For the 10th consecutive year, local riders were invited to take on the challenging trails in Valleycliffe at the annual Beyond the Valleycliffe of the Dolls (BVOD) ride.
According to race organizer Bryan Raiser, it was another memorable afternoon for what has become a staple of the local riding scene in the summer.
"I thought it went really well this year," he said. "It seemed like everyone had a great time, we had 45 riders out and raised about $1,000 for 蜜桃视频appSearch and Rescue."
Raiser told The Chief last year that the 10th edition of the event would likely be his final time organizing and he stayed true to his word, announcing that local rider Evan Sykes will be taking over the reins of the event for the foreseeable future.
"Every year Evan has paid his entry fee and every year he ends up volunteering as a sweep," Raiser said. "He's actually the only person to have ridden in each and every BVOD because I missed one year when I was in the hospital."
According to Raiser, the transition to Sykes as race director should be smooth.
"He's always been a super behind-the-scenes helper for the event and he's one of those really quiet guys that you would recognize," he said. "He's one of the many fantastic people in this community that goes above and beyond and does it quietly, far more quietly than me."
Raiser said the idea for the race began with an event he attended more than 10 years ago.
"A friend of mine had an event of similar structure. It was a group ride but it was 11 hours long," he said. "We started with two hours in Valleycliffe, then went to the top of Diamond Head, then went to Alice Lake and then Cat Lake. At the end of the whole thing I was just like, 'We could've just done Valleycliffe.'"
After his friend told him he didn't have the time to plan such an event, Raiser decided to do it and, "next thing you know after a night in the pub, 10 years later I've got 10 of these under my belt."
He said there have been several memorable moments throughout the 10-year history of the event but the appearance of Ashleigh McIvor at the 2004 edition of the race was amongst the top highlights. McIvor is now an Olympic gold medalist in skicross.
"I remember she showed up in jeans, a T-shirt and a full face helmet," he said. "No Camelback, no nothing and everyone was like, 'Who is this?' The best part was that she was just coming off of knee surgery and she totally rocked the whole thing."
Raiser noted that many young riders helped hone their skills at the event, noting that Miranda Miller and Kyle Quesnel hold the record for the youngest participants in their respective genders. Miller took on the BVOD at age 14, while Quesnel rode the event at the tender age of 12.
He said although he won't be the race director for the 2012 edition of the event, he expects to participate.
"I'm definitely still going to help out and be a part of it," he said. "I can't wait to ride the next one. But it's nice to have someone want to continue something you started. We've got some people who've volunteered for eight years and people who've ridden it for seven or eight years too. People are into this and whenever I put the call out for people to help, they jump."
Raiser expects next year's BVOD will occur around the same time as this year's, but full details still need to be ironed out.
"The summer schedule for this town is just nuts with events," he said. "Whenever we put it on over the years it's always competed with something, but it's always gone off successfully."
