It was Liam Fraser's first mountain bike race and when he saw the finish line there was nobody close to him.
First race, first win. For the 10-year-old Fraser, all it took was 22 minutes of hard pedaling on the trails of Otway Nordic Centre Sunday afternoon at the second annual Hot Day at Otway event and he was on his way to victory in the 10- and 11-year-old boys race.
"It was great, I ended up in first place," said Fraser. "It wasn't too long. The approximated time for each lap was 16 minutes for one lap and I did two laps. I did one lap in 10 minutes and the second one in probably about 12 minutes. There was a couple roots and bumps but overall it was a pretty smooth trail.
"I actually didn't start off in first, I started off in about sixth and I passed them. There was one kid in front of me for awhile who had bells on his bike and I passed him. After the first lap I couldn't hear them anymore."
Fraser's parents ride mountain bikes and the whole family rides together with their friends.
"I don't ride here a lot, actually I ride at Pidherny and Tabor Mountain and it's really fun," he said. "I love downhill and it's good to have a new bike park in Prince George."
One of Fraser's friends from Heather Park elementary school, nine-year-old Autumn Knudsen, raced her first mountain bike event Sunday and won her race. If there had been a most sportsmanlike rider award, Knudsen would have been a prime candidate.
While she was trying to catch up to the lead rider on the course, the chain came off her fellow competitor's bike. Rather than leave her on the trail, Knudsen hopped off her own bike and put the chain back on the sprocket so the other kid could finish.
"She was before me for half the race and then her chain fell off and I helped her and put it on and I got on before her," said Knudsen. "She deserved a chance too. It would be sort of rude to not help people.
"She was skidding my tire (with her own wheel) near the end and she said 'Speed up,' so I sped up and won. It was my first bike race and I won, so I'm happy."
Knudsen's father Bill is a learn-to-ride instructor and was volunteering his services teaching young riders at Hot Day at Otway. Her mom, Michelle, was also there to support Autumn and her three-year-old sister, Aurora, who entered the tykes race.
"She stopped halfway through because she had to go poop," laughed Autumn.
"We love biking so our kids don't really have a choice, it's something we do as a family and we love it," said Michelle Knudsen. "(Aurora) went back to her race after she went to the bathroom and had a bit of a wipeout. She was going super fast, had a wipeout, and then she was done."
Chase Martin went on to win the tykes race.
This was the first year kids' races were offered at the event and with close to 50 young riders entered, some as young as three, count on kids events becoming a permanent fixture at Hot Day at Otway.
"The highlight of the whole weekend was the kids' race," said Hot Day at Otway organizer Andrew Steele. "It's great to see the next generation getting out and getting involved in the sport. The scene is just getting better and better every day and everyone should come check out a mountain bike event. There's something for everybody."
The event also featured cross-country races for novices, advanced riders and experts and it wrapped up with an enduro, a timed series of downhill runs.
Nikki Kassel won the expert women's cross-country as the only female rider and her time ranked third overall among the nine men who entered the expert race. Tom Skinner was the top male rider.
Kim Cameron, 27, was the second woman to complete one lap of the three-lap enduro course in what was her first bike race.
"It was fun, kind of nerve-wracking but awesome," said Cameron. "I like going downhill quick, it's like a summer version of snowboarding and that's why I like it."
The two-day event attracted 102 riders.
