Under clear, blue skies and rising temperatures, the Comox Valley Cycle Club's second race of the Comox Cup Series, the Mike Fisher Realty Tsolum River Road Race, kicked off with 28 riders on the line. A total of four categories lined up with the A’s racing 83km, B’s 62.2km, C’s 41.5km, and Novice 20.8km.
At the start line, the category C’s and the Novice started out together with 10-year-old Isaac Van der Vliet, in Novice, kicking off on the same roads his father, brother, and sister had raced on at his age. After taking the win and easily staying with the C group, young Isaac got to watch as his sister, brother, and father finished their races.
In the C category, five riders lined up for a very fast race with Trail Bikes-Eatmore Sprouts (TBES) Cycling Team rider Mark Grant taking the prime prize midway through the race before winning the sprint over Ernie Klassen and Kia Van der Vliet.
In the B category, seven riders lined up for six laps around the tough course. Right after the start line, the race experienced its first surprise of the day, when Trevor Pritoula’s rear tire blew out. In the mid-race prime, Rob Stables jumped away to take the prize. At the end of the race, Team TBES rider James Grant sprinted to the win over Hugh Park and Rob Stabler.
In the A category race, 16 riders lined up for eight laps in what was to be a race of attrition as the temperatures heated up. In the wake of two small crashes on lap two, Team TBES rider Nigel Ellsay took off on a solo flier. The pace of the pack instantly lifted and quickly narrowed down to a six- man chase group comprised of TBES riders Doug Merrick and Andrew Grant, CVCC riders Jeff Matell, John Van der Vliet, and Ray Wagner, and Oak Bay Bikes rider Warren Muir.
Andrew was later dropped from the group just before it caught Nigel. On lap five, Ray Wagner sprinted successfully to win the prime. After numerous attacks from Team TBES, all the riders felt the strain of the 83km road race in the heat with TBES rider Nigel Ellsay taking the sprint win over Warren Muir and Jeff Matell.
Prizes and mid-race primes were provided by Blacks Cycle, Trail Bicycles and Nestle Canada, with post-race snacks and ice cream from Quality Foods and Nestle Canada. A big thanks to all the volunteers who made this event possible, and to Mike Fisher for his generous sponsorship.