MTB: BlackArchThomArchBlack

I did a quickie lap through Blacktail on Thursday night...hooked into the Archery Range, down to Thompson Park where I did the lower and upper loop, then re-traced the trails back to the car....lots of climbing in a short distance....just under 15 miles and a little over 3,000 ft of climbing.

I had to take the full squish geared bike out because I stripped an allen bolt on my SS....so the SS will have to wait until the new set of bolts comes in.  The Blur XC definitely has a totally different feel than the rigid SS....need more tinkering with the suspension to figure out how to limit bob while climbing because it sure feels 'soft' when getting out of the saddle.  There definitely appears to be power loss on the pedal stroke due to the absorption of suspension...that is part of the reason I love a rigid SS, there is zero power loss and the power is directly transferred to the crank.  It was still a good day to be out and riding trail.  The Butte 50/100 is currently much better marked than it was last year so hopefully there will be fewer riders getting off course this year.

TGIF - woohoo

Comic Relief

The latest bike video installment from Robin Moore:

and just in case you have not seen his other 2:

it's a dirty world....

MTB: Homestake to Pipestone CDT

Tuesday's temps cooled off a little from the prior days heat and made for just a perfect day to be out on a bike.  I did the good old standby ride from Homestake Pass over to Pipestone Pass and back.  I had been riding my singlespeed as of late and was curious to see what the legs would feel like with that particular ride.

It was yet another day of almost having an 'OOBE'...or I am going to tweak the acronym to imply 'Out Of Bike Experience'.  The bike almost felt like it was pedaling itself uphill.  My overall out/back time was a little under 10% faster than my usual grunt so I am starting to think that this bike just fits me well, has the right gear ratio for me, and being light as a feather also helps to swagger up some hills.  I don't feel like my legs are that much stronger than they were a week ago so I can only think it is the bike.

The interesting thing is that the last time I rode this was on my geared, full squish bike - it took me 2 hours...on my rigid single speed, I shaved 10 mins off that ride time.....just maybe this bike likes speed?  If that is the case, "Put me in Coach!!"

Ride info:

The ride was not without a little excitement though - the ride could have been faster but I was having some mechanical challenges that slowed my downhill a bit....I was fighting a leak in my rear tire and I had 2 cartridges of air to get me down.  I was carrying a spare tube just in case but I was hoping the tubeless would seal back up when I started to ride.  Unfortunately, I was running too low a tire pressure (around 22 psi) and I lost some air on a turn (heard the tire burp) and I lost some sealant...so the game was on to get down before the tire went flat - I stopped about 4 times to give it a quick boost of air with the quick fill air cannisters and motored down...

On the way down, I ran into a group of ladies who were tearing it up.  I was in a rush to get down before I ran out of quick fills and flatted so I did not get a chance to stop and chat.  I am usually more social on the trails but I could hear the tickie tockie of my tire losing air.  Fortunately we all had a chance to catch up back at the trailhead.  It was really cool to see the ladies reprezentin' on the trails!  As we were chatting, the wifer had just arrived at the trailhead to get her ride on (late shift on Tuesdays) so it was a veritable 'pahtay'.  One of the ladies signed up for the Butte 50 this weekend, so good luck to Holly for the 'fiddie'!  

It was a good ride despite the mechanicals and it was a very cathartic session for head clearing!  Mission accomplished...

BC BIke Race Video

The BC Bike Race crew would do a video re-cap each day and as luck would have it, they captured me on Day 5 as I was fixing my broken chain - and they also included a quickie on their recap:

BC Bike Race - I Got A Feeling! from BC Bike Race on Vimeo.

MTB: Strip it Down

The Lynskey had been giving me the stink eye over the past few weeks for not taking it out and giving it some love.  I went back to basics and took the singlespeed out this weekend and decided to get back on the SS train...I forget just how much I enjoy the simplicity of it all!

Saturday's ride was one of those amazing rides where you feel the bike just rides itself.  The build fits me to a T and the bike just rides so well.  The rigid nature means absolutely no loss of power while pedaling and it just wants to please....and ohhh did it ever!

Saturday's ride started at Blacktail then down through the Archery Range over to Thompson where I caught the RR bed to Pipestone Pass and picked up the CDT over to Beaver Ponds and the connector trail from there over to Blacktail.  It was a super fun 14 miles with almost 3,000 ft of vertical.  The bike rode through things going uphill that I thought I would have to hike a bike so it was a pleasant surprise to be able to ride through some steeper sections and be able to clean it al - YEEHAA!

I had so much fun and felt so good on Saturday that I decided to put in a longer effort on Sunday.  At this point it was my third day on and the 7th day in the saddle (out of 9).  Game On!

