Kamloops Princeton 400
Organizers Report
by Bob Boonstra

The Interior 400 brevet this year was a repeat of the route to Princeton done quite some number of years ago, but with the extra twist of starting from the Thompson valley instead of 350 meters above it. This made for a bit of extra uphill on route - a total of 3300 meters vertical. Ten people showed up - most of them for the "early" start of 05:00 to take advantage of an extra hour of daylight. Four began their event at the scheduled 06:00. Route cards have been adjusted for the 05:00 or the 06:00 start.

The conditions were cloudy and wet to start with thundershowers and subsequent cold rain forecast mid day. Winds were forecast from the NW or SW depending on time of day at about 20 kph. There were no amenities available outside of Merritt, Princeton or Kamloops, requiring riders to carry ample supplies with them on the long stretches between controls. In addition, the route has three substantial climbs, the first from just 320 m to 910 m, the second from about 600 m to just over 1100 m and once again from about 620 m to just over 1100 m. These do not include the famed Kardu hill - a stiff climb at 11% at 370 km into the course. It was anticlimactic for some but perhaps not all - depending on the state of physical and cognitive ability of each participant upon arrival at its base.

The speedy Shawn and Chris Wenger couple completed by 21:55 for an elapsed time of 16:55.
The rest of the field completed in times that were expected for each of them. These are as follows:

Bob Goodison 17:25 Doug Fox 21:25 Paul Lahti 23:17 Mike Eder and Connie Van der Ree (tandem) 24:10 and Trevor Taylor 24:20.

Cynthia Wood and Dave Robar rode together - making a leisurely and confident start at 06:30 since they were a bit late in getting to Kamloops from Vancouver. Unfortunately, they didn't take quite enough clothing to contend with the very cold rain that they encountered on route near Princeton and this, along with a painful Achilles tendon inflammation on Dave's leg, caused them to choose to spend the night comfortably ensconced in a Princeton motel. They were picked up and returned to Kamloops the next morning and reported enjoying this very scenic route.

Richard Blair and Bob Boonstra rode this course as a pre-ride a week earlier, sleeping comfortably in Merritt upon the return for a few hours to finish in a rather leisurely 26:25 in weather conditions better than on the brevet day.

Go To: Results

June 1, 2011