BC Bike Race 2015

Editor's Note: Words by Harlan Price with photos by Margus Riga, Dave Silver, Erik Peterson and Todd Weselake and videos Connor Macleod, Max Berkowitz and Chris Fisher.

BCBR 2015 Day 1: Cumberland

Saturday Registration in North Vancouver saw over 600 racers meet for the first time as they signed in, got their race bags, and dropped off bike boxes to meet them a week later in Whistler. Those pieces of luggage will soon be forgotten in the daily journey to the finish line after riding in an event known for the bubble it creates for it's riders on their travels to the ultimate singletrack experience.



After the Day Zero registration in North Vancouver, to get to Day One of the BCBR, riders took one scenic BC Ferries ride across the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver Island's town of Nanaimo, then hopped a bus up the coast to the home of the opening stage in the small and rider friendly town of Cumberland. This turn of the century mining town with a past reputation governed by frontier laws has been a stage of the BCBR since it's start nine years ago. It's the community that makes the trails of the Cumberland Community Forest a destination spot for riders from across the globe and it's the BC Bike Race that brings the world to these trails and it's storied past.

BC Bike Race 2015

After a hot introduction to their tents Saturday, racers awoke to a relatively cool Sunday morning, but temperatures quickly climbed in unison with riders on their opening miles of the stage. The gravel road leading to the first section of trail provided little respite from the sun and the relief of dipping into the woods this year was tempered by dusty conditions that made following the rider ahead too close less than ideal. With the usual loam now turned to dust, riders had plenty of traction but were treated to a taste of the organic material their tires were slowly churning to powder. Despite the dust caked faces and obvious signs of battle with the heat, the rider's enthusiasm for the course continued as it has throughout the years.

Women's Solo

For the stage one winner of the Women's Solo open, Katerina Nash (Luna) "The first hour was pretty challenging with the heat, but once we hit the trails things changed for me and I was just having a really good time riding the trails." Nash raced in Colorado on Saturday and had a midnight arrival in Vancouver, but didn't seem to suffer to greatly from the previous day's efforts. Vicky Barclay (Stan's NoTubes) made the first move of the day on the opening climb after seeing Nash's opening tentative effort. Rebecca Hodgetts countered after the two reached the top of the classic trail Further Burger. With Nash waiting to turn up her efforts and a failing rear brake Barclay soon found herself back in third position till the end. Hodgetts pulled in eight minutes behind Nash and only three up on Barclay. The BC Bike Race has traditionally been a male dominated event but the women who have chosen to race have routinely displayed an ability for shredding trails that demonstrate that flow and skill isn't limited by gender.

BC Bike Race 2015

Men's Solo

The men's podium has an equal amount of potential for shuffling throughout the week. Last year's second place finisher Spencer Paxson (Kona Bikes) started 2015 with legs good enough to take the first top spot of the week. Paxson made an early move of the day and crested the top of the first climb on Further Burger with Quinn Moberg of Rocky Mountain Bicycles within the same second. Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon (Kona Bikes) followed soon after with the Texan Tristan Uhl (Competitive Cyclist) and Thomas Turner (Team Jamis) from Georgia only a minute behind. After Moberg fell off of Paxson's pace Wicks and Sneddon maintained their position while Uhl pulled up to them after dropping Turner before the bottom of the final gravel climb to the Feature Trail Blue Collar. Uhl continued to push for the wheel of Paxson while Wicks covered his moves to a sprint finish. Wicks took the sprint for second with Uhl in third and almost two minutes behind Paxson. Last year's race champion, Sneddon, came across 17 seconds later for 4th. Moberg held onto a fifth another three minutes behind.

BCBR Feature Trails

In an effort to showcase the trails that each community has a special relationship with, this year the BCBR is designating certain trails as "Feature Trails" to promote awareness of singletrack the community has put their hearts into. Every stop of the BC Bike Race is in a community that builds and maintains trails through thousands of hours of labor and often these trails become the source of great community pride. The BCBR diligently gives back to these groups every year to help them build or maintain more trails.

"Blue Collar" was the feature trail of today's Cumberland stage. As an older trail it was in need of a major rework. Originally built as an uphill trail is has become a favorite piece of downhill trail for the Cumberland community. Riding Fools Hostel owner Jeremy Grasby flagged the trail 8-10 years ago after discovering the zone on a hike. He used to haul his daughter in a trailer up the Trent Main road on adventures and realized the network of trails in existance needed a climbing trail to fill a gap. Because it was built from the bottom up the grade ended up being sustainable because of the grade and in turn became a favorite of the locals for descending. Grasby gives credit to the communal nature of building new trail, where an initial walk and flag is only an idea that is best hashed out with friends and other riders. The end result is an undulating trail that encourages full bike and body separation with good sightlines and no need for excessive braking when pointing the bike downhill.

All trails have a history and early on Blue Collar dealt with losing a large part to logging and has been reworked recently to the point that the local Kids Club has been taken to the trail. This year Grasby was able to ride Blue Collar with the same daughter he towed up the gravel roads eight years ago.

BCBR Kids Races

Five stages of the race this year will feature a kids race while riders are out on course. Cumberland saw over two dozen kids completing 1-6 laps depending on age. As an annual event the kids races have become a yearly destination for the families of the communities.