I parked down at 9 mile and rode up to Thompson Park, did the lower loop, then one of the upper loops, then rode the RR up to Pipestone where I caught the Toll Canyon CDT to the top and pointed the bike back downhill on the super buff trail...at the bottom, I stayed on the CDT and took it over to Beaver Ponds and caught the connector over to Blacktail and then the road back to the car.  The legs were not nearly as snappy as they were on Friday but it was an awesome ride - 26 miles and 4,700 ft of elevation gain.  I ran into one person the whole day so it felt like it was my own little trail system.

It was a great day to be out and I managed to avoid the heat of the day by getting out on the trails earlier. All in all, it was a great weekend with great rides to help keep the head clear.

MTB: East Ridge CDT

The East Ridge CDT trail is always a great ride and Friday's ride proved no exception.  I had the trail all to myself (did not run into a single person during my ride) and as usual the vistas were pretty choice.  I learned my lesson of recent bottle loss/attrition and decided to just take one bottle on the top of my downtube that I knew would not get dis-lodged.  It ended up being a very enjoyable ride which helped clear the head from a week of work and life.

This missus went down to Polaris for her ACP conferences/meetings so the boys and I were on our own for Thursday and Friday.  I had taken the pups out on a walk earlier so it was now 'me' time to unwind by following a dirt trail for just under a couple of hours.  I turned around at the high-point and it ended up being a 15.5 mile ride with just under 3,000 ft of elevation gain:

view of the Pintlers with Butte in the foreground:

View looking towards Basin Creek:

view of the trail on the left and the Highlands towards the right

close up of the Highlands:

MTB: BlackArchThomArchBlack

Wednesday's ride was to be a quickie romp through Blacktail, down the Archery Range and then over to Thompson Park, then TBD...sometimes it is good to leave the options open during a ride and then make a decision based on how the legs feel, how much time you have, how frisky you are feeling, etc...

As I rode up Blacktail, I noticed that there was a crew out there doing trail maintenance so I thanked them for all their hard work and started the punchy climb up Blacktail.  The trail maintenance includes a couple of re-routes and some areas to help with diverting drainage and slowing erosion.  I made a mental not of the new 'soft spots' as I rode up knowing that the downhill could turn into a real adventure if you had one of those soft sandy spots at speed around a corner....and Blacktail is so fast on the descent that it made good sense to make a mental 'post it'.

We have had so much moisture this year that the trail that diverts off of the Blacktail down to the Archery range is overgrown...it was easy to miss and I had to pull a 180 when I realized I must have missed the Archery trail.  I quickly turned around and saw how easy it was to miss.  As soon as I got on the trail, it looked like no one had been on it in quite a while.  The newly built trail (last year) has not had enough traffic to really wear it in yet up high.  There were several down trees that forced you off your bike.  The lower 2/3 of the trail are well worn it but the upper section could definitely use more riding.  At the bottom of the Archery descent I noticed that once again my water bottle had dislodged itself from the lower part of my down tube...starting to think this might just be 'The Great Water Bottle Conspiracy'.   This would just mean that I would have to ascend the trail on the way back to track that little escapee.

Along the trail, I saw the following:

They do call it the Archery Range for a reason (the trail does go through a real Archery Range) but this little arrow lost its way and let's just say that there are ZERO targets anywhere around this trail so just maybe some local archers are taking exception to a trail running through their playground...mental sticky note #2.....do not linger where said lost arrow is (so of course I did so I could snap a picture).

The rest of the ride was comparably unventful with a climb up Thompson Park to the RR bed and then up the next climb with a fun descent all the way back down Thompson again and back up the Archery Range - ever so diligent to keep an eye out for a water bottle with legs.  The climb up the Archery Range is steep but fortunately not very long...The water bottle must have learned to camou because it remains on the loose...The descent down Blacktail was super fun and fast and fortunately the first mental post it was still fresh enough to remind me of the soft spots in the trail.  It was a little over 12 miles with a little over 2,400 ft of elevation gain.  Lots of short punchy climbing -- woohoo

MTB: Nez Perce CDT

This past Monday night's ride was an opportunity to go ride the mosquito heaven that is the Nez Perce section of the CDT trail.  It was my third day on and I was still hacking up remnants of my head and chest cold.  It was another toasty day - tickling the low 90's on the thermo but the Nez was a little cooler considering it sits a little higher in elevation where you starting point is at around 6,400 ft.

I forgot how steep and tekkie the ride is.  It is a great change from all the other riding we have locally - just another flavor in the Baskin Robbins flavor pack of riding around Butte!


