2008 BC Bike Race

Prologue:
I recently competed in the 2008 BC Bike Race. Before and during the course of the race, I posted daily notes capturing the experiences of my buddies and myself. A realization struck me during the race; even though everybody rode the same course and experienced the same race support, every single racer had an incredibly unique experience and set of stories. My story follows:

We are 2 teams of 2.
"Playin' Dirty" with Vince and Russ Moul in the Veterans 80+ category
"Dear Creek Destroyers" with Steve Wright and Brad Neumann in the Veterans 100+ category
(Note: the category number is combined age, not minimum IQ required)


Day Zero
Our adventure has begun. Unfortunately for one of us, it started a bit early. Brad called me Thursday evening to let me know that he just found out that his bike had been stolen. The day before the "Big Event" and only hours before the local shops close! He immediately sprung into action and went to Gregg's Bicycle Shop and bought the most race worthy bike they had. It is a good bike and it will serve him well, but what a way to start a trip and a race!

This morning we got up early and had a beautiful and smooth crossing on the Victoria Clipper taking us directly from Seattle to Victoria. All the mountains were showing their splendor. A bit of a wait while the bus and luggage truck sorted themselves out (many racers pitched in to make sure that the bikes got loaded securely. It pays to be helpful, my and my friends bike were the first on and the most securely packed ;).

Once at the race site, we registered, found our rooms, ate diner and went to the mandatory racer briefing. LOTs of activity, good schwag, good organization and a great site. We are all pumped to get started tomorrow. It's an 84km day with lots of singletrack. Sounds fun!

Day 1
Wow, what an eventful day at the race. We started out with what was supposed to be a "neutral lap' around the grounds of the school that was hosting day zero. It was about the fastest 'neutral lap' I've ever seen. To put the icing on that cake, the course went through a recently mown hay field. Sounds innocuous enough, unless the straw gets wrapped around your derailleur. Fortunately, that didn't happen to any of us, but several of the pro teams got taken down. Back to Russ and I. We worked really hard all morning. Unfortunately, we had our heads down working so hard we missed a turn at 27km. It took us 5k to figure out that little mistake. By the time we got back on course, we figure we lost about 30 minutes. Ouch! Oh well, we push on through this mistake and passed gobs of people the rest of the day. Did I mention it was HOT! I don't know the actual temps, but it was in the 80's all day. Russ and I both flirted with cramps all afternoon.

What about Broken? Well, that's Brad and Steve's story. 5km into the day, just out of the school grounds and just into the first singletrack of the day, Brad went down hard. He tumbled to a stop and promptly told Steve "I broke my arm". By all reports, it was truly broken as it was at odd angles and had large protrusions where there usually aren't. The medics quickly took care of him and whisked him off to the hospital. Steve was ready to go to the hospital with him (per the rules), when the organization suggested he could continue as long as he rode with one of the bicycle support "medics". He quickly took advantage of the offer and thoroughly enjoyed his day as recreational rider. Later, after dinner, we ran into Brad just getting back from the hospital. As it turns out, the broken arm was "only" a dislocated elbow. He said the pain was MUCH reduced after they re-located it and he is in good spirits now. His race is over and he is tentatively planning on returning to Seattle tomorrow. Steve found a new partner (who lost his race partner when he crashed into a stump and drove 2 sticks through his thigh.).

Like I said, eventful day. Tomorrow promises to be a long boring day as they had a last minute re-route that eliminated all but 2km of singletrack. We are going to bake in the heat on 124km of logging roads. Russ and I are wishing we had the Cycle Tuesday group to help us paceline the miles away.

Day 2
Day 2 in the bag. Not much to report. Hot and Boring as expected. Lots of Canadian fire roads. The tagline of the event might need to change from “The Ultimate Singletrack Experience” to The Ultimate Logging Road Experience”

Russ and I rode strong today with no mechanicals and no mistakes. We finished well enough to move up 3 places in the standings and make up some of that time we gave away yesterday.

Last we saw Brad, he was heading back to Seattle with his arm in a cast and with good spirits.

