Blocks Cycle XC8: 8 Hour Enduro Mountain Bike Race
Hosted by the Offroad Syndicate
Buffalo Pound Provincial Park, September 6th, 2008

Congratulations to all of our racers, on and off the podium!
With over 123 registered racers (up from 83 last year), XC8 eclipsed all other mountain bike events in Saskatchewan this season. Many of our good friends joined us again for another season, spanning from British Columbia to Manitoba. The weather was chilly but perfect weather for endurance racing. The new course this season was longer, tougher, and pushed the racers to their limits. What we will remember most is sharing another great biking experience with good friends from near and far. The breakdown for racers by province are as follows:
Saskatchewan: 57%
Alberta: 30%
Manitoba: 11%
British Columbia: 2%

Team Results
Saskatchewan swept the podium for the 2-Person Mixed teams, Krave (aka Insidious) claimed their third straight victory. The 2-Person category expanded this season to the point that we can finally offer a Female-specific 2-Person category for next season; "Spokes and Nipples" (Pepper and Judy Harlton) won the unofficial 2-Female category; one competing on a Cyclocross bike! The 4-Person winner was The Sean Fahlman Experiment (Alberta), who also won the 2:00 time bonus at the start of the race.

Female Solo
Acclaimed racer Mical Dyck won the overall Female Solo title and took home this year's trophy, dethroning Trish Grajczyk (last year's winner) who took home 2nd place. The Female Solo podium was packed with Alberta racers, but that's come to be expected after previous years of strong results. Alana Heise rounded out the category in 3rd place, out of a total of 11 female soloists.

Male Solo
There was an even larger Male Solo category for 2008, a total of 31 male solo racers competed for first place, and even though Saskatchewan's Cory Zetterstrom showed promise early on of finally breaking the Alberta sweep, it happened again! Craig Stappler claimed first place by seconds over Shawn Bunnin (former Saskatchewan racer). Although, Craig had the 2:00 time bonus, so he knew he had it in the bag. Jeff Neilson (3rd) joined Shawn and Craig on the podium for the traditional shower of champagne.

Thanks and Special Recognition
Special Recognition goes to Tori Fahey aka "The Bumblebee" for best costume and spirit, Jeremy Erdmann (6th) for highest ranked Saskatchewan male soloist, Pat Hummenny for winner of the Single-Speed category. Our men and women from CFB Moose Jaw were a huge help, who course marshalled all day, and everyone else who volunteered to help during the event as well. Russ Down (Regina, SK) won the $850 2009 Rock Shox Sid Race fork. The Norco Faze 1 frame ($1600 MSRP) was won by Gary Buxton from team CanmoRebound... who was later seen cuddling with the frame on the way back home! {I'll find his name ASAP}

We can't forget Darcy and Blocks Cycle and Norco for their gracious title sponsorship of the event, without them we wouldn't have those sweet Grand Prizes and all the other cool shwag. We have some absolutely amazing sponsors, and we thank you all for making XC8 what it is. Check out ALL of our great sponsors (new and old) listed at the bottom of this page.

Looking Forward to 2009
Again, thanks to all of our fabulous racers who make XC8 a success year after year. With this year's event complete, we start planning for 2009. We're always excited to hear your feedback from the race, and look forward to reading your comments and suggestions for 2009. Here are some of the things to look forward to for 2009:

Newly redesigned race course.

2-Female category (in addition to 2-Person (Mixed) category.

An exciting new after-party concept.. live music? hot tubs? You'll just have to see!

Here are the Official Results. Please let us know about any spelling mistakes, etc.

Solo Male - Official Results, posted September 8th, 2008

Laps Time Name Place Location

9 07:22:09.609*p Craig Stappler 1 Calgary, AB
9 07:24:13 Shawn Bunnin 2 Calgary, AB
9 07:25:49.031 Jeff Neilson 3 Calgary, AB
9 07:39:48.328 Patrick Humenny 4 ss Lethbridge, AB
9 07:52:56.046 Pat Doyle 5 ss Calgary, AB
8 07:22:43.421 Jeremy Erdmann 6 Regina, SK
8 07:37:27.343 David Dorning 7 ss Winnipeg, MB
8 07:49:32.390 Scott Legere 8 Nelson, BC
8 08:06:56.046 Shayne Burwell 9 Saskatoon, SK
8 08:18:09.578 Cory Zetterstrom 10 Saskatoon, SK
7 06:52:30.171 Greg Sherwin 11 Brandon, MB
7 07:12:17.234 Marty Hafke 12 ss Fernie, BC
7 07:21:39.546 Hal Loewen 13 ss Winnipeg, MB
7 07:30:14.171 Mel Sysing 14 Saskatoon, SK
7 08:18:57.484 Mike Kuczer 15 Winnipeg, MB
7 08:24:12.828 Darren Dyck 16 Central Butte, SK
6 07:20:45.406 Albie Malan 17 Saskatoon, SK
6 07:27:55.578 Dustin Dollar 18 Calgary, AB
6 07:35:08.609 Jacob Kennedy 19 Moose Jaw, SK
5 04:10:45.812 Dallas Morris 20 Calgary, AB
5 04:27:53.828 Erik Bakke 21 Calgary, AB
5 06:23:24.218 Luc Antaya 22 Winnipeg, MB
5 06:56:07.500 Duane Banman 23 Regina, SK
5 07:06:08.640 Allan Robertson 24 Winnipeg, MB
5 07:10:34.093 Shawn Zayac 25 Winnipeg, MB
5 08:02:27.421 Tim Brown 26 ss Saskatoon, SK
5 08:05:39.921 Jeremy Kozack 27 Regina, SK
4 04:01:06.109 Sean Verret 28 Edmonton, AB
3 03:37:44.796 Gerry McCuaig 29 Calgary, AB
3 03:46:46.968 Jamie Marshall 30 Calgary, AB
3 07:22:29.640 Oskar Wolf 31 Saskatoon, SK

ss - single speed racer
*p - prime winner (-2:00)