Part of the reason I rallied to ride on Monday is because it is the Monday night guy's ride that I had not gone to in a couple of months.  I was hoping to run into someone specific who I needed to confront about some very in-appropriate behavior that had been weighing on me.  Suffice it to say that this so called 'friend' decided he wanted to lambast me on a public forum and had the audacity to text my wife at 4:30 in the a.m.!  Not to air dirty laundry but let's just say that these were the final straws that overloaded said camel's back....But alas, this person was nowhere to be found...I had even suggested we got out for a beer earlier in the year to clear the air but of course cowards never want to face the repercussions of their actions!  As an adult, you can usually identify people who are not healthy for you to be around as they are constantly trying to make themselves feel better by trying to make others feel worse.  Needless to say spring time was a perfect time to weed the garden of toxic weeds.

As we were getting to ready to ride, I looked over at the Highlands Cycling Club figurehead and noticed he had my water bottle on his bike.  I have been struggling with keeping water bottles in the cage on the lower part of my down tube - they just seem to seek freedom as I ride and subsequently launch off the bike on their quest for un-emcumbered adventure!  I mentioned to him that he must have found my water bottle to which he quickly responded 'I know not what you speak of'.  I quickly explained how that was my water bottle from the 24 hrs of E-Rock to which he still denied having found it and that he had for a while...I figured I was not going to sit there and argue about something as inconsequential as a water bottle but it certainly adds another layer of how someone's actions define who they are.

At the end of the day, I remembered why I don't go on these Monday Night group rides...with experiences like those, they just aren't fun - and biking should be FUN!  Fortunately for me I was still basking in the afterglow of the BC experience so somehow these events were somewhat marginalized by all the good stuff!!!

MTB: Basin to Burton to 8 Mile

Sunday's ride was a group ride with the wifer and crew.  The weather forecast had predicted a scorcher of a day with temps getting into the 90's.  For once, they were correct...and it was not altogether a good thing.

Out of all the awesome riding we have here in town, going up Basin Creek (as opposed to descending) and  the 8 miles of hell that follows after Burton Parkway might just be my very least favorite trails in the area.  The truth is the Basin Creek climb is 90% of the reason I won't do the Butte 50 or 100 this year.  Riding should be fun and that initial mile getting out of Basin Creek is anything but...it climbs about 800 feet in the first mile!  In the 100, this mean and nasty section drops on you at around mile 65'ish in the heat of the day.

Weah weah weah - we still got out and rode and got a good and proper beat down.  I took 2 bottles with me and ran out of water about 1/2 through the ride....I could tell my body was starting to lose major strength and it would later be confirmed that I was losing a lot of water weight.  I got home and weighed myself and lost 5% of my body weight from dehydration!!!  No wonder I was a hurting unit the last hour +.

It was still a good ride though - it was just under 31 miles with about 5,000 ft of elevation gain.
Pix:
on the CDT through Burton Park

cresting the first climb on the 8 miles of hell

2/3 through 8 miles of #@$@

incredible view of the Highlands along the 8 miles of #@$#@

yet another killer view looking towards Butte and the Pintlers

Once we got home it was time to hyrdate and get some food in the system!  We ended up going out to Mackenzie River and wolfed down a couple of salads with our breadsticks and quesadilla...trying to gain back some of that 5% body weight loss!  Sometimes it is good to have to dig into the reserves but this time I might have gone into them a little too much - my lips were starting to crack - although I was still sweating so maybe it was not quite so melodramatic as I thought...

MTB: Homestake CDT out/back

As I have been getting caught up on all things BCBR and trying to capture it all, I have been falling further behind on everything else as it relates to the blogaroo...so here is a little catchup action:

I was finally able to ride last Saturday - the head/chest cold was still being stubborn and leaving me slightly light headed but it had been a week since I had been on the bike and it was time to remedy the situation (excuse the pun).  I decided to take the bike out to Homestake Pass and catch the CDT over to Pipestone Pass and back.  I was curious as to whether the trails had dried completely and also how my body was going to react.

The body was certainly a little lethargic and someone forgot to tell my sinuses about the agenda to ride because they opened up like a slow leaky faucet...drip drip drip.  Regardless, it was good to be out and riding dirt again!

It was the usual out and back route for totals of 17 miles, 2700 ft of climbing and 2 hours of riding.

Some pix:
looking towards the Pintlers - you can actually see the RR tressel in the middle of the picture - that is the same trail that links Thompson Park trail system up to the CDT at Pipestone Pass.

looking ewst at the Pintlers:

looking east at the Whacky Tobaccees:

and of course looking South with some killer views of the Highlands:

BC Bike Race Pix

some pix from throughout the event:

BC Bike Race Recap

It has been a week since I got home from the epic of the BC Bike Race.  As time moves on I keep soaking in the afterglow of an amazing event that took a tremendous amount of planning from the organizers.  It was an expensive event but once you see all the planning and work that go into organizing something on this scale, you begin to wonder how they can even make money.  I estimate that there might have been 1 worker/ volunteer per rider for everything that happened pre-race,  race, and post race.  A big tip of the chapeau to the organizers for doing such a bang up job!

