If you like mountain bike enduros there’s one race that has to be on your hit list and that’s the Bowness Nationals held every year in September in Kananaskis Country, Alberta. This fall classic is run by Calgary’s Bow Cycle and starts at 7:30 in the morning and this year the temperature was spot on zero degrees celsius.
The course this year saw a departure from previous years that took riders on a loop around Moose Mountain. This year the riders took in such classic K-Country trails as: Sulphur Springs, Elbow Valley, Powderface Creek, Prairie Link, Prairie Creek, Pnuema, Special K and then finishing off with Tom Snow trail. 63 km total with 7500 feet of climbing.
Papa John Franzky of Bow Cycle did a great job rounding up the riders for the early start then announcing their names and their finishing times all day long.
Kona Factory team rider Cory Wallace from Jasper took his spot on the start line at the front of the group wearing his new Alberta Provincial Champ jersey he won in Hinton this year.
And they’re off.
Wallace had the race in hand at the summit of the first climb but two flat tires shortly after had him fighting back to eventually take second overall.
A steady stream of racers work their way to the top of the first climb of the day.
The Bow Nationals has seen rain, snow, sleet and howling wind over the years and many veterans of this race brought lots of clothes this time around.
Xterra Veteran Mike Vine had the race under control as he headed to the big climb up Powderface Creek trail. He went on to take the overall win in a time of 4:00:52.3.
Tim Brezsnyak flew down the Special K trail and took 3rd place in the Single Speed category. Gabor Csonka was first in that category and stopped the clock at 4:17:27.6. The legendary Pat Doyle of Calgary was second.
Trish Grajczyk had a good time going down Special K, won the Ladies 40+ and took second overall behind Kate Aardal.
Special K’d.
The top three in each category receive a belt buckle…everybody wants one.
The the top three in the Men’s 41-50 age category: Craig Bartlett (3rd), Leighton Poidevin (1st and fourth overall) and Cal Zaryski (2nd).
The King and Queen of Kananaskis for 2012 are Mike Vine and Kate Aardal. See you next year.
Happy to report that Matt Hunter is on the cover of the March 2012 issue of Bike Magazine. Shot alongside the boys from Freeride Entertainment while working on the Specialized Enduro web edit this past fall in Beautiful British Columbia.
Axl and A.Ron from Freeride earlier that day shooting with the Red Camera.
Just another day at the office.
A.Ron shooting a time lapse as the clouds roll by.
Axl and Matt discussing the game plan.
Everything was going great until Mr. Nibs peed on my camera pack.
