Blocks Cycle XC8: 8 Hour Enduro Mountain Bike Race
Hosted by the Offroad Syndicate
Buffalo Pound Provincial Park, September 5th, 2009

Thank you to all of our 143 registered riders who made the 5th Annual XC8 the largest bike race in Saskatchewan. This was a goal and milestone for the organizers this season. This also marks our 5th straight season of growth, previous best was 125 racers.
Friends came together, from across all of Western Canada, once again welcoming racers from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The race course was a little less extreme than last season, but the heat made up for it. Everyone struggled but came shining through despite the fatigue, pain, and the crashes. Once again, on behalf of the organizing committee, Blocks Cycle, and all of our fabulous sponsors, thanks for attending and we hope to see you next season.

The breakdown for racers by province are as follows:
Saskatchewan: 53%
Alberta: 32%
Manitoba: 14%
British Columbia: 1%

Team Results

  • "Spokes and Nipples" moved from the "2-Person Open" category to the brand new 2-Female category, and placed first overall.
  • "Hairless Primates" won the 2-Person Open category over "Zooshy" by 6 minutes. "Zooshy" narrowly beat out "Diagnosis Cameltosis" by 14 seconds.
  • The 4-Person winner was SFE Cycling (formerly The Sean Fahlman Experiment) who repeated their win from last season, nearly lapping the 2nd place "BCW" team. Trail Blazers finished 3rd. The majority of teams (5) completed 9 laps each; these teams ranged in finish times by only 13 minutes.

    Female Solo
    Alana Heise won top female solo in a strong group of women, improving on her 3rd place finish last season. Nicole Muzechka and Cat Horbatiuk rounded out the podium in 2nd and 3rd places respectively, both first-timers are the XC8.

    Male Solo
    44 Solo Men took to the race course (up from 31 last season). Jeff Neilson (1st), Craig Stappler (2nd), and Patrick Humenny (3rd) made the podium an Alberta sweep, Saskatchewan was shut out of the podium for the 5th season in a row (next year, right?). They also took home a combined $500 in cash prizes. Manitoba's top solo male was David Dorning (5th). Scott Legere was BC's top solo male finisher (7th).

    Thanks and Special Recognition

  • Pepper Harlton was awarded the "pee cup" .. in our first season offering a female doubles category, her team won by 3 laps. Pepper was also selected for winning a sweet set of *mountain bike* wheels, for her 2 year dedication to riding the course on a *cyclocross* bike.
  • Susan Bladyko for best costume and spirit, and she was the highest-placing Saskatchewan Female Solo.
  • Bob Hawboldt (11th) for highest ranked Saskatchewan male soloist.
  • Patrick Humenny for winner of the Single-Speed category.
  • Special thanks to all volunteers who make it possible to run the event.
  • The Alsport Hillclimb Challenge was won by Craig Stappler (first male), Alana Heise (first female), Donna Shire (last female), and Chad Nilson (last male). They each won a shuttle trip to the top of the 1/4 Mile later in the race.
  • Craig Stappler became the only two-time winner of "the brick" for the first person to the top of the 1/4 Mile Climb to start the event.
  • Miguel Kukura was the youngest racer, 11 yrs old.

    Thank you Darcy and Blocks Cycle for your continued support of this event. Darcy spends a lot of time (and money) to bring you the best event possible, the coolest shwag and those Grand Prizes. I truly believe this season we had the best lineup of sponsors and partnerships.