The event was organized as a seven day stage race with everyone referring to Day1-7 as courses and races were talked about.  Before all this, there was Day Zero where we checked in, picked up our bags that would server as our suitcases for the week and re-pack those bags with what we were going to need.  We then had to drop our packed bags and bikes off so they could be transported over to where we going to spend the night.  We got our race briefing where we schooled about bears and cougars...two types of bear: brown & black and what to do if you had an encounter.  There were 2 types of cougars...1 was the mountain lion type and the other was often found in Whistler and could be ID'd with a small pox vaccination on the upper arm.

We all caught a ferry on Day Zero to Victoria island where we were then bused to Cumberland where Day 1 would take place the following morning.  At this point there had been a lot of travel and everyone was anxious to get to base camp.  This routine of ferries and buses would continue throughout the week.  Often times it was rushing to get to the ferry terminal where we would sit and wait...then offload in a hurry to either catch a bus or get ready to ride.  Give the scale of everything that had to go into planning, I realize that it really could not have happened any other way - to be able to keep 500 riders on track is a feat in itself so the minor annoyance for us racers to wait or be rushed to the start line was just that...a minor annoyance.

The first two days of the event left just about everyone a little rattled.  We were thrown into the really technical trail fracas and seemed to be collectively unprepared for what was in store.  I had a really low profile tire on the rear and the combo of having an almost 'slick' tire and rooty, rocky sections was enough to shake me up a little...notice I was shaken, but not stirred!  I decided to swap out my rear tire and that did wonders for me the rest of the race.  My head started to get more confident and I started to trust my tire and remember how to ride the gnar.

This was my first stage race and I learned a lot.  I learned that you become mentally fatigued and impressionable over the week...The first two days had everyone wondering aloud whether or not the trail was going to remain the burly or whether things would relent.  We clinged on to the hope that the descriptions of buttery smooth and loamy that were used during the race briefings the night prior to race day were the things of mountain bike lore and legend.  Of course the organizers were playing us  like a one string banjo and must have been chuckling inside as they knew the severity of the terrain.

My bonk day just happened to be on the longest and hottest race day.  Everyone seemed to have 1 day along the way that they had to dig extra deep!  Days 5 and 6 were the payoff days for having grunted through the prior 4 days.  Those 2 days alone made the trip worthwhile.

My goal at the end of day 1 was to stay on the first page of results at the end of the race....My mechanicals and Day 4 bonk dropped me off the first page but I managed to climb back up onto the first page and finished 31st of 88 which I was pretty happy with.

The mechanics that supported us throughout the race were awesome!  I still have questions regarding how much they (actually the shop) charged (arm and a leg, or maybe both legs) and the jury is still out on the pricing since I am still waiting on a detailed invoice showing what they worked on and replaced that ended up costing me over $1000 of work!!!!  I guess they have a captive audience but their estimates must have either been way off when provided to me, or they made some mistakes.  I will hold my final opinion until they can show me the nature of the work they did.

It was amazing to see just how much of an international flavor there was - it was really cool to meet people from all over the world.  I look forward to going back to Canada and exploring more of those trails.

BC Bike Race Observations

• Facts - 500 riders, 21 countries represented
• Facts - 338 km of riding and just under 10,000 meters of climbing over the week!
• Open atmosphere - Everyone was very friendly (volunteers and riders).  It was great to meet new people from all over the world every day 
• Glad I did the event with Hersey!  He once again re-affirmed why he is one tough dude...
• It was really cool to do this event with a friend and have someone to share the experience with.
• We hung out a lot with Scott and John from Calgary and got to know them over the course of the week
• After the mass craziness of the 'neutral start', things would flush out and you would somehow end up riding with the same circle of riders almost every day
• We ended up running into and hanging out with similar circles most of the time.
• Weather - we lucked out!  There were a couple of sprinkles here and there but nothing that impacted the trails too much
• Awesome Organization!  Something like this entails tons of planning for logistics and they did a great job of getting the riders and gear to where it needed to be
• Technical Terrain.  The trails were much more difficult than I had anticipated.  It took me a couple of days to get back into that mode of riding tekkie
• Caliber of Athletes.  The caliber of riders there was very impressive - former olympians and olympic medalists
• Riding 7 days straight is physically demanding
• Riding 7 days straight is mentally demaning
• Everyone had at least 1 bad day where the legs just did not want to ride and the body fought you the whole way
• Food was generally pretty good
• Any mechanical work done by Obsession was spendy $$$$
• There was a fair amount of hurry up and wait...hurry to get somewhere and then you had to wait for an hour until the ferry loaded, etc...
• I would highly recommend this to others
• It is expensive once you include travel and meals
• Schwag was awesome - you get what you pay for : )
• Stage Racing is hard!
• It was an amazing and yet humbling experience.
• Race pace for 7 days toughens you up!
• Props to local riders - they are some bad ass riders who ride gnarly stuff
• It did not take long to look around and notice consequences of bad wrecks!  broken teeth, lacerations, etc...
• I will definitely be going back to visit some of the places we rode - there are more trails to be ridden and more exploring to be had
• TONS of work went into these trails - ladders, berms, jumps...THANKS to the trail-builders!
• The towns we stayed in were very welcoming (with one of exception of a drunken dude in a bar who wanted to pick a fight)
• This might have just been the coolest thing I have done on a bike!

