Finishing good as gold for Manitoba rider

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This article was published 30/07/2017 (3153 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Becca Man could just as easily have called it a day.

She could have slowed up, steered her mountain bike to the rest area, dismounted, dumped a bottle of water on her head, sucked back Gatorade and sought out some air-conditioning.

But the thought of gearing down Sunday afternoon never entered her mind — not at the Canada Summer Games and not on the course her dad designed.

Outclassed in strength, ability and experience by the frontrunners but no less relentless, the 16-year-old Winnipeg rider completed all five laps around the 5.1-kilometre Bison Butte course at FortWhyte Alive in the female cross-country race.

Man, one of two Manitobans in a field of 20 athletes, was the last to cross the finish line. Officially, she was 13th, while seven others didn’t finish.

That, in and of itself, was accomplishment enough for Man, one of the youngest riders in the field who pushed hard to stay in the race. She did not want to join others who fell too far behind are were directed off the course by officials.

“I was the last one to not get pulled. It means a lot. I’m really proud of my performance,” said Man, whose father, Alex, designed the new course in southwest Winnipeg specifically for the Games. “It was my goal to not get pulled — so, goal met.

“I was listening to the announcers and they announce where the first-place person is on the course. And so I just compared that to where I was.

“By the fourth lap I was pretty aware of it,” she added. “I was coming around through the last section at the end, through the jumps, and I looked behind me and couldn’t see anyone else. And I was like, ‘OK, I’m in the clear.’”

Quebec rider Anne-Julie Tremblay, 21, led from start to finish and cruised in with a time of one hour, 30 minutes and one second to capture the first gold medal of these Games.

Braving the oppressive heat, the 21-year-old from Saguenay gained an edge on the fourth lap on Ontario rider Jenn Jackson, who was following closely behind but slowed up on the winding, rocky trail up a 100-metre high hill — with the Ikea sign and City Mix concrete plant serving as a rather odd backdrop.

“In the technical climb, I’m really strong in that,” Tremblay said. “Someone said to me (Jackson) had a foot down, so I said, ‘OK, I’m going to kick.’ And I (created) a little gap.

“I’m very happy to take the first gold medal at this Games. For me, it’s like my Canadian championship. I go to the world championship with Team Canada in September, so it’s good motivation for me.”

Jackson, 22, who hails from Horseshoe Valley, north of Barrie, Ont., settled for the silver medal. She said the 30 C temperature and tricky course made for a challenging ride.

“As a cross-country skier, I wish it was about 40 degrees cooler,” said Jackson, a gold medallist in cross-country skiing at the Canada Winter Games two years ago in Prince George, B.C.

“We’ve had a couple of hot races this year, and just learning from experience we knew it was so important to be taking your feeds, making sure you’re getting your electrolytes and salts back into you.

“We were taking dump bottles, too, just dousing ourselves in ice water as frequently as we could.

“(The course is) physically demanding. The accumulation of constantly being on the gas, I was cross-eyed by the third lap. I started making mistakes on the (technical) climbs. It’s deceptively hard.”

Ontario’s Soren Meeuwisse collected the bronze medal.

Man, who finished about 21 minutes after Tremblay, likely knows the course better than any other rider here, because of the close connection to the designer. That’s what makes competing this week at Bison Butte — a man-made course with steep climbs, switchbacks and a few straightaways around a lake — so memorable for her.

“He put in a lot of volunteer hours to make it a reality. It means a lot. It’s cool to compete on a course my Dad has put so much hard work and effort into. It’s just kind of cool to see his legacy carried on through this course,” Man said, adding she could hear fans screaming encouragement all race.

“It’s exciting and it’s really motivating, just to have everyone behind me, and have my back.

“It’s a good feeling.”

Fellow Manitoban Chloe Penner, 17, had a problem with her bike and had to carry it nearly three kilometres but, ultimately, did not finish the race.

“My chain got stuck between two chain rings so I couldn’t get it out, and couldn’t pedal,” she said. “It kind of sucks a bit, but that’s racing.”

Penner and Man are scheduled to race in more mountain bike and road racing events over the next two weeks.

Eastern power

In the male cross-country race, Felix Burke, 21, of Mont-Tremblant, Que., grabbed the gold medal with a five-lap time of 1:17:01, while Ontario’s Brody Sanderson won the silver and Quebec’s Félix Belhumeur earned the bronze.

“I’m over the moon and relieved at the same time,” said Burke. “This is a really special one for me.

“The heat was a huge factor. Starting on the third lap, I was already alone on the front and I didn’t want to let up and I could feel the heat and I was starting to see stars and I was like, ‘All right, this one’s gonna be a suffer-fest’ and just stayed focused on the present and went as fast as I could today — which is probably why I can’t stand up right now.”

All three Manitoba riders — Kailen Shackleton, Carson Thompson and Ari Robinson — finished the gruelling race but came up short of the podium. Six racers didn’t finish.

Shackleton, 17, of Portage la Prairie placed 16th with a time of 1:30:50 and was satisfied with his effort.

“I finished really strong. I thought I paced myself pretty well,” he said. “There was some pretty hard competition out here, so you have to kind of not worry about them because if you worry about them and want to stay with them, you blow up. Then you can’t finish.”

Thompson crossed the line 27 seconds behind Shackleton to finish 17th, while Robinson was 20th at 1:34:09.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter:@WFPJasonBell