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BCBR Day 7: Final Update

Well, BCBR 2009 is a wrap and we can’t quite belive it’s actually over.  Here are the highlights of the day:

Final Results

Final Update

Final Photo Gallery

BCBR Stage 7 Highlights

Whistler Creekside was thriving with energy as the seventh and final stage of the BC Bike Race rolled into town.

370 racers from more than 16 countries have tested their bodies, their bikes and, in some cases, their friendships this week while pedaling through more than 350 kilometers of singletrack in south western British Columbia.

The final Whistler stage was a mere 30km long, roughly half the distance of the other stages in the race. In speaking to racers after Stage 6 in Squamish, many were relieved to have less distance to cover on the final day…the finisher’s medal was within reach.

It turned out that the shorter distance was not indicative of the amount of effort required to complete the final stage. Day 7 course designer, Grant Lamont, knows the Whistler trail network like no one else and took advantage of that inside track to create a course that racers would remember.

From the 10am Creekside start, racers rode up some seriously tough, steep climbs right to the top of an aptly named trail, “See Colours & Puke.” From there, they worked their way into trails like Tunnel Vision, which has some challenging sections that some riders will have elected to walk.

It was not a sit back and relax kind of day, but it did allow many riders to realize their skills progression through the week. And there was an endless stream of smiles, cheers, and tears of joy as riders crossed the finish line anywhere from 1 hour 46 minutes to 4 hours and 50 minutes later.

Each rider that crossed the line received either a coveted Finisher medal - if they completed all seven days within the cutoff range; or a coveted Participant medal - if they completed some of the stages but not all.

This year there were some great stories that developed within the race - especially in the Team of Two Open Men category. The intense battle between Seamus McGrath & Chris Sheppard (Jamis / Santa Cruz) and Kris Sneddon & Barry Wicks (Team Kona) was fun to watch unfold.

It was an unbelievable week that staff and participants are not soon to forget. In fact, many teams expressed strong interest at the prospect of returning to BC Bike Race for 2010.

Registration is coming on Monday, July 6th for the 2010 BC Bike Race - with a limited early-bird special that’s not to be missed: CAD$1499 + GST per person. www.bcbikerace.com for more details.

For full results, including Stage 7, check the online results posting.

The BC Bike Race 2009 Cumulative Winners are as follows:

TEAM OF TWO OPEN MEN
1. JAMIS/SANTA CRUZ - Seamus McGrath & Chris Sheppard 18:27:31
2. TEAM KONA - Barry Wicks & Kris Sneddon 18:44:50
3. Team DCM CHROME 1 - Brandon Steward & Max Knox 19:19:09

SOLO MEN
1. TEAM KERR - Colin Kerr 19:41:05
2. SCHNYDER - Reudi Schnyder 20:19:40
3. HOGGY R&R SPORT NZ - Tony Hogg 20:39:00

SOLO MEN 40+
1. NORCAL BIKE SPORT - Roger Bartels 21:21:13
2. WESTERN SPIRIT - Mark Sevenoff 22:01:23
3. OPENROAD GROUP / SECRET CYCLES - Ted Russo 22:11:34

TEAM OF TWO OPEN WOMEN
1. LUNA CHIX - Katerina Nash & Catharine Pendrel 21:49:42
2. ROCKY MOUNTAIN - Alison Sydor & Lea Davison 22:42:03
3. OAK BAY BIKES - Lisa Ludwig & Dawn Anderson 25:13:35

SOLO WOMEN
1. ROSE - Megan Rose 26:26:53
2. THE BEE - Tori Fahey - 33:09:53
3. THE THIRD WHEEL - Claire Garcia-Webb 33:39:51

SOLO WOMEN 40+
1. POWER TO BE - Lisa McBain 31:36:25
2. THIS KIWI CANT FLY - Sarah Heine 39:41:42
3. VALLEY GIRL - Lori Halwa 42:13:41