BC Bike Race Day 7

Somehow it was Day 7 of this event and in hindsight it had approached quickly, but trying to remember back to Day 1 or Day 2, it seemed like a lifetime ago!  The fact that we had ridden so much and moved to different areas each night made it seem like much had transpired since the beginning of the race.

I woke up with a sore throat and not being able to breath well at all - The Day 7 finale was not being made easy as I was trying to fight being sick and losing the battle.  It was time to suck it up and get through the day.  Top on the list was to make it through the day without any wrecks...we had made it 6 days through tough terrain so I was on full alert to keep that streak going without any significant face plants!

Day 7 was the shortest day but certainly not a 'gimme' in any sense of the word.  There were two steep climbs that really spread the field out.

The stage was around 28 km with anywhere between 800+ meters of climbing or 1400+ meters of climbing depending on what elevation profile you looked at....hmmmmm

There was some uncertainty for me as I now had a whole new drive train and was hoping that everything was tuned so that there was no gear skipping action going on - fortunately everything worked flawlessly.

The first climb was a very steep climb up a partially paved road - the downhill was a fast double track down which quickly deposited you into another punch climb which would lead to the crux and highlight of the day which was the Comfortably Numb trail.  The descent on the CN trail was the most technical of the whole trip with rock riding at its best.  You would grunt up short little ledges and then drop down rock faces and roots - this continued for miles as you zig zagged your way down the rock trail.  The trail really stayed on rock the whole time until it kicked you out onto the road and you picked up another little trail towards the finish line.

The next trail kept you honest too with some shortie tekkie climbs and some fun descents which would eventually put back onto a road that you followed until the final home stretch.

At the finish line, they were handing our 'finisher belt buckles' and 'finisher t-shirts'.  It was a long week of mental game playing, technical riding, and mechanical challenges but it all culminated in crossing under the finish line and feeling a sense of accomplishment.  Day 7 and the BC Bike Race was now 'in the books'!

What an awesome week!

BC Stage Race Day 6

The smile from Day 5 was imprinted on my mug by the time Day 6 rolled around.

I picked up my bike in the morning and there was a note on it from the mechanics to come see them (I had dropped the bike off so they could swap out the chain after I broke it on Day 5 - I was hoping it would be just the chain and not the whole drive train).  When I got to their area, they proceeded to tell me that they had lost the order for the bike and therefore could not figure out what needed to be done and could not find anything that needed fixing so they did not do anything.  I quickly reminded them it was the chain and they did a quick check to see if everything was in working order.  They checked the bike out and said the chain was fine...bear in mind this was about an hour before the race so there was not much time to waste...I was skeptical because I had removed 3 links of chain the prior day when it broke and my history with chains is that once it goes the first time, it won't last much beyond the fix...not to mention I had removed a pin and had to re-insert it when putting my chain back together.  They sent me on my way telling me the bike was fine - nothing like going into a 50 km ride with a LOT of climbing (chain under heavy load) and a shaky chain.

Day 6 was bound to be another difficult day because we were now in Squamish and the profile looked like there was a lot of climbing (over 1,600 meters in 50 km of riding) - we would not be disappointed!

Our base camp was at the rec center just north of town and had killer views of the area.  We could see the Chief in the background and snow capped peaks all around us with some awesome waterfalls off in the distance.  It was going to be a good day...well sort of....

On the first climb I noticed that my chain was skipping while in my favorite climbing gear...so I just skipped the gear and pedaled with a little faster cadence - if I just had to skip the 1 gear all day, it would not be a big deal.

We eventually peaked and got spit out onto some super fun and bermy singletrack that just wound its way down for about 200 meters of descent:

Once we hit the bottom of the hypnotic singletrack, we had another short & punchy climb.  At this point I noticed that the skipping on my chain had now expanded to 3 problematic gears....no problem, I downshifted to my small ring up front and made sure to stay out of those problematic gears and pushed a high cadence in order not to put my chain under load.  We peaked and then started the legendary Half Nelson descent.  It is one of the funnest descents I have ever done on my bike - the euphoria was contagious as I heard the whoopin, hollerin', yeehaa'ing, woohoo'ing, etc as we all descended.  Imagine a nice long descent with berms about 5 ft tall, with tight switchbacks, ladders, table top jumps....it was a real piece of work and deservedly earns all the accolades it gets!!!  The trail builders must have take a small little CAT up there to move the dirt because it was buttery smooth!

