The steep, wet rocks and slippery roots couldn’t stop him, as Brandon Indic had a fast run at the Crankworx mountain bike festival in Whistler over the weekend, but in the end it came down to health, as the Jasper downhill biker succumbed to illness at the biggest mountain bike festival in the world.

Sunday morning Indic woke up throwing up with a cold. After completing his two training runs, he sat in the shade and tried to focus on his upcoming race.

“I tried to get myself thinking clearly and tried to focus on the race, but I had no focus whatsoever, and couldn’t really pull anything together,” he said.

Heading into his race feeling below par, Indic said he still had good speed on what he said was the nicest track he’d ever ridden.

“It was so perfect, the top was really tech and rocks, and wet rocks and then it came to this open section where it was open for about a kilometre under the chairlift, there were just fans screaming in your ear, there were a lot of fans, and there were two 25 foot gaps, and then a nice gnarly rock face to a 30 foot gap, and then it went back into the trees where it was really tight and wet roots, you had to go down it. It was all mandatory,” he describes.

“On the last section of the trees, it’s a steep root shoot and I crashed and my bike hit a tree and it bent my bars and then broke my chain and I couldn’t finish the race,” he continued.

If he didn’t crash, he figures he would have been on the podium, but he said being sick and his lack of energy probably had a lot to do with why he did crash.

Nevertheless, Indic said it was a great event to see. The Australian national junior expert champion ended up winning his category.

Heading into next week, Indic has one more race left, and while he said it’s not the most important of the year for him, (His biggest one was in Blairmore, AB when he won fastest rider in Alberta for his age category), this final race of the BC Circuit in Kamloops will give him a shot at making the national team next year.

Only the top spot, possibly the second, he said, will qualify for the national team next year.

That could be a tough challenge, with Kyle Marshall racing on his home track.

“So basically I have to try and beat Kyle, or finish right behind him, to get that top spot and get on the National team for next year,” said Indic.

Already the fastest rider in Alberta, Indic isn’t worried about winning the BC Cup for two reasons: he hasn’t raced in all the races, and the Cup is based on a point system, and you need to be born in BC in order to finish in first place.

That just leaves him with the sole goal of making the national team for next year, which would mean he would travel more, and have everything paid for.

“In Kamloops I think my chances are pretty good because it’s a track that I’ve ridden a lot and it’s pretty straight forward,” he said, but “Kyle Marshall, the Junior Expert national champion is going to be there, and that’s his home track, so it’s pretty hard to keep up with him on his own track.”

But, just like in Whistler, anything can happen.

The steep, wet rocks and slippery roots couldn’t stop him, as Brandon Indic had a fast run at the Crankworx mountain bike festival in Whistler over the weekend, but in the end it came down to health, as the Jasper downhill biker succumbed to illness at the biggest mountain bike festival in the world.

Sunday morning Indic woke up throwing up with a cold. After completing his two training runs, he sat in the shade and tried to focus on his upcoming race.

“I tried to get myself thinking clearly and tried to focus on the race, but I had no focus whatsoever, and couldn’t really pull anything together,” he said.

Heading into his race feeling below par, Indic said he still had good speed on what he said was the nicest track he’d ever ridden.

“It was so perfect, the top was really tech and rocks, and wet rocks and then it came to this open section where it was open for about a kilometre under the chairlift, there were just fans screaming in your ear, there were a lot of fans, and there were two 25 foot gaps, and then a nice gnarly rock face to a 30 foot gap, and then it went back into the trees where it was really tight and wet roots, you had to go down it. It was all mandatory,” he describes.

“On the last section of the trees, it’s a steep root shoot and I crashed and my bike hit a tree and it bent my bars and then broke my chain and I couldn’t finish the race,” he continued.

If he didn’t crash, he figures he would have been on the podium, but he said being sick and his lack of energy probably had a lot to do with why he did crash.

Nevertheless, Indic said it was a great event to see. The Australian national junior expert champion ended up winning his category.

Heading into next week, Indic has one more race left, and while he said it’s not the most important of the year for him, (His biggest one was in Blairmore, AB when he won fastest rider in Alberta for his age category), this final race of the BC Circuit in Kamloops will give him a shot at making the national team next year.

Only the top spot, possibly the second, he said, will qualify for the national team next year.

That could be a tough challenge, with Kyle Marshall racing on his home track.

“So basically I have to try and beat Kyle, or finish right behind him, to get that top spot and get on the National team for next year,” said Indic.

Already the fastest rider in Alberta, Indic isn’t worried about winning the BC Cup for two reasons: he hasn’t raced in all the races, and the Cup is based on a point system, and you need to be born in BC in order to finish in first place.

That just leaves him with the sole goal of making the national team for next year, which would mean he would travel more, and have everything paid for.

“In Kamloops I think my chances are pretty good because it’s a track that I’ve ridden a lot and it’s pretty straight forward,” he said, but “Kyle Marshall, the Junior Expert national champion is going to be there, and that’s his home track, so it’s pretty hard to keep up with him on his own track.”

But, just like in Whistler, anything can happen.