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

    Solo Male - Official Results, posted September 7th, 2009
    LapsTimeNamePlaceLocation
    11 07:42:19. Jeff Neilson 1Alberta
    11 07:47:47. Craig Stappler 2Alberta
    11 08:04:25. Patrick Humenny 3 ssAlberta
    10 07:38:32. Graham Torrie 4Alberta
    10 07:42:01. David Dorning 5 ssManitoba
    9 07:20:44. Gary Buxton 6Alberta
    9 07:33:52. Scott Legere 7British Columbia
    9 08:02:18. John Paul Peters 8Manitoba
    9 08:18:59. Craig Marshall 9Alberta
    8 06:31:15. Greg Sherwin 10Manitoba
    8 07:13:43. Bob Hawboldt 11Saskatchewan
    8 07:24:23. Cory Smith 12
    8 07:26:31. David Larsen 13 ss
    8 07:48:07. Adrian Bergles 14
    8 07:55:52. Albie Malan 15
    8 08:13:18. Darren Dyck 16
    7 06:29:53. Thomas Yip 17
    7 07:06:01. Graham Wiebe 18
    7 07:08:43. Nathan Sedgewick19
    7 07:33:49. Joshua Ginter 20
    7 07:57:34. Gerry McCuaig 21 ss
    7 07:57:41. Shane Lindsay22
    7 07:59:44. Curtis Falk23
    6 04:17:05. Pat Doyle 24 ss
    6 05:35:42. Steve Walsh 25
    6 06:46:12. Paul LaBissonniere26
    6 07:44:12. Carl Chandler 27
    6 08:25:57. Joe Chammartin28
    5 04:09:26. Ryan Correy 29
    5 04:31:12. Russell Thiessen30
    5 05:04:20. Hal Loewen 31 ssManitoba
    5 05:19:20. David Meban 32
    5 05:26:55. Ryan Young 33 ss
    5 05:29:05. Jason Lavigne34
    5 05:48:57. Adam Mickelson35 ss
    5 05:50:38. Al Mickelson 36 ss
    5 06:50:28. Josh Hooper 37
    5 07:54:43. Mark Horechka38
    4 03:52:08. Shawn Zayac 39
    4 05:03:08. Dmitry Zuev 40
    4 05:05:27. Lawrence Keller41
    4 07:00:26. Ryan Dumont 42
    4 08:25:22. Danielle Frenette43
    2 06:10:51. Chad Nilson 44

    ss - single speed racer

    Solo Female - Official Results, posted September 7th, 2009
    LapsTimeNamePlaceLocation
    9 07:44:01. Alana Heise 1
    8 07:32:03. Nicole Muzechka 2
    8 08:03:08. Cat Horbatiuk 3
    6 07:12:10. Carthy Chan 4
    5 05:49:53. Susan Bladyko5
    5 07:30:00. Seema Saini 6
    4 03:14:43. Trish Grajczyk 7
    4 06:48:44. Donna Shire 8
    4 08:25:29. Crystal Frenette9

    2-Person Open Teams - Official Results, posted September 7th, 2009
    LapsTimeNamePlace
    11 07:45:32. Hairless Primates 1
    11 07:51:00. Zooshy 2
    11 07:51:14. Diagnosis Cameltosis 3
    11 08:05:44. Krave Racing 4
    10 07:22:32. Twins 5
    10 07:52:16. Peanut Butter & Honey 6
    10 07:58:12. Team JD 7
    10 07:59:28. Those Stinking Hills 8
    9 07:36:39. The Nads 9
    9 07:46:42. Gear Down Granny 10
    9 07:52:19. Pair of Jacks 11
    9 07:58:55. Pathetic Racing 12
    8 07:57:33. Static Fire Unbeatable 13
    7 06:19:37. Just Do It 14
    7 07:26:25. Kukura & Son 15
    7 07:29:18. Spin Sisters 16
    6 05:33:46. Train in Vain 17
    6 05:47:51. Team ORSA 18
    6 06:42:29. Rash Dogs 19
    6 08:05:29. Gearsn Beers 20
    5 08:03:04. Sprocket 21
    4 05:06:43. Hope to Finish 22
    4 07:35:24. Sh*t Storm 23
    3 03:35:43. Cyclone 24

    {Names of Team Members will go here}

    2-Person Female Teams - Official Results, posted September 7th, 2009
    LapsTimeNamePlace
    10 07:29:42. Spokes and Nipples 1
    7 07:44:44. Still Smiling 2
    7 07:54:23. Hot Cross Buns 3

    {Names of Team Members will go here}

    4-Person Teams - Official Results, posted September 7th, 2009
    LapsTimeNamePlaceLocation
    11 08:04:27. SFE Cycling1
    10 08:04:02. BCW 2
    9 07:58:34. Tail Blazers 3
    9 08:01:19. Team Pathetic Wannabes 4
    9 08:01:33. Shake n' Brake Baby! 5
    9 08:03:50. Fantastic Four 6
    9 08:11:19. Hei Hei Gary 7
    2 02:18:27. 10-78ers 8

    {Names of Team Members will go here}