A local mountain bike racer didn’t give the hecklers anything to heckle about as he zipped down the mountain at a wicked pace.
Steve Smith of Cassidy won the Canadian Open Downhill event on Sunday at Whistler’s Crankworx freeride mountain bike festival.
Smith dominated the technical course to win in three minutes, 0.01 seconds, about a second and a half better than second-place finisher Andrew Neethling of South Africa.
“The Canadian Open DH is my favourite event at Kokanee Crankworx,” Smith said in an event press release. “After getting a flat on the course last year I was ready to go hard this year. This track suits my style; it is rough and technical.”
Defending champion Gee Atherton of the U.K. wiped out, flying over the handlebars near Heckler’s Rock, where rowdy fans gave him the gears.
“In a course like this, as soon as you make a mistake, the race is over,” Atherton said.
His sister Rachel Atherton won the women’s division.