TEAM OF TWO OPEN MIXED
1. GOULD - Ryan Trebone & Georgia Gould - 21:26:23
2. TERRASCAPE/TREK TORONTO - Jeff Neilson& Mical Dyck 22:52:17
3. MONAVIE CANNONDALE 3 - Sue Butler & Bryan Alders 23:25:06

TEAM OF TWO VETERANS 80+
1. FRONTRUNNERS-EXPERIENCE CYCLE - Normon Thibault & Peter Stevenson 22:19:50
2. DEADGOAT RACING - Geoff Clark & Pat Doyle 23:03:55
3. MONAVIE-CANNONDALE RIVER CITY BICYCLES - Matt Ohran & Tim Butler 23:15:02

TEAM OF TWO VETERANS 100+
1. ZOOTALLURES - Francois Amyot & Daniel Auclair 25:45:18
2. EMERY/WILLARD - Jamie Emery & Robin Willard 27:52:35
3. VELOMAG/KONA/LE PEDALIER - Gilles Morneau & Isabelle Cantin 28:30:11

TEAM OF THREE OR MORE
1. OAKVILLE CYCLEPATH CUTTERS - Peter Gowthorpe, George Sciberras, Greg Shikaze
2. SPORTS INSURANCE - Keli Sherbinin, Darren Butler, Rick Loader, Chris Brown - 33:03:55
3. BICKER BROS +1 - Scott Darling, Bill Darling, Francis Sutherland 35:48:13

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Stage 3 Media Upate

Please click each link to download the materias.

Daily Results

Daily Update

Daily Photo Gallery

Daily Video

Stage 3 Updates

Before the third stage of BC Bike Race was even underway today, event organizers were dealt a potentially show-stopping challenge this morning on course: sabotage. The course had been completely flagged for the third day and racers were lined up in the start chute ready to ride when the word came in over event radios.

Without hesitation, course director Jeremy Grasby jumped on one of the safety team dirt bikes and blasted onto the course to replace the critical missing flags while riders fidgeted on their bikes in the start chute. Sabotage is not uncommon during races like this; community members opposed to using the land for mountain biking make their point by removing flagging, placing obstacles on the trail and more. Beyond being a huge inconvenience for race organizers, such interference can be downright dangerous for riders. Incredibly, less than 8 minutes later, the flagging was fixed, the start gun fired and racers were off, spinning through the Village of Cumberland streets enroute to the trailhead.

The slight morning delay did not slow down the action on course. This was another lengthy day of almost all singletrack and riders appeared to really enjoy flowing with the trails, many of which were purpose built by local mountain bike enthusiasts or this segment of the BC Bike Race. Local course designers also conduct trail maintenance and preservation in an attempt to keep the trails active and open for riders.

Canadian mountain biking phenom Geoff Kabush joined the starting ranks as a guest rider for the past two days of Vancouver Island riding. For those not in the know, Kabush is tearing up the world cup circuit and was ranked 4th overall in 2008. He’s currently tied with legend Ned Overend with 4 US national XC series wins and with John Tomac for most XC wins ever – 14.

Kabush, who cut his teeth on the local Cumberland area trails, was on a mid-season break in his regular racing schedule when the opportunity to join in the BC Bike Race came along. “It’s pretty fun to come back and just do a fun ride with a bunch of the guys I know,” said Kabush referencing the Day Two ride. “They’ve <local builders> done a lot of work there – it’s super fun, flowy, buff. There’s also been a ton of development in the trails up higher…it’s pretty easy to see how I got into mountain biking from growing up here.”

Kabush’s approach to Day Three was much different, “Today I decided to ride with the front guys and just kinda stay out of their way. And it was amazing how hard they were battling it out day after day.” Kabush was riding with the top Open Men teams which are caught up in a fierce battle for the leader jersey.

A fierce battle, indeed. Today, Team Jamis/Santa Cruz, Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard, blasted through the trails in a blistering 2:51:53, with rivals Team Kona, Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks literally on their heels at one second later. McGrath and Sheppard retain the coveted leader’s jersey for the GC but will have to work hard to keep it, with Team Kona only 73 seconds behind overall.

