PAIR TEAMS WICKS/SNEDDON AND SIMMS/THIBAULT WRAP UP THE BC BIKE RACE WITH OVERALL WINS

The second installment of the B.C. Bike race concluded today in Whistler, British Columbia and Team Kona once again rose to the occasion to protect the leads in their respective categories. All the racers today faced a technical, demanding course which featured such epic trails as See Colors and Puke, River Runs Through It and Cut Your Bars.

Kona Factory riders Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks took third place on the day but won the overall title in the Open Men’s category. Times for all teams are accumulated over seven days to calculate overall rankings. Earlier in the week, Wicks and Sneddon won the fourth stage. Wicks completed the entire event on his Kula Deluxe 2-9.

First today was the team of Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard then the team of Max Plaxton and Andreas Hestler who took second place. Both of those teams though will not receive an overall ranking as neither team completed every single stage due to mechanical mishaps.

The Kona mixed team of Wendy Simms and her husband Norm Thibault won today’s final stage in commanding fashion along with each and every one of the previous six days stages. Their final time would have put them in 10th place in the Open Men’s category which is an outstanding achievement. Both are now looking forward to the seven day Transrockies Challenge which starts August 10.

Kona staffers Dik Cox, Paddy White, Eddy Marcelet and Mark Matson entered stage 6 and completed the demanding Squamish course together as a team of four. Matson went on to ride the seventh stage in Whistler with Vancouver rider Joe Maika.

The Team had Konaworld staffer Dave McNaught along for the entire race, wrenching the bikes to perfection and occasionally shooting fireworks into the air after crucial stage victories. The entire team would like to thank all their home stay billets for the duration of the race and the Mayor of Port Alberni who provided inspiration all week long.