Once we hit the descent, it was time to point the bike up-hill again.  Along the way, we had amazing views of the Squamish area.  Right before we hit Aid Station 2, there was this great little bridge where a really steep section of river cascaded into some rough water - I took a moment to take it all in and then kept the legs spinning.

All the buttery smoothness was in the past and it was time to buck up and ride some of the gnar gnar coming up.  The remaining trails to the finish were just downright MEAN - very tekkie with tons of rooty and slippery sections that were steep up and steep down.  There was a lot of dismounting for all.  I made it through and started to realize my chain skipping problem was quickly expanding to ALL combinations of gears - there was no way around it and I was holding out hope that the chain would just last the remaining 10 km without crapping out on me...the race within a race was on....

The only gear that did not skip incessantly was my granny gear because it kept me at a really high cadence and did not put the drive train under much load.  Unfortunately this meant that whoever was stuck behind me was stuck going the same speed for anything that resembled an up-hill.

Through some TLC, luck, and the fact that we were going mostly downhill at this point, I was magically able to finish the day without my chain busting again.  As soon as I crossed the finish line, I rode my bike over to the bike mechanics where they would ultimately end up having to replace my whole drive train...all 3 rings up front, the cassette, the chain, and even the derailleur (it had no spring left).  It would be a costly day - OUCH.

The Ouch would not really hurt until after I got back home and looked at the hit on the credit card...for the time being, it was time to bask in the afterglow of finishing another stage and getting closer to being able to complete the race with only 1 stage left to go.

Squamish topped Day 5 as my favorite day and it was setting up some BIG expectations for the last day of racing in Whistler.  Day 5 and Day 6 really provided ear to ear grinning FUN and it seemed like the in your face butt kicking we all got at the beginning of the event was starting to subside with the enjoyment factor of the last two days....ohh sweet mtb nectar.

Common phrases heard throughout today:
"This is as close to sex as you can get"
"I have found mountain biking in heaven"
"They can build smooth trails!"
"One day closer to feeding the box" - explanation forthcoming in upcoming posts....

BC Stage Race Day 5

After a miserable day in the saddle on Day 4, I was curious as to whether the body would recover quickly enough to rebound for Day 5.  The added challenge was that the field had a late finish on Day 4 (at around 6 for me) and then a quick turn around for a 9 a,m, start the following day - it was going to be interesting....I was just hoping I could mettle through it if the legs did not comply.  The good news was the Day 5 was a shorter day distance-wise, although it packed a punch with over 1400 meters of elevation gain in the short 38 km.

The other potential good news was that we were hearing that Day 5 was going to be shortened due to part of the trail being wet and un-rideable.  The reality was that they removed the trail portion but ended up adding a road section so that the stage actually ended up being 41km as opposed to the original 38 km.

The race start was a 6km lead-out on road which then turned into dirt road and then into some of the sweetest, smoothest, funnest singletrack I have ever been on.  Day 5 was my favorite day of the race so far.  It was just super fun and the legs had bounced back from the BONK the day before.  Just before we hit the last climb of the day, I shifted into an easier gear to get up a hill and my chain froze!  I immediately got off the bike and noticed that one of my chain links was bent!!!  I moved my bike off the trail and went to work removing a link....3 removed links later, I had my chain back together and just prayed it would hold out until the end of the race and that it would not skip around too much.

At this point I had watched many a racer go by and I had a little adrenaline to start chasing down people again.  I had lost about 15 minutes on the side of the trail fixing my chain and it was time to get moving.  The video-grapher happened to stop while I was fixing my chain and prepped me with a couple of lines for the daily videos that they were making...of course I managed to flub the line so there goes any Hollywood aspirations...weah

It was good to get back on the bike and reel people in...I slowly caught and passed over 30 folks that had passed me while doing some trailside bike fixing...but my mind kept thinking that the hope of staying on the first page of the results were slipping away.  The Day 4 BONK and the Day 5 trail maintenance were losing precious time and slipping down the results page...

I had heard that Day 5 was the payoff for the grueling Day 4 and I have to admit that in this case they were dead on.  Day 5 provided a much needed attitude adjustment to where the riding put a big smile back on my face because it was just FUN!  

