At just 14 years old, Cameron Bragg (known to her friends and loved ones as "Cami") is already an accomplished downhill mountain biker with a bright future in her sport. This past weekend, she took on a new challenge: enduro biking at the Spud Crusher in Pemberton. Despite never having competed in the discipline before, Bragg chose to race in the U19 category in order to give other U15 athletes a fighting chance.
Spoiler alert: she took on the field of older athletes and blew them away.
Bragg's time of 18 minutes, 31.769 seconds put her well ahead of runner-up Mhairi Smart (18:54.652) and third-place finisher Rebecca Beaton (19:13.818).
"[Enduro] was really fun and a little different from downhill racing but I like it!" Bragg said about her May 13 win. "I enjoyed it but it’s harder as you don’t get to ride the track as much as a downhill race. You don’t know the tracks as well, but I like the feeling of trying to work the track out as you go."
"Very proud!" added Bragg's mother, Morag Kerr. "It’s so great to see how strong women’s riding is in the Sea to Sky corridor. There are a lot of girls out there having a ton of fun and giving it a go."
The young Whistlerite is always looking to improve her game. She thinks she could have paced herself more wisely in Pemberton, especially during a series of hard uphill sprints. Bragg also credits her more experienced U19 peers with making her a better athlete.
"I love riding with the U19 girls as I get to ride with some of my awesome friends," she said. "They push me to ride harder and do all the features."
Expect Bragg to again tackle the BC Cup circuit this year, as well as try to defend her three podium finishes from 2022 at Crankworx Whistler. The young rider won gold in both downhill and air downhill last August, to go with second place in dual slalom.
Full results from the Spud Crusher are available online.
