THUNDER BAY — The 2025 mountain biking season launched with a splash — of mud — at Mud’N’Mayhem, the opening race of the Blacksheep Mountain Bike Club series.
Held Wednesday evening at Kinsmen Park in the Trowbridge Forest, the event welcomed 145 registered riders, ranging from seasoned competitors to first-time racers.
Riders competed across six categories: elite, advanced, 19+ sport, U19 sport, lambateur, and mini-lamb. They tackled a slippery early-season course packed with wet roots and classic northern Ontario terrain.
“I started Blacksheep with my brothers,” said Eric Bailey, the club's race director. “Our first race season was in 1998, and last year we celebrated our 25th. It's been a long haul.”
A highlight of the night was the Dash for Cash — a brutal sprint up Hydro Hill where the first rider in each division to reach the summit earned a $25 prize and some well-earned bragging rights.
“Mud’N’Mayhem is an old term,” Bailey explained. “It used to be that our first race was a festival. The race usually happened in the spring when trails were really wet. So now we've moved the festival to race-two, the Spring Classic.”
“The trails are built a lot better now, but back then it was mostly at Centennial, and you’d be going through the swamp," he continued. "Everyone would come back just caked in mud.”
In the elite female division, Brooke Ailey took a commanding win, with Ruth Zavitz finishing second and Charlotte Ailey in third. On the elite male side, Peter MacGregor rode away from the field, winning by more than a minute, followed by Steven Anderson in second and Dejan Sepa in third.
The advanced female category saw Hayden Nisula take first place, ahead of Hanna Abbink in second and Tierza Wilson in third. In the advanced male race, Steve Yeung claimed the top spot, with Palmer Hunt taking second and Orran Nichols in third.
In the 19+ sport female division, Sarah Stanley rode to victory, followed by Ellie Zavitz in second and Jocelyn De Boer in third. The 19+ sport male category saw Joe Martino claim first place, Grant Davies finishing second and Sai Poondla in third.
The U19 sport female division had Ella Nephin taking the win, Emmi Puiras finishing in second, and Joyanna Zavitz in third. In the male division, Kam Paradis took the win, with Jeremy and Carter Cameron sprinting for the second spot with five hundredths of a second between the second and third-place riders.
Among the younger riders in the lambateur division, the girls’ podium featured Kamia Cullis in first, Eamee Marachuck in second, and Claire Myburgh in third. In the boys’ category, Pringle Innis took the win, followed by Nelson Zapior in second and Jack Trevisanutto in third.
In the youngest division, ,ini-lamb, the top three girls were Reese Reid in first, Scarlett Gibson in second, and Torin Young-Houstoun in third. Among the boys, Gordon Zapior claimed first place, George Richards was second, and Cole Scrafford took third.
According to Bailey, the strong turnout sets a positive tone for the rest of the 2025 season.
“Things are off to a good start — we always build momentum throughout the summer because people start hearing, word travels," he said. "Mountain biking has been growing in Thunder Bay pretty steadily.”
“Today was actually also the all-comers track meet for high schools, so we had very few high school kids out. We probably would’ve had another 25 riders otherwise.”
As Blacksheep celebrates 26 years of biking, the community can look forward to a full season of racing, including the second race — the Spring Classic Festival — on June 7.
