Day 1

All the planning and preparation came down to a simple announcement over the race audio system... "GO"! 275 teams of 2 (some with 4 riders) departed on the journey north on Vancouver Island. You know the race is the real deal when there is a helicopter shooting footage and it is supposed to be on TV around the world on some channel that I don't think is available in the States. The race kicked off with two allegedly "neutral" laps around the Shawnigan Lake School Campus. All I can say is chaos. Crashes, broken bikes because the route crossed a freshly mowed field and the grass wrapped around the rear derailleur like a boa constrictor until it sheared from the frame, and it certainly was not neutral. Last year's race winner, Jeff Schalk fell victim to such a calamity and had his mechanic fixed it (a violation of race rules that will not be enforced). AV and I made it through relatively unscathed, but the adrenaline was definitely pumping as we narrowly avoided several high speed crashes involving riders get tangled up. Someone even broke a collar bone before getting off campus.

We settled into our pace and were racing strong for a few hours. We suffered through some of nasty steep hike-a-bike sections, but were rewarded with some sweet sections of 1track. AV experienced some heat and possibly some lingering viral issues during the main climb of the day. So, we dialed back the pace to make sure we finished strong as a team. After what seemed like 25 miles of climbing, we finally topped out at the much needed feed zone. We stopped to refill our Camelbacks and bottles and proceeded to bomb the next 15km downhill at 40+mph on gravel logging roads. After the killer downhill, we jammed into Lake Cowichan team-TT-style on a doubletrack multiuse trail. We finished the 55miles in 5 1/2 hours, which was good enough for 38th overall (not sure on our category).

Refuel, work on the bikes, sleep like a champ, and we repeat tomorrow. Tomorrow's stage is 125km (which is a bunch of miles on the MTB). It's mostly logging road, so it should be a fast pace. Oh, and it is supposed to be 90+ degrees. Ouch!

Here's some pictures from today....

Start line.


Team Mafia Racing lined up in the race corral waiting to start.


Just a few racers.


Mafia going out on lap 2 around Shawnigan Lake School.


Rolling across the line with a grin.


AV ends his day too.


Be sure to check out the BC Bike Race website for their race updates including professional photography.

Thanks for reading,

Blue Star