We crossed so many ladder bridges - some of which were 12 ft up, others that were railed and bermed, others that were super skinny, yet others nice and big....just BIG BIG fun!  There was a ton of work that went into these trails as I lost count of all the wooden ladders and bridges that we traversed.  I kept thinking I should have mounted the Go Pro but I had tucked it away after Day 1...

At this point, there were 2 days left and the goal of finishing was getting tantalizing closer - thoughts would creep into my head of riding safely so as to not risk the possibility of not finishing....of course that never really happens because you get in the moment and dial it all in.

After the race, I took my bike to the mechanics so they could replace the chain and possible other drivetrain components if needed.  They would work on it overnight and then my chain problem would be resolved for the morning start in Squamish for Day 6.  Little did I know what was in store on Day 6.   For now, it was time to bask in the glory of a phenomenal day of riding.

BC Stage Race Day 4

This stage was looming in my mind before the race ever started...it was circled, pencilled & highlighted as a hard day.  Not only was it a hard day, but the 2nd toughest day was not even close.  This would be a 64km slog with over 2,000 meters of climbing.  It was a point to point stage (no loops) from Earls Cove to Sechelt.

A day like this would be a tough day on its own, let alone as Day 4 of a stage race and the 4th straight day on of riding.  To this point, the legs had managed keep up but it was only a question of time until the legs had a heavy and tired day...

It was a late start as we had to take buses and ferries to the start line.  By the time we lined up, the mercury on the thermometer was steadily going up up up.  The day included lots of climbing in exposed positions to the sun.  This was going to be a long day.

Just about everyone I talked to had one bad day throughout the 7 day race.  Mine just happened to be on the longest and hardest day.  I knew what was in store on the very first climb when the legs would just not respond.  This day kicked my butt!  In many ways. this day reminded me of the Silver Rush 50 with lots of exposed climbing and difficult terrain.  The temps were in the upper 80's and low 90's which also contributed to my suffer-fest of a day.

Most of the climbing was steep, much of it was un-rideable with hike a bike sections where you just watched the sweat dripping off you as you pushed your bike up steep inclines.

The peak right after Aid Station 2 provided some amazing views of the bays but I was in my only little world of pain while trying to keep the pedals moving.  As usual, the riding was hard and the last long downhill was fast, but also technical with guess what?  roots and rocks!!  At this point my lower back was screaming at me and it was difficult to even enjoy the downhill.  The day eventually ended but not without taking a heavy toll on the body.  I felt really beat up after the stage and it took me a long time to recover throughout the evening.

As soon as I finished, I gulped down a bunch of liquids and food to try to help the body stay hydrated and fueled because there was a tough day of riding the next day too.  There was a lot of sitting around and trying to re-fuel and not worry too much about just how miserable the body felt.  I had dug into the reserves on day 4 to finish and was hoping that I had not gone too far into the reserves which could subsequently impact the remaining days.

At this point in the race, my cardio system was starting to adapt to the multiple days on.  The first day of racing, my heart rate was constantly in the 150's with an occasional visit into the upper 160's and lower 170's (my max).  By day 4, my heart rate could not get above 145...the mind was willing but the body was no longer able.  It is really interesting to me how the body will adapt or protect us from overload.

It was a 5 1/2 hr stage for me and the late finish (due to the late start) was bound to impact the next day which happened to be an early start...just how were the legs going to feel for Day 5?

BC Stage Race Day 3

Given the technical challenges and the access (or lack thereof) during the BC Stage Race, I am trying to get caught up and capture the days from memory while they are still relatively fresh...so here goes for day 3:

We had an early start to the day since we would be required to do some travel to get to the start of the race for day 3.  We took a bus from Campbell River to the ferry terminal where we were all in 'hurry up and wait mode' until the ferry departed for Powell River where we were going to race.  As a result, it was a late start time.  Since the ferry was late on departure, we ended up having little time once we landed in Powell River to sort everything out and get the head in 'race mode'.  As usual, the ferry rides provided amazing views of the inside passages around BC.

Day 3 was the turning point of sorts for me as it was the first day that the terrain would not cause me to fall off my bike.  After a lot of falling the first two days, I realized that my mind was a little rattled.  I swapped out my rear tire from a Schawlbe Fast Fred to a Maxxis Crossmark and lowered my tire pressure a little in order to better fit the terrain we were riding.  It ended up being HUGE difference.  A more aggressive tire on the rear meant that it was not nearly as slick through the never ending roots and rocks...it also did wonders for my fragile state of mind at the time too.