Third place today went to Team DCM Chrome 1, Max Knox and Brandon Stewart, who crossed the line ahead of the BC Bike Race 2008 Champions, Trek/VW’s Chris Eatough and Jeff Schalk.

The other category that’s getting interesting is the Open Solo Men. Colin Kerr, (Team Kerr) relinquished the stage win to Tony Hogg (Tony Hogg RnR Sport New Zealand). Hogg is racing in a Canmore, AB area 24hr World Cup race at the end of August, and is using the BC Bike Race as a serious training opportunity. Depending on how things shake out in this category over the remaining four days, Hogg might find himself with an overall BCBR title in hand as he makes his way to Alberta.

Despite the hot action in the Open Mens’ Solo and Open Mens’ team of two, there were no real changes of note in the remaining categories for today.

For Day 4, racers face an early wake-up call in order to make 3 scenic ferry rides from Vancouver Island to the Earls Cove ferry terminal, where the familiar Bear-on-Bike starting arch will beckon the start of Day 4.

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BCBR Day Two Media

Click each link to download:

Daily Race Results

Daily Photo Gallery

Daily Race Update

Stage Two: Nanaimo to Parksville

When most cyclists sign up for a mountain bike race, they can expect to climb on their bikes and ride either loops of a single circuit or a point-to-point course of trails. It’s doubtful whether they anticipate a scenic ferry crossing as part of the “warm-up.”

For the almost 400 BC Bike Race participants, an early wake up in North Vancouver precluded their BC Ferries morning voyage across the Georgia Straight to Vancouver Island. The sun shone overhead as many riders relaxed on the upper deck to map out their race strategy for the day.

Once the vessel docked in Nanaimo, racers donned their day’s kit and traded their street clothes for their mountain bikes. Close to 400 riders toed the start line in the shadow of the looming Bear-On-Bike crowned arch for the countdown to the 10:45am start.

With the start horn, two Royal Canadian Mounted Police members on bicycles led the controlled start that carried racers to their first drop in of the day. From there until the first feed zone – anywhere from 80 minutes onward – riders gobbled up endless polished singletrack. The inside scoop on this area is that the passionate riders in the local mountain bike club hand-build and painstakingly maintain the trails, some of which were purpose-built for this second BC Bike Race stage. Their efforts were not lost on the pack.

Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard (Team Jamis – Santa Cruz) were new to the trails in this area. “We didn’t know what to expect but it was honestly some of the best trail that we’ve seen. It was relentless, fast, flowing, tight technical. A little of everything – drop offs, bridges – everything of what mountain biking is about. There were some great new sections. Whoever built it deserves a bunch of clapping!“

McGrath and Sheppard started out tight with the Kona team of Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks, but at the end of the day, Team Kona was the first to finish in 3:23:42, edging out yesterday’s leaders by a mere 3 seconds to claim the yellow jersey for tomorrow’s stage. Chris Eatough and Jeff Schalk (Trek/VW) rounded out the top three for the day. No surprises in this category.

Once again, Team Luna Chix – Catharine Pendrel and Katerina Nash – dominated the Women’s Open category with a 3:57:08 finish. Yesterday’s two and three spots stayed the same today with Alison Sydor and Lea Davidson (Rocky Mountain) in second and Lisa Ludwig and Dawn Anderson (Oak Bay Bikes) in third.

The remaining categories saw no change on this second day of racing.

Interestingly, the satellite finish line for timing made for a more mellow Base Camp finish line arch as racers got to spin out their tired legs before hanging up their bikes for the day. After yesterday’s short bursts of technical downhill and punchy uphill climbs, an early “go fast, go hard” mindset may have caught some racers off guard with this much longer heavily-singletrack focused day.

This day’s technical singletrack bonanza produced much more weary riders at the finish. A few unfortunate racers experienced dehydration on course and found themselves hooked up to an I-V at the medical tent for a fast shot of fluids.

Much post-race chatter centred around the how many riders underestimated the fatiguing nature of the undulating technical singletrack. “I’ve got a new quote for you today,” said one local North Vancouver rider, “That f’in hurt! It really was unbelievable riding. Draw a chalk line around me, I’m done!”

