“FOR THE past twoy years 1
“have competed in the:.’
-‘Cheakamus Challenge, a gru-
. dling mountain bike race. :
, from Squamish to Whistler.

This highly publicized event

> attracts. 1,000 racers from all over

.‘ North America and the world into .
Whistler, village.: The race --- cover-.
ing 65 km (40 miles) of trails and -
climbing 2,100 m (6.900 ft.) —
invclves the whole community; stop-
ping traffic on Highway 99 in the
‘moming, and bringing a flood of '

. mountain-hikers into Whister. ‘
1» Every year more riders puta. -
greater demand on the rice, and per:
“haps because of this the « organization
“of the race is questionable. :

‘The.10th annual race was -

plagued with problems this year, For
“starters, a smal] handful of people

. > working the registration desk the

“-moming of the race caused hour- ;
“Jong lineups and delayed the start.
~ When it came time to start, there
‘was a poor announcement to line up,
-which resulted in people missing.

a Although there i is not much you:
..can do about the taffic on sighway
99, the-crossings were handled well.
‘At the start‘of the race, cars'were |
" free to drive down the Paradise » °
- Valley road into the oncoming thou- . .
sand riders, You would think they.

* would close the road after last year,
when. cars were hit by angry racers
# (myself included), : :
-- Leven heard of racers being cut
._ Off by the train at certain crossings,
” giving them ‘definite time disadvan-
tages. One of the overall concerns
“2. between both racers and spectators
:. was that there was not enough med-

. ical staff on the course, If you ‘were _ — 4 ( A WIDE SELECTION

.. 0 crash‘on one of the remote down- , :
“Jou goul beeen OF WOMEN’S COATS — , POLYFILL,
Andy asin sDepeoepie | gk & JACKETS “LINER & WOOL ©

. Shop and Power Bar rider.’ He ; Includes cloth coats apd polvfill
crashed on one of the last downhills, __ Includes cloth coats and polyfill J ACKETS
' cutting open his elbow and leg, and es . and cloth jackets. .
had to ride to the finish before he .' ve a an Off our regular prices, ne a Off our regular prices.
_ received medical attention. Traslin - : 101/801, Women’s Outerwear, : ‘. : 101/801, Women's Outerwear.
“then rode his bike to the hospital - Selection will vary by store. i - | Selection wilf vary by store.
where he received six stitches in his. , ; oe ; ; .
~ elbow. When he crossed the finish
line, he said the paramedics helped
“Bi out but would not take him to
-.”the hospital. The lack of course mar-
. shals caused racers more risk of dan- “*
ger and confusion on the course. ©
JY All inal, | think the Cheakamus
Challenge is a good challenging race
and | will continue to compete in it.
‘But f would like to see better
“organization and more of the profits

. : : : : . 2 . *
Og n , { : ‘s For more information call
4 going back into the race and prizes, . the B.C. Recycline Hotli
‘which are pretty insignificant for e ol VS ‘an le re the B.C. Recycling Hotline
such a high profile race. . 732-925 3:

: Steve Mitchell is a Grade 12

Argyle student enrolled in Videa op ; ~~ Your to.t Start. a edu ucing | GREATER VANCOUVER a
Production [2 at Leo Marshall BC ran don't have Oo hrow it away, tN OR

_Curgulon Cire. | Endron ma ent and reusing programme this festive season. gaia eaita | L 300- 667- 4321