking together, eventually inspiring Colin and Michael to follow suit. It's all worked out well for the old fellas as they both earned a spot in the 2014 masters world championships and will compete in Hafjell, Norway Aug. 24.