Solo Female - Official Results, posted September 8th, 2008

Laps Time Name Place Location

8 07:15:17.046*p Mical Dyck 1 Calgary, AB
8 07:54:33.390 Trish Grajczyk 2 Calgary, AB
8 08:18:00.609 Alana Heise 3 Calgary, AB
6 07:20:34.140 Tory Fahey* 4 Calgary, AB
6 07:29:56.781 Erica Musyj 5 Regina, SK
5 06:27:31.734 Linda Green 6 Calgary, AB
5 06:56:05.093 Kiley Bourns David 7 Regina, SK
4 04:09:15.359 Naomi Humenny 8 Lethbridge, AB
3 04:13:25.281 Susan Bladyko 9 Regina, SK
3 04:24:42.312 Seema Saini 10 Winnipeg, MB
3 05:45:45.703 Donna Shire 11 Regina, SK

*Tori Fahey won best dressed as "the Bumblebee"
*p = prime winner, (-2:00)

2-Persom Teams - Official Results, posted September 8th, 2008

Laps Time Name Place Location

9 07:29:58.640 Krave 1 Regina, SK

9 07:43:15.156 RamRod 2 Regina/Esterhazy, SK

9 07:55:44.265 5-oh Boys 3 Regina/Deer Valley, SK

9 08:09:26.437 Regina Giants 4 Regina, SK

8 07:08:45.156 Spokes and Nipples 5 Widewater, AB

8 07:34:55.484 Scratch and sniff 6 Regina, SK

8 07:40:26.718 Blood Sweat and gears 7 Saskatoon, SK

8 08:07:00.312 The Wave 8 Saskatoon, SK

8 08:12:04.593 Morning Wood 9 Regina, SK

7 07:22:19.906 Pair of Jacks 10 Moose Jaw/Prince Albert, SK

7 07:23:44.109*p Home Grown 11 Moose Jaw, SK

7 07:46:50.187 JBA Construction 12 Winnipeg, MB/Calgary, AB

7 07:53:11.796 He aint heavy 13 Calgary, AB

6 07:19:03.687 Fender Benders 14 St. Beieux

6 07:36:37.359 Team Ops 8 15 Regina, SK

6 08:16:55.640 Hot cross buns 16 Regina, SK

5 07:42:52.734 Sexy Knees 17 N/A

5 08:02:20.859 Team Unknown 18 N/A

3 05:55:18.750 Team Fazlagic 19 Regina, SK

2 04:02:10.859 Western Cycle 20 Regina, SK

Krave: Dave Bitschy, Kris Abrahamson. RamRod: Jayden Aldrich, Matt Johnson. 5-oh Boys: Dean Etienne, Jeremy "I have to go to a wedding" Trask. Regina Giants: Rick Vircavs, Pedro Peralta. Spokes and Nipples: Pepper Harlton, Judy Harlton. Scratch and Sniff: Ryan Leibel, Shane MacNaughton. Blood Sweat and Gears: Susan Clarke, Neil Clarke. The Wave: Tom Wolf, Peter Burgess. Morning Wood: Trevor Hopkin, Russel Down. Pair of Jacks: Joe Jackson, Alan Jackson. Home Grown: Tyler Large, Chris Kell. JBA Construction: N/A. He Aint Heavy: Calvin Bruce, Duane Bruce. Fender Benders: Brennon Martin, Kelby Martin. Team OPS 8: Orville Aldrich, Sam Nayet. Hot Cross Buns: Christine Martyn, Cory Elek. Sexy Knees: N/A. Team Unknown: N/A. Team Fazlagic: Caleb Fazlagic, Zlatan Fazlagic. Western Cycle: Alex Ready, John Baker.

* Caleb Fazlagic was our youngest racer, 8 years old.
"Spokes and Nipples" was winner for best team name in the "Best Sexual Inuendo" category.
"Morning Wood" was winner for "Most Obvious Dirty Team Name".
"Pair of Jacks" won most witty and intelligent team name.
*p = prime winner, (-2:00)

4-Persom Teams - Official Results, posted September 8th, 2008

Laps Time Name Place Location

9 08:10:39.375*p The Sean Fahlman Experiment 1 Alberta

8 07:44:18.703 KNK 2 Regina, SK

8 07:54:42.578 CanmoRebound 3 Canmore, AB

8 08:20:14.703 4 on the floor 4 Regina, SK

7 07:23:49.265 No Bid 5 Regina, SK

5 06:17:27.765 Dukes 6 Regina/Saskatoon, SK

4 05:44:40.625 Shaky 7 Regina/Maple Creek, SK

The Sean Flaman Experiment: Neil Reid, David Asselstine, Jason Reid, Kevin Fahlman. KNK: Kris Wall, Kim Wall, Dylan Smith. CanmoRebound: Gary Buxton, Laurie Buxton, Glenn Issac, Jeff Amirault. 4 On The Floor: Tom Schmidt, Jay Van Ginneken, Dion Giesbrecht, Brent Waliduda. No Bid: Jim Harris, Jay Blackmore, Mark MacNaughton, Steve Matthews. Dukes: Sherman Martison, Kent Gray, Andrew Longstaff, Scott Landry. Shaky: Brad Buehler, Duncan Whittick, Nick Flaman, Shawn MacLennan.

"CanmoRebound" won most creative team name.
*p = prime winner, (-2:00)