Kris Yip didn't let a winter-long separation from his bike keep him from spinning to a finish line celebration.
Having put away his cross-country skis for the season, the 39-year-old Yip proved he's still a dominant force on the local bike racing circuit and on Saturday he was the first of 32 riders to complete the 54-kilometre course in the Prince George Cycling Club's season opening road race.
Yip avoided the flat-tire disaster that knocked out frontrunner Neil Hodgson of Telkwa with seven kilometres left and was all alone in his finishing sprint after one hour 31 minutes 50 seconds of racing.
"It was a tough race, it's always a good test to see how the winter goes and I've only been on the bike about four weeks so it's really tough to gauge your fitness," said Yip. "Through the winter I don't touch the bike at all, I like to take a break and just ski. Fortunately it felt good on the climbs, pretty comfortable. It came down to two of us at the top of Johnson hill and we were working well together and unfortunately Neil [Hodgson] got a flat."
Yip averaged 35.4 kilometres per hour in more than 90 minutes in the saddle.
"The wind was tough," said Yip. "You just had to put the head down and crank it out and go as fast as you could go and it worked out well. I think I was doing OK for the first race of the year. You come back on the bike refreshed and you're happy to get on it."
Nathan Blok emerged at the front of a seven-rider pack to finish second overall in 1:33:40, two minutes behind Yip. Derek Hornden was third in 1:33:41.
"There was a bit of juice left at the end," said Blok. "I was trying to catch Kris but he was quite a ways out. I did a lots of cross-country skiing and put lots of kilometres on the windtrainer to stay in shape. It was a little boring but it looks like it paid off."
The race attracted 32 riders, an all-time high for a season-opening PGCC road race event.
Spring came a month earlier to the Smithers/Telkwa area and Hodgson said he's already logged almost 3,000 kilometres of training getting ready for the race season. He thought he would be sticking with Yip right to the end until he heard the big pop from his tire.
"Me and Kris had a nice break going and with a bit of luck I would have hung on to his wheel and taken second, but that's racing," said Hodgson. "Kris is a great rider and I was honoured to be up there with him."
At 54, the English-born-and-raised Hodgson is relatively new to bike racing.
"I just started riding four years ago and I was 60 pounds heavier four years ago," he said. "I encourage anyone to get out and buy a bike and get riding. It's great for your health."
What started as a warm sunny morning turned into a cool, gusty day by the time the race began. Strong crosswinds were energy-sapping demons, especially for solo riders who had nobody to draft behind. Lanita Horning, 49, one of five female riders, found herself in that situation after falling behind the pack about a third of the way into the race but her long-distance muscles didn't let her down. She found all the power she needed to pass by that group and was the top female rider, clocking 1:55:10.
"That wind was very discouraging," said Horning. "My group of ladies dropped me on Tabor hill and I was within 500 yards of them the whole way, so I rode the course by myself. I passed them on Bendixon and thought I'd better not look back."
Leanne Head (1:56:00) and Chrissy Blok (1:57:02) were second and third in the women's race.
After years of being a rarity in the male-dominated Prince George racing scene, Horning was encouraged to see some new female faces. She said more women should take advantage of the group rides on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings to get used to the fun of riding in a pack.
