Oktoberfest in Kamloops

This was so steep I think this is the only time I climbed it.
Doesn't help that I'm running a 32t single ring.

Back in early October, the fine folks at the Harper Mountain Ski Resort (20 minutes from Kamloops) held its first ever cross country enduro mountain bike race at the ski hill. The Harper mountain bike trails are known far and wide as some of the best downhill and freeride trails in BC. There have been numerous events on those trails, but never on the actual ski hill itself.

As soon as I heard about a race at the hill I was on it like Kim Steed on a vacuum cleaner. Any time an area with so much potential opens its proverbial doors to a mountain bike event, you support it. Well, me and about 70 other participants felt the same as they came out in support of what was going down. That included women's World Cup overall winner and Kamloops local, Catherine Pendrel, plus others like National team members Matt Hadley and his wife Catherine Vipond (fast Kamloops racers), and so on.

One nice thing the organizers did was open the quaint little lodge for the racers. They had a roaring fire going in the huge fireplace, plus they served cold beer and hot food all day. It was a treat for sure, because Kamloops in October can be a tad chilly.

Epic loamy descent, taking the inside line and holding it thanks to Maxxis rubber.

The premise to "Oktoberfest" was to see how many laps could be done in 4 hours. You could solo it if you could handle the tough 4.5km course, or team up with a single partner or a team of four. My wife, Selena Lawrie, and I teamed up for our first ever race together. What a date!

My wife is the happiest person I know, besides Kim Steed of course.
Here she is, ex BC Road Champ, destroying the descent.

The course started out with a nice gentle climb up an old 4x4 road that the downhillers use to shuttle on. Some sections were very steep and almost unclimbable for most, but what it led to was an amazing sustained descent all the way back to the lodge. This decent was long and resembled a BC Cup DH course more than a XC decent. Considering I was riding a 2010 Giant Reign 0 and my wife on a Devinci Remix, we killed the downhill portion of the course while managing to keep a steady pace going up.

Riding a Giant Reign 0 and an X Fusion Vengeance fork
meant I was able to open 'er up on the downhill.

I managed to pump out five laps and Selena, four, on this demanding course. But we were up against Catherine Pendrel and her husband Keith Wilson, plus Matt Hadley and his wife Catherine Vipond. There was no hope in coming anywhere near to the number of laps they could dish out, but we did earn a third spot in the mixed team category. Matt and Catherine V. put in 13 laps, and Catherine P. and Keith pulled off 12.

When it was all said and done, EVERYONE had smiles on their faces and stories of what transpired during the race came out over beers in the lodge.

Here's smiley again, railing a tight turn thanks to her Devinci Remix
and prototype Maxxis tires.

The terrain and trails were so good and so full of potential that it could easily rival any cross country race course in the country. I'm sure everyone that attended Oktoberfest is hoping for this to become an annual event.

Check out some of the amazing photos of the race by Kevin Bogetti-Smith, and the results from the race.

http://www.harpermountain.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_phocagallery&view=category&id=1&Itemid=132

http://www.harpermountain.com/joomla/images/harper/Harper%20Mtn%20Enduro%202010%20Results%20with%20classes.xls.pdf