Following a summer of furious single-track cycling battles on the B.C. Enduro Series circuit, the boomer and the millennial squared off one more time on home soil.
Veteran rider Richard Mulligan, winner of the 2015 Kootenay B.C. Enduro Mountain Bike Master’s title, and Jack Menzies, the 13-year-old U15 B.C. Enduro winner, have chased one another all season on the Kootenay circuit, and were prepared to settle their friendly rivalry at the Drie Zussen Superprestigue Cyclocross race at the Three Sisters Disc Golf course in Canmore, Sunday (Sept. 20).
It was the first official cyclocross race for both of them, and they were the class of the novice men’s field. Putting on a show for the crowd, the race showed off the marvelous bike handling skills of both riders in one of the tightest battles of the season.
Facing riders three times his age, Menzies showed early on he wasn’t an easy mark. He finished the first lap in fourth place and charged into first place on the second lap, with Mulligan trailing by about five seconds. The two pressed hard to gap the field and, by the beginning of the third lap, it was evident it was a two-rider race.
Menzies did his best to gap Mulligan, showing prodigious skills on the various features, but Mulligan’s wily riding style refused to let the teenager go.
For the uninitiated, cyclocross is a road bike/mountain bike hybrid race, where riders are challenged by several obstacles on an off-road course. The speed of the first lap determines the length of the race, so there is quite a bit of strategy involved in the race.
By the fifth and final lap, Mulligan made his move on a flat stretch of grass, pulling away from Menzies with a great burst of speed. He hit every feature perfectly, knowing one mistake could cost him the race. Approaching the final climb up a multi-log feature, Mulligan timed his approach perfectly, which secured the win in a time of 40:47. Menzies charged with a brilliant final push, but fell short by three seconds.
“Being this was my first cyclocross race ever, I had lofty goals of not coming last or getting lapped. Once I got up in the pack, I deked behind Jack and waited to see if I had enough jam at the end to punch through,” Mulligan said.
Menzies said he was thrilled to have such a rough battle with Mulligan.
“It was so much fun to race against Richard,” Menzies said. “He’s an overall great rider and can nail everything.”
Shawn Bunnin of Deadgoat Racing won the open men’s category by 25 seconds over Isaac Niles. Ian Auld finished third. Marg Fedyna won the open women’s division by 14 seconds, defeating Alana Heise and Shantel Koenig. Canmore’s Robin Pollard was eighth.
Christian Gomes of Ascent Cycle Racing won the expert men’s division by 24 seconds over Adam Germaine and Jason Redfern, while Marc Ouellette won the sport men’s race by 15 seconds over Graham Diehl. Spencer Louis was third. Meghan Osborne won the sport women’s division, followed by Daena Blixhavn and Nicole Romanow.