The new solo category has attracted a broad range of riders from hardcore competitors to weekend warriors who lost their race partner for various reasons.

Dan, a solo rider from Colorado, rolled through the oceanside finish looking dusty and weary. “I’m wrecked, but that was unbelievable,” he said, wiping sweat and grit from his face. “I never imagined the riding would be like this. I think I might end up living here. I’m on a life changing journey and it might be starting here.”

Another solo rider from Las Vegas who just celebrated his 40th birthday, decided that the BC Bike Race would mark the transition to a new decade. No family, no friends, no teammate…just the man, his bike and a whole lot of singletrack. Some would argue that turning 40 is challenge enough, let alone adding in a seven day epic. Happy birthday to him!

After a stunning sunset, the oceanfront tented Base Camp was quiet by 10pm as racers maximize their recovery time to recharge for tomorrow’s 60-65km stage in Cumberland.

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Get Inspired: New 22 Minute BCBR Video!

We’re really fortunate to have the folks at Ride Guide join us each year to film extensive coverage of the BC Bike Race from start to finish…these guys are everywhere! At the start, at the finish, on the trails, in the air:  ev-ery-where! The amazing footage that they capture gets edited down to “episode size” for the Ride Guide - Bike television season…and the eyes of millions of viewers around the globe!

As a bonus, Kevin and his crew have produced a very inspiring 22 minute trailer of footage from BC Bike Race 2008 that is guaranteed to have you reaching for your bike to hit the trails. We love the video so much, we’ve got a link to it on our Home Page…

Check it out and get inspired to ride today!

6 Week BCBR Training Plan - You CAN Do It!

Worried you can’t prepare in time for the BC Bike Race? No worries! We realize that sitting down to make a training plan or find a coach, etc., isn’t easy to squeeze in to an already busy life.

So, to help you get ready, we’ve added a great Basic 6 Week Program (basic preparation) to complement our Advanced 11 Week Program (detailed preparation) in our Training Section on the website! Designed with the Weekend Warrior in mind, this new program should be manageable by almost anyone. Check it out - and as always we are here to answer any training questions that you may have.

BCBR for Life!

Wondering just how passionate our participants can become about BC Bike Race?

Check out this BCBR racer’s pride in his accomplishment.

Now everyone’s going to want one!

Sweet!!

2009 Registration is Still Going Strong!

If you’ve been sitting on the fence, surely one viewing of the new BCBR Trailer Video has nudged you into joining us!

We know that you have heaps of options in the mountain bike multi-day stage race arena, and we understand how important it is to really do your homework before you invest your hard-earned money into the dream bike vacation of a lifetime.

So, to help you out, we’ve created an Evaluation Tool that highlights some of the important things you should look for when choosing an event. Of course, we’ve highlighted the BCBR offerings, but that’s just to get you going. We’ve left space for you to research and document the other race offerings in order to do a fair comparison and determine which race is right for you. We’re quite confident that BC Bike Race stands head and shoulders above the rest…but that’s ultimately for you to decide.

Mind you, hundreds of BCBR alumni can’t be wrong! In 2008, 56% of racers ranked BCBR as Awesome Value while 40% of racers ranked BCBR as Good Value. That’s 96% of all participants giving us a glowing review! Join us and find out for yourself why…

Fill Up Your Dance Card!

With the snow starting to melt and the weather being a little more “rider friendly”, many of us are getting organized for the biking season to come. We’re starting to mark up our calendars with training programs and target rides that span the season…and what a great way to get excited about spring and summer while sorting out some riding milestones and adventures at the same time!

Just a few of the many friends of BCBR include:

• North Shore Bike Fest
• Salty Dog Enduro
• Crank the Shield

Check our Resources page for more ideas to fill your calendar! And if none of our “friend” events are located near you, check with your local bike shop or cycling organization for some ideas.

Until Next Month…

…here’s hoping that you’re back in the saddle again after a long and frosty winter! We’ll be back in your Inbox in April. Watch for us!