The Burns Lake Mountain Biking Association hosted its tenth annual Big Pig Mountain Biking Festival Aug. 11 to 13. Despite Boer Mountain being almost completely socked in with smoke for most of the week, the event had a good turnout. By Saturday afternoon, the much-needed rain put a slight damper on the evening entertainment, but mountain bikers are tough. The event saw participants from Prince George, Quesnel, Smithers, Telkwa, Hazelton, Francois Lake, Fraser Lake, Victoria, Hagensburg, Cache Creek, Whitehorse, California – and of course, Burns Lake.
The age categories were: cutlet (12 and under), junior tender (13 to 15 years), senior tender (16 to 18 years), lean (19 to 34 years), gristle (35 to 49 years), freezer burn (50 to 59 years), and for those over 60 – knocking on heaven’s door. In keeping with the pig theme, riders are either “boar” or “sow.”
Kid’s events
This year’s Big Pig kicked off with the kid’s events on Friday night when 35 youth came out to test their skills. This year a new event was added for youth seven and under – a scavenger hunt. The youth rode around Kager Lake looking for special items, and were rewarded with candy bags for their effort. The youth over seven had the option of entering in downhill, cross-country and pump track events. In the eight-nine age group, Milo MacDougall of Smithers swept first in all three events for the boars. Local Dylan Stewart followed suit and swept second for all three events. Dillan Jankowski of Smithers took third in the downhill, and local Adam Franz took third in the cross-country. Trevor Stone of Smithers was first in both the cross-country and pump track for the 10-12 sow age group, and took third in the downhill. Ewan Hawes of Burns Lake was second in both the cross-country and downhill event. Dillan Jankowski was second in the pump track, with Walker Green, also of Burns Lake, was third in the cross-country.
Hasada Finstad was first in the downhill for the sow category, followed by Cedar Rysavy of Smithers and Bree Stanyer of Burns Lake. Locals Tessa Green and Lola Wilson took first and second in the pump track, with Cedar Rysavy in third place. Tessa Green, Ella Broadworth and Hadasa Finstad – all of Burns Lake - were top riders in the eight-year-old sow cross-country race, with locals Bree Stanyer, Tehya O’Meara first and second, followed by Cedar Rysavy, for the nine-year-old girls. All youth were awarded with the ever-popular “cookie medal.” Zoey Thom-Lucy of Burns Lake was first in both the downhill and cross-country, and third in the pump track. Matilde Roldan of Whitehorse was second in both the downhill and cross-country, followed by local Maddison Philip who was third in both events. Overall top boar youth was awarded to Trevor Stone of Smithers and sow Zoey Thom-Lucy.
Dante’s Inferno
This event took on a new twist this year, with teams or solo riders completing the most 10 km loops in a five hour period. Boar Chris Yip of Prince George was top gristle individual competitor, completing eight laps, followed by Nathan Blok of Prince George with six laps and Mike Stone of Fraser Lake also completing six laps. Freezer Burnt Neil Hodgson of Prince George completed seven laps, with Steve Osborn of Smithers completing six laps in the Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door age group. In the team event, “Roldon Power” (Aisha, Jean-Francois and Mara Rolden of Whitehorse took first, completing seven laps. Team “Laker Lads” (locals Pat Dube, Tom Blair and Ken Giesbrecht) completed six laps taking second, with local team “Steve Squared” (Steve Davis and Steve Stanyer) also completing six laps for third place.
Burnt Bike Challenge
The Burnt Bike Challenge (BBC) – 30 km of awesome singletrack trail – saw 15 riders complete the loop this year. The BBC required riders to scale to the top of Boer Mountain, down the newly completed Razorback Trail to the Burns Lake Bike Park and through the bike park for a total distance of 30 km. For the Lean age group sows, Michael Jordan of Telkwa and Willard Andal of Prince George finished with times of 2:15 and 2:30. Matt Brown (2:47) of Prince George, Liam Overstall (2:53) of Smithers and local Sean Broadworth (3:40) were top finishers for the Gristlly guys. Local Dave Sandsmark (2:53) and Cache Creek visitor Glen Buchanan (2:56) rounded out the field for the Freezer Burnt age group. Allison Oliver of Hazelton was top sow competitor (3:23), followed by local Susan Russell (3:32) and Esther Platts of Quesnel (4:12).
Wilbur’s Wheelay
Wilbur’s Wheelay can either be a team or solo event, and features varying combinations of friends, family members and co-workers! Teams complete as many laps of a five-kilometer course as possible within three hours. This year saw six teams and two solo entries. Team “Foam” comprised of Zoey and Avril Thom-Lucy, and Ashley and Madison Phillip completed 9 laps to claim top prize. The “Kager Kruisers” of Burns Lake (Karen Broadworth, Jenny Phillip, Terri Shanks and Loreena Campbell) also completed nine laps for second place. The “Downtown Browns” (Madylen, Matt and Trina) of Prince George placed third with eight laps. Cameron Stewart of Burns Lake was first in the solo category with seven laps, followed by Cooper Thom-Lucy.
Downhill race (Charlotte’s Web = 3.8 km)
In the boar category, the Cutlet age group was swept by Smithers: Tosh Krauskopf (10:41), Jasper Tysavy (12:12) and Toan Krauskopf (12:59). Local Zoey Thom-Lucy was the sole entry for the Cutlet sows (18:19). Junior Tender winner was Cameron Stewart of Burns Lake (9:46), followed by Ivan Hanchard of Smithers (10:26) and Brody Green of Burns Lake (16:27). Again the Thom-Lucy family was the lone sow entry, with Avril clocking 15:08. The Senior Tender boar results were: Dave/Robert Charette of Smithers (9:25/9:52) followed by local Cormick Turner in third (10:14). The Lean boar category was swept by Prince George riders: Connor Sproull (fastest time for the day - 9:11), Willard Andal (9:21) and Glenn King (9:23). Prince George also took top places for the Lean sows: Bo Murphy (11:37) and Rebecca Irving (12:56). Local Dave Sandsmark took top place in the Gristle group by 0.3 seconds (10:07.5), followed by David Walter (10:07.8) and Jason Krauskopf (10:17), both of Smithers. Allison Oliver of Hazelton topped sow locals Laura Stewart (11:41) and Susan Russell (11:58) with a time of 11:23. Locals Patti Dube and Guy Epkens-Shaffer were in classes of their own this year (Freezer Burnt and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door) with times of 12:21 and 14:00.
Four-Cross Race
The four-cross race consists of four riders riding abreast, vying for the “best line” on a winding course consisting of table tops, step ups and berm turns. Despite a few showers, this year’s event was once again an entertaining spectator sport, with some moves that had the crowds holding their breath. The overall fastest sow was Bo Murphy of Prince George, followed by Laura Stewart and Alison Oliver. The boar 13 and under age class winners were all from Smithers: Tosh Krauskopf, Toan Krauskopf and Jasper Rysavy. The 14-18 boar winner was Robert Charette, second Cameron Stewart and third Ivan Hanchard. For the 19-34 year olds, Prince George took all: Glenn King, Connor Sproull and Willard Andal. Dave Walter of Smithers took top place for the 35-49 crew, followed by Scott Young who hailed from Thousand Oaks, California, with Jason Krauskopf taking third place.
