~ashootout on Sunday and clinch the. District Cup championship. © _ Winless against Juan de Fuca in s drew. Hill kept the game s patie at pt ee -sula’s. celebration when they drew. ~ even with time running out, sending suthe match into a shoot-out: -. banged: one in to give the locals a one-goal_ lead: Hill robbed Juan de Fuca on. their third’ shot, Ewen . Hill made a spectacular save to send _ Juan de Fuca packing. ‘point, | ee 7 “Great game.” sos oes Theo's Place | UL5S champs — USA District Cup title, Medeiros and Steve Laing made life miserable for the opposition, Ge They're ~ bright blue sky, His squad finished ~ second In league play at 18-31, “Juan de Fuca shot first — “the ball ad sailed wide. Colin Rodd scored for oe f - .Gurton’s; Juan de Fuca'scored on, a their second shot, ‘and Ernie Harry * ‘Midfielder Joe Rozanno. paced Peninsula with a four-goal game, -: Philip Girard andi Ty Frewer split. the netminding duties and Nick - - - Gurton’s Garage sputtered o out of 2 ee the gate, but the local U19 Silver side ; - . battled back to beat Juan de Fuca in. ee regular season play, the guys from: | "the garage were shelled in the early. |. going, but the crossbar, the goal post = |. > and the quick thinking of keeper An- “|. Christie padded the lead to two and : - Head coach Jose Tudele's post. game speech. was short and to the oe Pass. the pizza. please. Theo's Place held off Cowichan onthe: weekend for a 4-3 final to clinch the: “Down 4-1 at the half, Cowichan came back to pull withbr one, tata: ¢ ~-were unable to notch the equalizer, A "We had a great time this year: 4 >a fantastic group of kids, and: Eo db waa avnice way to finish the seas: Fa... son," head coach John Girrard said nea Sunday of the thriller played undera: ‘This was Theo's fifth straight ap: ‘pearance In the District Cup final, and the third time they've won it all. ae "Review Sports Editor earing up for this weekend's national Classic. Mountain Bike Race, the man behind the: ok event says he can't help but feel a bit smug. ~ After all, the Burnt Bridge, concedes Dave Smith, “Started lit: When me anda couple of buddies would load up some beer and a: PA. system in the back of a truck, head out into the bush, and hold a “race, “It's changed a lot since then, though. It's no joke anymore.’ ees «No joke, indeed. . - Part of the B.C. Cup and Island Cup series, the Burnt Bridge ie viet ae af Sidney’ 8 Dave e Smith, ¢ on n bike, with Canada's cross country Classic is now a sanctioned stop on the international mountain bike circuit; where riders can caputure World Cup points needed to qual. . ify for a ride at the World Championships... ~ With the appearance of so many top-rated riders this year, the / ace has grown well beyond Smith's expectations. ‘More than 800 from B.C., Alberta, the U.S., Great Britain and Mexico will converge on Shawnigan Lake April-11 and 12, and. Smith expects more than 2,000 spectators to turnout, 7 This year’s race also kicks off the season for Canada’ 8 National eam. “The Burnt Bridge is where it s happening.” says Smith, who « rode for Canada's national team as a veteran at the 1993 World Championships in Bromont, Quebec. Now 48, the lanky local busi- nessman hasn't let the passing of years dull his boyhood zeal, his passion for the sport of cycling evident as he reflects on the path the. sport has taken him. “For me it's like ‘I (old you so.’ We've been promoting mountain. biking for 10 years, trying to give our young riders a strong founda. ~ tlon to build on, so for me the success (of the Burnt Bridge) i is a most ant-climatic.... almost.” > 0” Smith, who started up Professional Competition in 1093 as 0- small subsidiar y of his Sidney-based business Professional Canes nents to promote thie sport and bring some much needed order to» « B.C/s growing mountain bike circuit, makes the point the classic is _ still very much a grass Fost event that rel les on local voluntecrs to get off.the ground: * oesHe also. sponsors a number of riders, including 17. yoapoid Ryder = “Hesgedal, Hesyedal was named the 1997 national Junior chan, won the Canada Cup series in his age category, placed 1 5th at the World C hampionships in Switzerland last year and is fresh off his —fivet World Cup win in Napa Valley, California. 10/1996, Smith hired Claire Bonin asa full- lime events corordint “(or for Professional Competition... "No stranger to the sport of cycling, Bonin waa a provinelal and na tional road racer In Quebec during the 1980s, and was there at the. > beginning, She was selected to head up the Canadian Cycling: Asso-, ciation’ newly: formed mountain biking seclor in 1991, where she - Heatran inMermnrene mati ARRAN Nn Am mk Mpa LE Wout esate re inh fnernet nina macnn atone one vente ln ee oe nnn ster tener et somryarat eal saecme warm ninth annual Burnt Bridge Inter: t worked until making the move to the Saanich Peninsula. 8 ‘from the ground up and implemented everything from the officials to the na ~~. fjonal team and everything in between: Being there at the start was a lot of - features 32 categories based on age and riding ability, “is no easy task.” of international cycling.: — and Russia, now helps guide this country's lop riders outof the National Cyr ce - cling Contre at the Commonwealth Centre for Sport Development, 2 ers here and plenty of good trails fo train on," says Kachirine through his thick ie “eastern block accent, “We have riders coming here from all over the country, 3 “ and right now we have about 15 competing at the national team level,” «Jor ride‘of she season before heading off to Europe, Aries, see where w re we stand.as far ag our fitness and times go.” JAMES CLARKE PHOTO: e Misces mountian bike national team coach Yur. Kachirine. ~“It was a brand new sport back then,” Bonin recalled Friday “We started fun, and mountain biking grew in popularity very quickly, “ ms ue \ There are, according to Bonin, some 15,000 riders curr ently registered. neuen» with CCA, arid about 65 per cent of those are mountain bikers, °° 2” a en As for the Burnt Bridge Classic, which winds its way over undulating fire. : wore ar? roads, through switchbacks and across wide open fields along theedgeof. = J Koksilah Park near Shawnigan Lake, Bonin admits organizing an event that | Classic an event for the whole family, special attention i is being paid — | to the high performance riders this year, as the race is being» oe watched closely by UCI (J niva Cycliste Internationale), the governing body WS Smith and Bronin go to great pains to keep the Burnt Bridge” a At Burnt Bridge, Pro Elite men go head: tohead onas0-km course ‘and the cal eee Pro Elite Women race 37km, Novice riders compete on a13-km course, fy Making his first appearance at the classic will be Canada’s cross countrys. a | mountain hike national team coach Yuri Kachirine, aan eh Ree Kachirine, who earned his stripes as a decorated road racer in vhis home.” _ He says Canada’s second-place finish behind Italy in both the: mien al te [4 women's cross count y events at the last Wor I ¢ hanplonships put the ad maple leaf on the map. : "Canada Is great location foi mountain biking, ‘Mer ware lots af talented rit os ~ For those riders, Yuri says the Burnt Bridge Classte will he thelr first mi i “Tewill be a good test for us, We can see how we compare to other coun fs Robie |