I just got back home in Victoria from another first place finish at the Sunshine Coaster DH race. The course was really fun to ride and the weather was amazing the whole weekend. I’d never ridden on the Sunshine Coast before and it’s definitely a cool spot I’d like to ride again.
I arrived Friday morning at the race with teammate Andrew Mitchell after driving 2 hours and taking 2 ferries. The Dunbar crew shuttled about 4 runs that evening and I tried to figure out the course. It’s a bit flatter than most courses and isn’t the most technically challenging but it was still very fun to ride. Saturday morning I got up and walked the course to try and find where I could make up some time over the other racers. There aren’t many lines on the course but I did find some double lines to help maintain speed through flat rough sections. To win this race I would have to have a perfect run so even small lines were important. I managed to time one practice run with freelap on Saturday afternoon and pulled out a 2:50.42 which I knew was faster than last year’s winning time so I was satisfied knowing I was on pace. I figured with some stronger pedaling I could take a couple seconds off for my race run.
Raceday I was feeling anxious to get on with the race. I was one of the first pros out of the gate and when I got to the bottom I was surprised to find out I was 5 seconds up in the hotseat with a 2:50.40! My run was very much like any other practice run really, except it’s funny because I felt like I put so much more effort into that run but it was only 0.02 seconds faster haha.
Top 5 Pro Men
1. Dean Tennant 2:50.40
2. Tyler Gorz 2:52.84
3. Jamie Biluk 2:53.55
4. Dan Skogland 2:55.32
5. Tim Coleman 2:56.32
Next up is the Tremblant Canada Cup in Quebec. I hope I can carry this momentum through to that race and pull out a good result there. Cross your fingers for me!
10 second win at Port Alberni Island Cup!
I’m really stoked to pull off a win by my biggest margin yet- 10 seconds! I got up at 6:00am to drive up-island to Port Alberni for the 2nd Island Cup of the year. The whole day went smoothly, I was expecting it to pour rain the whole day but it was mostly cloudy instead. The course is the best I’ve raced so far this year; the top part is gnarly and rooty with corners and the bottom is faster with flowy berms and small jumps. That might be why I was in a really good mood the whole day; I was just having so much fun. Shuttles up to the top were fun too; it’s probably the roughest shuttle road anyone will see at a race and we’re all packed into these vans 4bying up the road!
My run was good without any big mistakes. The course is longer than most so by the bottom I was quite tired, however I still pulled off a scrub-whip off the last jump going into the finish line for the crowd which garnered some cheers. There were a lot of talented riders at this race so to win by such a big margin is one of my biggest achievements yet.
Top 5 Pro Men
1.Dean Tennant 3:59
2.Simon Garstin 4:09
3.Sky Gustin 4:10
4.Jamie Biluk 4:13
5.Connor Macleod 4:16
Thanks to the race organizers, Lee Blais and Colin Wilson for the wicked event and to my sponsors, Dunbar Cycles and Sombrio.
Cheers
Dean
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