Steve rode with his new partner, Paul and a team of 2 women all day. He is definitely much stronger than his new partner, so he is taking it easy and enjoying the day.

Day 3
First I'm told I need to print a retraction. I was told by a Southern California resident that I can't use all capital letters for "HOT" unless there are 3 digits showing on the thermometer. Sorry Teri...

So today was only WARM and much of the day was spent in shaded climbs, cool creek crossings or big ring descents. There was several exposed climbs, but nothing like yesterday. AND, we had single track today to race on. Unfortunately, much of it was brand new built just for this race in a second growth forest. For those who mountain bike, you know that it usually takes a few years of riding till a trail really becomes "fun". As it was, this trail was punishing; loose, rough and very tight. It really sapped our strength. It didn't help that it came at 70km into the day. It also is starting to make me second guess my decision to do this race on a "hard tail" bike (one with no rear suspension). I'm taking a bit of a beating, but I'll survive. Russ and I rode strong again today with no mistakes. We climbed at a sustainable pace and hammered every descent. I can tell Russ is getting stronger every day because he really made me work today. I was totally wiped out at the finish. We made great time and moved up another 2 places in our category putting us at 8th. We are really thrilled with that and are eyeing the team ahead of us. They are a couple of guys from the Seattle area that we know from our local races. (The Grande Americanos). Of course this means that we can't let up now!

This morning, Steve learned that one of the women that he rode with yesterday could not continue. She had extreme dehydration from day 2 and ended up spending the night in the hospital in Port Alberni. He and his misfit partner joined with the now single woman and created a new team of 3 people. They had a fun day encouraging each other and other riders through the single track. Steve is amazing his new team with his strength and his awesome riding skills.

Tomorrow, we get to get up at 4:30 to take 2 bus rides and 2 ferry rides to get to the official start line back on the mainland. The race is a relatively short day at 60km, but looks like it has some great climbs and fun trails.

Day 4
The BC Bike Race really lived up to their tag line; "The Ultimate Singletrack
Experience" today! Incredible trails! But before we got there, we had some pretty significant logistics to overcome. We had to get over 400 racers and 100 or more support and race crews from Vancouver Island back to the mainland (aka The Sunshine Coast). A 4:30 wake up call got everybody out of bed and on to busses to the ferry. Breakfast was served on the way across the beautiful Straight of Georgia from Comox to Powell River. Another bus and ferry ending at Earls Cove deposited us where the race actually started. This ferry went along one of the most scenic coastlines I've ever seen. To enable us to race immediately upon arrival, they had hauled all the bikes in a 50ft semi trailer the night before so they would be racked and ready to go when we got there. We started within 25 minutes of walking off the ferry. Impressive logistics!

The course today was a great mix of roads, trails and occasional "structures" to ride over. (These are man made sections of bridges, planks and logs spanning bogs or creeks, occasionally getting down to less than a foot wide). The single track was tight and technical but MUCH more rideable and enjoyable than yesterday. Russ and I rode hard all day. Our only mishap was a couple of crashes (remarkably by me and not Russ) in the single track. Both were the result of me being too tired and going too fast. I hit the ground hard both times, but fortunately, neither crash resulted in anything worse than a few new scrapes and a sore neck (and a bruised ego...).

As far as results go, one of our competitors (Stead Cycles) really kicked it in and jumped ahead of us so we lost a place today. It's obvious that we are going to have to work our (you know)s off just to hold onto a top 10. We're up to it, but it definitely requires us to keep focused and keep pushing even when the legs don't want to.

Today, Steve decided that he had spent enough time riding slow with his new partners. He bent the rule where you are supposed to stay within 2 minutes of your team mate at all times. He would ride a good hard pace for himself up all the single track climbs and wait (sometimes 10 to 15 minutes) at the top. Then he would bomb the downhills and wait again at the bottom. It made for a much more exciting day for Steve.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the best day of riding of the week with lots of smooth fast flowing singletrack. We also have more logistics to deal with. After we finish, we are to wash the bikes, take a shower and get on a ferry, then a bus that gets us to our new base camp for Wednesday and Thursday at Squamish. It's going to be fun!