The stage itself was a 51km stage with a little over 1,000 meters of elevation gain throughout the course:

The terrain unrelented with a climb to get us to elevation at the beginning of the day and then continued rocky, rooty, slippery as snot on a doorknob (to use the BCBR phrase), technical singletrack.  At points it was difficult to stay hydrated because the terrain demanded your full attention.   The best places to hydrate and eat was usually on the uphill climbs.  The good news was that I was starting to ride better, the bad news was that there was still many, many a root to ride over!  Imagine a spiderweb of roots with them going in every direction.  The saving grace was that the scenery was absolutely spectacular (as usual),

We had a great base camp location right on the water with amazing views looking east.  This part of the world is really impressive with tons of lush green vistas and snow capped peaks.  All this lushness also meant that it was just the perfect recipe for a breeding ground for roots!

At this point, the legs were holding up OK and I was starting to get anxious about Day 4 which had been highlighted as the single hardest day in the 7 day stage race - let's just say that it did not disappoint!

BC Stage Race Day 2

Stage 2 was going to be interesting mostly to see just how the body was going to respond.  I felt pretty beat up yesterday after the ride so it was interesting to see whether or not the body was going to have enough time to heal and get ready for Day 2.  I sat around the food tent and grazed after yesterday's race.  I also ran a Compex active recovery sesion followed by running the massage stick over the tired legs.  It must have helped because the legs felt OK today - they did not feel snappy by any means but after a tough Day 1, I was expecting some heaviness.

I will be following the same protocol again tonight with a Compex active recovery session followed by 'the stick'. 

As for today's stage...it was similar to yesterday although much much rootier!  The middle section of the 48km was filled with roots and nastiness...it really forced many a dismount and some sketch downhilling.  The rumor has it that Day 3 tomorrow is going to be filled with roots from start to finish - so today's middle section is only a teaser of what is in store from start to finish tomorrow.  We had slightly less climbing than we did yesterday but it was still a hard day.  The last 7 km were phenomenal though.  The reward after getting beat up all day was a downhill that was superb.  It was fun, fast, flowy...and most importantly it was SMOOTH.  People in these parts love their roots and their rock - WOW.  I am not used to having people pass me on the downhill but that happened a fair amount today.

The biggest culprit was the rear tire.  My super low profile rear tire did not like the wet slippery rocks.  I think the support staff also inflated my tires overnight (they do that if they see low tires) and I believe they way way way over-inflated my tires which defeated the purpose of being tubeless on today's terrain.  I am swapping out tires to a more aggressive rear tire in order to be better equiped for the remaining days.  The rear tire was definitely a loose cannon today and I paid the price with knock to my ego on the tekkie skills and also with a couple of great falls - one which could have turned out badly but fortunately did not! 

All in all, this is definitely a tougher venue than I thought it was going to be and I believe that these first two days were the easier days all week so things will only ramp up over the week - Giddy Up!

BC Stage Race Day 1

We finally got up to the start of the BC Bike Race yesterday and after travelling for 3 days it was nice to set up camp for a couple of days.  Cars, buses, seabus, and more buses finally brought us to our destination yesterday afternoon.  I kept an eye on the weather as the clouds were threatening and it could have made for a really bad race day today.  Fortunately, mother nature played nice and spared us the rain that was looming.

Day 1 was 54km and 1,200m of climbing (will download profiles once I get back home).  It was a fast start with everyone jockeying for position on the 6km of road and dirt road.  After the mass start, we got dumped into singletrack which all of a sudden came to a grinding halt once we got there....bottleneck extraordinaire!  The trail was not all the technical where we turned onto it so I am not sure what the hold up was.  There was a lot of stop and go for about a mile until things opened up and people got a little more spread out.

We stayed in super fun twisting singletrack for a few miles before we got dumped onto the road where we climbed for about 500m to the first Aid station.  The climb was good because it gave everyone a chance to spread out a little more.  The herd was starting to thin.  Once we left the Aid station, we stayed level for about a mile before we got dumped into some super gnarly tek action.  There were places that you just had to try and ride out because there was no place to bail at all.  I was definitely not in my flow and it took me off my game.  I generally consider myself an OK descender but the downhill really toyed with my head.  I ended up going ass over tea-kettle a couple of times and then my mind never righted itself.  You had to stay super alert and focused or you could end up taking a bad line with some big gaps to clear if you launched...DOH.

The bottom of the descent kicked us out on some gravelly doubletrack and we stayed on that for about 8km until we got to Aid Station 2...I heard a guy have a total yard sale about a minute after I got through a really sketch steep gravel section.  I did not linger at the Aid Station and moseyed on.  We had a short, steep, tekkie climb which eventually dropped us out on to new trail that was rooty and lumpy.  It reminded me of my NE riding days with lots of rock and roots that forced you to slow down and then get out of the saddle to gain speed again.

All in all, it was a great day - no mechanicals and no injuries....I have a new found respect for the local crew who rides as these trails beat you up and the combo steep, root, rock, gravel is enough to keep you puckered up....time to get some rest and get ready for more pucker action tomorrow!

view of our 'Base Camp':