Stages 3-7

Sorry for the delayed update on the second half of BC Bike Race. Cellular coverage for the wireless modem was spotty on the Sunshine Coast. Moreover, my wrist was toast (major sprain) from an errant branch that about knocked me off the bike mid-way through Stage 2. I didn't think much of it when it happened, but it became a major issue later in the race. It's still swollen today, but at least I can type now. So, it's a little late, but here's a quick recap of the adversity we went through to take 13th place in the two-person open division of the BC Bike Race.

Stage 3 -- Cumberland: Stage 3 started like the rest with a super fast pace through the town out to some fire roads that quickly dumped into to some tight singletrack. A congo line of riders formed and when there were bobbles up front the domino effect further back caused some to have to get off and run. After things spread out a bit, we started drilling the pace and made up a ton of ground into the top 10 teams out there. We made it over the major climb of the day (7km and about 1800 feet of vertical) and were descending a really rocky super-steep technical section and missed a turn. We ended up at the bottom of the hill on a fireroad. At the moment when we were contemplating turning around and hiking back up the hill, a 4-wheeler with some course volunteers showed up and said if you follow the road you'll get back to the course faster. BIG mistake! The missed turn was apparently only 200 meters up the hill we had just come down. The road took us 5km back to the top of the descent. After re-riding the technical descent, the turn was much better marked with a stick and several pink ribbons. Maybe sabotage from the unruly locals? Back on course after losing an eternity of time in our uphill diversion, we tried to make up time. Problem was the morale was low, the winds strong, and I probably wasn't eating enough. I bonked hard about with 15km to go and had to slow the pace down significantly to recover and get some calories in me. The power came back with about 5km to go, but the damage was done. We lost 45 minutes on the teams we were competing with.

Stage 4 -- Earl's Cove to Seschelt: We made the transfer over to the sunshine coast immediately following Stage 3. At midnight following two ferry rides, we arrived in Earl's Cove and setup camp in the RV on a side road a stone's throw from the ferry terminal. My aforementioned wrist was swollen and super sore following the technical singletrack of Day 3. Throughout the evening, I repeatedly iced hoping to fix it for the next day. We awoke the next day to sunny skies and the hopes of a better day on course. My wrist had other ideas though. It was really, really sore and made riding even "smooth" fireroads searingly painful. I put a lot of energy into manipulating myself on the bike to minimize the discomfort (e.g. riding one handed whenever possible). We started reasonably well, but RD flatted at about the half way point and team after team streamed by as we fumbled the change a bit. Following the tire change, I lost my rhythm and my energy. I could barely hold the bar and seriously contemplated dropping out of the race at the end of the stage. After 70km of punishing singeltrack in 90 degree temps, we crossed the line and lost another big chunk of time. I downed a coke and 2 chocolate milks and after a conversation with RD decided, we would continue slogging away even if it was slow going due to my wrist.

Stage 5 -- Seschelt to Langale: I woke up to the wrist not hurting much and got it taped by the MASH unit. It felt good when I hopped on the bike and my spirits were raised by the prospect of a 12km downhill run into the ferry at Langdale at the end of the day. Once again, the start was fast but I had super legs. We started conservative and slowly ramped up the pace throughout the day. I was riding a bit stronger than RD today and that allowed me to accelerate ahead on the climbs and then recover and save my wrist on the downhills where RD would inevitably catch up. I knew we were having a good day when we caught and passed some of the fast teams out on course. We were absolutely railing all of the technical features and Nortshore style ladders across the high ridge passing several more teams. At the top of the final descent, I told RD to rip it up and I would meet him at the bottom. He took off and I did my best to go as fast as possible. I railed the descent to the best of my ability and even past two teams on the way down. RD was waiting for me in the final rocky stretch and we roared through the woods into the finish line taking back some time on our competitors. Needless to say, we were grinning from ear to ear because of the awesome descent we had just rode and because it was a solid result after two lackluster days.

Stage 6 -- Squamish!: I love riding in Squamish as much as any place in the world. Brimming with confidence from yesterday, we set out today to rip it up on trails we both know pretty well. RD got his customary moderate start while I accelerated with the lead group on the pavement through the local neighborhoods. Once in the dirt, we regrouped and proceeded to pick team after team off on the technical singletrack climbs and descents. We dropped into Re-cycle and just tore it up passing several riders like the were standing still. The route went to Pseudo-Psuga next. About half way down the trail, a bee flew behind my sunglasses and stung me on the cheek. OH SHIT! I'm allergic so I contemplated getting the Twinject out, but thought better of it and got back on the bike and kept riding. I caught RD and told him what happened, but said I don't think it is going to be a problem. He gave me a look and said "you better not die on me". I shrugged and said "He didn't get me square." Turns out all the anti-histamine I'm on for my seasonal allergies also keeps bee stings at bay. We bombed down the rest of the descent and then tragedy number 2 struck, I flatted. Stan's sealant sprayed from my tire as I tried to get the small tear in the sidewall to self-seal. No luck. We pulled the tube out and changed it. Between the sting and the flat all of the fast teams we worked so hard to pass came by us one after another. With the flat changed, we charged off trying to make up for lost time. Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough real estate left to make up a lot of time. We finished strong amongst the fast teams, but didn't make up as much time as we had hoped. At the end of the day, you could barely tell I got stung. That's a first!

Stage 7 -- Whistler: After Squamish we looked at the results and we had moved up to 14th overall and we're only 5 minutes down on 13th. The stage was short, only 30km, so we thought if we had a flawless day, we could possibly move up. The course featured a long climb straight out of the Creekside Village up to the mid-mountain gondola station. The long and steep climb quickly sorted the field out into the strong and the not so strong. We were doing exactly what we set out to do and were up with the fastest teams of the week. We summited the climb in prime position when, of course, disaster struck. RD's pedal broke and it would not hold his cleat. We had over 20km of racing to go with some serious technical descending and a lot of power climbs along the river back to Creekside. RD soldiered on pedaling on the spindle the rest of the course. He was able to keep the pace surprisingly high and only had to get off and run on the steepest/loosest climbs. Several teams passed us, but not too many. We left everything out on the last 3km road climb. I was cross eyed and RD was still drilling it with only one functioning pedal. After passing a couple of teams back, we dropped into the last section of singletrack for the week and I couldn't help but smile and laugh as I savored these last few minutes of the race. RD and I rolled into Creekside and across the line together. We both received the coveted "Finisher" BC Bike Race buckle. We soon learned that the team in 13th place had several flats on the stage and we beat on the stage by 10 minutes, so we moved up.

What a day, what a week, what a race. We persevered through technical problems, injuries, low morale, getting lost, bonks, bad legs and were still able to come out in 13th place. The top spots were occupied by Olympians and pros that actually get paid to ride for a living, so we are content with what we accomplished.

I've got some photos to upload later. So check back soon.

Oh, next year? Yup, but solo. I've got the BC Bike Race bug. I love the technical trails in BC and want to give it a go on my own to see what I can do outside the team dynamic. I can't wait!!!

Thanks for reading,

Blue Star