Two-time winners at Test of Metal

Neal Kindree and Sandra Walter won the Test of Metal mountain bike race in Squamish, B.C., on Saturday June 15, 2013. Both raced as part of a field of nearly 1000 mountain bikers, and both have won the race in a previous edition.

Kindree, a Squamish local, first won the event in 2006. He finished the race in a time of two hours, 34 minutes, 28 seconds.

“I think it ranks second to my initial win [2006],” said Kindree, in an interview with The Squamish Chief newspaper. “It’s hard to beat the first one because the Test is a race I watched when I was a kid but this one is really nice too.”

Walter won the women’s division in a time of 3:00:21. She last won the Test of Metal in 2001, and has racked up back to back Canada Cup races this season.

“I thought the race had gotten away from me early on,” said Walter, to The Chief. “I fell back to fourth pretty early and had to recuperate and just went on my own pace.”

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Organisers worked with the Squamish Dirt Bike Association to include the Ring Creek Rip trail to this year’s race. It was that portion of the course where Walter was able to find the legs to challenge for the race, eventually taking the lead and holding first place all the way to the finish line.

“I just put my head down and tried to hold on,” said Walter. “This is the perfect example of never giving up – I was a little bit worried at the start of the race but just didn’t give up.”

Kindree has qualified for a draw to win an entry at the Tour of the Dragon, held in Bhutan in September. Along with Kindree, five other entrants will have their name placed in a draw to determine who will earn the invitation.

Team Squamish rider Rhys Verner put in a stellar performance, winning the 14-19 year-old men’s group. Verner finished in a time of 2:51:40, the only ride in his division to break the three hour mark, and nearly 15 minutes ahead of the second place finisher.