Continue to page 2 for BCBR Day 2 and a full photo gallery »

BC Bike Race 2015

BCBR 2015 Day 2: Powell River

The second day of the 2015 BC Bike Race offered riders a break from the heat exposed climbs of the previous day. With more wooded canopies, vibrant moss, precious loam, and single track than the day before, Powell River delivered a mountain bike celebration on the shores of the Salish Sea.



Despite riding a bike more prepared for the North Shore, Neil Tilly of London England felt, "Day two was one of the best days on a bike I've ever had, just because it's a mix of everything. Not too difficult, great flow, great trails, and the people from here, their support is just like running a marathon. Everytime you're a bit weary there's people dancing and clapping."

Each community that hosts a day of the BCBR brings something unique to their stage and Powell River is a community that is ready to support positive events when they come to town. Isolated to the point of only being accessible by a ferry the region is home to 17,000 people. As first-time BCBR racer Graham Cocksridge of Powell River puts it, the community "is full of doers, because if you want anything, you can't go to the next town." He pointed out that last year, riders and non-riders put in over 9000 hours of volunteer hours on mountain bike trails in the area and that the groups cheering in the woods were just as likely to not be riders. As a rare local to enter the event, Graham had a few extra cheers in the trails before finishing 18th in the Solo Men's category.

BC Bike Race 2015

Men's Solo: Uhl's sprint tactics bring home the victory

Soon after the race start next to the pebbled beach of the Salish Sea, Spencer Paxson (Kona Bikes) decided to prove that the previous day's win wasn't a fluke of the trail or teamwork. Despite dropping the pack with only Quinn Moberg (Rocky Mountain Bicycles) making a short-lived attempt to hold on, Paxson quickly saw the three minute lead he built up halfway into the course disappear when he put his head down and missed a turn on a brief section of gravel road. The blown turn cost him ten minutes on the day as the chase group of Tristan Uhl (Competitive Cyclist), Thomas Turner (Team Jamis), Quin Moberg, Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon of Kona Bikes hammered their way to the finish.

Late confusion about what happened to Paxson changed the tactics of the Kona team and they began racing for first across the finish line. Sneddon made a break for it before the closing kilometers and was holding a 10 second lead on the rest of the pack. With a kilometer to go Uhl left the rest of the chasers and began closing the gap on Sneddon. Wicks began a hard chase but got squeezed out at the line as he was caught behind his teammate while Uhl managed to come around Sneddon for the line. "I launched a hard attack with 1 KM to go, and got a little gap on Barry and I just pushed it as hard as I could. I caught Kris 20 feet from the line and Barry caught me at the same time. It was kind of like a bottleneck but I managed to get around him and Barry got stuck behind."

BC Bike Race 2015

Paxson took his day in stride. "The only real mishap is it's embarrassing, you didn't hurt yourself, didn't break your bike, didn't have a biological mistake, like not drinking enough. It's the embarrassing factor because you missed a marked turn." With five days to go the strength of Paxson will likely see him chipping away at the gap. The exciting thing for the spectators is to see if he can do it and to watch the motivation of the other riders change along the way. One second separates Uhl and Wicks while Sneddon hangs only another 18 seconds back. Paxson is just shy of 8 minutes in the rear.

Women's Solo: Nash solidifies her lead another 5 minutes

Off the start Katerina Nash (Luna) employed tactics that kept her with the main group of riders to establish some distance between herself and her competitors. Vicki Barclay (Stan's NoTubes/ Bike Flights) worked her way into the lead group as well but wasn't able to hold the pace as long as Nash. Still, once in the singletrack and with a look over the shoulder Nash realized that there was space to be created. "I went hard the first two or three miles, and then settled into a good pace and was in a pretty large group of guys. I spotted someone a ways behind me so I decided to pick it up a little bit."

For Barclay, it was a fast start and she hung with the lead group of guys as much as possible but fell back on the gravel road. "Once we started to climb on the single track there was a little back and forth, and I was about 20 seconds back and I think she saw me. I just tried to ride consistent all day. It was a great day for me, and a super fun course. It was smooth, not bumpy, everything you could just ride so easily over everything." Rebecca Hodgetts of the USA pulled in for third on the day but managed to maintain a 2:30 minute lead over Barclay for cumulative second place after two days.

Men's Duo Open: Rocky Mountain's Calhoun and Day Back At It

After a year separated, the friends and teammates who have won the race in the past as a Duo returned to take on the original category the BC Bike Race was based on. "Our goal is to be in the top ten every day overall. We want to do the category justice. Sure Greg and I could split up, but I have a thing with stage races where it started as a team of two. It has such a different element. You race by yourself all the time. The team of two adds a unique element to racing."

BC Bike Race 2015

The second place team of Alexander Stark and Florian Schoer (Scott Bike 24 MTN Race Team) are 15 minutes back after two days but it is the Imparables 2 80+ Duo team that is challenging the Rocky Mountain Boys the most. Ibon Zugasti and former World Cup DH racer Tomi Misser are only six minutes back.

Feature Trail: Death Rattle

Today's feature trail has been used in the past years as an enduro section with it's plunging neckline through the old growth forest. The emerald greens of the thick moss covering the slopes through the forest line the edges of Death Rattle trail as it dives and weaves to the road below. As a classic trail in the forest it's one of the best gravity fueled rips through the forest. The Chain Gang of the Powell River Cycling Association is responsible for maintaining many of the amazing trails throughout the forest.