Race the Ranch
Speed, adrenaline, bone-jarring bails, high-speed turns, the joy of success and the agony of defeat — the first stop on the Downhill BC Cup Series at the Kamloops Bike Ranch (KBR) is going to have it all.
For the last three years, stop No. 1 — Race the Ranch — has drawn more than 350 riders, making it the most-attended race of the seven stops on the circuit.
The fifth annual Race the Ranch is scheduled for an 11:30 a.m. start on Sunday, April 24.
Riders will enjoy the work of former elite downhill racer Wayne Parsons, who designed and built the course on behalf of the Kamloops Performance Cycling Centre (KPCC), which is funded by the city.
“It’s a machine-built, downhill-specific race course, as opposed to a free-ride course,” KPCC president Henry Pejril said.
“It’s very fast and it has a lot of flowing sections.”
Cycling BC-licensed riders who plan on attending multiple series events will be competing for points that go toward the circuit’s standings.
Race the Ranch is not just for licensed riders, though, “citizen catergories,” as Pejril described them, are open to the general public.
There are multiple divisions, ranging from under-15 men to senior women, and everything in between.
The minimum age for competitors is 13.
Email 2011bike@telus.net for registration information.
Riders are invited to the ranch on Saturday, April 23, for a chance to become familarized with the terrain.
The course will be open all day.
There will be dual-slalom races taking place on Saturday, too, with the action set to get underway at 5 p.m. in the jump park near the bottom of the ranch’s trails.
RTR is a spectator-friendly event, said Pejril, who suggested onlookers gather below the pump house and BMX track on the east side of Highland Road.
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