Furious3 Fernie, BC 2012 - Day 3 Recap and Final Results

With the sun shining, a fun day of singetrack lined up and it being the last day of the Furious3 stage race, competitors were all smiles at 9am in downtown Fernie as they set off on their mountain adventure. A quick stretch of road before the singletrack meant position was an essential component. Turning into Sidewinder, racers were surprised with how dry the trails were in comparison to the past two days. Continuing with a few connector trails before enjoying the descent of Oh Dear, they were then challenged with the undulating, fast and flowy Coal Discovery Trail and then the grind of Ridgemont Road back to Kid’s Stuff and Splitting Bears. Here, they crossed to Castle Mountain via River Road, making their way to climb the popular Hyperventilation en route to Southern Comfort. Here they enjoyed the swoopy and fast descent, knowing it was their last of the race. A quick climb up River Road and powerline grunt, riders flew into the finish with smiles as the crowd greeted them.

In both the open men and women fields it was a tight race right to the finish of the third day. Shawn Bunnin of Deadgoat Racing flew into first place, watching as the seconds passed as he knew he needed more than a couple of minutes to take the lead. Sloane Anderson managed to come through just in time, taking first overall by a mere 33 seconds. Mike Vine, whom had suffered a technical mishap early in the day, took third place. Evan Plews of Salem finished fourth.

On the ladies’ side, Kate Aardal was fighting hard the last two days to regain time she lost in day 1 from a technical, but Mical Dyck was not ready to lose her lead and the duo raced tire to tire right to the finish. In the end Mical Dyck held first place overall with a 1:23 lead. Rose Grant, whom had had a solid third place in day one and two, said she made the mistake of not going out hard to get a good position in the first section of singletrack and left room for Melanie McQuaid, who was pushing hard all weekend, to take third.

Racers, families, friends and fans stayed in the finish area, cheering on competitors as they made their way to the finish, sharing stories from the weekend, and celebrating one another on their accomplishments.

The Fernie Trails Alliance should be commended for its hard work at maintaining the amazing network of trails in Fernie, and the many volunteers rewarded for helping this awesome event take place in our community. We’re looking forward to next year already!

Crowsnest Coffee on site keeping fans and racers energized!

Tippie as high energy as always, stoked to see the first racers coming in!

Shawn Bunnin, having finished first, awaits the next rider to see where he sits overall.

Mike Vine sharing his ride with Tippie at the finish.

Mical Dyck and Kate Aardal after just racing to the finish!

Melanie McQuaid, having just taken third.

Downhill rider to downhill rider, Tippie asks Nick Quinn, "How does it feel being the fastest guy in baggy shorts?"