Day 5
Thought I'd file today's report early as we wait for the ferry from Langdale to Horseshoe Bay.

The expectations for a great day were set high and Russ and I agree they were met. 67km of fantastic riding. Lots of trails with lots of fun, fast, twisty, rooty, rocky, smooth, bumpy, steep, flat, flowy, faster, and bridges. Yes, it was all that. The bridges varied from simple "ladder" style stream crossings to 10" wide planks covered with wire mesh 10 feet above the creeks. We've never ridden so much "wooden trail" in one day ever. It was all well done by people who know how to make trails.

We rode hard (again) with only one small crash (not me!) and one flat (not me). We did a speed change that had to last less than a minute. Russ and I let out a cheer 15 to 20 minutes after we finished and were washing our bike as we heard the announcer welcome in the Grande Americanos. The final results are not posted yet so we don't know how much time we gained on them or if one of the teams trailing us passed us, but we fell great about our effort today.

Tomorrow, we get to sample 67km of the best of Squamish singletrack which is supposed to be very rocky and technical. We're looking forward to it!

Day 6
I can't believe that we only have 1 day left. At the beginning of these events, 7 days seems like such a long time to ride and you wonder if you are going to make it. By the end, you can't believe it's over already...

Today was spent racing on the fabulous trails around Squamish. If you have ever been to Squamish, you know how beautiful it is here. They call themselves "The Outdoor Adventure Capitol of BC". There was a ton of great singletrack with several really technical sections with loose dirt and 2 foot drops in the rock-strewn trail. There were also very fast flowing sections. Overall, it is a great place to ride and race.

Russ and I rode well again today. We rode everything clean with only one minor crash. We made up time and passed the Grande Americanos in the standings but got leapfrogged by another team from behind, the local guys from Ryders Eyewear. We are holding on to our goal of top 10, but like I said yesterday, it's going to be a race to the end.

I was thrilled to see my family at the finish line today. My teenage kids have never seen me race! They drove up from Seattle to be with us for the last 2 days of racing. Tomorrow we race at Whistler and finish the week with a Banquet at the Roundhouse Lodge at the top of the Gondola. One more day. Still having fun!

Day 7
Wow, another long epic week is over. A short report today as it's late and I want to go to sleep.

If any of you have ridden the single track around Whistler, you'd know that we would be in for a tough day even though it was the shortest distance of all at 48km. The course was rough and technical with steep climbing. What I was expecting to be a 3 1/2 hour fun ride turned into a punishing 4 1/2 hour ordeal for me. Much of the pain was self induced by my bike choice as I mentioned earlier. While my "hardtail" is a great race bike and I don't think I gave up any speed, it sure beat me up today in the roots and rocks. And there was PLENTY of both. I was totally spent at the end. I collapsed in a heap until my daughter brought me my 4th Coke.

Russ and I had another good hard day of racing with no serious crashes or mechanicals. The local boys of Ryders Eyewear dominated us the past 2 days in their backyard and built on their lead holding on to 8th place while our Seattle area rivals, the Grande Americanos came in well behind us leaving them in 10th while we earned our 9th place finish in our category. Russ and I are extremely pleased with our result. When we signed up last fall, our stated goal was to finish in the top 10. Mission accomplished.

Steve and his new fast partner, Cosmo, ripped it up again today finishing well ahead of Russ and I. Steve was pleased again. I'm not sure if it was with riding well, or kicking our butts. Either way, he deserves to be pleased. He worked hard to get in shape to be here and it showed and paid off.

The awards banquet was held at the top of Whistler mountain and good
times were had by all.

Final race statistics:
35 hours 39 minutes and 5 seconds of racing over 7 days and about 540 km with untold and untracked elevation gain.
9th place out of 44 team in the 80+ category.
58th out of 198 teams total.
Priceless...

I hope you enjoyed my story. Stories are good and everyone has them,
enjoy yours...

Vince Haag