The competitive mountain bike season is off and running, even for those in the north as members of the WMBC (Walden Mountain Bike Club) Wolfpak Racing team have already partaken in a few early season events.
The weekend of April 27th and 28th was a particularly busy one with a pair of races attracting the local talent.
Marc Larochelle (M - 35-44 - 39th of 120), Jody Waddell (M - 44-55 - 40th of 113) and Kristian Bischoff (M - 44-55 - 71st of 133) tackled the 108 km challenge that is the Paris to Ancaster race.
Meanwhile, the Hardwood Single Track Classic would attract the likes of Shawn Mailloux (Half-Marathon - 50 and over - 1st of 13), Alex Anstice (Marathon - 35-49 - 6th of 41), Matt Hansford (Marathon - 50 and over - 8th of 35) and Alexandre Mailloux (Marathon - 18 and under - 3rd of four).
A week later, it was time for Ontario Cup #1 at Woodnewton in Uxbridge, with a pair of local cyclists on hand.
Alexandre Mailloux competed in both the XCO (regular racing distance - 7th of 15) and the XCC (short track distance - 11th of 15), donning the colours of Circus Racing in the U19 Elite Men division while Matt Hansford was part of the Master Sport Men (45-54) bracket, recording a top five finish in a field of 14 riders.
A handful of Sudbury athletes are on hand this long weekend for the Canada Cup / OCup # 2 set of races at Hardwood Hills, with Ontario Cup events number three and four set for June 15th-16th (Hiawatha Highlands) and June 29th-30th (Highlands Nordic).